Skip to Content
 

Chess like games: Alternative victory condition to check mate

14 replies [Last post]
larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008

I am thinking of implementing a chess like board game as a video game app where you can select the pieces to play with. Now there are a lot of chess variants out there to get inspiration for pieces design.

But what about Victory conditions?

Anybody have seen a different victory condition then checking mate a specific piece?

Because if I use check mate, I must have a weak slow moving piece on the board to make sure it is checkmate-able. There is also the possibility of getting a draw.

So I was looking for other type of victory conditions for inspiration, see if I can bring a different point of view to my design.

X3M
X3M's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/28/2013
The easy answers

The only other option that I could think of is: Getting a second queen. Thus players needed to focus into stopping all those pawns.
A variation to that is 3 rooks, knights or bishops.

Another victory condition is, destroy your opponent completely.

But I think you are in search for something more sophisticated than those suggestions. Right?

FrankM
Offline
Joined: 01/27/2017
Alterate victory conditions

The most interesting alternative to check I saw was the AntiKing. You lose if he's not in check by the end of your turn.

For your game, the easiest condition that comes to mind is capturing a certain total number of points worth of opponent pieces.

Or capture a certain number of pieces, but Pawns don't count.

Uncontested control of any three of the four center squares. "Control" can mean occupying it, or it could mean being able to attack that square with one of your pieces while the opponent cannot.

Uncontested control of any three of the four corners.

I'm sure there are plenty of other possibilities as well.

Desprez
Offline
Joined: 12/01/2008
I was also going to suggest

I was also going to suggest the possibility of controlling certain areas like FrankM mentioned.

Also, capture-the-flag comes to mind, but that may be too complicated.

You could also introduce some kind of resource mechanic. Possibly as a victory condition, or as a cost for certain moves/abilities by some pieces, or both. Though you increasingly start to get away from the Chess similarity in such scenarios.

Tbone
Tbone's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/18/2013
Configurations

Maybe make certain configurations of unit types?

Rook Rook
Pawn

[or]

Pawn Pawn King

[etc.]

This would give you a certain number of victory points and/or a special ability.

Similar to that of Tash Kalar

Lots of possibilities and combinations and it can be countered as well as safely executed if one strategized correctly.

JohnBrieger
JohnBrieger's picture
Offline
Joined: 11/04/2016
Victory Conditions in abstract games

Some games, like go, use area control as a way to score points, so you might capture territories.

Some abstracts use capturing pieces (multiple) as a way to score. So first person to capture 5 pieces or whatever is appropriate for your game.

Some use moving a specific piece to a specific location. Onitama, you win either by capturing your opponent's master or by moving your master to the opponents starting space.

X3M
X3M's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/28/2013
JohnBrieger wrote:Some games,

JohnBrieger wrote:
Some games, like go, use area control as a way to score points, so you might capture territories.

Something along the lines of:
Get any piece to the 4 corners.
You need at least 4 pieces for that though.
But I like that idea.

MAR
MAR's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/23/2017
Alternate Victory Condition

Another thing that could be considered is a time limit. What you could do is assign points to each piece as has been suggested, but in addition there can be a time limit. THis can be preset to whatever time you want.

Not only could you attempt to score more points in the amount of time provided, but you could do something where fallen pieces regenerate after so much time has passed. They could regenerate at their original starting position or something long those lines.

Thus, the longer the game goes, the more chances you have to take high valued pieces multiple times. Granted, the longer the game goes, the more vulnerable you are unless you have good defense and you can prevent them from being taken.

It sounds fun to me- actually I kind of want to play it now.

-MAR

larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
I thought about area control

I thought about area control and capture the flag. It reminds me of Unreal Tournament Capture de flag and domination mode. Capture the flag is a bit more complicated to implement if you need to bring back the flag.

I had some new idea for the checkmate thing. My leader piece will be called the wizard. I like the idea of having a piece that moves like a queen but captures like a king. But the problem is that it makes it hard to checkmate.

This is when I got an idea from Chinese chess where kings cannot look at each other. In my game I could make my wizard piece move like a queen, but they cannot cross or stop at a space that is visible by the opposing wizard, else you are checkmate.

Diagonal check can be avoided by no being on the same space color, but octogonal check can only be avoided if another piece block the view. To this should make it easier to trap the opposing wizard piece.

----------------------------------------------------------------

I want to make at most 40 unique pieces and one thing I thought to increase possible permutation is to have different movement and capture pattern. But considering all pieces behave differently, it could become confusing to know the movement of all pieces on the board.

So I thought of matching movement and capture pattern except for the wizard and possibly the pawns. But I will try to give each piece a special power like: Jump, Fly, Push.

I will probably use a 7x7 board where each player will chose:

3 different pieces in 2 copies
and seven pawns.
plus the wizard.

Which ask to remember the movement of 9 piece including yours and your opponent.

Else I thought replacing 2 pawns with Elite Pawn which are slightly more powerful than regular pawn. And maybe 1 of the chosen piece could also be an elite piece which is more powerful than the 2 other pieces.

So now players will need to remember 11 piece patterns.

This is all the ideas I have so far.

JohnBrieger
JohnBrieger's picture
Offline
Joined: 11/04/2016
Avoiding memory with clever component design

I want to make at most 40 unique pieces and one thing I thought to increase possible permutation is to have different movement and capture pattern. But considering all pieces behave differently, it could become confusing to know the movement of all pieces on the board.

One thing The Duke does really well is reduce learning time for pieces by including the way each piece moves as part of the component. That way you don't have to memorize abstract patterns:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36235/duke

Here's a good image of what their pieces look like: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UeaatV2v54E/maxresdefault.jpg

pelle
pelle's picture
Offline
Joined: 08/11/2008
I do not think I have seen

I do not think I have seen the Duke, but at a convention last year someone showed me a game, Asian I believe, possibly from Japan, with a chess board and plastic (collectible?) figurines. Each figurine had their movement patterns printed on the base, so even if they were all unique you could just look at them to quickly see how they were allowed to move. Not very unlike those Duke pieces, but imagine with a big plastic figurine glued on top. Not sure if it was played on an exact 8x8 chess board, but I think so, or something similar.

Anyway having movement rules printed on the pieces solves the problem of having to memorize a lot. Although it might still lead to a game that is difficult to play (well) if overdone?

It is also a very old idea (game from ca 1900?):
https://wargamingmiscellanybackup.wordpress.com/category/polemos/
That game also has an alternative victory condition that I meant to mention. You can win by capturing the enemy king. But you can also win by eliminating the enemy ammunition wagon plus their cavalry (all non-cavalry pieces are frozen and can take no further moves after the wagon has been eliminated, adding another twist to the game).

FrankM
Offline
Joined: 01/27/2017
Maybe those tiles should be off to the side

Those are pretty big to have on the board. But maybe each type of piece in play has a cheat-sheet tile that the player keeps displayed. That way everyone can see that, for example, an Archer moves one space orthogonally but captures any number of spaces diagonally.

larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
Quote:One thing The Duke does

Quote:
One thing The Duke does really well is reduce learning time for pieces by including the way each piece moves as part of the component. That way you don't have to memorize abstract patterns:

Since I am looking to make a video game implementation, I can always show piece movement when the piece is selected. So the information is easy to access but, cannot be seen in a glance.

Another things I could possibly do is highlight the space that are under ennemy control when a player attemps to make a move so that he knows if I move there, another piece can capture me.

FrankM
Offline
Joined: 01/27/2017
Hmmmm, what does this thingie do?

larienna wrote:
Quote:
One thing The Duke does really well is reduce learning time for pieces by including the way each piece moves as part of the component. That way you don't have to memorize abstract patterns:

Since I am looking to make a video game implementation, I can always show piece movement when the piece is selected. So the information is easy to access but, cannot be seen in a glance.

Another things I could possibly do is highlight the space that are under ennemy control when a player attemps to make a move so that he knows if I move there, another piece can capture me.


I think the same machinery would allow the player to click on an opponent's piece and see how it could move.

larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
Of course.

Of course.

Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut