Dodgem
History
Dodgem was created in 1972 by Colin Vout in his book Challenging Puzzles. Vout was a mathematics student at the University of Cambridge. The original game was devised with two red cars and two blue cars on a three-column, three-row board. Players alternate turns moving their cars, with the red player moving either North, East or South, and the red player moving either North, East or West. This book, published by Cambridge University Press on October 1, 1993, features many puzzle games suitable for children from the ages of 14 to 16.
The Board
Dodgem is played on three-row, three-column board.
The Pieces
Player 1 controls two blue pieces and Player 2 controls two red pieces. At the start of the game, the pieces are arranged on the board as follows:
Rules
Player 1, on their turn, moves one of the blue pieces on the board east, north, or south to an adjacent unoccupied space. If one of the blue pieces is on the east edge of the board, then Player 1 may move it east off the board. A blue piece may not move west and may not be moved off the north or south edges of the board.
Player 2, on their turn, moves one of the red pieces on the board north, west, or east to an adjacent unoccupied space. If one of the red pieces is on the north edge of the board, then Player 2 may move it north off the board. A red piece may not move south and may not be moved off the west or east edges of the board.
The first player to move both of their pieces off the board wins. A player loses if they have no legal moves.
An example game of Dodgem is shown in the following animation:
References
Vout, C. and G. Gray. Challenging Puzzles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Berlekamp, E.R., J. H. Conway and R. K. Guy. Winning Ways Vol. 2. London: Academic Press, 1982.
Marlow, T.W. "The Game of Dodgem" The Games and Puzzles Journal 2006.
GamesCrafters
Desmond Cheung (Backend, Solving)
Ming Can Chang (Backend, Solving)
Stella Wan (Original GamesmanUni GUI)
Cameron Cheung (Current GamesmanUni GUI)