Rubik's Magic
The Board
Rubik's Magic is played on a four-row, four-column board.
The Pieces
The first player (CIRCLE) has eight tiles with a circle printed on each of them (circle-tiles) to place. The second player (DIAMOND) has eight tiles with a diamond printed on each of them (diamond-tiles) to place. All tiles are double-sided — each of them has a dark side and a light side.
Rules
The board is empty at the beginning of the game. CIRCLE starts the game by placing one of their circle-tiles on one of the sixteen spaces in the grid, either side facing up.
Then, DIAMOND first flips the tile CIRCLE placed into an adjacent but not diagonal space, then DIAMOND places one of their diamond-tiles, either side facing up, on an empty space.
Then, CIRCLE first flips the tile DIAMOND placed into an adjacent but not diagonal space, then places one of their circle-tiles, either side facing up, on an empty space.
Each move from this point forward involves (1) first flipping one of the opponent's pieces on the board into an adjacent but not diagonal space, then (2) placing a tile, either side facing up, on an empty space. A player can flip any tile on the board belonging to the opponent, not just the one that the opponent placed on their previous turn.
If a player cannot flip any of their opponent's tiles on the board, then the player skips this step and only places one of their own tiles.
The original Rubik's Magic instruction manual states, "A player wins when a row of three [tiles belonging to the same player all facing the same way up] is created which cannot be broken on the opponent's next move or when a player is forced to create a row of three of the opposing player's panels." We will present more rigorously defined conditions for determining who wins, but before doing so, we introduce the concept of a "locked" three-in-a-row.
A "locked" three-in-a-row is a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line of three tiles both belonging to the same player and facing the same way up (i.e., all dark-side-up or all light-side-up), such that all spaces orthogonally adjacent to each tile in the line is occupied by a tile (and thus the line cannot be destroyed by the opponent on their next turn). The following image shows an example of a "locked" three-in-a-row of dark-side-up diamond-tiles.
Now, we present the rigorously defined conditions for determining who wins. Let us refer to the player-to-move as "A" and their opponent as "B".
- If, on "A"'s turn, before making their move, there is already a (not necessarily "locked") three-in-a-row of tiles belonging to "A", then "A" wins. This can occur if, for example, "A" on their previous turn created a three-in-a-row but "B" neglected to break it; or if "B" created a three-in-a-row for "A". It does not matter if "B" has a three-in-a-row, or even a "locked" three-in-a-row, at this point; "A" still wins.
- Otherwise, if it is "A"'s turn and before making their move there are no three-in-a-rows of pieces belonging to "A" but there is already a "locked" three-in-a-row of tiles belonging to "B", then "A" loses.
- Suppose all tiles have been placed and the board is full. If there is a three-in-a-row, then it is necessarily locked, so the game is a win for the player the three-in-a-row belongs to; otherwise if there are no three-in-a-rows, then the game is a tie.
GamesCrafters
Jeffrey Chiang (Backend)
Bryon Ross (Backend)
Cameron Cheung (Backend, GamesmanUni GUI)