Mū Tōrere
History
Mū Tōrere is a deceptively simple game. Early settlers of present-day New Zealand were often beaten when playing against Māori players due to carelessness. A game that requires a surprising amount of wits and skill, Mū Tōrere is a two-player game that originated from Māori tribes. Since Mū Tōrere existed much longer than recorded, the complete history of this game is incomplete. The game was first recorded by Europeans or Polynesian seafarers in the 1850s. These early settlers discovered a local game that was played by the Ngati-Porou tribe of the Māoris of the East Cape district of New Zealand. However, during the discovery, Mū Tōrere was just starting to lose interest among the tribe thus was never described to the general public. The game became popular again when it was described in R.C.Bell's Board and Table Games, volume 2 (Oxford University Press 1969).
The Board
Mū Tōrere is played on an eight-pointed star. Each endpoint of the star is connected to its two neighboring star endpoints. The center of the star is referred to as the “pūtahi” and the endpoints of the star are referred to as the “kewai”.
The Pieces
The first player moves around four pieces of one color, and the second player moves around four pieces of another color. At the start of the game, the pieces are arranged on the board as follows:
Rules
To move: At all times there will be one unoccupied point of the star. Move one of your pieces that is adjacent to the unoccupied point to the unoccupied point. Two pieces may not occupy the same point and a piece may not jump over another piece.
To win: Leave your opponent with no legal moves. You win if your opponent has no pieces adjacent to the unoccupied point, i.e., your opponent's pieces are all trapped.
Example piece movements are shown in the following animation:
Variants
- Misere: The objective is to force your opponent to trap your pieces.
References
The board game of Mu Torere, New Zealand in History, 2005
Jelliss, George. "Mu Torere" The Games and Puzzles Journal 17(2006).
Mu-Torere - Maori game from New Zealand, Sandy Greenfarb, 2006
GamesCrafters
Joe Jing, Jeff Chous (Backend, Solving)
Jingfan "Harry" Xia, Cameron Cheung (GamesmanUni GUI)