Chopsticks
Rules
Chopsticks is a hand game. The game starts with two players stretching out one finger of each of their hands.
Definition: The "value" of a hand is how many fingers on that hand are outstretched.
To move, either perform an attack or a transfer.
Attack: Use one of your hands of value at least 1 to attack one of your opponent's hands of value at least 1. Doing so will add the value of your hand to that of the opponent's hand. If the sum of the values of your hand and the opponent's hand is at least 5, then your opponent's hand is killed and its value is set to 0.
Transfer: Take the total value of your hands' values and redestribute it between your hands, in a way (1) that is different and (2) such that the value of each hand is at most 4 and at least 1 (otherwise, a player would be allowed to kill their own hand). (See the Variants section for variations on rules restricting the kinds of transfers that can be performed.) It is legal to transfer fingers from an alive hand to a dead hand. To demonstrate what kinds of transfers are legal, consider the following example: your left hand has value 3 and your right hand has value 1. In this case, you can transfer one finger from your left hand to your right hand because the new 2-2 split is different from original 3-1 split. However, it is not legal to transfer two fingers from your left hand to your right hand, because a 3-1 split is not different from 1-3 split. It is also not legal to transfer one finger from your right hand to your left hand, because that kills your right hand.
Variants
- Allow Pass-Equivalent Transfers: If the value of one of your hands is X and the value of your other hand is Y, you are allowed to perform a transfer between your hands that results in either (1) your first hand having value X and your second hand having value Y OR (2) your first hand having value Y and your second hand having value X. If pass-equivalent transfers are allowed, then you are allowed to transfer zero fingers between hands or transfer N fingers from the larger-value hand to the smaller-value hand, where N is the magnitude of the value difference between your hands.
- Allow Full Transfers: You can transfer all fingers from one of your hands to the other, as long as the total of your hands is at most 4. Transferring all fingers from one hand to the other will kill the first hand.
GamesCrafters
Cameron Cheung (Backend, GamesmanUni GUI)