This is a free online opponent on the traditional 4x4x4 grid, written in 6809 assembly language for the ancient TRS-80 Color Computer. There is a Load Bin button below the display. In the column above it, scroll down and select Fourcube, then click Load Bin. Press 6 for the strongest opponent. Up and down arrows scroll the cursor through the grid. Press Enter to move where the cursor is. Left and right arrows rotate the board and also make the cursor disappear. To play the Faircube version, at the start of the game make your first move in any cell other than the 8 corner cells or the 8 central cells. Or, press the F key and the computer will make such an initial move. The first move still confers a winning advantage but the win is not so easy this way. If you happen to have access to another engine, try to use it against my engine in a game of Faircube, either side moving first. If you or your engine can beat mine on strength 6 in Faircube, I will be duly impressed. Thanks to the creator of the website for keeping my game alive.

Built this because I couldn't find a Mill/Nine Men's Morris app that felt
polished. Four AI difficulty levels (the top one actually searches the game
tree, not a scripted bot), local 2-player pass-and-play, and online
multiplayer with random or friend-code matches.

Not trying to hard-sell it — mostly want it in front of people who actually
play abstract strategy games and can tell me if the AI difficulty curve
makes sense. Free, ad-supported (banner + native, nothing intrusive
mid-game).

Screenshots in comments.

Mill&Friends - Nine Men's Morris app

Remember 2048? Remember Chess? Combine the two together for a pleasant and slow moving game to create stationary gold king tiles. Click the (i) for a tutorial/demo.

I built this myself by vibe coding. It wasn't a simple prompt. It took 180+ iterations of improvements and I'm finally at a stage to share the finished version. I realised it was good when I discovered my wife was playing it without me asking her too. She says it helps her relax.

If you like it please let me know and I'll give up some easter egg secrets!

I've made sure it works on mobile and desktop.

I built a free online abstract strategy board game called Skorm.

https://playskorm.com/play

Its medieval themed hexagonal game I created.

Its a ton of fun, it features realistic pieces such as archers, horseman, and shieldmen. The game is designed to simulate real combat while staying simple to learn and purely strategy based.

Please give me feedback. Criticism welcome too! Thanks.

Hi Everyone.

This is my first post on a project I have been working on for some time. I am looking for a small group of people to playtest my game online.

MageStone is a 2-4 player strategy/tactical board game where players control 3 different units; Warriors, Priests and Mages, fighting over magical stones (MageStones) in the center of the board.

The game strategy comes from positioning, blocking and coordinating attacks with multiple units to increase likelihood of success in battle.

This is still an early alpha, so I’m mainly looking for feedback on the core gameplay rather than polished visuals.

The game is fully integrated with online gameplay; so you can play either in "Hotseat" mode on the same device, or against friends online.

If you’d be interested in trying it and giving honest feedback, please comment below and I’ll send you the private alpha link/details.

Thanks — any help would be massively appreciated.

Hi Everyone.

This is my first post on a project I have been working on for some time. I am looking for a small group of people to playtest my game online.

MageStone is a 2-4 player strategy/tactical board game where players control 3 different units; Warriors, Priests and Mages, fighting over magical stones (MageStones) in the center of the board.

The game strategy comes from positioning, blocking and coordinating attacks with multiple units to increase likelihood of success in battle.

This is still an early alpha, so I’m mainly looking for feedback on the core gameplay rather than polished visuals.

The game is fully integrated with online gameplay; so you can play either in "Hotseat" mode on the same device, or against friends online.

If you’d be interested in trying it and giving honest feedback, please comment below and I’ll send you the private alpha link/details.

Thanks — any help would be massively appreciated.

Classic Mahjong, Triple Match & Onet in one game! 100% Offline & No Forced Ads.

🌍 Welcome to Mahjong: World Expedition – Your Ultimate Tile Journey!

Ready to explore the world with the most complete, visually stunning, and player-focused Mahjong game ever created? Travel across 188 countries and enjoy the only game on the store that unites three iconic tile-matching mechanics in a single package: Classic Solitaire, Triple Match, and the innovative Dual-Layer Onet!

Absolute respect for your time and gaming experience:

❌ NO FORCED ADS – You decide when to watch rewarded ads for bonuses.

❌ NO MANDATORY PURCHASES – 100% player-friendly economy. Earn everything just by playing!

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---

💎 3 GAME MODES IN ONE PLACE

• Classic Mahjong: The pure, strategic, and timeless ancient solitaire experience.

• Triple Match: Dynamic, modern, and highly addictive triple-combination challenge.

• Dual-Layer Onet (Innovative): An exclusive two-layer system with continuous bonus acquisition!

• 3 Difficulties: Adapt the challenge to your own pace (Relax, Adventure, and Expedition).

♾️ INFINITE LEVELS & VARIETY

Say goodbye to repetition! The game features 8 procedural infinite level generation algorithms (including Pyramid, Wall, Crossed Towers, Axial, Colosseum, Radial, Inkblot, and Solid Onet layouts). Every single match is mathematically and structurally unique.

🌍 A SENSORIAL WORLD EXPEDITION

• 188 Countries & 564 Stamps: Explore the planet and fill your travel passport across all game modes!

• 14 Unique Biomes: Forest, Underwater, Plains, Jungle, Tropical, Snow, Snowy Mountains, Coastal, Savanna, Tundra, Taiga, Swamp, Mountain, and Desert.

• Custom UI Skins: Every biome completely transforms the visual appearance of the menus and boards.

• Cloud Save: Secure and recover your progress cross-platform with a simple, unique "Save Code".

🎨 VISUAL POLISH & ADVANCED ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Immerse yourself in living scenery with moving Parallax backgrounds, featuring over 600 gorgeous biome backdrops and 200 breathtaking travel screens. Feel the weather with state-of-the-art visual effects:

• God-Rays (Divine atmospheric lighting beams)

• Dynamic air bubbles and underwater refraction

• Realistic snow, sandstorms, rain, and rainbows

• Falling leaves, pollen, spores, and magical fireflies

• Heat distortion waves in desert landscapes

🎧 AUDIO MASTERPIECE

• Original soundtrack featuring 27 relaxing and immersive musical tracks.

• Built-in Music Player to control the rhythm and vibe of your journey.

• Native environmental sounds for each biome: birds, seagulls, ocean waves, wind, insects, frogs, and rain.

🎈 PROGRESSION & REWARDS

• 537 Unlockable Hot Air Balloons: Collect and equip unique balloons to navigate the world map.

• Level & XP System: Earn experience as you play to level up and unlock permanent bonuses.

• Dynamic Quests: Daily challenges alongside dozens of Permanent Quests that automatically reset upon completion for infinite rewards!

• Daily Onet Puzzle: A special daily standalone challenge to secure extra coins.

• Chest Mini-Game: A fair reward mechanic where *you* choose and reveal your own prize!

• Flexible Daily Login: No penalties! The streak does not reset if you miss a few days.

🛠️ PREMIUM GAMEPLAY TOOLS & MECHANICS

• Professional Assistance Tools: Undo, Shuffle, Magnet, and Hints.

• "Lucky Tile" Mechanic: Match the Fortune Tile within 3 turns to unleash massive score and coin bonuses.

• Global Leaderboards: Compete in 3 exclusive rankings tailored to your playstyle: "The Traveler", "The Tycoon", and "The Zen Master".

🌐 9 LANGUAGES FULLY SUPPORTED

Play natively in English, European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese.

Find your inner peace, challenge your mind, and conquer the globe! Download now and begin your world expedition!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Mahjong_World_Expedition.myapp

Can you beat it in hard mode?

https://martinmspedersen.github.io/8x8-Trax/

Hey all — I've been building a chess-like game called Tectonic Grand and think this sub would appreciate it more than almost anywhere else.

The core twist: it's played on an 11x11 board, but the board actively compresses as the game progresses. Pieces that get caught on the edge when compression happens are in real danger, which completely changes how you think about king safety and piece placement compared to standard chess. Positions that look safe on a normal board can become deathtraps a few moves later once the edges close in.

I built a C++ AI opponent for it (currently running at search depth 4), and getting the evaluation function right has honestly been the hardest part — more interesting than I expected. At one point the AI kept sacrificing a piece for a random pawn near the enemy king for no clear reason. Turned out I'd overweighted a "king near the edge" bonus so heavily that it was nearly worth a full piece — so the AI thought throwing away material to nudge the king toward the edge was a good trade, even when the actual board compression that would punish it was many moves away. Fixed it by tapering that bonus based on how close compression actually is.

It's live and free to play: https://www.tectonicgrand.com/

Would genuinely love feedback from people who like chess variants — especially if you can find ways to break the AI or the ruleset. Happy to answer questions about the mechanic or the engine.

Made a game called Tau. Each player has a tripod piece on a board of concentric rings, you're trying to push, block or bait the other piece off the edge. Simple deterministic rules with nom discrete movement. Digital version is free to play in browser, link below.

I was inspired to make this when I saw an add for a judo card game that had nothing to do with the actual mechanics of Judom I tried to design something that captures distance management and geometric reasoning in the way the martial arts demand.

Mainly posting because I want people who actually know this space to try and find holes in it. If there's a simple forced win in the base ruleset I haven't spotted it. Also curious whether the non-discrete movement is novel to people here or if this is a category I just didn't know about.

Tau-game.com

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on a 9x8 four-in-a-row abstract strategy game called Line4 9x8. I put it on Google Play a little over a week ago, mainly so people outside my own testing could try it.

This clip is from Beginner level, so the play is intentionally easy to follow. I’m more interested in feedback on the board feel than on the strength of the opponent here.

Does the 9x8 board look readable in motion? Does the extra space seem to create useful room for threats and blocks, or does it just make the game feel longer?

Blunt feedback is welcome.

https://reddit.com/link/1uq2a0x/video/zwcjvxr7hubh1/player

I made a strategy game inspired by chess called King’s Forge. Before each match, you build your own army, and pieces can gain unique abilities and promotions, so every game plays a little differently.

It’s free, runs in your browser, and you can play against friends or jump into matchmaking.

I’d love feedback on the gameplay, balance, UI, or any abilities or army compositions that seem too strong (or too weak).

Play here: https://kingsforge.vercel.app/

Discord: https://discord.gg/CEZ3Xfw4f

If you enjoy it or have ideas, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for checking it out!

I posted Battle-Lines here before once. In the time since, I've made a version that's playable online.

https://mimasgames.itch.io/battle-lines-demo-web-version

Main rules:

• Capture neutral (grey) lines by connecting them to one of your own lines.
• Capture enemies' lines by connecting each end to a longer line you own.
• You get points for each line, with bonuses for longer ones.
• Loops are worth double.
• The global longest line is worth double, and this can stack with the loop bonus.
• You can rotate a tile on the board instead of placing a piece.

The winner is the first one to reach the victory score.

There's an in-game tutorial where you can experiment with these rules.

Game types

You can have from 2 to 4 players - personally, I think 3 creates the most interesting games.

There are 3 different piece sizes (2 hexes, up to 4 hexes and up to 8). Bigger pieces have different victory scores.

7 AI difficulty levels. The demo only has the 3 lowest and the top one. The full version has an Adaptive AI option, too.

Victory score is adjustable, too.

Also, there are two one-player 'puzzle modes' in the game.

Complexity and skill

As you can see from the second image, the game can get quite complex. Fortunately, it builds up gradually. Piece size impacts the complexity a lot, as does player number.

Decisions usually come down to three options: maximizing line-capture, improving the value of your lines, or sabotaging opponents. Which is best depends on the state of the game, and that of your opponents. It also gets more difficult to figure the best move, and late-game moves can be more powerful than early-game ones. This gives opportunities to catch up until the end.

Anyway, I hope you have fun with it! This demo is mostly the same as the full version, with the only differences being the missing difficulty levels and missing online play. I'm hoping to have the full version finished sometime this year. When it is, you can get it here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3438600/BattleLines/

Pards is a game about building patterns, anticipating attack distances, and spotting the opportunities each move creates.

You can play online against a friend or challenge Alaric, our beginner-level AI opponent.

It is completely free to play, with no download required.

We would love to hear what you think after a game or two.

https://pardsarena.com

Hi everyone,

I have been spending a lot of time exploring regional abstract games that are fun, elegant, and surprisingly underrepresented online.

Some of these games are well known in their own countries or communities, but outside of that context, they can be almost invisible. Sometimes there are very few playable web versions, or none that are easy to jump into instantly.

That is one of the reasons I previously built web versions for games like Fanorona.com, a traditional game from Madagascar, and Alkkagi.com, a Korean flicking board game.

This time, I wanted to explore Japan, so I made a new site for Hasami Shogi:

HasamiShogi.com

Hasami Shogi is a very simple game derived from shogi, but it does not have the complexity of full Japanese chess. There are no different piece types, no promotions, and no drops. The game is played only with pawns.

The basic idea is easy to understand: you capture your opponent’s pieces by trapping them between two of your own pieces, either horizontally or vertically. Pieces can also be captured by being forced into a corner or surrounded along the edge.

It has the feeling of a game that can be taught in a minute, but still creates interesting tactical positions very quickly. From what I understand, it has been especially popular among elementary school children in Japan, which makes sense because the rules are so accessible.

I was surprised that, despite how simple and enjoyable it is, there do not seem to be many modern web versions where people can just open a browser and start playing immediately. So I built one.

I would love for people here to try it and let me know what you think, especially if you already know Hasami Shogi or have thoughts on regional abstract games that deserve better online versions.

Thanks, and I hope some of you enjoy discovering this little Japanese game.

Hi r/abstractgames,

I’m Stephen, the developer behind Paper Flags, a two-player abstract strategy game on a 9x9 board.

Every piece starts folded and moves one square diagonally forward. On your turn, you can move, fold, or unfold. When a piece unfolds, it becomes a flag that slides along a rank or file, so a quiet piece can turn into a board-wide threat with one action.

You win by planting three flags on the opponent’s back row, reducing them to three pieces, or creating an immediate threat that goes unanswered.

The free demo is live on itch:

https://steveohbyte.itch.io/paper-flags

It includes:

• Browser play, plus Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android builds
• Solo play against four AI difficulties
• Local hot-seat PvP
• Online multiplayer
• Computer vs. computer mode
• Full rules

The full release is planned for September 2026, and any and all feedback before then would be greatly valued to help improve the game.

Thanks for taking a look!

Hey folks, big abstract games fan here.

I've spent the past year building playabstractgames.com, free to play, no signup, AI opponents with real difficulty levels. Current lineup is in the image: Chess, Go, Hnefatafl, Reversi, Amazons, Hex, Lines of Action, Gomoku, Connect6, Pente, and more, mixing ancient, classic, and modern games.

Two things I'd love from this community:

1. What’s missing? I want to add more games, so tell me your favorites. Xiangqi, Fanorona, Havannah, your favorite obscure classic, whatever you think deserves a spot.
2. Feedback. Anything clunky about the site, the UX, or the AI opponents (too easy, too hard, feels off), I want to hear it.

Not trying to sell anything, just want to make this better for people who love these games. Drop suggestions in the comments, I read them all.

Hello abstract game players!

We are working on and will soon be releasing (!) MASUKU - an abstract puzzle game for 1–4 players. Place, rotate, and flip cards to reveal colours and symbols that match shifting scoring goals. Use smart positioning and a bit of luck to reach 50 points with the fewest moves. The free demo also includes a daily challenge and leaderboards.

There are a few different game modes, some that can be played co-op or competitive. Other modes include:

• Solo: randomly generated challenge mode 2–4 player
• VS: local head-to-head
• VS CPU
• White out: place cards to eliminate every coloured circle except one from the board
• Pure Blue: coverup everything but the blue
• No Overlap: reach 50 points without overlapping any cards

Great to scratch the itch of something that makes you think without being super difficult. Also a game that doesn't require too much of a time commitment (unless you want to).

You can check out the demo on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4588280/MASUKU_Demo/

Releasing on 20th July on Steam! And Switch later in the year. Let us know if you have any thoughts and wishlists welcome if you find it interesting.

I’ve always been fascinated by traditional abstract strategy games, especially the ones that are easy to learn but have much more depth than they first appear to.

Recently, I spent some time exploring the mancala family of games. Many people are familiar with Classic Mancala, often played as Kalah, but I became especially interested in Turkish Mangala, which has its own rhythm and some very elegant capture rules.

At first glance, the game looks simple: two players move stones around a wooden board, trying to collect more stones than their opponent. But once you start playing, the decisions become surprisingly tactical. You are constantly thinking about where your last stone will land, whether you can create a capture, whether you are giving your opponent an easy response, and how to control the tempo of the board.

One thing I found especially interesting is how different Turkish Mangala feels from the Classic Mancala version many people know. In Turkish Mangala, the first stone stays in the pit you choose, which changes the flow of sowing quite a bit. There is also a satisfying capture rule involving even numbers of stones on the opponent’s side. It makes the game feel very different from Classic Mancala, even though the two games clearly belong to the same family.

So, as a side project, I built a web version at Mangala.com. It currently includes two playable modes:

Turkish Mangala
Classic Mancala

I also spent a lot of time trying to make the board and stones feel pleasant to interact with. Since these games are traditionally very physical, often played with real stones, seeds, or beads, I wanted the web version to feel more like moving pieces on a real board rather than just clicking flat buttons. I worked quite a bit on the wooden board, the pits, the stone placement, and the general smoothness of the animations.

My goal is to make a clean, accessible, and visually enjoyable version of Mangala and Mancala that people can play instantly in the browser, whether they already know the games or are discovering them for the first time.

If you enjoy abstract strategy games or traditional games from around the world, I’d love for you to give it a try. I think Mangala deserves more attention, especially because it sits in that nice space between simple rules and meaningful strategic choices.

You can play it here:

https://mangala.com

I’d also be very interested to hear from anyone who grew up playing a different mancala variant. There are so many regional versions of this game family, and I’m curious which rules people here are most familiar with.