Knight Fight

DM1 / DM10: Knight Fight

This simple abstract strategy game throws in the kitchen sink along with its Anomalies.

This game is played in two bouts.

In the first bout, the DMO will decide whether they want to play as X or O; in the next bout, the EC decides.

In each bout, there are two knights at the center of a 11x12 board, as shown below, represented with an X and an O. X moves first, then players alternate moves. On a player’s turn, they must spawn a knight from another knight of their type by specifying an unoccupied space a knight’s move away.

The first player to have an orthogonal four-in-a-row (four of their own knights all adjacent horizontally or vertically four-in-a-row) at the end of their move wins the bout. Also note that diagonal four-in-a-rows do not count.

If a player has no available moves remaining, then they lose the bout.

Players have 60 seconds to make each move. Players also have three minutes of reserve time per bout. If a player runs out of reserve time, their opponent has a minute to make a move for them. If they can’t move on time too, the move is RNGed.

If a player wins two bouts, they win the DM. If both players win one bout, whichever player won their bout with less total moves (including both players' moves) wins the DM. If there is a tie, the DMO wins.

Anomalies

Airdrop: Twice during a bout, players can place manure on an unoccupied space along with their knight placing action. No players can place a knight on that space for the rest of this game. You cannot use this action twice in a single turn.

Bidding: Instead of alternating turns, players bid chips instead. Both players begin with 20 chips. They privately submit a number of chips to bid along with their move (they have one minute to do so); the player who bids more chips gives that number of chips to their opponent. The player who bids less chips does not pay anything. Then, the player who wins the bid plays their knight on the given space. If there is a tie, the player who lost the most recent bid wins the current bid. In the first round of each bout, X wins the first bid.

Coloration: In each bout, every space is randomly colored red, blue, or yellow. On the first move, the first player can play on any legal square, but after that, players may only play knights on squares that have a different color than that of their opponent’s last move. If a player does not have a legal move, as per usual, they lose the bout.

(Edge Case: The board is re-randomized if either player's initial knight can only move to spaces of one color.)

Horse Trap: The moving player’s opponent can select a space to trap each turn in the initial minute the moving player has to place a knight. If the moving player plays a knight on the trapped space, the played knight is removed from play, and the moving player may not trap a space on their opponent’s next turn. Traps do not persist between turns.

Sickness: When placing a knight, players must also specify the knight it spawned from -- the knight it spawned from becomes weakened. If a weakened knight spawns another knight, it vanishes from play (and new knights can be spawned on its previous space). If the placed knight is trapped from Horse Trap, the original knight does not become weakened.

Snapshot: Players only see the locations of their own knights and their opponent’s last move. As such, they must remember their opponent’s previous actions. If a player makes an illegal move, they pass their move. If Bidding is in play, the losing player then gets to play instead. Players cannot have any form of notes if Snapshot is active, including another spreadsheet/board.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Players no longer win by making 4-in-a-rows. Instead, players win 1 point for each vertical or horizontal 3-in-a-row made with knights of their color. (Note that a 4-in-a-row consists of 2 3-in-a-rows, a 5-in-a-row, consists of 3 3-in-a-rows, and so on). The first player to reach 6 points on their turn wins the bout. If a player cannot move, the game does not end early; that player passes their move. If neither player can move, whoever has more points wins. Points are re-calculated at the end of each round if Sickness is in play (that is, a horse that vanishes does not score in a 3-in-a-row).