ASIDES
One ‘L’
of a game
Colin Ledsome CEng FIED looks at an engagingly simple
two-person game. Spoiler alert: it can prove addictive!
Simple two-person games, like Noughts and Crosses (Tic-Tac-Toe, if you
are American), usually give an advantage to the fi rst player and often the
game is inevitably short. (There is a maximum of nine moves in Noughts
and Crosses.)
Some years ago, Edward de Bono (polymath inventor of ‘lateral thinking’)
set out to design a simple game, which gave equal chances to both players,
and produced the L-game. It is set on a 4 x 4 square grid. Each player has an
L-shaped piece, coloured both sides, and there are two square neutral pieces.
You can cut it all out of stiff card in fi ve minutes.
The starting point is set out in the diagram. At each turn, a player must fi rst
The game ends when
some time before a winning
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Maxim_Kazmin/stock.adobe.com
Starting position
move their own L-shape,
which can be rotated or
fl ipped over, to a new
position. They may then
move only one of the
neutral squares, if they
wish.
one of the players cannot
fi nd a new position for their
piece. Games may be over
quickly or can go on for
position is found. It is very
addictive. Have fun!
/www.ied.org.uk
/stock.adobe.com