*Star
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- This article is about the board game *Star. For the mathematical game * from combinatorial game theory, see Star (game).
*Star is a complex abstract strategy game by Ea Ea, a designer of Y. It is a redevelopment of his earlier game Star.
[edit] Rules
*Star can be played on graphs of different sizes. The three shown boards have 105, 180, and 275 nodes of which 30, 40, and 50 are on the perimeter. Note that the edges between the five centermost nodes cross each other.
Two players alternately place stones of their colour on empty nodes. The game ends when the board is filled up (or when both players agree that the score is decided).
Each node on the perimeter of the board counts as one "peri". Connected groups of one color that contain fewer than two peries are removed, with the possible peri going to the surrounding group. Each remaining group is worth the number of peries it contains minus four. The player with more points wins. Draws are decided in favour of the player owning more corners.
For example, a group containing exactly two peries is worth 2-4 = -2 points. This is the same as the two peries being given to the opponent. That is, creating a group with just two peries is worthless unless it disconnects opponent groups or contains a corner.
[edit] Comparison to Other Games
*Star is closely related to games of Hex and Y where the goal is to connect certain sides of the board to each other. On the other hand, *Star is closely related to Go in which the goal is to gather more territory than the opponent. Often survival of a group in Go is achieved by connecting it to another one. In Go, all the surrounded area is counted as territory although in practice most of the territory is gathered near the perimeter.
An earlier version of the game, Star, has a uniform and thus more elegant board, but it lacked in balance between edge and center moves. The author wrote: "*Star is what those other games wanted to be."
