Vying Games : Y

Y (or the Game of Y) is member of the connection family of games. Perhaps the most famous member of this family is Hex. The goal in connection games is usually to create an uninterrupted path from one part of the board to another. Y is played on a triangular shaped grid of hexagons and the goal is to connect all three sides. The name Y comes from the fact that one such winning connection looks like a Y.

Y was invented in the 1950s by Craige Schensted and Charles Titus. Y is often played on a board of regular hexagons, but Schensted and Titus suggested the game was improved by having 3 points with 5-connectivity instead of 6-connectivity (as provided by hexagon-shaped cells). At this time Vying Games only supports Y on the simpler all hexagon board.

Rules

The rules of Y are simple. The two players -- red and blue -- take turns filling in one hexagon on the board with their color. The winner is the first player who can connect all 3 sides of the board with an uninterrupted group of their color.

Note: The corners count as members of the 2 sides they neighbor, so filling in a corner can fulfill 2 out of 3 requirements for a win. However the corners generally considered weaker strategically because of the distance to the 3rd side.

Draws are not possible in Y.

Pie Rule

The pie rule is used to negate the first player advantage in Y. If you're the second player you can elect to swap sides after the first move. This puts pressure on the first player to find a fair first move.

Variable Board Sizes

Currently, Vying Games supports 3 different board sizes: 12, 13, and 14. (Measured as the length of one side of the triangle).

Resources

• Y at HexWiki
• Y at Wikipedia