SOS (game)

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An incomplete SOS game

SOS is a pencil and paper game for two or more players. It's similar to tic-tac-toe and cheese boxes , but has a higher level of complexity.

SOS is a combinatorial game when played with two players. In terms of game theory , it is a sequential zero-sum game with perfect information .

Style of play

Before the game begins, a square grid with at least 3 by 3 squares is drawn. Players can draw either an "S" or an "O" in any free square during each round. It is not necessary to use the same letter every round. The object of the game is to create the sequence SOS in a straight line (either horizontally, vertically or diagonally). If a player succeeds in creating the sequence, it is his turn again and can add letters to the field until it is no longer possible to create the sequence within one round.

To keep track of which player generated the SOS sequence, one player can, for example, circle his generated sequences while the other player crosses out his sequences. As soon as the playing field is completely filled, the game ends and the player with the most generated SOS sequences wins. If the field is filled and the number of generated sequences is identical between both players, the game ends in a draw.

In an alternative variant of the game, the player who first generates an SOS sequence wins, while the game ends in a draw if no sequence is generated.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bears: A Paper-and-pencil game (en-US) . In: DeepFUN , August 4, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2016. 
  2. ↑ Thomas S. Ferguson: Game Theory  (= Part I: Impartial combinatorial games), 2nd edition, Mathematics Department, UCLA, 2003. .
  3. ^ SoS Game .
  4. ^ New Maths Ahead Book 5 ( en ). Orient Blackswan, 2014, ISBN 9788125023852 .
  5. ^ Angie Harrelson: Patterns - Literature, Arts, and Science ( en ). Prufrock Press Inc., July 1, 2007, ISBN 9781593632618 .
  6. ^ Ronald J. Gould: Mathematics in Games, Sports, and Gambling: The Games People Play, Second Edition ( en ). CRC Press, October 28, 2015, ISBN 9781498719537 .

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