Symple (game)

Symple is a two-player abstract strategy game created in 2010 by Christian Freeling and Benedikt Rosenau.

Like Go, Symple is played on a 19x19 grid of lines; unlike Go, there are no mechanics allowing capture of stones once placed.

[4] Rosenau noticed that each of these games awarded points for "taking certain fields and imposing a tax [on groups of connected pieces]…"[4] and was looking for a generalized version of this concept.

"[4] Despite his initial skepticism, however, Freeling ended up thinking about a generalized version of the gameplay mechanic all the same.

The only two loose ends were the board configuration and deciding on a balancing rule against first player advantage.

The move protocol of Symple serves as a built in pie rule allowing for a natural balance.

The rule that allowed players to pass on their turns caused problems with cooperative drawing in competitive play.

This was pointed out to Freeling by Luis Bolaños Mures, creator of Ayu, and Keil, after he noticed several players passing their turns during game play.

Christian Freeling and Benedikt Rosenau consider move 12 to be a generally useful turn to begin shifting from placing down stones to growing, but it may be useful to switch sooner or later as strategies are more carefully analyzed.

Keeping groups disconnected is important in the early game because it maximizes growth potential.