wuzhi
History
Wuzhi is a popular Chinese board game in China that requires two players to play. This game resembles Connect Four in that the objective of the game is to be the first player to get five of their pieces in a line.
The Board
The most popular playing board is a 14-rows-by-14-columns wooden board that is crisscrossed with indented lines, dividing the board into 196 equal squares.
The Pieces
The game pieces use for Wuzhi are often black and white stones, similar to the stones that are used in the game, Go. Since the game is played on a flat surface board, any other substitute game pieces can be used to play this game.
Rules
To move: Each player will take alternating turns to put their pieces on the board. During each player’s turn, drop a colored stone of that player’s color on an intersecting line within the boundaries of the game board.
To win: The first player to get five of their colored playing pieces in a row wins (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally). Note that player are able to skip their turns but cannot make more than one move per turn
To begin, each player should take all of one color (black or white). After deciding which player will be the first to move, that player will place their one of their colored stones on an intersection where the indented lines connect. Once that is done, the first player’s turn ends and the next player will place one of their own colored stones down on the game board. The players are allowed to block each other’s stone pieces to prevent each other from getting pieces to connect five in a row. The game will end when a player is able to get five of their own pieces into a row.
Variants
- Misere: Force your opponent into getting five of his pieces in a row.
- Board Size: Change the board size
- Diagonals: Change whether diagonal movement is allowed.
Alternate Names
- Wu Zhi Qi
- Wu Qi
- Wu Zi Qi
- Gomuku
- 5 In A Row
Gamescrafters
- Dan Yan
- Diana Fang