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Play abstract strategy board games online with friends or against bots

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127 points abstractbg | 1 comments | 16 Oct 25 19:12 UTC | HN request time: 0.198s | source
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dgrin91 ◴[23 Oct 25 02:19 UTC] No.45677459[source]▶
As a lay boardgamer, what makes a board game abstract?
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quuxplusone ◴[23 Oct 25 02:55 UTC] No.45677705[source]▶
No text, no chance, perfect information.

If you have to read things, roll things, or hide things, it's not an abstract.

(This fails to include backgammon and Parcheesi when maybe it should, and includes Zark City when somehow I feel it shouldn't, but it's not a bad starting point.)

Additionally: No dexterity (which is kind of a special case of "no chance").

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1. Paracompact ◴[23 Oct 25 04:00 UTC] No.45678045[source]▶
The most important subjective criterion, IMO, and the one from which all other objective criteria are just approximations, is that the game be as rules simple and as strategically deep as possible. If there are any superficial criteria, it's that the theming be "austere" (which is what makes Zark City stand out slightly).