2002 Unequal Forces Game Design Competition - Winner

Join the Discussion Discuss this feature and anything else related to board games in the About Board Games Forum.     Related Resources • Unequal Forces Finalists • 8x8 Design Competition Finalists • Breakthrough - 8x8 Design Winner • More Free Board Games    Elsewhere on the Web • Abstract Games Magazine • Strategy Gaming Society

by Erik Arneson

This site, along with the Strategy Gaming Society and Abstract Games Magazine, sponsored the 2002 Unequal Forces Board Game Design Competition. We received about 50 entries with a wide array of mechanics, themes, and complexity.

The goal was simple -- design a great two-player game with unequal forces using pieces most people are likely to have around the house. But achieving that goal was anything but simple. A great game of unequal forces is exceedingly difficult to design.

After the judges finished their work, one game emerged as the clear consensus winner of the 2002 Unequal Forces Board Game Design Competition: Unlur, designed by Jorge Gomez Arrausi.

Unlur is an abstract strategy game played on a hexagon-shaped tesselation of hexagons with eight hexagons on each side. (If you had to look up "tesselation," you're not alone -- so did I. It means a mosaic pattern.)

As required by the rules of the competition, Unlur is a game of unequal forces -- each player has a different objective. In this case, the objectives are quite different in terms of difficulty. White must connect two sides of the hexagon (easier), while black must connect three (more difficult). Where Arrausi's design really shines is in the method he employs to balance the game -- players alternately place black stones on any vacant space until one player passes. When one player passes, the other player becomes white and he makes white's first move.

So if you want the easier objective (white's goal of connecting just two sides), you can never claim it for yourself. You must wait for your opponent to give it to you. But before that happens, you may be forced to give it to your opponent! It's wonderful to feel the tension build as both players know what must inevitably happen.

If you haven't already played it, be sure to give Unlur a try.

Congratulations to Jorge Gomez Arrausi and all the other designers who entered this year's contest -- it was a real delight to see the variety of entries.