Agon (game)
Encyclopedia
Agon is an abstract strategy game
with perfect information
(i.e. no random or unknown elements). Agon may be the oldest board game
played on a 6 by 6 by 6 hexagonally tiled board, first appearing as early as the late Eighteenth Century in France. The game reached its greatest popularity a hundred years later when the Victorians embraced it for its combination of simple moves and complex strategy.
The Pieces: Each player has one queen and six pawns a.k.a. guards.
The Objective: To place your queen in the center hexagon and surround her with all six of her guards.
Moves: Think of the Agon board as a series of concentric circles. Pieces can move one space at a time either in the same ring or the ring closer to the center. Only the queen is allowed to move into the center hexagon.
Capturing: A piece is captured when there are two enemy pieces on either side of it. The player with the captured piece must use his or her next move to place the captured piece on the outside hexagon.
If the captured piece is a guard, the player whose piece was captured can choose where on the outer hex to place the piece. If the piece is a queen, the player who made the capture decides where the queen should go.
If more than one piece is captured in one turn, the player whose pieces were captured must move them one turn at a time.
If a player surrounds the center hexagon with guards without getting the queen into position, that player forfeits the game.
Eugene Provenzo's Favorite Board Games You Can Make and Play gives detailed plans for making agon sets. Versions of agon are published by Waddingtons Games, House of Marbles and Kruzno.
Abstract strategy game
An abstract strategy game is a strategy game, aiming to minimise luck, and without a theme. Almost all abstract strategy games will conform to the strictest definition of: a board or card game, in which there is no hidden information, no non-deterministic elements , in which two players or teams...
with perfect information
Perfect information
In game theory, perfect information describes the situation when a player has available the same information to determine all of the possible games as would be available at the end of the game....
(i.e. no random or unknown elements). Agon may be the oldest board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
played on a 6 by 6 by 6 hexagonally tiled board, first appearing as early as the late Eighteenth Century in France. The game reached its greatest popularity a hundred years later when the Victorians embraced it for its combination of simple moves and complex strategy.
The Pieces: Each player has one queen and six pawns a.k.a. guards.
The Objective: To place your queen in the center hexagon and surround her with all six of her guards.
Moves: Think of the Agon board as a series of concentric circles. Pieces can move one space at a time either in the same ring or the ring closer to the center. Only the queen is allowed to move into the center hexagon.
Capturing: A piece is captured when there are two enemy pieces on either side of it. The player with the captured piece must use his or her next move to place the captured piece on the outside hexagon.
If the captured piece is a guard, the player whose piece was captured can choose where on the outer hex to place the piece. If the piece is a queen, the player who made the capture decides where the queen should go.
If more than one piece is captured in one turn, the player whose pieces were captured must move them one turn at a time.
If a player surrounds the center hexagon with guards without getting the queen into position, that player forfeits the game.
Eugene Provenzo's Favorite Board Games You Can Make and Play gives detailed plans for making agon sets. Versions of agon are published by Waddingtons Games, House of Marbles and Kruzno.