MEETING A YOUNG GAME INVENTOR
As this is the first time that I've ever attended a Games Convention like this, I didn't know what to expect. Yes, I've attended MENSA conventions in the United States, but that didn't prepare me for the 4th Mind Sports Olympiad in London, England. It has been a fascinating experience, and by far the best experience has been meeting so many new people with interesting stories to tell.
Tonight, I met a young game inventor from Sussex who just happens to be the younger sister of another surprising young person who was the subject of another article last year. While she may have invented a game that already exists in different form, it is, still, her invention, and I applaud the family that values education and games, and raises such a crop of amazing children.
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Julia Howell is six years old. She plays Othello and Boku, but her favourite game is Scrabble. She loves Mathematics in school, wants to be a writer when she grows up, and loves to sing and play the piano. She is here to play in the Boku tournament while her nine-year-old brother David plays in the Ron Banwell Memorial MSO Master's Chess Tournament here at the Mind Sports Olympiad.
Julia Howell (6)
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During a quiet evening, while her brother was waiting to find out who he would be paired up with tomorrow, she got bored and sat down at a Dama board. She didn't know any rules, so she created a game and talked her brother into playing it with her.
I learned about it when Dan Glimne, the MSO Chief Arbiter, found me and told me that I definitely needed to take some pictures of this remarkable young girl who invented her own game. I grabbed my camera, I happen to be the official cameraman for the MSO, and followed him out into the West Hall where the game was in progress. I took some pictures (coming soon) and then talked to Julia for a while.
Julia said that this is the first game that she has ever invented, but she plans to invent more, and has promised to show me a good one next year. I asked her what she would do if she couldn't play games for a day. She replied that she'd want to read a book, and said that her favourite author is Enid Blyton (Famous Five, Secret Seven, etc.)
After talking for some time, she offered to teach me to play the game, and my version of her rules is below. I wanted to describe the rules in her words, but the only way I can explain it in her words would be with a video tape of her teaching me the game, but I didn't think to get that. Sorry.
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Julia comes from a game-playing family. Her brother David, at 8 years old, beat Dr. John Nunn last year to set a world record for the youngest person to ever beat a Grand Master at Chess. Her father plays games and has passed his love of games on to the children. Her mother was a championship fencer in her home country.
Julia and brother David (8) play Jule's Game.
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I look forward to learning more about this up and coming game inventor in years to come, but especially the game she promised to teach me next year.
Now, without further ado, let's learn how to play Jule's Game (I think it was her brother who named it that):
Julia teaches Mazeman how to play Jule's Game |
JULE'S GAME
Note: This description is mine. To explain in Jule's words would require video.
Jule's Game can be played on any 8x8 board. Julia taught me to play the game on an 8x8 Dama board. You need 16 pieces of each "colour" (of course, I found the Dama pieces to be a little bit different as far as "colour" goes, because one was yellow around with black top, and the other was black around with yellow top).
Each player arranges his 16 pieces in a 4x4 square in his left corner, shown here with A and B:
. . . . A A A A
. . . . A A A A
. . . . A A A A
. . . . A A A A
B B B B . . . .
B B B B . . . .
B B B B . . . .
B B B B . . . .
The object of the game is to move all sixteen of your pieces into your opponent's starting position with a combination of King's moves and any-direction Checker Jumps, but without removing the opponent's pieces from the board.
Valid Moves
King's Move:
One piece may move into any of the eight adjacent squares if that square is empty, and, of course, if it does not go off the board.
Checker's Jump:
One piece may jump over exactly one other piece in a straight line, into an empty space on the other side of that piece. If another jump is immediately possible, the player may make as many jumps as can be legally made. Note that these "jumps" may be in any of the eight directions, and can be forward, backward, left, right, or diagonal.
There, you have enough to get you started. Julia taught me the game, and we enjoyed playing with each other. I would imagine that it's one that you might enjoy playing, especially with your children.
Postscript
Jule's Game might be a variation of Halma but she certainly did not know that when she invented her game. Yuli, a Netherlands contestant, told me this after the interview. I learned this after the interview from a Netherlands contestant who observed the game in action. As I replied, it doesn't matter if the game has been invented before, she invented it this time.
