18.2.15 Seedhop

The game of Seedhop is a contest said to have originated in ancient Hatsheran. Though the board itself is simple, with only cups and seeds to mark the flow of play, a skilled player soon learns that every choice may ripple far beyond the immediate turn. Victory belongs not merely to the swift, but to the one who best measures position, timing, and opportunity.

In order to play Seedhop, you must have a Seedhop board, or be in an establishment that has one available.

The commands that are involved with Seedhop are:

SEEDHOP CHALLENGE <whomever>   : Challenges another person present to a game of
                                 Seedhop.

SEEDHOP ACCEPT                 : Accepts an outstanding challenge to a game of
                                 Seedhop.

SEEDHOP VIEW                   : Displays the current state of the Seedhop
                                 board.

SEEDHOP SELECT <1-6>           : Selects one of your six cups and moves all
                                 seeds from it according to the rules of the
                                 game.

SEEDHOP RESET                  : Clears the current board and any unfinished
                                 challenge or game upon it.

SEEDHOP HELP                   : Displays a summary of the game and its
                                 commands.

Once a game begins, one player is chosen to move first. Players then take turns selecting one of the six cups on their side of the board and sowing its seeds around the board. If your final seed lands in your own storage cup, you earn an additional turn.

If your final seed lands in an empty cup on your side of the board, you capture that seed along with all seeds in the directly opposite cup on your opponent's side.

The game ends when one player's six cups are empty. Any seeds remaining on the other player's side are then scored as well, and the player with the greater number of scored seeds is the victor.

Note, this game is known as Mancala in the real world.