Learned of an interesting variation on multiplayer games, Zengo. Where three people alternate sides in a two player Go game. Everybody tries to make the best move on their turn, each turn one plays a different side. You get to learn in a non-competitive zen way.
Zen games can be played with an odd number of people and even number of sides, like Zenchess. Or, an odd number of sides and even number of people, like Zentrichess. Two or three people can even play Zenscrabble.
Learning to play Go, chess, chess variants, and Stratego. Like Scrabble.
Also interested in multiplayer variants of Go and chess. I think they add the metaphorical dimension of life where one has allies and nonallies, and switchable allies. And that there can only be one winner, and many losers. Go interests me, in that it's still winnable by humans over computers in individual game, sadly not in a best of series. :( Especially, since Jeopardy! and no Go fell to the AI's.
Since most board games are metaphors for war, in war civilians are an important element or unimportant. I had the idea of adding the non-combatant element to represent that non-combatants take the most casualties in warfare. Use black and white go stones on the board squares not occupied by game pieces to represent civilians. When the opponent moves on to a square with your civilian it is taken from the board. Alternatively, take the stones whenever a piece moves there opponent or friendly to represent fratricide. One could add the rule that if all your civilians are dead you lose. In scoring type games loss of your civilians counts against you and/or loss of opponent’s civilians counts against you too. For go, one could add two other colors of stones to represent civilian populations. Or a single color on the points to represent a universal civilian population. This would make Zen games dark Zen?
