046 – Puzzle Genres — Paper-and-pencil puzzles This type of games can be played solely with paper and pencils (or other writing implements), usually without erasing. In some board games — particularly, abstract strategy games like Gomoku and Connect Four — a piece, once played, will not be moved or removed from the board. Such games can be played either as board games or as paper-and-pencil games, while many other paper-and-pencil games require the use of writing utensils. Usually, the games are played by two persons. A majority of games in this category are today made for the computer and cell phones as videogames. ● Tic-tac-toe Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (British English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players — X and O — who take turns marking the spaces in a 3×3 grid. The player who succeeds in placing three of their marks in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row is the winner. Tic-tac-toe is most often played by young children — who often have not yet discovered the optimal strategy. ● Connect the dots Also known as dot to dot or join the dots, it is a form of puzzle containing a sequence of numbered dots. When a line is drawn connecting the dots the outline of an object is revealed. The puzzles frequently contain simple line art to enhance the image created or to assist in rendering a complex section of the image. Connect the dots puzzles are generally created for children. The use of numbers can be replaced with letters or other symbols. Puzzle Genres — Paper-and-pencil puzzles ● Page 1 of 5 ● Number Scrabble Also known as Pick15 or 3 to 15, it is a mathematical game where players take turns to select numbers from 1 to 9 without repeating any numbers previously used. The first player to amass a personal total of exactly 15 wins the game. The game is isomorphic to tic-tac-toe, as can be seen if the game is mapped onto a magic square. SOS ● Similar to Tic-tac-toe and Dots and boxes, but of greater complexity, it is paper and pencil game for two or more players. SOS is a combinatorial game when played with two players. In terms of game theory, it is a zero- sum, sequential game with perfect information. The object of the game is for each player to attempt to create the straight sequence S-O-S among connected squares (diagonally, horizontally or vertically) and to create as many such sequences as they can. ● Ultimate tic-tac-toe Also known as super tic-tac-toe, strategic tic-tac- toe or meta tic-tac-toe, it is a board game composed of nine tic-tac-toe boards arranged in a 3 × 3 grid. Players take turns playing in the smaller tic-tac- toe boards until one of them wins in the larger tic- tac-toe board. Compared to traditional tic-tac-toe, strategy in this game is conceptually more difficult and has proven more challenging for computers. ● Notakto Also known as neutral or impartial tic-tac-toe, the game is a combination of tic-tac-toe and Nim, played across one or several boards with both of the players playing the same piece (an "X"). The game ends when all the boards contain a three-in- a-row of Xs, at which point the player to have made the last move loses the game. Puzzle Genres — Paper-and-pencil puzzles ● Page 2 of 5 ● Order and Chaos A variant of the game tic-tac-toe played on a 6×6 gameboard, it was invented by Stephen Sniderman. ● Obstruction The game is played on a grid 6 x 6. One player is 'O' and the other is 'X'. The players take turns in writing their symbol in an empty cell. Placing a symbol blocks all of the neighboring cells from both players (zones indicated by shading). The first player unable to move loses. ● Dots and Boxes Two players take turns in drawing horizontal or vertical lines between dots on a grid. If a player completes the fourth side of a box they initial that box and must draw another line. The player who completes the most boxes wins. ● Sprouts The players take turns in joining dots according to simple rules, until one player cannot make a move. ● Gale Also known as Bridgit, the game is played by two persons on a rectangular array of blue and red dots. The players take turns in linking two adjacent dots of their own color. No two links may cross. The first player to form a chain of links across the board, from top to bottom (blue) or left Puzzle Genres — Paper-and-pencil puzzles ● Page 3 of 5 to right (red), wins. ● TwixT The game is played on a large grid of dots, at least 12 x 12, excluding the four corner dots. One player uses a blue pen and the other uses a red pen. The top and bottom rows belong to blue, and the leftmost and rightmost columns belong to red. The players try to link their dots to form a continuous chain from one side of the board to the other. A player's link can cross one of their own links but not one of their opponent's. The first player to create a continuous chain of linked pegs connecting their border rows wins the game. ● Word Square Players create word squares with the same letters, and the one who creates the square containing the most words wins. Each player draws a 4 x 4 grid which they keep concealed from the other player. They then take turns in naming a letter and each player must write it immediately into one of the cells in their grid. Players can choose any letter and letters can be repeated. When the grid is full, the players count up the number of different four-letter words they have made, reading across, down, or diagonally (left to right). ● Cram Also known as Plugg, the game is played on a matrix of dots. The players take turns linking adjacent pairs of dots with a horizontal or vertical link. No dot can be linked more than once. The first player unable to move loses. Puzzle Genres — Paper-and-pencil puzzles ● Page 4 of 5 ● Hangman It is a guessing game for two or more players. One player thinks of a word, phrase or sentence and the other(s) tries to guess it by suggesting letters within a certain number of guesses. If the guessing player suggests a letter which occurs in the word, the other player writes it in all its correct positions. If the suggested letter does not occur in the word, the other player draws one element of a hanged man stick figure as a tally mark. The player guessing the word may, at any time, attempt to guess the whole word. If the word is correct, the game is over and the guesser wins. Otherwise, the other player may choose to penalize the guesser by adding an element to the diagram. ● Crossword A crossword is a word puzzle and word search game that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The game's goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases (horizontally and vertically), by solving clues which lead to the answers. Shaded squares are used to separate the words or phrases. Kakuro is a Japanese variant. ● Sudoku … is number-placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid with digits so that each column, each row and each of the nine 3×3 subgrids ("boxes", "blocks", "regions") that compose the grid contain all of the digits from 1 to 9. The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid, which for a well-posed puzzle has a single solution. Source : Wikipedia Puzzle Genres — Paper-and-pencil puzzles ● Page 5 of 5 .