EinStein würfelt nicht

"EinStein würfelt nicht!" ("... does not play dice") is a board game, designed by Ingo Althöfer, a professor of applied mathematics in Jena, Germany. It is the official game of an exhibition about Einstein in Germany during the Einstein Year (2005).

The name of the game in German has a double meaning:
* When you only have one cube ("ein Stein") remaining, you no longer need to 'play dice', but simply move your cube.
* It is a play on Einstein's famous quote "I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice." (See Criticisms of the Copenhagen interpretation)

Rules

The game is played on a square board with a 5×5 grid. Each player has six cubes, numbered one to six, which are placed as illustrated in the image. During setup, each player can arrange the cubes as he/she sees fit.

The players take turns rolling a six-sided die and then moving the matching cube. If the matching cube is no longer on the board, the player moves a remaining cube whose number is next-highest or next-lowest to the rolled number. The player starting in the top-left may move that cube one square to the right, down, or on the diagonal down and to the right; the player starting in the bottom-right may move that cube one square to the top, left, or on the diagonal up and to the left. Any cube which already lies in the target square is removed from the board.

The object of the game is to either get one of your cubes to the far corner square in the grid (where your opponent started) or to remove all of your opponent's cubes from the board.

trategy

The fewer cubes you have, the "more mobile" they are, since more dice rolls can result in moving the same piece. Therefore it can be helpful to aim to remove one's own cubes in order to be able to move them with a higher individual probability than having multiple cubes remaining.

ee also

* Game theory
* World Year of Physics 2005

External links

* [http://www.einsteinjahr.de/index.php?id=111 Official Website of the Einstein Year]
* [http://www.physics2005.org/ Official Website of the World Year of Physics 2005]
* [http://www.althofer.de/ Ingo Althöfer's website] (mixed German/English)
* [http://www.littlegolem.net/ Online two player games including "EinStein würfelt nicht"] (free login required, English)
* [http://www.mastermoves.eu/ Another site with online two player games including "EinStein würfelt nicht"] (free login required, English)
* [http://www.devilplay.de/] Multi-player online games including "EinStein würfelt nicht" and the 4 player version "EinStein würfelt nicht Quattro" (free login required, German)
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