This is a
game that me and my friend would play during
math class. We introduced the game to a few others and they were soon blissfully ignoring the math teacher as well. According to my friend, the game was originally published in some
mathematics journal, but I haven't seen any evidence of that; if I do, I'll add it.
Setup
Take your
graph paper (we used lots of paper and so we ended up stealing it from the
school) and draw a race track ala
Formula One. It should be about 5-8 squares wide and have some good turns. As you play the game, you get better at making tracks. Be sure to mark a
Start and a
Finish.
Each player (one to four seems about right) picks a position on the start line, placing a dot (his or her car) on the intersection of the graph lines. We liked to use different colors for our cars, but what can I say? We were math geeks.
Moving
A car moves with a
vector. I don't think I knew what a vector was back then, but that's probably the easiest way to put it. Choose who will go first. We discovered that blind-folded
knife fights were the best way to decide who would go first, but feel free to use your own
method. A
player can increase (or decrease) his or her speed by one graph unit in either the up/down or the left/right
direction.
Each car starts with a speed of (0,0). So, for the first turn cars can be traveling either: (1,1), (1,0), (1,-1), (0,1), (0,0), (0,-1), (-1,1), (-1,0) or (-1,-1). Plot the car's new position on the graph paper and then draw a line from the old position to the new. If the line crosses a wall, KABOOM!
Example Movement:
Speed: Change: Up(+)/Down Left(+)/Right
------ ---------- -------------
(0,0) X X
(0,1) +1 0
(0,2) +1 0
(0,3) +1 0
(-1,4) +1 -1
(-1,3) -1 -1
(0,2) -1 0
(1,2) 0 +1
(2,1) -1 +1
(3,0) -1 +1
(4,-1) -1 +1
(5,-2) -1 +1
You aren't allowed to be in the same position as another car. You'll just have to pick another velocity vector, even if that means slamming into a wall.
To Win
The
first car to cross the finish line wins. We usually allowed ties, but if you're more
ruthless...
I realize it might be hard to understand the rules without pictures and all that. It's a fun game for physics geeks and it's easy to play. Use it to ignore your teacher today.