Little Golem
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Last Update:  May 2, 2008

 

 

What is Little Golem?

Little Golem is a turn-based game server.  A turn-based server allows you to play games against players who may not be online at the same time you are.  Games usually take several days or weeks to complete.  In fact, games lasting many months are not uncommon.

Most of the games available are two-player abstract strategy (perfect information) games.



What games are available?

Currently there are 17 different games.  Three games (Go, Hex, and Reversi) are available with more than one board size, giving a total of 21 different "games" in all.  The available games, listed alphabetically, are:

  • Amazons
  • Breakthrough
  • Connect 6
  • Chess
  • Dots and Boxes
  • DVONN
  • EinStein würfelt nicht!
  • Empathy
  • Four In A Row
  • Go (9x9 board)
  • Go (13x13 board)
  • Go (19x19 board)
  • Gomoku
  • Golem's Word Game
  • Hex (13x13 board)
  • Hex (19x19 board)
  • Lines of Action
  • Reversi (8x8 board)
  • Reversi (10x10 board)
  • StreetSoccer
  • TwixtPP
 
A brief description of each game follows.

Amazons - Played on a 10x10 board, players  alternate turns which consist of moving one of their four "amazons" and shooting an arrow.  Arrows act as a type of a "blocker" for the remainder of the game - future moves and arrows cannot pass over arrows on the board.  The first person unable to move, loses!  

Amazons was invented in 1988 by Walter Zamkauskas of Argentina.

Breakthrough - Played on an 8x8 board, the object of the game is to be the first player to maneuver one of their pieces to their opponent's back row.  Each piece may move to any empty square that is either one space diagonally or straight ahead.  Pieces may capture opposing pieces just like a chess pawn - if the opposing piece is one space diagonally forward.
Breakthrough was invented in 2000 by Dan Troyka and won the 2001 8x8 Game Design Competition.

Connect 6 - The object is to get six or more or your stones in a row, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  Black begins the game by placing one Black stone on the board and then play alternates with each player placing two stones of their color on the board each turn.  Once placed, stones are never moved nor captured.  

Connect 6 was invented by Professor I-Chen Wu.
Chess - Arguably the most popular game on the planet during the past 200 years.  There is more literature on chess than all other games combined.  Checkmate your opponent's king and win the game!
Dots and Boxes - This is the same popular pencil and paper game you probably played as a child.  Players take turns connecting lines on a 5x5 grid.  Complete the fourth side of a box and claim that box as your own!  After all of the boxes have been claimed, the player with the most boxes wins!
DVONN - Released in 2001 by Kris Burm as the fourth game of the GIPF project, DVONN is a challenging stacking game with very simple rules.  The object is to control more of the playing pieces than your opponent at the end of the game.  Players alternate turns by moving stacks of pieces they control.  During the game, pieces and stacks must remain linked to the red Dvonn pieces. If not, they are removed from the board. 

Note: Rated Tournament and non-rated games are played with a random start position - the opening "setup phase" is skipped.  Championship and Monthly Cup games all start with an empty board - the setup phase is not skipped.
EinStein würfelt nicht! - Played on a 5x5 grid, each player controls six cubes, numbered 1 through 6.  Players alternate rolling a six-sided die and then moving their appropriate 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.  As the game is played here at Little Golem, you win a "leg" (or a "set") if you move one of your cubes to the far corner of the grid, or if your opponent is unable to move.  The first person to win three "legs" ("sets") wins the game.

EinStein würfelt nicht! was invented by Professor Dr. Ingo Althofer.
Empathy - Empathy is the only multi-player game at this site.  Often more than 90 different players take part in each game.

With a given expression, you must list ten other words or phrases that are in association with the given expression.  Points are awarded for each answer based upon how many other players answer identically!  The player with the most points is the winner.  A new game is currently played every three days.

A excellent record of Empathy statistics is kept by mongoose and can be found here.
Four In A Row - Players alternate dropping their own checkers into an 8x8 grid.  The object is to line up four or more of your checkers in a row in any direction; horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  
Go - Now popular throughout the world, Go originated in ancient China, possibly as early as 500 B.C.  Despite the simple rules, it is said Go is many times deeper and more complex than chess.  Players alternate placing stones on a grid, attempting to control more territory than their opponent.  Go is available in three different board sizes; 9x9, 13x13, and 19x19.
Gomoku - Played on a standard 19x19 Go Board, the object is to form an unbroken row of five or more stones horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  Once played, stones are never moved nor captured.  Opening restrictions reduce Black's first-move advantage.
Golem's Word Game - A game unique to this site.  After bidding for the right to go first, players alternate turns by finding words in a 5x5 letter-grid.  Points are scored for each word, based upon the specific letters in the word, the length of the word, and the location of the word on the grid.  Letters used are replaced with letters from an open and known pool of existing letters.  The object is to score more points than your opponent after all of the letters have been used.  

To help speed up the initial stage of the game, the bidding process, the game has an autobidding feature. Because bids are in half-point increments and the remaining scoring in full-point increments, a Golem Word Game can never end in a tie!  (The bidding process is necessary because if a very high-scoring word was found in the initial grid, the first-player would have decisive advantage.)

The word list used for verification is the ENABLE word list.  An excellent record of GWG statistics can be found here.

Hex - Invented independently by mathematician Piet Hein and then later by mathematician John Nash, Hex is a "connection" game.  Players alternate placing stones on a board consisting of hexagons, each attempting to connect their two sides together.  Once placed, a stone is never moved nor captured.  

Because the player moving first has an advantage, the "pie rule" (in effect) is used to help equalize the game.  Hex can never end in a tie.  

If a game's worth can be estimated by its strategic depth versus rule complexity, then hex represents excellent value.  It's extraordinarily complex yet with a ruleset among the simplest of any game possible!
The diagram shows a 13x13 game in progress but Hex is also available with a 19x19 board.
Lines of Action - Invented by Claude Soucie, Lines of Action is played on an 8x8 board.  Each player controls 12 checkers of their own color.  The object is to bring all of your checkers together into one continuous body, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.  This is done by repositioning them on the board via moving and jumping, capturing opposing checkers, etc.  The diagram shows the initial position.
Reversi - Reversi, also known as Othello, is available on both an 8x8 and 10x10 board.  Players alternate moves by placing a disc of their own color on the board, and "flipping" opposing discs, turning these discs into discs of your own color.  The object is to have more of your discs than that of your opponent at the end of the game.  The initial position is shown in the diagram.
StreetSoccer - As the name implies, StreetSoccer simulates a soccer game.  Players alternate rolling a die, moving their soccer players on the field appropriately, attempting to score more goals than their opponent.  
StreetSoccer was invented by Corné van Moorsel.

An excellent record of StreetSoccer stats can be found here.
TwixtPP - The game Twixt was invented by Alex Randolph and like Hex, is a "connection" game.  Players alternate placing pegs on the board.  Pegs placed "a knight's move apart" are linked together.  Each player attempts to connect both his sides together, while preventing his opponent from doing the same.  The pie rule is used to negate the first-player advantage.  Unlike Hex, it is possible for a Twixt game to end in a draw.  

Unlike Twixt, TwixtPP, as played here, does not support link removal and your own links are allowed to cross each other.  

 



What are the different ways to begin a new game?

You can...

  • send an invitation to a specific player
  • accept an invitation a player sent to you
  • accept a challenge from someone in the Waiting Room
  • post your own challenge in the Waiting Room
  • enter a tournament



How long of a time limit do I have before I have to make a move?

The time limit is usually expressed as 240/36.  This means you initially have 240 hours (ten days) to make each move.  After each move you make, an additional 36 hours is added to your time, up to a maximum of 240 hours.  

An example:  A new game begins.  Each player has 240 hours for each move.  Your opponent was online when the game began and moved immediately.  You sign on four hours later.  Your time available to make a move has dropped to 236 hours (240 minus 4).  If you move now, you will again have 240 hours to make your next move.  (36 hours are added to your time, with a max of 240.)

If you wait a full week to make your move, your available time will have dropped to 72 hours (240 initial hours minus 168 hours).  After making your move, 36 hours will be added to your time, bringing it up to 108 hours. (72+36)

In addition, each player also has vacation days, which kick in automatically if a player's available time runs out.  Each player has the equivalent of 20 vacation days each year.  (Paid members currently have more.)  Each player's vacation days are reset on January 1st of each year.  You can view the number of vacation days you have remaining by clicking on the MYGAMES link, and then clicking on VACATION.

If the player on move does not move, and this player has all of their vacation time remaining, a game can last approximately one month... an initial 240 hours to make a move (10 days) + 20 vacation days.  At this point the system will automatically end the game.

There are times when a player may have more than 240 hours to make a move.  For example, if a vacation day is triggered, 24 hours are added to each game that player is playing.  However, once that player makes a move, no matter how much time he has, his move-clock will drop back to, at most, 240.



Is there a limit on the number of games I can play at one time?  
Is there a limit on the number of moves I'm allowed to make in one day?

No to both questions.  There is no limit on the number of games you can play at one time, but new players are advised to begin slowly and not take on more games than they can handle.  You can make as many moves per day as you want - there is no limit.


Is there a place for me to keep personal notes of my games?

 Yes.  When it is your move and prior to making your move, below each game board you will see a personal info text box, as shown below, that can be used to enter notes.  Any information typed here will be completely private - your opponent will not see the contents of this box.



After making your move (but before sending it) a similar looking box appears that allows you to enter a message to your opponent.  Be sure not to get the two boxes mixed up.  You probably don't want to accidentally send your personal notes about the game to your opponent!


Am I allowed  to change the colors of the boards to something that's easier on my eyes?

 No, but currently two games, Twixt and Hex, do have other board choices you may prefer.  From the menu click on MAIN and then EDIT USER PROPERTIES.  



What is a rating?

 A rating is an estimate, usually expressed as a number, of a player's past performance/skill for a particular game. You can usually get an idea of the comparable strength of two players by comparing their ratings.  A player rated several hundred points higher than the other player, for example, will usually be the stronger of the two players.

All tournament games (and only tournament games) are rated.  Exception:  To help prevent a player from manipulating his or her own rating, if you and your opponent are both using the same IP address, or if you have previously logged in using your opponent's IP address, the game will not be rated.

Generally speaking, if you win a game your rating goes up.  If you lose a game your rating goes down.  If you defeat a player with a much higher rating than yours, your rating will increase more than if you defeat a player with a rating lower than yours.  The reverse is also true.  If you lose to a player who has a rating much higher than yours, your rating will not decrease as much as if you lost to a player with a lower rating than yours.

It is possible to win or lose a game and see no rating adjustment at all, if there is a large difference between your rating and that of your opponent's.

Note: In any game, defeating an opponent by a large margin, or winning quickly, does not result in a higher rating.  For example, your rating would increase by the same amount whether you checkmated your opponent in a chess game in five moves, or fifty moves.  As far as your rating is concerned, how you win or how quickly you win makes no difference.

If you resign a game on your first move, your rating and that of your opponent is unchanged.

The exact rating formula is NewRating1 = Rating1 + K * { Result - [ 1 + 10 (Rating2 - Rating1) / 400 ] - 1 }
 
For all games here, the "K" in the formula equals 32.  "Result" equals your game result.  For most games, that's 1 for a win, .5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss.  The "Result" for StreetSoccer, however, is slightly different.  With StreetSoccer it's 1 when you win the game by the score of 5:0, 0.8 when you win 4:1, 0.6 when you win 3:2, 0.4 when it's 2:2 or you lose 2:3, 0.2 when you lose 1:4 and 0 when you lose 0:5.  

Ratings in Go are expressed differently than that of other games.  Specifically, players are given the rank of kyu and dan.  A difference of 50 "ordinary" rating points correspond to a difference of 1 kyu (or 1 dan).  More about Go ranks and ratings can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_ranks_and_ratings.

The following table will help determine your expected rating gain/loss, based upon the difference between your rating and that of your opponent and the outcome of the game:



Could you explain the different types of tournaments available?

 There are three different types of tournaments:

  • Rated Tournament
  • Monthly Cup Tournament
  • Championship Tournament

The three are not related to each other.  Winning a game or a tournament in one type does not advance you to another.  Each tournament uses a Round Robin format... you play one game against everyone else in that tournament.

When you sign up to play a Rated Tournament, you will only play against others who have ratings that are similar to yours.  Rated Tournaments consist of four players, meaning you will play just three games... one game each against each of your three opponents.  There are no additional rounds or games with a Rated Tournament.  Rated Tournaments are often exciting, since all four players are usually about equal in playing strength.



Monthly Cup Tournament games, unlike Rated Tournament games, may find you playing against opponents with a much higher or much lower rating than yours.  These tournaments usually consist of five players - meaning you'll play four games... one game each against each of your four opponents.

Each Monthly Cup Tournament consists of several rounds.  If you win a round you will advance to the next round.  Monthly Cup Tournament games are held all month long.  You can enter as many first-rounds during the month as you like, but winning just one of these rounds is sufficient to advance you to the next round.  (And winning more than one first-round does not give you more entries in the second round.)  

At the end of the month, no more entries into that month's Cup are accepted.  Winners from each round keep advancing until a winner is determined.  That player is crowned that month's Monthly Cup Champion for that particular game.  

Because of the additional rounds, Monthly Cup Tournaments take much longer to finish than Rated Tournaments, often many months to complete.  Depending upon the game and the number of players, the Monthly Cup Champion for the month of, for example, February, might not be determined until August!

Note: 19x19 Go Monthly Cup Tournament games are played with a handicap.



A Championship Tournament consists of different leagues.  Each league usually consists of nine to eleven players.  The ratings of the players in each league will usually be similar.  Every player plays one game against every other player in that league.  After all games have finished, the player with the most points wins that league.  The player winning the top league is crowned the champion!

Generally...

   ...players who finish 1st or 2nd in their league will advance and 
              compete in the next highest league in the next Championship Tournament.  
   ...players who finish 3rd, 4th, or 5th compete at the same level in the next 
              Championship Tournament.  
   ...players who come in 6th place or lower, will compete in next lowest league in 
              the next Championship Tournament.  

Each Championship Tournament begins approximately one week after the final game is played in the previous Championship.  There is no notice given when a new Championship Tournament is about to start.  Once you register and play, you're automatically signed up for the next one, unless you remove yourself.  (To remove yourself, click on REMOVE ME from the Championship section of that game's page.)

As mentioned above, if you finish 1st or 2nd in your league you will compete in the next highest league in the next Championship.  However, if you decide to skip and not play in that next Championship, you will probably not advance to the next highest league when do decide to resume the Championship Tournament.  Skipping a tournament results in "starting over again" if and when you ever do wish to resume.

If you're entering a Championship Tournament for the first time, the league you are seeded in initially is based upon both your rating and the needs of that particular tournament.  For example, a player may be initially seeded in League #2 and yet have a higher rating than some of the players in League #1.  The reason is these players with the lower rating in League #1 may have earned their right to be there by placing high in League #2 in the previous Championship.



I signed up for a tournament a few days ago but it hasn't started yet.  Why?

If you entered a Rated Tournament, it's likely three other players with a rating similar to yours have not yet entered.  Monthly Cup Tournaments will start approximately ten minutes after the last person signs up.  And as mentioned above, Championship Tournaments begin approximately ten days after the final game has been played in the previous Championship.



What is the Waiting Room?

If you're interested in playing a non-rated game you can post a request for a game, or respond to someone else's request for a game, in the Waiting Room.  If you see a game you'd like to play, click "START GAME" in the far right column.  If you'd like to post a request for a game, click the "ADD MY GAME TO THE WAITING ROOM" link near the top of the page.


What is Son?  (When viewing tournament results, the far right column is labeled Son.)

 Son is short for Sonneborn-Berger.  It's a scoring system used to break ties.

 As an example of how this tie-breaking system works, please note the results for League #1 of the 9th Chess Championship Tournament, located in this crosstable:



Notice that both kali and Horst DOG finished the tournament with five wins, three losses, and zero draws, for a total of 13 points.  (In all games, each win scores two points and each draw scores one point.)   However, kali, with 90 points, had the better Son tiebreaker, and thus was declared the tournament champion.  

A player's Son total can be arrived at in the following manner:  Add up the final point total of all the players he defeated, add up one-half of the final point total of all the players he drew, add these two figures together and then multiply the entire result by 2.  

Here's an example:  By the crosstable above you can see that joerg defeated Players 7, 8, and 9 who finished the tournament with 6, 4, and 0 points respectively.  6 + 4 + 0 = 10 points   Joerg drew with players 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, who finished with 13, 13, 12, 7, and 6 points respectively.  6.5 + 6.5 + 6 + 3.5 + 3 = 25.5 points.  10 points + 25.5 points = 35.5 points.  35.5 points multiplied by 2 = a Son score of 71.

It is important to realize a player's Son score is only used to break ties.  Even though joerg had a higher Son score than BigChicken, BigChicken finished in 3rd place, higher than joerg's 4th place finish.


Sonneborn-Berger is actually something of a misnomer.  William Sonneborn and Johann Berger were actually strong critics of the scoring system!  The system really should be called the Neustadtl score!  More about how the Sonneborn-Berger tie-breaking system can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonneborn-Berger.



What is the Forum?

 Little Golem would not be the wonderful site that it is if it were not for the Forum Section.  This is place to post questions, post topics for discussion, get to know some of your fellow players, etc.  

Each game has its own forum section.  If you have a question about a specific game, you should post it in the specific forum for that game.  If you have a general question about the server, or a question not related to any specific game, you should probably post it in the main forum.


Am I allowed to edit/change my screen name and other personal data?
Yes.  From the menu in the left column, click on MAIN and then EDIT USER PROFILE.   

Note:  Regarding your user profile... for awhile it was recommended you save to a text file any information you submit in the MORE INFO text box.  There was a time when the system would regularly "reset/reboot" itself and when it did the user profile information was retrieved from an earlier source... meaning recent changes you may have made to your user profile were now lost and would not be seen.  Thus, if you saved your information to a text file, you could have easily submited it again the next time the system was reset/rebooted.  However, this tip is no longer necessary... the "reset bug" appears to be fixed.  Still, it's not a bad idea to save this information anyway.


What is the benefit of purchasing a paid membership?

 At this time, the only benefits paid members receive are extra vacation days.  However, please do not let this stop you from helping to contribute to the site's cost and support.  In the future, paid members may receive additional benefits.


How do I log off from the site?

From the menu in the left column, click on MAIN and then LOG OFF.   It is only necessary to log off if you are using a public computer or otherwise share your computer with others.  If you are the only one who uses your computer, logging off is not required or necessary. 

If you wish to quit the site completely or if circumstances dictate you are unable to continue making moves in your games for an extended period of time, you should

   1)  resign all of your current games and 
   2)  remove yourself from an automatic signup of all future Championship Tournaments.  (From the menu in the left column, click TOURNAMENTS and then in the Championship column click REMOVE ME.)

Your name and password will remain valid if you wish to play games in the future.


What is the Monster Tournament?

In 2006, several players decided to create and participate in a Little Golem tournament of their own.  The tournament would be a round robin format... meaning every player would play every game offered at Little Golem against everyone else in the tournament!  Discussions were held in the forum section on the tournament format, length of tournament, rules, etc.  The winner would be given the title of Monster of Little Golem.

The first tournament took almost a full year to complete and was won by Ray Garrison.  The second tournament is currently in progress.

A couple of players created websites with stats and results about the tournaments.  ypercube's website can be found here and tasuki's website can be found here.


How long has the site been running?

Little Golem first went online in early 2002 and with a minor exception or two, has been up continuously since then.

 

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