The Player

Vlastimil Lisse, Ludmila Adamcová

Detailed rules of the online version from the player's perspective with practical examples

Before You Start Playing

First, you should know that the entire game is electronically controlled. The online version is therefore a very suitable choice for novices and amateurs because it evaluates the game precisely – it does not suffer from human error.

You can access the online version at Abaku Lab, which allows you to choose between robots of 4 levels and multiplayer. It is an excellent trainer for beginners and the most advanced players. And it offers much more. You can read about it in the application guide.

Basic Rules

• The game is played on a square board with 225 fields. A total of 110 digits are distributed during the game (at the end of the game, at least 116 fields remain unoccupied).
• Each player always has 5 digits available during the game. Only in the final moves, when the 100 digits for replenishment have been exhausted, do players have fewer digits available. If one of the players places the last digit and there are no more to replenish, the game ends.
• Each move must be submitted before the time limit expires. Otherwise, an empty move is submitted.

The Game Itself

Opening Move

At the beginning, each player is dealt 5 digits, which the opponent cannot see. The player chosen by the system to start must place the first digits (2 to 5 digits) in the marked center of the board.

Opponent's Move

New digits are added to the first placed digits so that at least one new digit touches a previously placed digit and together they form a new equation or are part of a new equation.

General Rules for Placing Digits:

• Digits must be placed so that the numerical sequence is readable from left to right and top to bottom.
• In the correct order, so that when imaginary symbols (operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square, cube roots, and equals) are added, the entire newly placed sequence of digits makes sense.
• For example:
• 752 represents 7-5=2
• 1234 represents 12/3=4 and also 1+2=3
• 65166 represents 65+1=66 and also 6-5=1 and also 5+1=6 and also 1*6=6
• Except for the opening move, digits are added to already placed digits, where it is sufficient for the new sequence of numbers to be added to a single previously placed digit. If the sequence is added to multiple digits, then each newly added digit must create a new equation. Only 0 is neutral.

Scoring

Each move is scored. The total value is influenced by the digits in the equation, the number of newly created equations, and two types of bonus fields (an operational bonus that increases the score of the entire operation by 2x or 3x, or a numerical bonus that increases the value of the used digit in the equation by 2x or 3x). Both cases are well marked with interactive tooltips during the game.