That’s Not Chess! Why the new game Philosophy is relevant to the Chess world.
First, a tribute to Chess.
It has been over a thousand years since the creation of Chess. A game that became a world pastime. The game that brought together philosophers, artists, hustlers, mathematicians, and visionaries. A world without the meetings and friendships created by Chess would lack all of the ideas from those relationships. Therefore, Chess has been quietly integral to the development of humanity and culture.
Chess has simple mechanics that even a child could learn, indeed that is when I learned to play Chess myself. Yet the wonder of Chess comes in the infinite complexity that originates out of minimal rules. Very few games actually compete with its elegance. Go would be one, which is indeed slightly more simplistic, though I would say it’s enjoyability vs Chess comes down to individual preference. But that isn’t the point
A brief history of Philosophy
So what is this article about? It’s about my game Philosophy which I would be so bold to say is a modern alternative to Chess. Now let me kill my ego in front of you before I take a step further. I am indeed lucky to have made such a game. It was pieced together one mechanic at a time, in pure non-capitalistic fascination. It happened in a small room in Central Park Villa, a poor apartment complex in Olympia, Washington. Then it was played for the first time in a slum with my best friend and Chess rival Dave; who I consider to be a subterranean marvel of a man.
Together we explored the mechanics of what I had made, and in our free time we switched between Philosophy (which at the time was called Quantic Dojo), Chess, Rummy, and Axis and Allies.
Philosophy is slightly more complicated than Chess, but surprisingly easier to learn. It has a natural flow of interesting ideas that lead a player into their first game, and in each game the novice deepens their understanding of what is possible. Even now, after having played the game since 2011 (and arguably being the best Philosophy player in the world, haha), I still am amazed to find there are deeper and deeper levels of thinking to master.
Philosophy was originally made for two players. It is remarkably balanced. The goal of Philosophy is to get three in a row anywhere on the board, but players can place their pieces only in the middle nine squares. Since there are many squares outside of the middle nine, you may wonder what they are for.
The mechanics of Philosophy
Each of a player’s 12 tiles has a unique ability that, if placed correctly, can push an opposing tile to another square. The novel mechanic of Philosophy, which is what makes it so Chess-like, is that each tile has two embedded mechanics. One that orients what square the tile is focusing on, and another that determines which direction any opposing piece is pushed… if it is in the square of focus. (It is much easier to understand in visual diagrams)
This means any placed tile has four possible orientations; north, south, east, west. It also means in any orientation both the square of focus and the way an opponent’s tile would be pushed is different. So one must “get at” their opponent in the most clever way, lining up your own potential for an unstoppable 3 in a row while disrupting your opponents plans.
Pushing a piece also can cause several things to happen. It may cause the moving tile to run into another tile. Here it pushes that piece and any piece after it in a row like movement. Alternativy, the moving piece may encounter the square of focus from one of your pieces that is already on the board. This activates your piece to push again in a chain reaction!
Why Philosophy is relevant to Chess
Both Chess and Philosophy have what I call an envelope. An envelope opens with the very first move in the game, expands in exponential growth of possible moves in each game, and closes with a victory or stalemate.
In chess the envelope starts with 20 possible opening moves. Then there are 20 possible responses which result in 400 combinations. Then the possible moves expand immensely (or bigly depending on who you are). Eventually in the end game the number of possible moves narrows down as a king is cornered, then CHECKMATE!
In Philosophy there are 8 squares to play the first move in (The center square is reserved for after the second move so the second player has a chance to establish a strong position.) These 8 squares are actually just 2 squares, the corner and the sides, because the board state without pieces has no relativity. So 2 squares, multiplied by 12 tiles, multiplied by 4 orientations. This results in 96 possible openings! Admittedly I would half the number to 48 as not all orientations are advantageous. Now the board has a relative point and 8 squares which are open to play. So multiplying the 48 openings to 8 squares x 12 tiles x 4 orientations results in 18,432 combinations, which I would again halve to 9,216.
Philosophy is a game that’s early engagement expands more quickly than chess. But its envelope closes sooner. This is because every tile played and every square occupied removes options from the game. In Chess, the more pieces that are removed actually opens up a greater number of moves, especially if major pieces and the queen are still in play.
In the end, a master level game in Philosophy is the same as Chess, where to win you must create a situation where your opponent has no options left to deny victory.
Now what does this mean? It means Philosophy is a game of strong intuition, spatial reasoning, and creativity that is more casual and easier to delve into than Chess. It also means it is just as deep in strategic and tactical thinking as chess, yet is also a shorter game. Finally it means thinking many many moves ahead is much more difficult which slightly levels the playing field between experts and beginners.
In conclusion…
My very favorite tile in the game is something that Chess lacks completely. It isn’t even a tile that goes on the board. Placed to the side, in equal space between both players, is a small black tile called “Respect.” Once per game a player can push it towards their opponent. Once given, it cannot be returned or reset until the game is complete. A player also cannot take it for themselves. It has no effect on the gameplay at all. Instead, it is a gesture, a physical emoji, and the cultural heart of the game that I hope will expand into the lives and culture of anyone who plays Philosophy. This was my signature touch.
It is my hope that Philosophy will be explored by Chess players around the world. I am open and enthusiastic to their acknowledgements, compliments, and critiques. I would like to see it played casually in parks, and in competitive venues as well. I hope it will bring people together, in the spirit of Chess, yet with an experience totally unique to its own.
My publisher Dylan from Quality Beast says this about the game. It’s like Chess, but doesn’t feel like you are locked in competition with your opponent. Instead, it feels like the two players are working together on a puzzle.
Yes, it is a living puzzle. Want to see it? Click below to check out the crowdfunding campaign!
You can read the next story here!