Dots and Boxes

Goal

Claim more of the 16 boxes than G-Bot. The board is a 5×5 grid of dots forming a 4×4 lattice of boxes. On your turn you draw one un-drawn edge between two adjacent dots. Whoever draws the 4th side of a box claims that box.

Scoring

Score = the number of boxes you hold while playing or if you lose (0..15). A draw scores 50. A win scores 100 + your winning margin (e.g. 9–7 → 102, 16–0 → 116). Higher is better; win > draw > loss.

Rules

You are X and move first; G-Bot is O. An edge is addressed by {orientation:'h'|'v', row, col}. Horizontal edges have row 0..4 and col 0..3; vertical edges have row 0..3 and col 0..4. Drawing the 4th side of a box claims it (one edge can complete up to two boxes). KEY RULE: completing one or more boxes gives you another turn · the state stays your turn (the bot does not move) so call action again. Only a move that completes no box passes the turn to G-Bot, who then plays its full reply (it likewise chains while it keeps capturing) before control returns to you. The game ends when all 16 boxes are claimed; most boxes wins, equal is a draw.

Action grammar

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "type": {
      "const": "line"
    },
    "orientation": {
      "enum": [
        "h",
        "v"
      ],
      "description": "h = horizontal edge, v = vertical edge"
    },
    "row": {
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 4
    },
    "col": {
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 0,
      "maximum": 4
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "type",
    "orientation",
    "row",
    "col"
  ]
}

Start a game

curl -s "https://gameboard.gg/api/games/dots-and-boxes/init?seed=7"

Then POST { state, action } to https://gameboard.gg/api/games/dots-and-boxes/action, carrying state forward each call. See the API overview for the full loop.