A reimagination of Go

Let me introduce you to the Wizstone series created by Lee Sedol, the Go Grandmaster! These games are all inspired by the brilliance of Go, and how there are endless outcomes in a game even with just a few simple rules. 😮 The series consists of 3 abstract games that were released by Korea Boardgames at Spiel'23, and the one we will start with is called 🏰 Great Kingdom.

This one is quite directly related to Go, but in a more contained package. In case you are unfamiliar with the rules of Go (as we were before), I think it’s best to explain those rules while highlighting the differences of Great Kingdom: 🧐

⚪ In both games you will place a piece on a grid each turn, one at a time.
⚪ Your primary goal is to close off territories, either by using your own pieces or the sides of the board as borders - the more territory you own at the end, the more points you have.
⚪ You play until you run out of pieces, or you both decide to pass consecutively.
⚪ Your secondary goal is to capture enemy pieces by surrounding them completely.
⚫ However there is a big difference here! ☝️ In Go, captured enemy pieces are worth bonus points, in Great Kingdom you instantly win by capturing even a single enemy castle!
⚪ You cannot put pieces in territories already closed by your opponent. You also cannot ‘sacrifice’ a piece by putting it between enemy pieces. Using some of these rules you can make groups with holes in between that are thus immune to capturing!
⚫ Another big change of course is the size of the board: in traditional go you play on a 19x19 grid, here you only have 9x9.
⚫ Additionally a neutral castle piece in the middle acts like the borders of the game board to change things up a bit.

⚫ And to mention a maybe more meaningless, but to me amazing change: using these amazing plastic castle 🏰 pieces instead of little pebbles. 🤩 Maybe I’m just being vain but great components really boost the enjoyment of games, and abstracts are not an exception to this!

In summary, Great Kingdom is a quicker, cooler and smaller version of Go, where each move should be considered carefully. For fans of abstracts, this could be a great addition. 🙂