<p><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/949/twixt" rel="nofollow">TwixT</a> "... was popular in the 60s and 70s as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series.  </p>

<p>TwixT is a "connection-type" game, very similar to <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4112/hex" rel="nofollow">Hex</a> . Other related games are <a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2759/havannah" rel="nofollow">Havannah</a>... "Connection type" means the object is to form a path connecting something to something else. This requires very different thinking from the standard battle-type game such as chess or checkers.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-21T19:53:18.190Z
On a personal note, I loved Twixt when I was about ten or eleven years old.  It was the first thinking game that let me excel enough to feel smug.  Plus the futuristic people on the cover looked ludicrously intelligent (and smug).
Smandoli
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-21T17:04:16.307Z
2011-05-21T17:04:16.307Z
Smandoli
<p><a href="http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/624/quoridor" rel="nofollow"><strong>Quoridor</strong></a> is similar but not identical - two to four players try to reach the opposite end of the board with their pawn. Each turn, instead of moving, they can choose to place a wooden wall piece as an obstacle to block the opponent's path.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-21T11:03:29.730Z
2011-05-21T11:03:29.730Z
Jan
<p>The game is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridg-It" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bridg-It</a> and it is a specific implementation of the "Shannon switching game".  There's a very elegant win for the first player which is based on pairing the edges together.  I think it's in a book by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Gardner" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Martin Gardner</a>, but I can't seem to find it online.  There's another solution <a href="http://www.sites4all.co.uk/bridjit/theory.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>, but it's not as easy to understand.</p>

<p>Edit: The solution is given in <a href="https://bobson.ludost.net/copycrime/mgardner/gardner03.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">New Mathematical Diversions</a> by Martin Gardner, and was found by Oliver Gross.  "Make the first play as indicated by the black line at lower left in the diagram. Thereafter whenever your opponent's play  crosses the end of a  dotted line, play by crossing the other end of the same line."</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/7tFSS.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/7tFSS.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-21T14:47:56.100Z
Thank you very much for your answer! I have found a strategy for this game which seems to always win, but I never managed to prove that this is indeed an always winning strategy (when playing first). Thanks to your links, I will perhaps be able to prove or disprove it :-)  By the way, the other solution (with the electrical circuit) does not seem optimal, I managed to beat it twice while playing second.
Guillaume Brunerie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-21T12:37:31.830Z
2017-06-05T20:21:44.820Z
2017-06-05T20:21:44.820Z
tttppp
<p>This is a two-players game, where each players construct a line.<br>
The first player has to join the top and the bottom of the board whereas the second has to join the left and the right. The two lines cannot intersect.</p>

<p><strong>Do this game has a name?<br>
Where I could find other informations about it?</strong></p>

<p><em>PS:</em>
I’m currently writing an HTML5/Canvas implementation <a href="http://www.eleves.ens.fr/home/brunerie/percolation.fr.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> (only in French for now, and the “AI“ plays at random, the smart AI is not finished yet), so you can see more precisely what I’m talking about.<br>
I’ve called it “Percolation” because this looks a little like percolation, but this is probably not the “official” name.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-05-21T18:08:10.380Z
My first thought was "[Blockbusters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbusters_%28UK_game_show%29)" :)
Mark Longair
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-06T02:33:38.053Z
Do you remember where you saw the game first? It sounds like a game I invented and made a website for awhile back I called "Oct." Anyway, here's the website: hexandoct.net16.net
Eriek
<identify-this-game>
Game where you construct a line through the board blocking the other player?
Guillaume Brunerie
# Game where you construct a line through the board blocking the other player?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-05-21)

This is a two-players game, where each players construct a line.  
The first player has to join the top and the bottom of the board whereas the second has to join the left and the right. The two lines cannot intersect.

**Do this game has a name?  
Where I could find other informations about it?**

*PS:*
I’m currently writing an HTML5/Canvas implementation [here](http://www.eleves.ens.fr/home/username_0/percolation.fr.html) (only in French for now, and the “AI“ plays at random, the smart AI is not finished yet), so you can see more precisely what I’m talking about.  
I’ve called it “Percolation” because this looks a little like percolation, but this is probably not the “official” name.

**Tags:** identify-this-game

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: My first thought was "[Blockbusters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbusters_%28UK_game_show%29)" :)  
> **username_2**: Do you remember where you saw the game first? It sounds like a game I invented and made a website for awhile back I called "Oct." Anyway, here's the website: hexandoct.net16.net  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2011-05-21. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The game is called [Bridg-It](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridg-It) and it is a specific implementation of the "Shannon switching game". There's a very elegant win for the first player which is based on pairing the edges together. I think it's in a book by [Martin Gardner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Gardner), but I can't seem to find it online. There's another solution [here](http://www.sites4all.co.uk/bridjit/theory.html), but it's not as easy to understand.

Edit: The solution is given in [New Mathematical Diversions](https://bobson.ludost.net/copycrime/mgardner/gardner03.pdf) by Martin Gardner, and was found by Oliver Gross. "Make the first play as indicated by the black line at lower left in the diagram. Thereafter whenever your opponent's play crosses the end of a dotted line, play by crossing the other end of the same line."

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/7tFSS.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/7tFSS.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you very much for your answer! I have found a strategy for this game which seems to always win, but I never managed to prove that this is indeed an always winning strategy (when playing first). Thanks to your links, I will perhaps be able to prove or disprove it :-)  By the way, the other solution (with the electrical circuit) does not seem optimal, I managed to beat it twice while playing second.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2011-05-21. Score: 4

[TwixT](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/949/twixt) "... was popular in the 60s and 70s as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series.

TwixT is a "connection-type" game, very similar to [Hex](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4112/hex) . Other related games are [Havannah](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2759/havannah)... "Connection type" means the object is to form a path connecting something to something else. This requires very different thinking from the standard battle-type game such as chess or checkers.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: On a personal note, I loved Twixt when I was about ten or eleven years old.  It was the first thinking game that let me excel enough to feel smug.  Plus the futuristic people on the cover looked ludicrously intelligent (and smug).  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2011-05-21. Score: 1

[**Quoridor**](http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/624/quoridor) is similar but not identical - two to four players try to reach the opposite end of the board with their pawn. Each turn, instead of moving, they can choose to place a wooden wall piece as an obstacle to block the opponent's path.


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