Name of Proposed Game:

Group Members:

Give names and majors of all group members

Game Description:

Paragraph 1: A paragraph describing the set up and rules of the game: number of players, number and type of game pieces, the composition of the gameboard, what a player does at his/her turn, what is legal, what is not, how a point is scored, how a win is determined, etc.

Paragraph 2: A paragraph describing how you'll implement this on a computer: what buttons you'll have, how you will represent the game pieces and board, how you'll indicate moves, etc.

Paragraph 3: A paragraph describing features that are not essential to the game, but that would enhance its attractiveness to the players and also increase the difficulty of implementing the game. Please state whether you propose to implement optional voting
features (for extra credit) or optional collective intelligence features
(for extra credit and co-authorship on a research paper -- if the system
works)."

For my game, Dots and Boxes, the paragraphs would be as follows:

Dots and Boxes is a paper and pencil game played on a square array of dots, typically 6 x 6 or 8 x 8. Two players take turns joining two adjacent dots with a horizontal or vertical line. When such a move adds the fourth side of a box, the player who closed the box claims the box (marking it as hers in some fashion) and must take an extra turn. If the same move closes two boxes, the player claims both boxes but still gets only one bonus move. A player who can complete a box is not obliged to do so. The game ends when all the boxes are taken. The player who closed more boxes wins - there can be no ties since all the boxes must be "owned" to end the game and there are always an odd number of boxes.

We propose to develop a computer-based version of the game, which will support two humans playing each other. There is no intent to immediately implement a computer opponent in the game, since the strategy can be quite involved. Players will select moves using the mouse. At a minimum, controls will be provided to allow players to make a play, restart a game at any time, and get help. Status indicators will show the current score, and prompt the player who's turn it is. If an illegal move is detected, an error message will be displayed. There will be automated detection of closed squares, and the squares will be visually tagged in some fashion to indicate the player who closed them.

Possible extensions to the game include

· Storage of multiple gameboards so that they can be opened and replayed later,

· The ability to collect "votes" on the next move: defer the actual move for a set period of time while players select (vote) on different moves. After the time period, the move with the most votes would actually take effect on the gameboard.

· Allowing the grid size of the gameboard to be changed by the players.

· Allowing players to select colors to be associated with their moves/squares.

· Timing the games and displaying a running time.

· Tracking the top ten fastest games and have a congratulatory message if a player breaks into the top ten.

· Allowing players to enter their names, and personalize the player prompts and win messages.

I intend to document, design and implement a voting feature for extra credit, although I do not consider it to be a defining characteristic of the game.