Versus – A Great Online Abstract Makes the Jump to Life

The number of abstract strategy games available online is immense, and new ones pop up all the time as they seem to be the genre of choice for new designers. How hard could it be, right? Well, harder than newcomers might imagine, but that still doesn’t stop them from releasing generic “minute to learn, lifetime to master” titles. That said, if you’re willing to experiment in the vast fields of black and white, sometimes you’ll find a real winner, as is the case with Versus by Michel Pinon.

While reading the rules (English PDF; French, Spanish and German also available), I’ll confess that the game sounded dull at first – but then I hit one part that blew my hair back and I immediately knew that Versus would be something special. A few games of the online version, in which I was completely outclassed by experienced hands, confirmed it.

Each player starts the game with a set of circular elements and a single tetrahedron-shaped Versus. The elements are two-sided, with your color in the center of one side and your opponent’s color in the center of the other. The outer edge is divided into five sections, and each of your pieces has a different ratio of colored sections: 4 blue to 1 brown, 3 blue to 2 brown, etc. (The ratios are the same on both sides; a fifth piece with a 5-to-0 ratio is used on a larger gameboard.) On a turn, you either:

• Move an element that has your color in the center one space in any direction.

• Move your Versus any number of spaces in a straight line on the hexagonal gameboard; at the end of its movement, any elements with the opposing color in the center that are within its line of sight flip over (putting those pieces under your color and your control) and move one space toward your Versus.

Every move in Versus seems precious. You want to use your Versus effectively as converting an opponent’s piece a la Othello is in essence a double move – you make it yours, and you (often) move it toward a target – yet once you convert the piece to your side, you can no longer use the Versus to move it, so you have to slog along one space at a time. More often than not, though, your opponent will be aiming to counter-evangelize it, preferably pulling it onto a target at the same time to lock in points.

As for the scoring, I might feel good when I manage to steal away an opponent’s piece and lock in a score, but if that piece has a 1-4 ratio of my color, I’ll likely have spent a lot of time to score only one point. Granted I kept my opponent from scoring four points, but that’s small comfort since the opponent has probably been influencing other pieces simultaneously to set up future moves. Figuring out how to maneuver is one of the real challenges as friendly elements will block enemy ones that you want to steal and elements of all stripes will run interference on your Versus.

Asynchron Games, which published Pinon’s earlier title Les 7 Blasons, has published a 300-copy wooden edition of Versus. This version was sold at a convention in Cannes in February 2008 and will again be on sale at Gen Con Paris in late April. Pinon says that copies will also be available – for around €40 plus shipping – through Asynchron’s website sometime in April. This version uses the smaller 61-hex gameboard instead of the larger 91-hex board that adds a fifth piece and two additional targets. Both versions can be played online, and I hope to see you there!

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