Sim Serim (2007)

Sim Serim is an abstract game designed for two players (or two teams consisting of two players each).

This game by Heinrich Glumpler is played on a square wooden board with 7x7 fields where the fields in two corners are replaced by icons representing the players ("moon" and "sun"). The players sit at the corner of the board showing their respective icon.

The game is played in rounds. At the start of each round players reveal 1 to 4 stones of their color simultaneously. The number of revealed stones decides the order in which both players place their stones on the board.

The player do not have a lot of choice when placing their stones since new stones must be placed in the current row - meaning: the row where the last stone was placed in the previous round. Only after the current row is filled completely the active player may select a new row by placing a stone at the edge of the board.

It is much more important to foresee the order in which stones are placed since the resulting patterns on the board will decide the number of points each player gets at the end of the game.

The special flavour of the game results from the fact, that the scoring takes place in the vertical and horizontal lines of the board - running in a 45 degree angle to the rows where the stones were placed.

Players earn points for each magic wand, meaning each combination of exactly three stones lying in line and adjacent to each other. The tricky part is, that a player will lose points for any magic wand that is too long - having more than three stones.

• oiled, solid beechwood board 20 x 20 x 2cm
• played with semi precious gemstones

The name of the game "Sim Serim" does not have a specific meaning. It was choosen because it sounds magical and flows easily from the tongue - in a certain way characterizing the game itself.

"Sim Serim" also appears as a refrain in certain old german songs like in "Ich bin ein Musikante" ("I am a musician").