Game: Kensington

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Malvictis — 2008-10-02T16:03:15+00:00

Romanian edition published in the '80s

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hoojii — 2007-11-10T22:18:47+00:00

Game in progress: blue's point of view.

Thread: Re: First person to build tri/square have a lock on the game

theotherring — 2007-06-09T01:23:47+00:00

This optional rule will solve your problem:

"It is not permitted for a player to rebuild a triangle, square or 'house' until two turns have passed. (I always play this rule. It gets too easy to devastate your opponent otherwise.)"

From http://www.tragsnart.co.uk/kenshub/kensington/kensington.htm

Thread: First person to build tri/square have a lock on the game?

JavaJack — 2007-04-01T19:02:44+00:00

Subject says it all: Does the first person to build a triangle/square (earning the right to reposition opponent piece(s)) have a lock on the game?

We played this three times in a row last night, and that was our feeling for the game. Either my initial setups were just really bad (quite possible), or there's just no way to recover once your pieces start getting thrown to the four winds. Especially because the triangle builder can subsequently just break apart, then reform his triangle over and over, re-earning an infinite number of repositions on your pieces.

Thoughts?

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fellonmyhead — 2006-12-30T07:07:46+00:00

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demeter75 — 2006-07-20T09:17:18+00:00

Kensington Magnetic Edition Box

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demeter75 — 2006-07-19T13:33:47+00:00

Kensington Magnetic Edition Game

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Geosmores — 2006-02-20T20:26:04+00:00

Close up of playing pieces.

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Get Earthworm — 2006-01-21T18:33:30+00:00

Rear Cover

Thread: Re: What do the rules mean by "repositioning."

maxmaven — 2005-12-22T17:46:39+00:00

kuhrusty wrote:
Too complex!? Dude, it has like four sentences of rules!
Sorry for being unclear: I don't mean that the rules are complex (I agree that they are not), but that the thinking and brain-burning is complex. There are so many possibilities in each position. The original Nine Men's Morris is a little less stressful that way!

Thread: Re: What do the rules mean by "repositioning."

kuhrusty — 2005-12-22T17:28:36+00:00

Too complex!? Dude, it has like four sentences of rules!

Thread: Re: What do the rules mean by "repositioning."

maxmaven — 2005-12-21T21:46:52+00:00

Kensington is somewhat tedious, Nine Men's Morris is simpler, cleaner and more fun IMHO. The game is just too complex by expanding it.

Thread: Re: What do the rules mean by "repositioning."

Drew1365 — 2005-12-20T01:08:13+00:00

Thanks! (Geez, you guys are quick.) I picked it up at a thrift store, and it doesn't seem exactly . . . "fun" . . . but we'll give it a shot.

Thread: Re: What do the rules mean by "repositioning."

kuhrusty — 2005-12-20T00:28:09+00:00

Well, it does say "to any other unoccupied point" rather than "to a neighbouring point" (as it says for moving your own pieces), so we say you can put it across the board.

Thread: What do the rules mean by "repositioning."

Drew1365 — 2005-12-19T23:57:10+00:00

The rules state that when you claim the three points of a triangle, or the four points of a square, you can "reposition" one or two pieces of your opponent. By "repositioning," does this mean that you move your opponent's piece(s) one legal move, or can you pick up a piece and place it clear on the other side of the board?

Thread: These guys crack me up.

kuhrusty — 2005-12-13T06:31:34+00:00

From the back of the box:

"KENSINGTON is the brilliant outcome of arduous research by two eccentric British friends to develop a game of pure skill that can be easily learnt and as enjoyably played by children and adults in each and every country of the world, irrespective of its lanugage or way of life. Not since chess and chequers (draughts) first appeared from the east a dozen centuries or so ago has there been such a remarkable break-through in the games world..."

I've actually borrowed from that in performance reviews. "My achievements over the last quarter are the brilliant outcome of arduous effort by one eccentric American friend to develop products of pure quality that can be easily purchased and enjoyably operated by children and adults in each and every country of the world, irrespective of its lanugage or way of life. Not since Wilkins first fixed that deadlock condition a dozen weeks or so ago has there been such a remarkable break-through in the software development world..."

Also, few people know this, but the cross-cultural appeal of this game is such that the interior photo was later the inspiration for an N.W.A. album cover (although sans board game).

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EndersGame — 2005-09-22T11:51:47+00:00

Close-up of detail in a typical Kensington middle game position.

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EndersGame — 2005-09-19T14:47:39+00:00

Example of a position in Kensington game

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EndersGame — 2005-09-19T14:47:38+00:00

Kensington playing pieces for both players

Thread: red vs. blue

jwandke — 2005-08-18T06:16:43+00:00

Kensington is one of a few games I recently traded for here on bgg. It is an abstract strategy game with simple rules.

Two players (red vs. blue) take turns placing their pieces on the vertices of the symetrical geometrically patterned board. Hah, that sounds geeky. It is kind of geeky.

Players then take turns sliding the pieces, to try to surround specific areas of the board. I will forego a detailed explanation of the rules in this review.

Kensington, like many games, requires players to be of similar skill levels. A strategic thinker can easily beat a non-strategic person several times in a row, until neither wishes to play anymore.

Kensington offers similarly matched opponents the chance to strategically plan attacks while tactically defending against the opponent's success. If you move your pieces to block your friend, you may be moving out of the position you've worked to set up for yourself.

The sliding of a piece from one area to another means the board is always changing, but generally pretty slowly. You can start to plan for how you'd like it to continue moving. Good luck, because obviously your opponent has other plans entirely.

When one person achieves a goal, they get to reposition a couple of the pieces all at once. This usually turns to a very large advantage.

After only a few plays (so far), this game does appeal to me, and I look forward to playing it a few more times soon.

Thread: Lotus - an Othello type variant

jadzia_dax — 2005-07-29T16:52:42+00:00

Wayne Schmittberger in his book "New Rules for Classic Games" describes a variant by Christian Freeling called Lotus. Lotus is closer to Othello whereas Kensington is closer to 9 Men Morris.

Basically a stone or solidly connected group of stones is captured (i.e. reversed) if it loses it's last liberty - that is, if it no longer adjacent to at least one vacant point. However there is an exception to this rule, based on an idea from the go variant Rosette. A group containing a "lotus" - the six points around one of the seven hexagons on the board can never be captured.

See the book for detailed rules with several diagrams illustrating various moves.