Black Hole
Twenty-one circles. One of them swallows the rest.
Computer strength
Lifetime record
| Difficulty | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Medium | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hard | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Matches, not legs.
Start a game and send the code, or type in one you were sent.
or
Four characters, from whoever started the game.
You have been invited to a game.
Send this to whoever you are playing.
Waiting for them to join.
Twenty-one circles in a triangle. You and your opponent each hold the numbers 1 to 10.
You take turns, and you both place the same number before either of you moves on: you play your 1, they play their 1, you play your 2, they play their 2, and so on up to 10.
That is twenty placements into twenty-one circles, so one circle is always left empty. It collapses into the black hole.
The hole swallows every number in the circles touching it — up to six of them. You add up only your own numbers that got swallowed. Your opponent adds up theirs. The lower total wins.
Going first is a small advantage, so one game on its own is often a draw. A match is two legs with the opening swapped, and the lower total across both wins. If that is still level, the tie goes to whoever had fewer numbers pulled in; if even that is level, it is a real draw and the game says so.
Numbers you cluster together are harder to punish, because a cluster can only be hit along its edge — one hole can reach fewer of your big numbers when they are packed than when they are spread out.
That is a starting point, not a solution. Clustering hands your opponent information, the low numbers you scatter early decide more than they look like they will, and the last few placements are usually where the game is actually won.