Editing Abstract strategy game (section)

==Definition==
[[File:Stratego.jpg|thumb|The game ''[[Stratego]]'']]
Combinatorial games have no randomizers such as dice, no simultaneous movement, nor hidden information. Some games that do have these elements are sometimes classified as abstract strategy games. (Games such as ''[[Continuo (game)|Continuo]]'', Octiles, ''[[Can't Stop (board game)|Can't Stop]]'', and [[Sequence (board game)|Sequence]], could be considered abstract strategy games, despite having a luck or bluffing element.) A smaller category of abstract strategy games manages to incorporate hidden information without using any random elements; the best known example is ''[[Stratego]]''.

Traditional abstract strategy games are often treated as a separate game category, hence the term 'abstract games' is often used for competitions that exclude them and can be thought of as referring to ''modern'' abstract strategy games. Two examples are the IAGO World Tour (2007–2010) and the Abstract Games World Championship held annually since 2008 as part of the [[Mind Sports Organisation|Mind Sports Olympiad]].<ref name="MSO">{{cite web|publisher=Mind Sports Olympiad|title=Abstract Games|access-date=July 27, 2017|url=http://www.boardability.com/game.php?id=abstract_games|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325221027/http://www.boardability.com/game.php?id=abstract_games|archive-date=March 25, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Some abstract strategy games have multiple starting positions of which it is required that one be randomly determined. For a game to be one of skill, a starting position needs to be chosen by impartial means. Some games, such as ''[[Arimaa]]'' and ''[[DVONN]]'', have the players build the starting position in a separate initial phase which itself conforms strictly to combinatorial game principles. Most players, however, would consider that although one is then starting each game from a different position, the game itself contains no luck element. Indeed, [[Bobby Fischer]] promoted [[Chess960|randomization of the starting position in chess]] in order to ''increase'' player dependence on thinking at the board.<ref name="Bob">{{cite web|url=http://www.chessvariants.com/diffsetup.dir/fischerh.html|title=The birth of Fischer Random Chess|first=Eric|last=van Reem|website=The Chess Variant Pages|access-date=July 27, 2017|date=May 31, 2001}}</ref>
          
As J. Mark Thompson wrote in his article "Defining the Abstract", play is sometimes said to resemble a series of [[puzzle]]s the players pose to each other:<ref name="Thompson">{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=J. Mark|date=July 2000|title=Defining the Abstract|publisher=The Games Journal|access-date=July 27, 2017|url=http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/DefiningtheAbstract.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001018073731/http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/DefiningtheAbstract.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 18, 2000}}</ref><ref name="IAGO">{{cite web|publisher=International Abstract Games Organisation|title=Abstract strategy games and other genres out of scope of IAGO|url=http://iagoweb.com/wiki/game-genres |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818060137/http://iagoweb.com/wiki/game-genres |archive-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref> <blockquote>There is an intimate relationship between such games and puzzles: every board position presents the player with the puzzle, What is the best move?, which in theory could be solved by logic alone. A good abstract game can therefore be thought of as a "family" of potentially interesting logic puzzles, and the play consists of each player posing such a puzzle to the other. Good players are the ones who find the most difficult puzzles to present to their opponents.</blockquote>

Many abstract strategy games also happen to be "[[Combinatorial game theory|combinatorial]]"; i.e., there is [[perfect information|no hidden information]], no non-deterministic elements (such as shuffled cards or dice rolls), no simultaneous or hidden movement or setup, and (usually) two players or teams take a finite number of alternating {{boardgloss|turns}}.

Many games which are abstract in nature historically might have developed from thematic games, such as representation of military tactics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SFE: Board Game |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/board_game |access-date=2022-08-21 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref> In turn, it is common to see thematic version of such games; for example, chess is considered an abstract game, but many thematic versions, such as [[Star Wars]]-themed chess, exist.

There are also many abstract video games, which include open ended solutions to problems, one example is [[Shapez 2|''Shapez'']],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Save 65% on shapez on Steam |url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1318690/shapez/ |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=store.steampowered.com |language=en}}</ref> a game which you must deliver a set amount of shapes, but it is entirely up to you how to do so.