''Entropy'' is an

abstract strategy Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information. ...

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

for two players designed by Eric Solomon in 1977. The game is "based on the eternal conflict in the universe between order and chaos ..One player is Order, the other Chaos. Order is trying to make patterns vertically and horizontally. Chaos is trying to prevent this."www.mozai.com
/ref> The game originally employed a 5×5 gameboard, but in 2000 a 7x7 board was introduced to allow deeper strategies. ''Entropy'' was awarded a rare 6 out of 6 by '' Games & Puzzles Magazine'' in 1981.''Entropy'', Mind Sports Olympiad supplement, p 8,

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, 11 August 1997, online version available from studiogiochi MSO archive

/ref> David Pritchard (chess player), David Pritchard called the game "a modern classic". It is sold commercially under the names ''Hyle'' (a 5×5 board) and ''Hyle7'' (a 7×7 board).

Rules

The gameboard is a square grid of 7×7 cells. A game consists of two rounds. Each round starts with the board empty, and a bag containing 49 chips in seven colours. The first player to move (Chaos) draws coloured chips at random from the bag and places each one on the board in an empty cell. For each chip that is placed, the second player (Order) may slide any chip horizontally or vertically any distance through empty cells, to rest in a currently empty cell. When the board becomes full, the round is finished. Order scores 1 point for each chip in any

palindromic A palindrome is a word, number, phrase, or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as the words ''madam'' or ''racecar'', the date and time ''11/11/11 11:11,'' and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Pana ...

pattern of chip colours (e.g. ''red–green–blue–green–red'' scores 3 + 5 = 8 points; ''red–red–red'' scores 2 + 2 + 3 = 7 points) occurring either horizontally or vertically.''Article about Entropy'', http://www.boardability.com/game.php?id=entropy, Retrieved on 6 September 2010. The players reverse roles and play a second round. The player with the higher score as Order wins the game.

Championships

The game has been included as one of the events at the annual

Mind Sports Olympiad The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund''Mind Sports Olympiad Supp ...

since its inception.

Demis Hassabis Demis Hassabis (born 27 July 1976) is a British artificial intelligence researcher and entrepreneur. In his early career he was a video game AI programmer and designer, and an expert player of board games. He is the chief executive officer and ...

had won this event a record five times until losing in 2007.Stephen Moss
''This time it's personal''
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 August 2007, Retrieved on 13 June 2010. Demis' record was broken in 2021 by David Jameson (Wales) who won his sixth title. The event has also been won by Hassabis's brother George and by other

Pentamind The Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) is an annual international multi-disciplined competition and festival for games of mental skill and mind sports. The inaugural event was held in 1997 in London with £100,000 prize fund''Mind Sports Olympiad Supp ...

champions, David M. Pearce, Alain Dekker, Paco Garcia de la Banda and Andres Kuusk. * 1997: Murray Heasman * 1998: Peter Horlock * 1999: George Hassabis * 2000:

* 2001: Demis Hassabis * 2002: David M. Pearce * 2003: Demis Hassabis * 2004: Demis Hassabis * 2005: Peter Horlock * 2006: Demis Hassabis * 2007: David M. Pearce * 2008: Peter Horlock * 2009: Alain Dekker * 2010: Paco Garcia de la Banda * 2011: Peter Horlock * 2012: Andres Kuusk * 2013: Andres Kuusk * 2014: David Jameson * 2015: Andres Kuusk * 2016: David Jameson * 2017: David Jameson * 2018: David Jameson * 2019: David Jameson * 2020: David Jameson * 2021: Paul Kolk * 2022: Alain Dekker

References

Bibliography * *

External links

*{{bgg, 1329, ''Hyle'' *Online play (as "Entropy") a
Super Duper Games
Board games introduced in 1977 Abstract strategy games

Rules

Championships

References

Further reading

External links