Hens and Chicks

HOW TO PLAY

Hens and Chicks is a checkers-like game by James Ernest and Crab Fragment Labs, used by permission. A link to the rules can be found here https://crabfragmentlabs.com/verdigris-pawn (direct link to v1.0 rules implemented here).

Player one is GREEN and player two is BLUE. By default you are player one and the computer is player two, but that can be swapped when starting a new game. The board is always drawn with your pieces at the bottom.

Chicks are circles and hens are squares. When you hover over a piece that can be moved it is highlighted in YELLOW. Click on a highlighted piece and the squares it can move to will be outlined in YELLOW. Click on one of the outlined squares to make the move, or click on a different piece to see what moves it can make. After an initial jump, if a second jump is possible, the squares you can jump to next are outlined in YELLOW. If you don't want to make a second jump, click on the piece itself to stop jumping and end your turn.

After you move, the computer will "think" and then make its move. The computer's move will be highligted with a dashed BLACK outline.

The computer uses JSMCTS, a javascript implementation of Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) that runs in the browser, to select a move. It displays the moves it is evaluating and what percentage of the time those moves lead to a win. The number of trials it runs and the amount of time it has to run them can be controlled.

Have fun!