Forum: Author Hangout

Take a board, same sort of size as a checkerboard (apologies for my condescension to the colonials).

Take a set of pieces, same sort of size and shape as checkers, but with designs printed on the top for identification.

Congratulations, you've "invented" chess. :)

Put a device on top that "swirls" the pieces around the board using magnetism. Action would be similar to the randomization of shuffling dominos around on a table.

For a lot more information on board games, see Boardgamegeek. Many of them use hexes rather than squares.

"BoardGameGeek is an online forum for board gaming hobbyists and a game database that holds reviews, images and videos for over 125,600 different tabletop games, including European-style board games, wargames, and card games. Wikipedia
Founded: 2000
Founders: Scott Alden, Derk Solko"

Alternating magnetic fields should work.

As someone who knows how to make good random numbers with computers it's hard to think about this problem. So I put on my hard thinking cap.

Assumption 1: You don't see the board as having squares or exact defined positions.
Assumption 2: You want non-overlapping piece placement.

Define some exact positions anyway. 20 positions high and 20 positions wide give 400 home positions. These positions would allow 400 non-overlapping pieces. (Or 10x10 if that floats your boat.) But you must have far fewer pieces than positions.

In a bag you have 400 position tiles. Draw one at a time. Roll a die subtract 1 then and flip a coin. The coin says up/down and then microstep away from the position based on die-1. Do that again for left/right. Take a piece out of a bag. If an overlap occurs draw another location tile and start over.

This would work but would be time consuming.

Even easier, but less random – blindfold a player who places pieces pulled from a bag.

Assuming your pieces are single sided, print the same design on both sides (so they can be either way up)

Assuming not all squares are to be covered by pieces, include blank pieces so all squares will be covered

Have the board as a tray with sides nearly the same height as pieces are thick

Shake all pieces together in a bag/box/tin, then pour then into the tray

Gently shake the tray, including raising one corner so all pieces register to the opposite corner or slide off the tray if they were stacked on others

Collect the pieces that fall off, and shake these again, then pour into the empty area

Repeat the last two actions until there is only one piece not placed

Put last piece in remaining hole.

The last few rounds of this could be sped up by arranging the tilt to be uneven in the two directions so there is preferentially just a single row vacant in the latter stages, then pouring the remaining pieces out in a line adjacent and transferring them across

The tray could be made double sized (10*20) with a transparent cover over one half (with enough height/gap for just one piece to slide in) and higher walls on the other half, then pour once and shake until all pieces have migrated under the cover

The oversize tray extension could be made into the tin/box by extending the side height and adding a cover; tip the board one way to slide the pieces into the box, shake, tip the other way and shake until all pieces have fallen into the board (which is still the 1-high, covered tray)

If the tray extension is the same size as the board, and somewhat higher than a piece on edge (to enhance the randomisation shaking), it could be hinged at the junction to allow it to be folded under as a kind of plinth during play leaving a single board sized, unobstructed playing surface. The problem of sealing the transfer slot whilst not transferring pieces to the board is left as an exercise for the astute reader (I've thought of a few)

The hinge area could be covered with a curved loading ramp to guide pieces into the board with the board and plinth at an angle (perpendicular?). This curved feature could be reproduced on the other edges of the board to provide a consistent look. The plinth/box would probably need a tapered funnel structure to feed pieces into the curved guide.

If the plinth height was increased, it could probably incorporate a full width taper with a nearly 180 degree loading ramp so the hinge could be eliminated, but this would probably look unbalanced and unwieldy.

Alternatively, have a single sized tray with a lid deep enough to form a box, shake vigorously to mix then gently to spread out, continuing the last until a single layer is formed.