Roshi Is a Surprisingly Little ‘Line Maker’
You could fill a book with games where the goal is to make a line of “X” number of pieces in a row, so it’s not always clear to this reviewer whether we really need yet another one.
That said, such games are rather quick to learn and are generally “filler” games that work well over a coffee, so my buddy Trevor and I are usually up to giving a new one a try.
And that brings me to Roshi from Mark S. Ball.
Ball is one of the guys behind Riffle Shuffle & Roll and the face of many of the group’s “how-to-play” videos on YouTube. He often focuses on card games.
So, on a recent visit to the page, I was somewhat surprised to see a trio of small board games from Ball.
The trio—Hoppsi, Crownsi, and Roshi—are all free to download. You just need some checkers or cubes, and you’re ready to play.
Hoppsi and Crownsi, as free games, are OK, but Roshi had Trevor and me smiling quite a lot.
There doesn’t seem to be much of grand interest here until you play it and realize it’s rather “thinky” for a small-board, five-in-a-row offering.
In Roshi, you have three potential actions on a turn: place one of your eight pieces, slide a piece of your color already on the board one space, or push one piece on the board, yours or your opponent’s.
The goal is to create a “roshi,” which is a five-in-a-row that includes the roshi stone.
Oh yes, there is a neutral stone that you can push around the board—although it is restricted to the 4×4 center of the 6×6 board.
The first player to create a roshi wins the game.
On a player’s turn, you complete up to two different actions from those noted above. The actions can be completed in any order.
The first player starts the game by placing the roshi stone anywhere within its restricted area. After placing the roshi stone, the first player also places a single stone of their color anywhere on the board.
The second player places two of their pieces on the board.
Then players alternate.
It’s not chess, but it is a really good “coffee break” choice. This is one you can get on the table anytime and play a few games that will leave you wondering how you lost—or pleased that you saw the path to victory.
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