Zillions of Games

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|| [[image:Zillions_of_games.jpg link="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zillions_of_games.jpg"]] ||~ || **Zillions of Games**,
a commercial [[General Game Playing|general game playing]] [[Windows]] program developed by [[Jeff Mallett]] and [[Mark Lefler]] to play [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_strategy_game|abstract strategy]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_game|board games]] with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_information|perfect information]] and up to 32 players, first released in 1998. Zillions of Games **2**, released in 2003, comes with 100 new features, able to enforce maximal capturing rules as used in some versions of [[Checkers]], and is packed with 350 board games, puzzles, and variants <ref>[[http://www.zillionsofgames.com/games.html|Zillions of Games - How Many Games?]]</ref>, including chess and 60 [[Chess#Variants|chess variants]]. Zillions further supports randomness in games through a special, computer-controlled "random player" that chooses its moves randomly, which allows to simulate [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dice_games|dice games]].||
|| Zillions of Games 2.0 Start Screen <ref>[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zillions_of_Games|Zillions of Games - Wikipedia]]</ref>||~ ||^ ||
[[toc]]
=Zillions Rules Language=
[[#ZRF]]The game rules are specified by the Zillons rules language, persistant in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII|ASCII]] readable Zillion rules files with the extension **zrf** <ref>[[Jeff Mallett]] (**2003**). //ZRF Language References//. [[http://www.cs.duke.edu/courses/spring06/cps108/Assignments/06_vooga/zrf.pdf|pdf]]</ref>, based on [[Lisp]] like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-expression|S-expressions]]:
[[code format="scheme"]]
(game
  (title "...") 
  (players ...) ; up to 32
  (turn-order ... )
  (board .... )
  (piece ... ; up to 32
    (moves ...)
  ) 
  (board-setup ...)
  (draw-condition ...)
  (win-condition ...)
 )
)
(game ...)
[[code]]
Besides defining how pieces move, Zillions can define how pieces may be dropped. All piece and board graphics referred in the rule files, are required in Windows [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMP_file_format|BMP format]].

=Selected Games=
==Chess & Variants==
* [[Chess]]
* [[Chinese Chess]]
* [[Crazyhouse]]
* [[Knightmate Chess|Knightmate]]
* [[Losing Chess]] 
* [[Shatranj]]
* [[Shogi]]

==Board Games==
* [[Arimaa]]
* [[Breakthrough (Game)|Breakthrough]]
* [[Checkers]]
* [[Clobber]]
* [[Go]] 
* [[Hex]]
* [[Kalah]]
* [[Lines of Action]]
* [[Othello|Reversi]]
* [[Nine Men’s Morris]]

==Puzzles==
* [[Backtracking#8QinBitboards|Eight Queens Problem]]
* [[Knight Pattern|Knight's Tour]]

=See also=
* [[General Game Playing#GDL|Game Description Language]]
* [[Games]]

=Publications=
* [[Jeff Mallett]] (**2003**). //ZRF Language References//. [[http://www.cs.duke.edu/courses/spring06/cps108/Assignments/06_vooga/zrf.pdf|pdf]]
* [[Ingo Althöfer]] (**2003**). //Computer-Aided Game Inventing//. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Jena|Friedrich Schiller University of Jena]], [[http://www.minet.uni-jena.de/preprints/althoefer_03/CAGI.pdf|pdf]]
* [[Ingo Althöfer]] (**2004**). //[[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304397503005851|Improved game play by multiple computer hints]]//. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_Computer_Science_%28journal%29|Theoretical Computer Science]], Vol. 313, No. 3

=Forum Posts=
* [[http://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=372641|moderation:question about allowed discussions]] by [[Uri Blass]], [[CCC]], June 26, 2004
> [[http://www.stmintz.com/ccc/index.php?id=372708|Re: Zillions of Games is fantastic]] by [[Ingo Althöfer]], [[CCC]], June 26, 2004 <ref>[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Hagen|Nina Hagen from Wikipedia]]</ref> <ref>[[http://www.kanzlei-bezzenberger.de/jb.html|BEZZENBERGER Rechtsanwälte - Kanzlei für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz, Urheber- und Medienrecht]]</ref>
* [[http://www.talkchess.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18309|Zillions of Games and WinBoard]] by [[Harm Geert Muller]], [[CCC]], December 11, 2007

=External Links=
* [[http://www.zillionsofgames.com/index.html|Zillions of Games - Unlimited Board Games & Puzzles]]
> [[http://www.zillionsofgames.com/games.html|Zillions of Games - How Many Games?]]
> [[http://www.zillionsofgames.com/games/|Zillions of Games - Free Games for Download]]
> [[http://www.zillions-of-games.com/games/index-tripartite.html|Zillions of Games -  2358 Free Games for Download]]
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zillions_of_Games|Zillions of Games - Wikipedia]]
* [[http://www.chessvariants.org/programs.dir/zillions/|Zillions of Games]] from [[http://www.chessvariants.org/|Chessvariants.org]]
* [[http://karlscherer.com/Zillions/swindex2.html|600 Zillions Games]] by [[Karl Scherer]]
* [[http://andreas.pbworks.com/w/page/27366687/WinBoard%20Adapter%20for%20Zillions%20of%20Games|WinBoard Adapter for Zillions of Games]] by [[Andreas Kaufmann]]
* [[http://www.althofer.de/galton-game.html|Galton Game]] by [[Ingo Althöfer]]

=References= 
<references />
=What links here?= 
[[include page="Zillions of Games" component="backlinks" limit="40"]]
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