--- /dev/null
+[[meta title="Have pen and paper? Play SCRIBE"]]
+
+[[tag games]]
+
+So [[Andrew]] had his [[Big Show|andrew/big_show]] recently. We had a
+great time watching him perform in his four gymnastic events, but not
+so much fun waiting 20-30 minutes between events. Without any suitable
+flat surface, the other boys and I couldn't play any of our favorite
+[[icehouse]] games, but we did at least have pen and paper. If only we
+had a great, engaging game to play, (and I'm not talking about
+tic-tac-toe).
+
+I think [SCRIBE](http://www.marksteeregames.com/index.html) is the
+perfect game for a situation like this. Mark Steere invented this game
+in October 2006, and I discovered it in a recent issue of GAMES
+magazine. It's really a fantastic game, so I thought I'd give a brief
+overview of it here.
+
+## Rules
+
+First, draw 9 3x3 grids in a 3x3 pattern. That is, make a 3x3 pattern
+of tic-tac-toe grids something like this:
+
+ | | | | | |
+ -+-+- -+-+- -+-+-
+ -+-+- -+-+- -+-+-
+ | | | | | |
+
+ | | | | | |
+ -+-+- -+-+- -+-+-
+ -+-+- -+-+- -+-+-
+ | | | | | |
+
+ | | | | | |
+ -+-+- -+-+- -+-+-
+ -+-+- -+-+- -+-+-
+ | | | | | |
+
+(Amusingly enough, the coloring sheets the kids got at a restaurant
+last night were printed with nine grids exactly like this.)
+
+So there's a super grid with 9 mini grids inside it. Now, each player
+will take turns putting their symbol, (+ or o), into one of 81
+possible spaces. But, here's the trick, the position you play within
+the mini-grid of one move mandates which mini-grid you must play in
+for your next move. For example, if you play in the upper-left corner
+of the center mini-gird on your first move, then for your second move
+you must choose one of the available spaces from the upper-left
+mini-grid, and so on. (Each player puts a slash through their last
+symbol played to help keep track of where there next move must be
+played.) If the mini grid you are supposed to play in is full, then
+you can select any mini grid with empty squares for your play.
+
+The goal is to win the most mini grids by earning more points in each
+mini grid than the opponent. Points are earned for symbols that form
+one of the following 19 glyphs (reflections and rotations count of
+course):
+
+ 1 point: * Single
+
+ 2 points: ** Double
+
+ 3 points: *** Line
+
+ 4 points: * Pipe *** Squat-T ** 4-block
+ *** * **
+
+ 5 points: *** *
+ * T *** Cross
+ * *
+
+ 6 points: *** *** * *
+ *** 6-block ** Bomber *** Chair * * J
+ * * * (or Llama) ***
+
+ 7 points: ** * * * * *
+ * * Earring *** House *** H * * U
+ *** *** * * ***
+
+ 8 points: *** ***
+ *** Ottoman * * O
+ * * ***
+
+ 9 points: ***
+ *** 9-block
+ ***
+
+Note that subsets of a glyph do not count for anything. So if you end
+up with a shape like:
+
+ *
+ * L is not a glyph (0 points)
+ ***
+
+you don't score anything for this shape, (you don't get any points for
+the pipe that appears within this for example).
+
+So here's an example of a completed mini grid:
+
+ ++o Pipe = 4 points for +
+ o+o Double = 2 points for o
+ o+o Line = 3 points for o
+
+And o wins this grid 5 to 4.
+
+At the end of the game, the player who has won more of the mini grids
+wins. (Or for a more advanced game, score the super grid according to
+the same glyph rules as used for the mini grids.)
+
+OK, so that wasn't so brief. I suppose I should have just linked to
+Mark's original [complete
+rules](http://www.marksteeregames.com/Scribe_rules.html)
+([PDF](http://www.marksteeregames.com/Scribe_rules.pdf)) in the first
+place. Also, see this [printable
+board](http://www.marksteeregames.com/Scribe_board.pdf) which
+conveniently contains diagrams of all 19 glyphs in both margins. But
+also, I've found that after playing a single game, most players will
+find that all the glyphs are committed to memory, (just remember that
+there are 19 glyphs and draw them out before you start playing to make
+sure you remember them all).
+
+## Comments
+
+I won't comment too much on strategy since I don't know much yet. But
+I will say watch out for the end game. There's not a lot of freedom at
+the end, so both players may find themselves making moves they don't
+want to make. Also, look out for chains of forced moves that can lead
+you (or your opponent) to ruin several mini grids in a row.
+
+In general the way that the current move is intertwined with future
+move possibilities gives the game a lot of rich tension, and I've found
+it extremely satisfying.
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