A little over four years ago Günther programmed the Windows PC version of Yspahan and made the game available here as freeware for all Ystari fans. Meanwhile, Yspahan for Windows has been downloaded more than 30,000 times and is still enjoying great popularity.
At about the same time on the other side of the Atlantic Dave Dyer’s enthusiasm for the game Zertz led to the development of Boardspace, a platform for playing boardgames for 2 to 4 players online. The Board Space server handles all communication between the clients and executes the clients of the computer opponents. The actual game software, written in Java, runs on the players’ computers.
After implementing many well- and lesser-known strategy games in the style of Zertz, Dave started to add Eurogames such as Medina and Containers. The latest addition is Yspahan, for which Westpark Gamer Günther Rosenbaum provided the logic of the AI opponent as well as the graphics, both ported from his Windows version of the game.
Currently, Yspahan is in its testing phase and hence has a few minor restrictions. At the moment there is just one AI opponent and the game for two players is not yet implemented because of the different rules set. But already now, three or four players can compete against each other in a challenging match of Yspahan. And the AI player can be used to replace a missing human player if needed.
On Boardspace, there are a total of 80 rooms in which online players can compete against each other. Each room can be configured as a game room with a game of the initiator’s choice. The system maintains a player ranking for the games played comparable to the ELO system in chess, unless you play in a room without scoring. Statistics about a country’s best players are displayed on the entry page. A prerequisite is that one plays as a registered user rather than as a guest. As Dave Dyer’s maintains Boardspace as a hobby project, both registration and playing games are free of charge.
So why don’t you try your first online game of Yspahan on Boardspace. Perhaps you’ll even meet one of the Westpark Gamers…
