zoom_in Click to enlarge

Sprouts

▲ ▼

description Sprouts Overview

Sprouts is a pencil-and-paper mathematical game devised by John Horton Conway and Michael Paterson at the University of Cambridge in 1967. Players alternately join existing spots with noncrossing curves, placing one new spot on each curve; no spot may have more than three incident line ends. The game always terminates because each move consumes available connectivity, but choosing moves can produce complicated topological positions and strategically different regions.

help Sprouts FAQ

Who invented the pencil-and-paper game Sprouts?

Sprouts was invented in 1967 by mathematicians John Horton Conway and Michael Paterson. They developed the game while working at the University of Cambridge.

How do you play Sprouts?

The game starts with a few spots on a piece of paper, and players take turns joining two spots with a noncrossing curve, placing one new spot on the newly drawn line. The catch is that no spot can ever have more than three lines connected to it.

Is Sprouts a solved mathematical game?

Despite its simple rules, Sprouts is a complex mathematical game, and determining the outcome for large numbers of starting spots is incredibly difficult. For a small number of starting spots, the game has been heavily analyzed and is a classic example in combinatorial game theory.

How does a game of Sprouts end?

The game ends when a player cannot draw a valid line that connects two spots without violating the rules or crossing an existing line. The last player to successfully make a valid move is declared the winner.

swap_horiz

Looking for Sprouts alternatives? Compare top competitors ranked & scored

arrow_forward