BUL VS PÜNCT

Bul (also called Buul, Boolik or Puluc) is a running-fight board game originating in Mesoamerica, and is known particularly among several of the Maya peoples of Belize and the Guatemalan highlands. It is uncertain whether this game dates back to the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, or whether it developed in the post-colonial era after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. Stewart Culin described the game in the 24th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology: Games of North American Indians published in 1907. R. C. Bell referred to the game in Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations. Both of these descriptions were based on the eyewitness accounts of others. Lieve Verbeeck, a linguist studying Mayan language, witnessed the modern version of the game being played by Mopan and Kekchi Maya in Belize It is not known exactly when the game was developed or what the original rules were as very few records survived the invasion by the conquistadors between the 15th and 17th centuries. Stewart Culin organised the games in his anthology into those he thought had an influence from Europe in their creation. Bul is not listed among these, and in his opinion the game must have developed before Europeans arrived in Central America. There are a variety of ways to play the game, as Verbeeck's account shows. The game could be played by two people, or by two equal-sized teams. The overall objective is to capture and subsequently kill the playing pieces of the opposition, so the game is in essence a war game. The playing area is divided into equal spaces using rods placed parallel to each other. The two players have control of a base at either end of the play area. The players take an even number of stones or figurines (or any suitable playing piece) and place them in their respective bases.

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PÜNCT is a two-player strategy board game. It is the sixth (and final) release in the GIPF project of six abstract strategy games, although it is considered the fifth game in the project. It was released in 2005. PÜNCT won the Games Magazine Best Abstract Strategy game for 2007. The PÜNCT board game is one of six games a part of the GIPF project. This project was created by Kris Burm and is a series of six abstract games. PÜNCT is the 5th game of the project and the board of this game is shaped like a hexagon. This game was released in 2005.[citation needed] PÜNCT is a two-player connection game. The objective is to connect two sides of a hexagonal board, using pieces which cover three hexes each. The pieces can be placed, moved, rotated, and stacked in various ways, restricted by the geometry of the board, the shape of the pieces, and gravity. Players can bring new pieces to the board or can attempt to connect the pieces already in play. The objective of the game is to mislead the opponent. When the players take their first turn, they are not able to use the central hexagon. The PÜNCT piece is used as a point of reference throughout the game, but the PÜNCT piece can't be moved when the player is making a move. Minor dots can land on the other player's piece, but the PÜNCT piece may not. In order to make a move, three dots must be in perfect alignment. The pieces that are on top of all of the other pieces have the most power in this game. The dots on the ends of the pieces must be at the same level horizontally to play this game correctly. In order to make a bridge in this game, you must perform a jump move on a piece already on the board. The positions of the dots at the end don't have to be aligned with the middle or stable horizontally. When determining the winner, a player can lift one piece at a time to determine if a connection was made. To connect opposite sides in this game, players can move pieces on top of other pieces or they can stack pieces to block the opponent's connection, ergo, making a connection for themselves. The actual PÜNCT piece, which is a rounded piece that has one point, cannot be used to make a connection or form a “chain” but rather used as a point of reference.

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