As you know, in our Golden Oldies articles we talk about games that are out of production.
This time, talking about house rules, we want to suggest four classic games that are still produced, but under a new point of view.
Admit it: you all have ABALONE, and ZERTZ, and DVONN, and OXXO… You have so many abstract games that you haven’t got time for a classic Chess, Droughts, Awele or Go game. But we don’t want to forget our ancestors, and we suggest some bizarre variants to these games, so that you will go and take back from your closet your dusty chessboard (or mancala, or goban).
Note: all these variants consider as valid and known most of the original rules.

Trap Chess

In order to play Trap Chess you need all you normally need for a Chess game (including the two players) and a black coin (or a droughts pawn) that we will call trap.
The rules are the same as in a Chess game, but at every turn the player makes two moves:
1) he normally moves a chess piece.
2) if at this moment he is not in a check situation, he moves the trap on any free cell on the board.
During the game, any piece moving to the cell with the trap falls into a bottomless chasm and is out of the game (as if it was captured by the opponent). A knight falls into the trap only if it goes on it at the end of its movement, as the king and the tower during the castling.
The winner is the one who puts the opponent in a checkmate situation, but only if at his turn he can capture the king, avoiding the trap.

Brakeless Draughts

It is played almost as a normal Draughts game, but during his turn a player must keep on making moves, until one of these conditions come true:
1) One of his pawns captures an opponent’s.
2) An opponent’s pawn can capture (this has to be considered before the first condition)
3) One of his pawns becomes crowned.
So every series of moves ends with a capture or crowning.
If only two crowned pawns are left on the board, a player could be forced to go next to the opponent’s crowned pawn and make it capture his, if he can’t capture.
It is clear that the black player (the first who makes his move) can be advantaged, or even force the opponent to make a certain series of moves, taking away all his decisions and fun. But this is only theoretical.

Awele Bohnanza

For an absolutely new mix between this old abstract game and a modern German game, find the Awele Bohnanza variant, an homage, at least in its title, to the classic card game by Uwe Rosenberg.
In the starting position, put a seed in every hole with a Red Bean (a red marble or a distinguishable seed).
When you sow, remember sowing all the Red Beans in your hole at the end.
The game is a normal one, but in the final score every captured Red Bean will be worth two points and not one.

“Here they come!” Go

In the “Here they come!” variant, every player has a stone of his own colour.
In any moment during the game, immediately after his move, a player can decide to play again putting the stone on the goban.
You have to carefully consider the best moment to use your stone, as it could be too early or too late.
We suggest not playing with more than one stone, because the game could be unbalanced. But you can also decide that an unused stone can be worth ten points in the final score.