SYMBIO 

Copyright (c) 2001 Cameron Browne

This is played on a 8x8 square board with the following setup:

BODY - A body us an adjacent (just orthogonal, not diagonal) set of stones of the same color. A body has freedom if at least of of its stones is adjacent to an empty cell. MOVE - A player can move a body: He takes one stone from the body and puts it on any empty cell adjacent to the body (including adjacent cells from the moving stone). A body with no freedom cannot move. GROW - A player can drop a stone in a cell adjacent to one of his bodies. CAPTURE - A body can move inside another body with no freedom. If this happens, the stone in the cell where the former body moves, is captured. TURN - Each player, at each turn must (in that order): Move one of his bodies (and, eventually, capture an opponent stone); Grow one of his bodies; GOAL - A player wins if the opponent cannot add a stone in his turn.

An example Black started by moving b7-c6 and growing into d7. White replied c2-d4, d5 taking one liberty of moving Black body (and loosing one liberty in the process...).

An example After the first turn, Black splits in top-left body into two parts (a process of meiosis) by moving c7-e7 and grow into e6, starting to create an influence around that area.  White does a similar thing with b3-c5, d5.

The author see the game as an analogy with a biological process, namely our body immune system, which surrounds and consumes foreign bodies.

This game entered on the 2001 8x8 Game Design Contest and was considered among the best entries.