Chain Lightning 2010

description provided by designer

Essentially, an asymmetric square 'Hex'.

The board is an nxn square grid (19×19 is probably a good start) Two opposite edges are designated white goals, and the other two are black goals. Corners count as part of both edges. Each player's objective is to connect their two goal edges with an unbroken chain of their stones. White (O) stones may use both orthogonal and diagonal connections to complete their chain, while black (+) stones may only use orthogonal connections. However, black places three stones on each of their turns, while white places only two. White moves first, then turns alternate. If there are not enough spaces remaining to place all of a player's stones for their turn, place as many as possible. Play ends when the victorious player completes a valid connection. Draws should not occur.

Any serious two-player abstract requires a great many playtests before being deemed 'unbreakable', so I consider this to be a beta version. Though its name (and possibly some minor points of the rules) are still subject to change, please feel free to implement it for online/AI play (given proper attribution).