Cube Lariat

Cube Lariat is a two-player game played on an octagonally tessellated, cubic surface. Non-octagonal edge and corner cells wrap around edges and corners. Select three edges, no two of which share a face. Designate the center cell of each of the three edges as a nuclear cell. Nuclear cells are initially colored red. The two players, Black and White, take turns claiming unclaimed cells (coloring cells with their own color), one cell per turn, starting with Black. Nuclear cells can be claimed and colored black or white, but they still retain their identity as nuclear cells. Cube Lariat uses the pie rule. To win, you must form a group of interconnected cells of your color which, all by itself, isolates the three nuclear cells from each other. Your winning group should block your opponent from forming a group that includes two or more nuclear cells. When evaluating a group for the winning condition, assume that all cells not part of this group are unclaimed. Design notes Cube Lariat is isomorphic to my game Super Lariat (2008), which is played on a three way, branching crystal shape, covered with a hexagonal tessellation. Cube Lariat was designed to be easier to program and manufacture than Super Lariat. Cube Lariat is a fundamental connection game. Randomly assigning every cell as black or white will always produce exactly one winner. Never zero or two winners. The eight corner cells of the cube don't have to be claimable. Claiming one of them won't help you win.