Rules

The city is set as a playground where moves are made on foot along streets and avenues where pedestrians are allowed (on sidewalks for instance).

The junction of one or several streets and/or avenues are here called “intersections”.

Shifumi – Deterministic Rules:

Two players: “Left Player” (L) and “Right Player” (R), walking together as a pair.

The game begins at any point on the grid formed by the urban open spaces, from where it is possible to choose between at least two directions. A first decision game is played to decide which of those directions will be taken.

Decision games are basically “rock-paper-scissors” games:
– if Player L wins: both players turn left.
– if Player R wins: both players turn right.

If it is a draw, the decision game is replayed until there is a winner.

When the decision game is not played in an intersection or a dead end, both players have to agree on which direction is considered as Left and which direction is considered as Right.

By default, left and right directions are determined by the axis of the road from where both players arrived. It is accordingly impossible for the players to directly turn back (refer to Special Cases for exceptions to this rule).

The decision game is played everytime both players arrive at an intersection.

Special Cases

– Intersections with more than 2 options: when it is not possible to clearly distinguish between one left direction and one right direction, are considered as such the closest to the road from where the players arrived, on the left and on the right respectively.

– Dead end: when both players arrive at a dead end, a decision game is replayed at the last intersection. The road that led to the dead end is then considered as the road from where both players arrived.

Shifumi – Rules Variant 1 :

Two players.

This variant removes the designation of a “Left Player” and a “Right Player”.

Decision games now leave two options to the winner:
– play a new decision game without moving;
– choose a direction for both players to take;

When both players arrive at a dead end, a decision game is played. The winner can decide to replay a decision game or to exit the dead end.

The other special cases do not apply anymore. In fact, any road that converge to an intersection — including the one from where the players arrive — are now available options.