This is an IRC bot that implements a variant of the game of Nim. The program was created by Cathy Fitzpatrick in July 2009. It is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 or later.
This is a two player game. The players are presented with an array of sticks arranged into rows and they must take turns removing sticks. Each turn, you can remove any number of adjacent sticks from within a single row. The player who removes the last stick loses.
Nim is not difficult to solve mathematically. However, it is a good way to teach various game theory concepts, because the solution is not immediately obvious, but is still easily within reach after some reflection.
You must have a JDK installed. Inside the directory where you have cloned the repository, try
# Compile the program.
javac -cp pircbot.jar ShoddySticks.java
# Run the bot.
java -cp pircbot.jar:. ShoddySticks irc.synirc.net "#example"Note that it is necessary to quote the channel name in order to prevent the hash symbol (#) from being interpreted as a shell comment character.
Here is a sample game using ShoddySticks:
[11:04:10] <Cathy> !sticks begin
[11:04:11] <ShoddySticks> Type !sticks join to join the game.
[11:04:20] <NimOpponent> !sticks join
[11:04:20] <ShoddySticks> NimOpponent has joined the game.
[11:04:21] <ShoddySticks> Another player is needed! Type !sticks join to join the game.
[11:04:27] <Cathy> !sticks join
[11:04:28] <ShoddySticks> Cathy has joined the game.
[11:04:29] <ShoddySticks> NimOpponent v. Cathy begins!
[11:04:30] <ShoddySticks> 1: |
[11:04:31] <ShoddySticks> 2: | |
[11:04:32] <ShoddySticks> 3: | | |
[11:04:33] <ShoddySticks> 4: | | | |
[11:04:34] <ShoddySticks> 5: | | | | |
[11:04:35] <ShoddySticks> It's Cathy's turn!
[11:05:06] <Cathy> !sticks take 5:2-4
[11:05:07] <ShoddySticks> 1: |
[11:05:08] <ShoddySticks> 2: | |
[11:05:09] <ShoddySticks> 3: | | |
[11:05:09] <ShoddySticks> 4: | | | |
[11:05:11] <ShoddySticks> 5: | _ _ _ |
[11:05:11] <ShoddySticks> It's NimOpponent's turn!
[11:05:31] <NimOpponent> !sticks take 4:1-4
[11:05:32] <ShoddySticks> 1: |
[11:05:33] <ShoddySticks> 2: | |
[11:05:34] <ShoddySticks> 3: | | |
[11:05:35] <ShoddySticks> 5: | _ _ _ |
[11:05:36] <ShoddySticks> It's Cathy's turn!
[11:05:44] <Cathy> !sticks take 3:1
[11:05:45] <ShoddySticks> 1: |
[11:05:46] <ShoddySticks> 2: | |
[11:05:47] <ShoddySticks> 3: _ | |
[11:05:48] <ShoddySticks> 5: | _ _ _ |
[11:05:49] <ShoddySticks> It's NimOpponent's turn!
[11:05:57] <NimOpponent> !sticks take 2:1-2
[11:05:57] <ShoddySticks> 1: |
[11:05:58] <ShoddySticks> 3: _ | |
[11:05:59] <ShoddySticks> 5: | _ _ _ |
[11:06:00] <ShoddySticks> It's Cathy's turn!
[11:06:41] <Cathy> !sticks take 3:2
[11:06:41] <ShoddySticks> 1: |
[11:06:43] <ShoddySticks> 3: _ _ |
[11:06:43] <ShoddySticks> 5: | _ _ _ |
[11:06:44] <ShoddySticks> It's NimOpponent's turn!
[11:06:56] <NimOpponent> !sticks take 1:1
[11:06:57] <ShoddySticks> 3: _ _ |
[11:06:57] <ShoddySticks> 5: | _ _ _ |
[11:06:58] <ShoddySticks> It's Cathy's turn!
[11:07:11] <Cathy> !sticks take 5:1
[11:07:11] <ShoddySticks> 3: _ _ |
[11:07:12] <ShoddySticks> 5: _ _ _ _ |
[11:07:13] <ShoddySticks> It's NimOpponent's turn!
[11:07:20] <NimOpponent> !sticks take 3:3
[11:07:20] <ShoddySticks> 5: _ _ _ _ |
[11:07:21] <ShoddySticks> It's Cathy's turn!
[11:07:26] <Cathy> !sticks take 5:5
[11:07:26] <ShoddySticks> Game over! NimOpponent wins!
- Cathy Fitzpatrick created the program.
- ShoddySticks uses PircBot, a copy of which is included in the repository.