For Finnish users, there’s a new review at my web site: Zèrtz.

I’ve played about 50 games of Zèrtz during this summer, both PBeM and with a real set. I love it! It’s quick to play so you can play lots of it. The rules are easy to learn but there’s just right amount of stuff to learn — it isn’t intimidating like Chess or Go are, but isn’t too simple either.

The game looks very good, if you like elegant black and white minimalism. It is a very elegant game overall. Try it, if you like solving puzzles, because that’s what playing Zèrtz is — solving a puzzle each turn to figure out the best way to sacrifice the marbles you’re trying to collect to get a better results than your opponent.

So, if you’re looking for a good two-player game and aren’t afraid of abstract games (and even if you are), try Zèrtz. It’s the best of the GIPF series, as far as I’m concerned. I still haven’t figured out Gipf and Tamsk was boring — but that’s perhaps because I played it PBeM. I won’t judge Tamsk until I’ve tried it for real.

Well, anyway, Zèrtz is a very good game. Try it out. If you play at Richard’s PBeM Server, I’m msaari there. Challenge me — all challenges in both Zertz and Zertz+11 are taken.