A simple, scalable Pushfight server written in Erlang.

In this section, we introduce the terminology and notation that we used to implement Pushfight.

Squares are the large pushing pieces. Rounds are the round pieces unable to push. The anchor is the piece that determines the last player to have made a move.

We label the board in a manner inspired from Chess's algebraic notation:

   a b c d
8   ┌─┬─┐   8
  ╓─┼─┼─┤
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╖
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ╙─┼─┼─┼─╢
    ├─┼─┼─╜
1   └─┴─┘   1
   a b c d

Where rows are numbered from 1 to 8 starting from the bottom, and files are a to d left to right. For example, moving a piece from the bottom to the top on the leftmost row is notated as a3 a7.

We extend this notation for void squares, where pieces may fall:

   a b c d
9   ┏ ┳ ┓   9
8 ┏ ╃─╀─╄ ┓ 8
  ╓─┼─┼─┤ ┫
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╖
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ╟─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ╙─┼─┼─┼─╢
  ┣ ┽─┼─┼─╜
1 ┗ ╅─╁─╆ ┛ 1
0   ┗ ┻ ┛   0
   a b c d

For example, we can know a player loses because their piece was pushed into position b0.

Because why would I use JSON? What is interoperability? What's a standard? If you want JSON, go implement it yourself.

Game state is sent to clients with space separated values.

Winner Turn P1Square1 P1Square2 P1Square3 P1Round1 P1Round2 P2Square1 P2Square2 P2Square3 P2Round1 P2Round2

Where Winner is the current winner, either null, player1, or player2. Turn is the current turn number. P1Square1 is the position of player1's square number 1.