Bōku is an abstract strategy board gameBoku at Board Game Geek retrieved 29 April 2011 played with marbles on a perforated hexagonal board with 80 spaces. The object of the game is to arrange five marbles in a row. The game has also been sold under the name Bollox, and later BolixBoku background http://boku.bandoodle.co.uk/story.php and won a Mensa Select award in 1999.List of Mensa select winners retrieved 29 April 2011
Invented by Rob Nelson, the former Portland Mavericks left-handed pitcher and creator of Big League Chew bubblegum. The idea for the game came to Nelson in 1991 when he was in London pitching for the Enfield Spartans. Along with good friend and owner of the Spartans Malcolm Needs they developed and marketed the game. Distributed by the London Games Company in Europe and Cadaco Toys in North America, for a time it enjoyed the position of being the best selling two player strategy games in both Harrods and Hamleys. The game was awarded a Mensa International Gold Star.
Rules Bōku belongs to the class of connection games ("n-in-a-row" games) similar to Gomoku or Connect Four. It has two main rules: the game is won by putting five marbles into a row if a player traps two of the opponent's marbles between two of their own, the player may remove one of the sandwiched marbles (and the opponent may not put a marble back into the same place on the next move).Rules of Boku Retrieved 29 April 2011
World championships The official Boku world championships have been held as part of the Mind Sports Olympiad since 2000Mind Sports Olympiad Boku Results http://www.boardability.com/result.php?id=boku 06 September 2010 in England. David M. Pearce (England) and Andres Kuusk (Estonia) have been World Champions six times. Martin Hõbemägi (Estonia) has won the title five times. +List of World ChampionsYearWorld ChampionCountry2000David GlaudeBelgium2001Jan PalmgrenSweden2002Ben PridmoreEngland2003David M. PearceEngland2004David M. PearceEngland2005Joey HoHong Kong2006David M. PearceEngland2007James HeppellEngland2008David M. PearceEngland2009[Did not play][Did not play]2010David M. PearceEngland2011Andres KuuskEstonia2012Andres KuuskEstonia2013Andres KuuskEstonia2014Andres KuuskEstonia2015Martin HõbemägiEstonia2016Alain DekkerSouth Africa2017Martin HõbemägiEstonia2018Martin HõbemägiEstonia2019Martin HõbemägiEstonia2020[Did not play][Did not play]2021[Did not play][Did not play]2022Martin HõbemägiEstonia2023Andres KuuskEstonia2024David M. PearceEngland2025Andres KuuskEstonia
References
External links MSO Boku page The Game of Bōku