# What's this coin game called? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 5, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364 "2011-06-05T03:11:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/1 "2011-06-05T03:11:09Z")
I play this whenever I go drinking. Someone from my chess club taught it to me years ago. Take sixteen coins, organized like so: ``` X XXX XXXXX ``` XXXXXXX You can take as many coins as you like from any single row at a time on your turn. The object of the game is to get your opponent to take the last coin. It’s a sophisticated tic tac toe that gives us something to go with our beers. Does it have (a) name(s)? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/2 "2011-06-05T03:14:18Z")
This is close: [Nim - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim) ---
**Author:** ![alfonzos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alfonzos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfonzos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/3 "2011-06-06T00:51:50Z")
Confirmed: it’s Nim. And there is a trick to winning (which makes it a puzzle, not a game). Force your opponent into the no-win situation of two rows of two. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/4 "2011-06-06T05:33:42Z")
> [@](#): > > And there is a trick to winning (which makes it a puzzle, not a game). All games out of a very broad category have a trick to winning. Chess has a trick to winning. Go has a trick to winning. What makes Nim special is that the trick for winning it is known, and is simple enough that a human can apply it at any stage in the game. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/5 "2011-06-06T05:40:43Z")
Cool! Thanks all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![akbar7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@akbar7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akbar7)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/6 "2011-06-06T07:28:11Z")
> [@alfonzos](#): > > Confirmed: it’s Nim. And there is a trick to winning (which makes it a puzzle, not a game). Force your opponent into the no-win situation of two rows of two. yes thanks… ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/7 "2011-06-06T21:10:49Z")
> [@alfonzos](#): > > Confirmed: it’s Nim. And there is a trick to winning (which makes it a puzzle, not a game). Force your opponent into the no-win situation of two rows of two. If you can take any number of coins on any turn, why not just do this on the first turn every round? Also, if you force your opponent into two rows of two, what if he takes three coins? Aren’t you forced to take the last one? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/8 "2011-06-06T21:15:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > If you can take any number of coins on any turn, why not just do this on the first turn every round? > > Also, if you force your opponent into two rows of two, what if he takes three coins? Aren’t you forced to take the last one? You can only take coins from one row. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/9 "2011-06-06T21:15:34Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > If you can take any number of coins on any turn, why not just do this on the first turn every round? > > Also, if you force your opponent into two rows of two, what if he takes three coins? Aren’t you forced to take the last one? The rules say that you can take any number of coins from one row – not from more than one row. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-coin-game-called/584364/10 "2011-06-06T22:14:11Z")
Ah, I missed that. Thanks.