{ "id": "ep40x50qvm", "slug": "twixt", "title": "Twixt", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "play", "label": "Sports, games, and recreation", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/play" }, { "id": "play.tabletop", "label": "Board, card, and puzzle games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/play.tabletop" }, { "id": "play.tabletop.tt-board-games", "label": "Board games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/play.tabletop.tt-board-games" }, { "id": "play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games", "label": "Modern designer board games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games" }, { "id": "play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games.modern-abstract-games", "label": "Modern abstract and tile-laying games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games.modern-abstract-games" }, { "id": "play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games.modern-abstract-games.connection-games", "label": "Connection games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games.modern-abstract-games.connection-games" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.play.tabletop.tt-board-games", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Board games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.play.tabletop.tt-board-games", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.play", "label": "Sports, games, and recreation", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.play" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.play.tabletop", "label": "Board, card, and puzzle games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.play.tabletop" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.play.tabletop.tt-board-games", "label": "Board games", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.play.tabletop.tt-board-games" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Twixt (TwixT) is Alex Randolph's 1957 connection game, published by 3M in 1962: pegs on a 24x24 board linked by knight's moves, with pie rule, link removal, and PSPACE-complete complexity.", "snippet": "Twixt (TwixT) is Alex Randolph's 1957 connection game, published by 3M in 1962: pegs on a 24x24 board linked by knight's moves, with pie rule, link removal, and PSPACE-complete complexity.", "node": "play.tabletop.modern-designer-board-games.modern-abstract-games.connection-games", "markdown": "# Twixt\n\n**Twixt** (also written TwixT) is a two-player abstract strategy connection game invented by Alex Randolph in which each player places pegs on a square pegboard and joins them with links spanning a knight's move in chess, trying to build an unbroken chain between their two assigned sides of the board.[1](https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/thing%3A949) The name is an abbreviation of \"betwixt\", an archaic word for \"between\".[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) Randolph developed it as a paper-and-pencil game in 1957, and it was published as a board game by 3M in 1962 as one of the first titles in the 3M Bookshelf Games series.[3](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/) • [2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Designer and origin | Invented by Alex Randolph as a paper-and-pencil game in 1957; introduced to artist friends at Vienna's Café Hawelka[3](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/) • [2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) |\n| First publication | 3M, 1962, Bookshelf Games series; later editions by Avalon Hill, Schmidt, Klee, Kosmos, and Felsberger[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) • [4](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/board-game-twixt-a-strategy-game-of-barriers-3m-company/NwG_fwXQbWvWnw) |\n| Board | 24 by 24 grid of holes with the corner holes missing, 572 holes in total[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) |\n| Connection rule | Two pegs of the same color are linked only when a knight's move apart, giving each peg up to 8 possible connections against Hex's 6[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) |\n| Balance rules | The pie rule (opponent chooses color after the first peg) and the right to remove one's own links before placing a peg[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) • [5](https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html) |\n| Draws | Possible in theory, unlike Hex, but extremely rare in competitive play[6](https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.board/c/iylESh8xfWI) |\n| Complexity | Determining the outcome of an arbitrary position is PSPACE-complete[7](https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04715) |\n\n## Rules of play\n\nThe playing surface is a square pegboard, usually 24 by 24 holes with the corner holes absent. Two opposite sides are marked in one player's color and the other two sides in the opponent's color; one player aims to connect top and bottom, the other left and right.[1](https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/thing%3A949) • [2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) Players take turns placing one peg in any free hole, except that a player may not use the holes in the opponent's border row.[5](https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html)\n\n**Linking.** After placing a peg, a player may place links between any two of their own pegs that are a knight's move apart, the distance corresponding to the diagonal of a rectangle of six holes. Links cannot cross one another, and a completed link forms a barrier that no opposing connection may cross.[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) • [5](https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html) The winner is the first player to form an unbroken chain of linked pegs between their two sides.[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/)\n\n**Link removal.** A complete move also allows a player to remove any of their own links (and, under the [Avalon Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/avalon-hill) rules, any of their own pegs) before placing the new peg. This part of the move was omitted from the rulebooks of some editions, yet it matters: it often resolves positions that would otherwise be drawn, and drawn games are extremely rare with the rule in force.[5](https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html)\n\n**The pie rule.** The first player has an advantage, so Randolph added a balancing rule included in every edition after the first: the first player places a peg of either color anywhere, and the opponent then chooses which color to play. This equalizes the opening the way one person cuts a pie slice and the other chooses a half.[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/)\n\nA four-player team variant, Double TwixT, appeared in the American rules, with partners seated opposite and a one-time \"Privilege\" call that lets a team take two successive plays.[5](https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html)\n\n## Relationship to Hex\n\nTwixt belongs to the family of connection games and is most often compared with Hex, invented independently by [Piet Hein](https://www.edgepedia.org/piet-hein) in 1942 and John Nash in the late 1940s; some consider Twixt a derivation of Hex.[2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) Both games ask players to connect opposite sides of a board, but the mechanics differ. Hex uses adjacent connections on a hexagonal grid, while Twixt uses knight's-move links on a square grid, so each peg can connect to eight points rather than six, and connections run between non-contiguous pegs.[6](https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.board/c/iylESh8xfWI) • [2](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/) The knight's-move topology also means the graph of possible direct connections is not planar, and Twixt, unlike Hex, allows draws, though these remain extremely rare in competitive play.[7](https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04715)\n\nPlayers and commentators describe the resulting characters as different. Hex is generally seen as more strategic and positional, with a winning path that can meander, while Twixt is highly tactical; David Bush, a prominent Twixt player and analyst, estimates the standard-size game is about 80 percent tactics, and a winning path in Twixt generally cannot contain very sharp turns.[8](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769458/twixt-seems-very-similar-to-hex) • [3](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/) Twixt also has four basic tactical \"traps\" against Hex's one, which makes its tactics harder for new players to visualize.[8](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769458/twixt-seems-very-similar-to-hex)\n\n**Handicapping.** A distinctive Twixt feature is row handicapping: the weaker player is given a board with fewer rows to cross, a granular way for players of different strengths to enjoy a challenging game. Relatively few connection games offer such a straightforward handicap option, and row-handicap games are supported in real-time online play on igGameCenter.[8](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769458/twixt-seems-very-similar-to-hex) • [3](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/) The equivalent does not work in Hex: a simple winning strategy has been shown for the player receiving a row handicap in Hex even when the other player moves first, on boards as large as 100 by 101.[8](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769458/twixt-seems-very-similar-to-hex)\n\n## Publication history\n\nRandolph, an American-born designer who settled in Venice, created the game in 1957 and, in 1961, was asked together with Sid Sackson to help establish a games division at 3M; TwixT appeared as a board game in 1962.[3](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/) The first 23 rounds of the prototype game are preserved in the German Games Archive.[9](https://museums.nuernberg.de/german-games-archive/alexander-randolph-viewing-collection/an-eventful-life) After 3M sold its game division, Avalon Hill took over publication in 1976, and production ended after Hasbro acquired Avalon Hill's parent company in 1998.\n\nRandolph died on April 27, 2004; his epitaph in Venice's San Michele Cemetery reads \"Ci-gît Alexander Randolph Inventeur du TwixT\", marking the game as the beginning of his career as an inventor.[9](https://museums.nuernberg.de/german-games-archive/alexander-randolph-viewing-collection/an-eventful-life)\n\n## Theory and play today\n\nTwixt has drawn formal study. Bonnet, Jamain, and Saffidine proved in 2016 that determining the outcome of an arbitrary input position is PSPACE-complete for Twixt, as for [Havannah](https://www.edgepedia.org/havannah) and Slither, placing it among the computationally hard connection games alongside Hex.[7](https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04715) Drawn positions are provably reachable from an empty Twixt board of any size, for example when both players keep placing pegs in a checkered layout, and the strategy-stealing argument shows the game is not a theoretical second-player win.[10](https://www.florianjamain.org/games.pdf)\n\nThe game scales well across board sizes. The game can also be played with pen and paper.[3](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Twixt, BoardGameGeek Wiki](https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/thing%3A949)\n2. [Leo Colovini on Twixt, studiogiochi](https://studiogiochi.com/en/publications/leo-colovini-on-twixt-en/)\n3. [Connection Games Part VI: Twixt, Dr Eric Silverman](https://drericsilverman.com/2020/03/19/connection-games-part-vi-twixt/)\n4. [Board game: Twixt: A Strategy Game of Barriers, 3M Company, Google Arts & Culture](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/board-game-twixt-a-strategy-game-of-barriers-3m-company/NwG_fwXQbWvWnw)\n5. [Twixt rules, David Eppstein's computational game theory page (rec.games.abstract archive)](https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html)\n6. [Twixt and Hex, rec.games.board Google Groups archive](https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.board/c/iylESh8xfWI)\n7. [Bonnet, Jamain, Saffidine (2016). On the complexity of connection games. arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.04715)\n8. [Twixt Seems Very Similar to Hex, BoardGameGeek thread](https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/769458/twixt-seems-very-similar-to-hex)\n9. [An eventful life, German Games Archive, Nuremberg](https://museums.nuernberg.de/german-games-archive/alexander-randolph-viewing-collection/an-eventful-life)\n10. [Havannah and TwixT are PSPACE-complete, Jamain et al.](https://www.florianjamain.org/games.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Board, card, and puzzle games › Board games › Modern designer board games › Modern abstract and tile-laying games › Connection games*\n\n*Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [ "https://ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/cgt/twixt.html" ], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Twixt\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Twixt](https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt](https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Twixt\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/twixt. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Twixt is Alex Randolph's 1957 connection game, published by 3M in 1962: pegs on a 24x24 board linked by knight's moves, with pie rule, link removal, and PSPACE-complete complexity." }