A few days ago, purely out of boredom, I decided to invent a new board game. It's called Ugi. It takes legally safe inspiration from classics like chess and checkers, but it's also a very different game.
Ugi can be played with anywhere from 2 to 6 players. If you're playing with 6 people, each player controls a single block, and that's the only piece they're responsible for throughout the game. Players take turns, making one move each on their turn. If you're playing with 2 players, one controls the black blocks and the other controls the white ones. The player using the black pieces always goes first.
The objective is very simple. Be the first to get one of your blocks across to the opposite side of the board and escape. Each block can only move one square per turn, after which play passes to the next player. There are a few unusual mechanics. For example, blocks can be stacked on top of each other. If another player places their block on top of yours, the block underneath is trapped and cannot move. On their next turn, the player on top can choose to move away and free it. Or you can place one of your own blocks on top of theirs instead. That immediately frees your trapped pieces and gets you out of the situation. It probably sounds more complicated than it actually is. Once you play a couple of turns, you'll probably think, "Oh... that's actually really simple." It is not a complicated game at all.
The goal was to create something that is highly strategic, easy to learn, and just frustrating enough to make your brain work. I will be making a physical boxed version later, but for now I wanted to share the digital version with you. That said, I may have gone a little overboard with the Hard Mode. The mathematics and AI behind it (because apparently AI has to be involved in everything these days, so why not*), made it an almost unbeatable opponent. If you manage to beat it, congratulations.