Diagonal

Diagonal is a small 1995 two-player abstract board game by Guoniu Han for the classic Macintosh. Each player is given three beads and must arrange them so that they form a diagonal line across the board's grid of locations. It plays as a quick puzzler against a friend or against a built-in computer opponent.

Goal

The rules can be summarized in a single sentence: with your three beads, make a diagonal line. Despite the simplicity, the connections between board positions create enough tactical depth to support repeated play.

Computer opponent

Diagonal ships with an AI opponent offering five distinct difficulty levels, ranging from a beginner-friendly setting that is good for learning the geometry to a stronger level that punishes careless placements.

Origin

The game was distributed as freeware and was included on the disc accompanying Tricks of the Mac Game Programming Gurus (Hayden Books, 1995), where it served as both a playable diversion and a sample of compact Mac game design.

System requirements

Diagonal is a small Mac application that runs under System 7.0 through 7.6 as well as Mac OS 9, making it an easy fit for most classic Mac setups and emulators.