A platform for turn-based strategy games, with a comparison of Monte-Carlo algorithms

A lot of research has been done on classical games such as Chess or Shogi, but not so much on more recent games such as turn-based strategy games, where the players can move multiple pieces at each turn. In this paper, we analyze the game components found in most strategy games, and propose a set of simple rules that could be used as a standard game for research on turn-based strategy games. We have implemented these rules in an open platform, and in the second part of the paper we compare four different Monte-Carlo search algorithms with this platform. Especially, we show the importance of distinguishing and handling differently tactical moves and attacking moves.