Origins: Ed Armstrong's Original Design
Ninestone traces its roots to the 1980s, when designer Ed Armstrong created the original EdCo edition of the game and produced it through his Maine company, Snowman Printing. Armstrong was drawn to the classic abstract strategy tradition — games like Nine Men's Morris, and set out to create something that captured the same elegant simplicity while introducing a more modern, all in one packaged game to appeal to new players.
The result was a game built around three concentric rings connected by spokes — a board layout that's simple to draw but produces extraordinary strategic complexity. The core of Ninestone was the branding of easy to remember moves. The Rail™ mechanic: three-in-a-row creates not just a scoring event, but a board state change that immediately shifts the balance of power. Every capture reduces the opponent's options; every formation threatens to do it again. The "stones": the game pieces used to play. The name "Ninestone": a very fitting title based off of the game pieces- nine "stones"
The original EdCo edition was a physical board game, sold in limited quantities around the Bangor, ME area (such as Laverdier's). It found an audience among math and logic enthusiasts, and in some circles was passed around as a "hidden gem" — a game that rewarded the kind of spatial reasoning and forward thinking that most modern games don't demand. Ed's family says that it even took on a human-scale adaptation that was taped out on the floor of the local YMCA.
2026: A New Chapter
In 2026, the rights to Ninestone were acquired by Mr. Kiesman, a fourth-grade teacher from Maine with entrepeneurial desire. Kiesman had discovered Ninestone through an old copy of the EdCo edition that had been around his school — watching students develop patience, spatial reasoning, and the ability to think several moves ahead.
Kiesman's vision for Ninestone was straightforward: preserve what made Armstrong's design timeless, make it freely accessible online, and introduce it as a board game to a new generation of players. The result is what you're playing today — a faithful digital adaptation of the original game, with the addition of the Ninestone II diagonal variant and a clean, modern interface.
Why Abstract Strategy?
Abstract strategy games have been played for thousands of years. Chess, Go, Checkers, Backgammon, Nine Men's Morris — these games have endured not because of flashy mechanics or complicated rules, but because they reward something fundamental: the human capacity to plan, to see patterns, and to out-think another person.
In an age of games with hundreds of rules, characters, and special cases, there's something genuinely refreshing about a game where everything is visible, everything is knowable, and winning depends entirely on how well you think. No hidden information. No luck or chance. Just two players and a board.
That's what Ninestone is. And if you haven't played yet — now's a good time to start.
Ninestone in the Classroom
One of the things Mr. Kiesman is most passionate about is Ninestone's value as a brain-exercising tool. Abstract strategy games have been studied extensively for their cognitive benefits — they develop spatial reasoning, forward planning, pattern recognition, and the ability to handle setbacks gracefully. In a world of mindless clicking and flashy graphics, Ninestone remains true to it's roots as a true brain-based strategy game, with just a tinge of 80s arcade mojo.
Ninestone is particularly well-suited for classroom use because:
- Games are short — 10 to 20 minutes — so they fit naturally into a class period.
- The rules are simple enough for 7-year-olds to learn in a single session.
- The depth reveals itself gradually, so students continue to improve and stay engaged over time.
- It's genuinely competitive — students take it seriously, which means they practice the underlying cognitive skills genuinely, not as an exercise.
If you're a teacher interested in using Ninestone in your classroom, reach out at online@ninestonegame.com. We're happy to support educational use.
The Physical Edition
The online version of Ninestone is free and will remain free. For players who want a physical edition — to play at the kitchen table, travel with, or give as a gift — a premium board game edition is available in select stores for $20.
The physical edition includes a quality-printed game board, 9 Black pieces, 9 White pieces, and a rules booklet. It's designed to last for years of play.