mancala/docs/specs/rematch/requirements.md

Rematch and series: requirements

Status: in progress, on branch feature/rematch (based on develop). Scope: backend, packages/core, web app. The mobile app comes later (see R6).

Goals

Two players who enjoyed a game can play again at once, without going back to the lobby, and see how their games went: one box per game and the score of the series. Who moves first alternates, so neither player keeps the advantage of the first move.

Terms

• Rematch: a new game between the same two players, started from the game over card when both ask for it.
• Series: a game and the rematches that follow it, one after another. A series has no fixed length; it ends when a rematch is not played.
• Series score: games won by each player in the series; draws count for neither.
• Rematch request: one player's "Rematch" waiting for the other's answer.

Requirements

R1. Asking for a rematch

• R1.1 When a game between two people ends, the game over card offers "Rematch" (Turkish: "Rövanş") to both players, unless a player left the game: then the series is over and the card offers "New Game" as now.
• R1.2 The player who asks sees that they are waiting for the opponent and can withdraw the request.
• R1.3 The opponent sees the request on their game over card ("Ahmet wants a rematch") with "Rematch" and "No", also when they had closed the card.
• R1.4 When both have asked, the new game starts for both at once, and their game pages show it.
• R1.5 A request ends without a game when: the opponent says no, the asking player withdraws, either player starts looking for another game or starts a bot game, either player goes offline, or the opponent does not answer within 60 seconds. The asking player is told why ("Ahmet declined", "Ahmet is no longer here").
• R1.6 "No", or either player starting another game or a search, ends the series: the card offers only "New Game". After a withdrawn or unanswered request, either player can ask again.
• R1.7 A rematch is possible for 10 minutes after the game ended; after that the card only offers "New Game".

R2. Who moves first

• R2.1 The first game of a series starts with a player chosen at random, as now.
• R2.2 In every rematch, the player who did not move first in the previous game of the series moves first.
• R2.3 The players keep their sides of the board in a rematch.

R3. Series score

• R3.1 From the second game of a series on, the game page shows the series above the board: the series score ("You 2 – 1 Ahmet") and one box per game, in order.
• R3.2 A finished game's box shows who won (in that player's colour, a draw neutral), the stones in both stores, a mark for who moved first, and whether it ended on time or because someone left.
• R3.3 The box of the game being played is marked as the current game.
• R3.4 A finished game's box opens its replay in a new tab, so the live game is not left.
• R3.5 With more games than fit, the strip shows the latest games and how many earlier ones are not shown; the score always counts all games.
• R3.6 The game over card shows the series score once the series has more than one game.
• R3.7 Spectators see the series strip too, with the players' names instead of "You".
• R3.8 The game over card shows the final score as two columns, each player's name above their stones, so names and numbers do not run together ("Guest 6894 18 – 30 Bot · Hard" was hard to read).

R4. Games against the bot

• R4.1 "Play again" after a bot game is a rematch: it starts at once, at the same level (the bot takes a new strength as in any new game), and continues the series, with the series strip and alternating first moves.
• R4.2 The bot never declines a rematch.

R5. Saving and restarts

• R5.1 Every saved game records which series it belongs to, so that the history can group series later.
• R5.2 A live game keeps its series across a backend restart (the strip shows the same games). Rematch requests waiting at the time of the restart are dropped; the players can ask again.

R6. Mobile app

• R6.1 The mobile app gets rematch and the series strip with its new design (TODO.md, Web redesign). Until then it is unchanged: its players never see a rematch request, so a request from a web player to a mobile player ends after 60 seconds (R1.5).

R7. Languages

• R7.1 All texts exist in English and Turkish.

Out of scope (TODO)

• Series of a fixed length ("best of 3") and declaring a series winner.
• Grouping series in the game history and on the home page.
• Taking spectators along to the next game of a series.
• Rematch and the series strip in the mobile app (R6).