Last fall I made Tomoku into a book with 80 pen-and-paper puzzles based on the web game at http://tomokupuzzle.com.  Four months later I have not found a market for it, and I am looking for the lessons I need to learn.

The book is professionally printed, and the instructions are brief.  Many people compliment me on the "look" of the thing.  But it only goes skin deep.

Some people read the instructions, and then demonstrate to me that they misunderstood everything I wrote down.  Tomoku is a puzzle I find very intuitive, and some people understand the rules perfectly.  Perhaps you can suggest some clarifications?  Here are the instructions as they appear in the book.

Those who understand the rules think the concept is interesting, but they aren't hooked by the game.  Why is sudoku interesting?  Or other logic games?

I still believe that the Tomoku players are out there, and either I have not found them yet, or I have not communicated with them correctly.  Perhaps the pen-and-paper format is not the right one?  Maybe it would do better as a mobile app or a physical board game.

I want to hear what you think!

Here are two videos explaining Tomoku, with instructions on making a game board for it.

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