Authors:
Cameron Browne, Dennis J. N. J. Soemers, Eric Piette, Matthew Stephenson, Walter Crist

Venue:
ludii.games (technical reference), 2020

Topics:
Ludii, game description language, ludemes, general game systems, game modelling

Links: PDF · Ludii website

This document provides the complete reference documentation for the game description language used by the Ludii general game system.

It describes all available ludemes, including those defining game structure, equipment, rules, moves, and state, as well as the underlying grammar used to generate game descriptions.

The language is automatically derived from the Ludii class hierarchy, ensuring a direct correspondence between the grammar and the underlying implementation.

This document is a core component of the Ludii ecosystem, providing the formal specification of its game description language.

It plays a central role for both researchers and developers, enabling precise modelling of games and supporting reproducibility of experiments in general game playing.

Beyond its technical role, it also reflects the design philosophy of Ludii: representing games as compositions of meaningful conceptual elements (ludemes), bridging programming, game design, and AI research.

Browne, C., Soemers, D. J. N. J., Piette, E., Stephenson, M., Crist, W. (2020). Ludii Language Reference. Maastricht University, available at ludii.games.

@techreport{browne2020ludii_language,
  author      = {Browne, Cameron and Soemers, Dennis J. N. J. and Piette, Eric and Stephenson, Matthew and Crist, Walter},
  title       = {Ludii Language Reference},
  institution = {Maastricht University},
  year        = {2020},
  url         = {https://ludii.games}
}