Ishidó: The Way of Stones (1990). Play online

Summary

I discovered Ishidó: The Way of Stones on my Game Boy – a faithful port of the original Macintosh puzzler that turns a 96‑square board into a quiet, strategic playground. The set includes 72 stones, each carrying a color and a symbol; with six colors and six symbols there are 36 unique designs duplicated to form the full set.

The trick is to lay each stone beside another that matches either its color or its symbol, and the prized “4‑way” move fits a stone amid four neighbors that align on both dimensions. Five board layouts and six themed stone sets add variety, while gentle Oriental chimes set a soothing mood.

Beyond the puzzle, the game hides an I Ching oracle: after you achieve a 4‑way the program runs the classic yarrow‑stalk algorithm and offers an answer from Michael Feinberg’s original translation. Even GamePro rated it 18/25, noting how the handheld version captured the depth of the original.

Storyline

Ishidó: The Way of Stones (often just called Ishido) arrives with a 20‑page booklet titled “The Legend of Ishido.” The booklet opens on a misty spring morning in 1989, set in the remote mountains of China’s Han Shan province. A Mendicant monk from the Northern School of the White Crane branch of Taoism steps silently out of the Heavenly Peak Temple, clutching a stone board, a set of seventy‑two carved stone pieces, and an ancient scroll inked in elegant calligraphy. The narrative claims the monk bears a secret hidden for thousands of years, framing the game as a rediscovered ancient art. Though the story was penned by Michael Feinberg and is fictional, many players were convinced the game’s origins were truly ancient.