Those who follow my writings will know that I've always paid very close attention to the history and geography of Dots. While working on my articles, I sifted through a wealth of material, dredged up every conceivable resource on the topic, spoke with dozens of players from various countries, and formed what I believed to be a fairly coherent and logical picture of the origins and spread of our game. I formed this picture and calmed down, accepting that Dots were a localized post-Soviet phenomenon with small Eastern European offshoots, virtually unknown in the rest of the world. However, as is often the case, reality turned out to be richer than theoretical concepts.
I learned quite a while ago that a French-language resource dedicated to the development of a Dots app had appeared online. But back then, a couple of years ago, it all seemed like just another amateur pastime, so I didn't go into detail and haven't followed the project's subsequent development. But in vain. Beneath this unremarkable peak lay not just an iceberg, but an entire continent. A new Dots continent.
Its inhabitants, fortunately, turned out to be enthusiastic and open to communication, so now we can not only compete with them on the playing field but also learn firsthand what this phenomenon—African dots—is. Where, when, how, where from? A host of questions and a vast field for new research. With that, I conclude my introduction and introduce you to my interlocutor.
Name: Eric Ratahiry
Year of birth: 1994
Nationality: Madagascar
Region: Antananarivo
Nickname: ItachiMDG
Interview context: fifth place at SSDBC'25
- Hi, Eric. Is this your first interview? Or have you done similar things before?
- Hi, it’s my first interview.
- If you'd been told a couple of months ago that a resource dedicated to Dots would be interviewing you, would you have believed it?
- Honestly, no, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s quite unexpected but also really cool.
- I'm sure it will be interesting. Let's start with names, perhaps. When you and your friends applied for verification, the first thing I did was ask the neural network about Malagasy names. The AI explained that they consist of three parts: a family name (surname) and two given names. However, in business correspondence, only the family name and one of the given names are acceptable. Therefore, during the tournament, I used shortened versions. For example, in your case, I wrote down Eric Ratahiry, not the full form Ratahiry Eri Eric. Am I correct, and is there any error?
- Yes, that’s correct. We usually use the family name and one given name, so “Eric Ratahiry” is perfectly fine.
- What does your nickname, ItachiMDG, mean? If it's not a secret, of course.
- ItachiMDG is just my online nickname — a mix of Itachi (the character from Naruto)and MDG for Madagascar.
- Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you study, what do you do for a living?
- I’m a tax controller, and I studied at ACEEM University.
- What are your hobbies? Well, besides Dots and anime, which we already understood from your nickname.
- Yes, Dots and anime are definitely big ones (laughs)! Besides that, I enjoy listening to music, playing video games, and playing football.
- Oh, yes. We love football too. Do you support any European clubs?
- Yes, I support Barcelona. I’ve been a fan for a long time.
- Messi or Ronaldo?
- Messi of course (laughs)!
- Agreed! Okay, let's move on. Tell me about Madagascar? Imagine I decided to go there as a tourist. What places would you recommend to visit to get a better understanding of the nature, history, and culture of your country?
- Madagascar is a very big country, and I haven’t been able to visit all of it yet. For example, in Morondava, there’s the famous Avenue of the Baobabs, a beautiful and iconic place, especially at sunset. If you’re looking for a calm and clean vacation spot by the sea, there’s Nosy Be, especially Hell-Ville, which is very popular and relaxing. And in Antananarivo, the capital, you can discover a lot about Malagasy history and culture — like the Rova (Queen’s Palace) and the traditional markets, full of local life and colors.
- Do you ever get snow? Sorry for the stereotypical question, but for us northerners, it's always on our minds.
- No, it doesn’t snow in Madagascar, except maybe a little in the high mountains. The climate is mostly tropical, so we just have the dry season and the rainy season.
- As far as I know, the first people to arrive in Madagascar came from the east—from the islands of what is now Indonesia. Then came waves of migration from Africa. In modern times, Europeans have exerted a significant influence. Have these cultural layers now intermingled, merging into a single, distinctive culture, or does some distinctness still remain?
- Yes, the cultures have blended, forming a unique Malagasy identity. However, some regional differences still remain.
- Have you been abroad?
- No, I haven’t been abroad yet.
- If you had the opportunity, where would you like to go first?
- I’d like to go to Italy first, to see the historical cities and taste real Italian pizza and pasta.
- When ordering, don't forget to ask the Italian waiter to add pineapple to your pizza.
- Of course (laughs)!
- Well, we've gotten to know each other a bit—time to move on to the main topic. Tell us when and under what circumstances you first learned about the existence of Dots?
- I started playing when I was around 10 years old. We used to play during school breaks, all through high school and university. But I discovered a completely different (and much higher) level of the game in 2019-2020, when I joined one of the Russian platforms.
- Don't rush, we'll get to our platforms later. I'm really interested in the early stages. So, you started playing around 2004, right?
- Yes, exactly. 2004. But I only knew the logic of the game.
- Did you play with multi-colored pens on sheets of checkered paper?
- Yes, red and black or red and blue. But when we don't have a multicolored pen, we play the same color but the other player doesn't play with dots but with crosses (laughs).
- Oh, yeah! Just like us. What did you call this game back then? Did it have one name, or were there different ones?
- I should mention, I’m a Malagasy player, not African. For us, the game is called "jeu de Faritany". “Faritany” means “territory” in our language.
- So on the continent they call it something else?
- Yes. And they have a different rule.
- What rules did you play by at school? How were they different, for example, from modern Russian ones (I'm using them for convenience—it's easier for me to compare)?
- Our rule at school is that we play until the bell rings. The rules are like those of our last tournament at your place, but just without blitz. Blitz was a new experience for me.
- Actually, that's why I'm asking this. In the old days (20-30 years ago), we had a huge variety of rules. Basically, every school had its own way of playing. For example, they could count not only encircled dots, but also territory (encircled points). They could give an extra turn after encircling the opponent's dots. The encirclement boundary could be drawn not along the minimum trajectory, but along the maximum. They could color in the encircled empty areas. The current standardized rules appeared relatively recently. So I'm wondering if you had the same thing. Maybe you'll remember some exotic rule I've never heard of.
- Our variations are: we play a second successive turn after capturing. But my favorite version is that even after capturing, the turn passes. And we can also place the first point wherever we want.
- Yes, starting crosses have only recently appeared here. We played without them in schools, too. By the way, you said they play differently on the continent. What are the main differences?
- On the African platform where we play, when we capture our own dot, it doesn't work. And that changes completly the play when we go from one platform to another.
- Do you mean Jeu Chimie?
- Yes.
- This is a Congolese platform, right?
- The developer said he was from South Africa but the players are from Congo and Madagascar.
- Do you know of any other African countries where they play Dots?
- Only Madagascar and Congo.
- Got it. Let's go back a bit. As I understand from your story, Dots used to be very popular with schoolchildren and students. Do your young people still play them on paper these days? Or, like in our country, has the popularity of Dots declined with the advent of various computer games?
- Yes, absolutely. There are even players from our community who go to schools to play against players on paper. I don’t know if they still prefer paper or if they’re better with computers now.
- Playing with kids on paper is great. They're real enthusiasts! And what's your community like, since you mentioned it? Is it just an informal group of game fans, or are there any formal structures like clubs, federations, and the like?
- It’s more informal, just a community of players who share the same passion for the game.
- How do you communicate? Does the Madagascar or, more broadly, African Dots community have any online resources? Websites, forums, social media groups, and so on?
- We have a community in Facebook and messenger for Madagascar players only and in Discord for Madagascar and Africa (Facebook and Discord are banned in Russia - editor's note).
- Do you meet in person? Offline, as they say these days.
- We only met on Facebook. There was a Facebook group for players who love Dots. Some players shared the gaming platforms there. And that’s how it all started. Personally, I never met anyone offline.
- Don't you go play with the schoolchildren either?
- No, one player in our community, not me (laughs).
- Well, no big deal. The main thing is to teach your own children to play.
- Haha yes, that’s true. I’ll definitely teach my kid to play one day and he’ll be the best (laughs)!
- What about the community's sports life? Do you hold any competitions? Are there any regular tournaments?
- Yes, we organized a tournament, but it was only for the launch of our own platform. I hope we’ll organize more in the future.
- Are you referring to the Dots Capture platform?
- Yes, exactly.
- Are tournaments held on the Jeu Chimie platform? Do you participate in them?
- There are some unofficial tournaments, more like random matches without a name or any special prize.
- Is there a national Dots team in Madagascar?
- Not yet.
- Well, I hope this is temporary. So, with your permission, I'll return to my favorite topic. I'll start from afar. Are you familiar with the Japanese game Go (which is originally the Chinese Weiqi)? Do they play it in your country?
- Yes, I know the basics of it. There are a few players I know who play it, but not many.
- Which game is more famous and popular among young people: Dots or Go?
- For me, Dots have always been more popular among young people. You don’t need anythin fancy, just two pens of different colors and a notebook, and you can play anywhere. It’s easy to learn, quick to play, and everyone can join.
- Yes, that's correct. But I'm interested in a different aspect here—the historical one. Judging by the game mechanics, Dots is a variation of Go, an adaptation of the Go rules for playing on paper. But to invent such a variation, you first need to be familiar with the original game. For example, we have a fairly clear connection: in the early 1970s, widespread interest in Go emerged (publications in popular science and youth magazines, clubs and sections across the country), and by the early 1980s, Dots had become widespread among young people. Hence my question about Go. I'd be interested to know how Dots came to be in your country: was it invented locally through a similar adaptation of Go, or was it imported from outside in a ready-made form (for example, through students, of whom quite a few have studied and are studying in Europe). It's clear that you hardly have any factual data on this matter, but perhaps you have some guesses. Ever wondered about that?
- Yes, I’ve actually thought about that before. My father, who was born in 1966, is the one who taught me Dots, so I believe the game has been around here for quite a long time. In my opinion, Dots appeared locally, not as a direct adaptation of Go. Most people here didn’t even know about Go, it’s still not a common game today. Dots spread mostly in schools, probably just because it was simple to play with only a notebook and two pens. But personally, I’ve always had the impression that the game might have originally come from Russia.
- Wow! Is anyone else interested in this topic besides me? Basically, if we assume your father learned about Dots as a teenager, that would put it in the mid- to late 1970s. Around the same time, Dots also became popular here. There's not enough data to draw any conclusions, of course, but perhaps there is some connection. When did you learn about European Dots? About five years ago, when you discovered our gaming platforms?
- Yes, exactly! I only learned about the European version around five years ago, when I discovered your online platforms. It was really interesting to see how similar the rules were, even though we had been playing it here for so long without any connection. That’s actually what made me start thinking that there might be some historical link between the two.
- Yes, the difference is minimal. Even Polish or Czech Dots have more differences from ours. Perhaps the only thing that doesn't fit in with the overall picture is the rule against surrounding your own dots, which is present on Jeu Chimie. By the way, when did this app appear? Before you started playing on our platforms, or after?
- Ah, Czech too play in this game (surprised). I played on Notago before playing on Jeu Chimie. The rule that captures the empty spaces is uncomfortable to use for me.
- The Czechs, yes, used to play. In the early 2000s, they even had their own gaming app. With very specific rules. But then their interest in Dots faded. But I'll finish with Jeu Chimie. So you were already familiar with our platforms when that app appeared. So you have a rough idea of the level of players there and there. Was it much different when Jeu Chimie was created?
- Yes, I was already familiar with your platforms when Jeu Chimie appeared. Compared to them, the Russian platforms are by far stronger and have a much higher level of play. On Jeu Chimie, I would say there are only about three strong players (laughs).
- Is there progress? Is the average level rising?
- Yes, there is some progress. The average level is slowly rising, especially among new players who play regularly and watch strong matches. But overall, the gap with the Russian platforms is still quite big.
- For example, Nikita Shokarev, one of our best players, claims that after just a couple of years of playing on Jeu Chimie, he's become an app legend and taught the players there how to play real Dots. Is he telling the truth or embellishing a bit?
- Yes, it’s true. He really did become one of the best-known players there. Many users respected his style and learned a lot from watching his games. He helped raise the overall level on the platform. I personally asked him for advice and often requested to train with him.
- I'll have to design him a personalized medal for his significant contribution to the development of Dots. Were there any other players of ours who influenced your progress?
- Yes, there were many players on the Russian platforms who influenced me. I learned a lot from watching their games and playing against them. Each of them had a unique style and strategy. But Nikita definitely had the biggest impact during his time with us, the African players — his way of thinking and analyzing the game really helped us improve.
- What other European platforms besides notAgo have you played on? Logic Games, Zagram?
- Yes, I have played on notAgo, Zagram, Logic Games, Sport Dots and recently BBS.
- Wow, you even caught Sport Dots! It's weird that I don't remember you, even though I was an administrator there. How did you play: through social media, the website, or on your smartphone?
- It was one of the best platforms, with tutorials and levels. I actually had two or three accounts — one named Azura, though I don’t really remember it well. I used VK on the website, and also the APK version. It’s a pity that now I can’t log in anymore.
- Yes, the owner has completely abandoned this platform—too bad. What do you think of BBS? Is the resemblance to "Sport Dots" noticeable? Do you see the potential?
- Yes, I definitely see the resemblance! BBS reminds me a lot of Sport Dots, especially in the gameplay and interface. But I think BBS still has big potential if the developers keep improving it and add more features like tutorials or ranked levels, it could even surpass Sport Dots one day.
- There are already ranks there. You probably just didn't notice. They're designated by numbers from 9 to 1. The assignment algorithm is roughly the same as on the Sport Dots.
- Ah, I see! I didn’t notice that at first. Now that you mention it, I’ve seen the numbers next to the username.
- There will be a tutorial, of course. There are tons of plans—it's just a matter of implementing them. Okay, we've talked about our platforms, so tell us a little about yours. How did you come up with the idea of creating your own gaming app? How long have you been working on it?
- I created it because a platform where many Malagasy players used to play stopped working for about a year. Then, in our chat group, I jokingly shared a simple game interface (around 2023, if I remember correctly). But other players took it seriously and that’s how I started to gradually present and develop the game. I only worked on it during my free time, after my regular job.
- Do you program yourself or does someone help you?
- I do all the programming myself. I don’t have friends helping me, but I sometimes use AI tools for assistance. I ask the AI to generate parts of the code, and then I modify or improve it to fit my project.
- What are your future plans? Will you limit yourself to a Malagasy audience or try to take over the world? The logo hints at the latter.
- For now, my main goal is to strengthen the Malagasy gaming community first, to give local players a platform where they can grow, compete, and enjoy. But yes, in the long run, I want to expand beyond Madagascar.
- Well, good luck. The more Dots projects, the better for the development of the game. And since you mentioned competitions, let's touch on that too. You recently made your debut in official Sevastopol Club tournaments – you played in the 2025 Blitz Championship. What inspired you to do this? And why only now? Hadn't heard of our tournaments before?
- It was my first official tournament. I’d heard about the Sevastopol events before, but I didn’t really know how to join. This year I finally decided to try — in the Blitz — and it gave me a lot of experience. It was intense but really fun, and I learned a lot from it.
- Have you ever played blitz before? Did you like it? It's just a rather specific mode. It's not for everyone, but once you get the hang of it, you can have a lot of fun.
- No, I had never played blitz before that tournament. At first it felt a bit stressful because everything moves so fast, but after a few games I started to enjoy it.
- How did you find your opponents? Who stood out the most, who impressed you the most?
- Both Igor (Voynov - editor's note) and Sergei (Fedotov - editor's note)really stood out to me. They play with great precision and rarely make mistakes, even under pressure. Facing both of them was a great experience. They each showed a different side of high-level play.
- Are our players stylistically different from yours? Strategy, tactics, technical techniques. Did you notice anything interesting?
- Yes. The way your players use jumps to place dots, their defensive moves, and the precision in their placement really stood out to me. It’s a slightly different style from ours.
- It seems to me that you often launch unprepared attacks with uncertain prospects, thereby losing dots and worsening your position. Our players are, on average, more cautious and pragmatic. What do you think about this?
- You are right, I sometimes attack too early or without fully calculating the outcome.
- Well, that's a matter of experience, and it's easily fixable. Were there any organizational problems (for example, related to regulations or the availability of various information about the tournament)?
- Overall, the organization was quite good. The regulations were clear, the information was provided on time. There were no major problems, everything went smoothly and professionally.
- Do you plan to continue your sports career?
- Of course (laughs)!
- Well, we'll be glad to see you at our tournaments. Good luck!
- Thank you! I’ll be glad to take part.
- I propose we conclude our interesting conversation with a quick quiz. Ten short questions, ten one-word answers. Humor is implied. Do you agree?
- Ok, i'm agree.
- Let's go! Blue or red?
- Red.
- Attack or defense?
- Attack (laughs).
- Classic or blitz?
- Classic.
- One cross or four?
- One cross.
- Give up or close the app?
- Give up.
- Dots or football?
- Dots.
- Dots or a tropical beach?
- Dots.
- Dots or Italian pizza?
- Dots (laughs).
- Dots or scotch whiskey?
- Whiskey (laughs).
- Dots or women?
- Women (laughs).
- Excellent. You're a true enthusiast, but not a fanatic. We applaud this balanced approach to life!
- Thank you! I’ll take that as a compliment.
- Thank you for the insightful conversation and your patience. I found it very interesting, and I hope you did too. Until next time on the playing field!
- Thank you boss.
