I need a game that is very simple in rules and play, but requires a slight bit of abstract thinking. It also must not be binary in nature, that is, it is not simply "win" or "lose". A game where you can do better or worse, bowling for example. This rules out things like tic tac toe. Board-ish games are preferable but not required. If you can just make up a game that fits these requirements just explain the rules to me. Thanks very much.

Hnefatafl. It's a win / lose objective, but the conditions for doing so vary depending on which side you play. There are multiple ways to score a win or a loss, ranging from escaping the board to capturing or cornering all of your opponent's pieces.

Not really looking for a game with multiple ways to win, or so many pieces/rules. Thanks though.

I can't think of anything off the top of my head that's a board game, just games of skill like archery, bowling, etc. Do you have any more specific parameters for which you're searching?

You can look into [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone_(board_game)]Abalone[/url]. It's a straightforward and abstract game.

EDIT: No clue by the URL tag isn't working.

I think it doesn't like parentheses. I changed them to %28 and %29 respectively.

http://transformice.com/en/

I think this should be what you are looking for save up yer cheese and buy a eye patch.

lo|olo|olo|olo|olo|olo|olo|olo|olo|olo|ol heeeheheheheheeh ahahahahahahaha

Posting a flash game I make my self laugh.

Kerm, just a game that isn't merely win or lose, there need to be shades of gray, like chess for example. You can win by a small margin or by a huge margin. But chess is far too complicated, and also the margins are often zero-sum in the event of a close win (may have a small material advantage/disadvantage but a big positional advantage). Also for example, in Tron you can win or lose, but you can win really really quickly or it can be a close game. The reason tic tac toe doesn't fit this category is because the margin between an easily won game isn't too far from an easily lost game.