The game of End-Nim (Q5942555)

Summary: In the game of End-Nim two players take turns in removing one or more boxes from a string of non-empty stacks. At each move boxes may only be taken from the two stacks which form the ends of the string (unless only one stack remains!). We give a solution for both impartial and partizan versions of the game and explain the significance of the mystic hieroglyphs: \[ \vtop{=1cm \hrule \line{\vrule\hss \vrule height.5cm depth.5cm width0pt \(\begin{matrix}\uparrow&\downarrow \\ \downarrow&\uparrow\end{matrix}\) \hss\vrule} \hrule}. \]