Diagram

[andrewgong01]

I just re-did this game to find ways to speed up (still around 8 mins for me , compared to 6.5 mins for the first 2 games each despite the first game looking, at least ostensibly, harder) and I am noticing something about this game that S being placed in 3 and S being placed in 4 seems to mirror each other when you count backwards.

In other words you can have WZSRTV but you can count from right to left (remember to switch the WZ chunk though) and you get VTRSZW and still satisfy the rule where "S" is now 4th (the R-V elements can switch as they are always interchangeable) I am not sure if the rule was intended to be used this way though ( the S=3 or S=4 rule) where it creates some sort of mirror. I can see how it may make some of the MBT unconditional questions faster like Q14 but this isn't something that really comes to you when you first see the game

I think the other key inference in this game, aside from how the S=3/4 rule is just creating mirror images, has to do with the fact that "S" being in the middle of the board could potentially make it impossible to satisfy the chunk and anti-chunk rule when you place another variable at an end spot ---> the end spot being to the side of where S has 3 spaces. In other words, if S=3 then the end spot is 6th and if S=4 the end spot is S=1 where you move left for the 3 spaces.

Overall, though, this game seems to be a lot of trial and error, which may be faster than thinking about how "S" divides the game board.

Was there anything else about the game that allows you to go fast because it seems like an "easy" game but I am drawing more hypothetical game boards than usual since all the conditional questions are MBT and it seems easier to just draw out all the possible game boards to eliminate than test each answer choice

[ohthatpatrick]

A lot of ordering games have that symmetric mirror image feel you're describing.

Like, if I laid out the four possible positions for a J _ L chunk in a world of six slots ....
J _ L _ _ _
_ J _ L _ _
_ _ J _ L _
_ _ _ J _ L

.... there's a good chance that the inference I get in the top frame is the same as the one I get in the bottom frame, but mirror imaged.

Similarly, for this game, I framed the four possibilities of the WZ chunk (just cuz I like quickly framing chunks).
W Z _ _ _ _
_ W Z _ _ _
_ _ _ W Z _
_ _ _ _ W Z

WZ can't be 3/4, since that screws over S.

Any time we steal an S spot, we know the other spot is S.
W Z _ _ _ _
_ W Z S _ _
_ _ S W Z _
_ _ _ _ W Z

And once we have a 1 vs. 2 split with the remaining 3 spaces, we know one of our enemies has to go in the 1 spot.

W Z _ _ _ _
(R/V) W Z S _ _
_ _ S W Z (R/V)
_ _ _ _ W Z

From there, the other piece (V/R) and the floater T can be in a cloud over those last two spots.

Since the top and bottom frame don't trigger anything with S, you don't expect them to lead anywhere else.