2009/3/23 Avri Klemer
<avri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
| Plays |
Avg. Length |
Avg. Time |
First Player Wins |
Size of Sample |
| 109 |
40 moves |
86d:37m:53s |
43.02% |
86 games |
Definitely never seen a first turn
advantage. Stats suggest the opposite (though I've not seen that
either).
I stand corrected on the stats (though an 84-game sample is small).
Is that 40 moves per side, or 20 per side? If the former... yeah, it plays too
long--that would be something like, oh, an hour and a half, for "thinking men"
playing, right (averaging a minute a move)?
Wonder what it would play
like on a 6x6 board, or half a chessboard (maybe even with the goal being the
two center squares at each end)?
What is the optimal strategy you use?
I've been playing constantly for a couple of years now, and my play has
evolved through a number of styles in that
time.
*I* don't have a single optimal strategy; I just suspect that there
is one. Gut instinct, I reckon. Given the scarcity of piece types (3) and the
limits of moves (2, or 3 if you count Stand to change directions), I can't see
it lending itself to a variety of play styles like, oh, a CCG (an
intentionally extreme example, given their VAST number of "piece types" and
"moves" and customizable decks).
yet to play a game where the back and forth
loops didn't resolve into a goal before seeing a repeated board
position.
I guess those loops also got to me--too often, it seemed like a lot
of maneuvering to get a "man up" on the tackles, followed by a flurry of
tackles which tended to get one back to about the same position, only maybe a
square closer or further.
Then again, I really haven't played a
TON--like I said, I couldn't get to the end of a game before losing interest
(or losing a demo recipient's attention). It's nothing to feel "bad" about;
it's just not my kind of game... and this is nothing more than a preferences
thread. I mean, dig it: Five of my other Not-So-Favs are published games, some
with huge followings and annual tournaments and so-forth!
Maybe I'll
give it another go sometime (offline--I really can't stand the weeks-long pace
of SDG games).