gerson@parc.xerox.com (Dan Gerson) (01/16/91)
In article <1991Jan14.233919.7782@usenet@scion.CS.ORST.EDU> hasses@prism.cs.orst.edu (Stephen Haase) writes:
... If anyone else out there has this game I'd
be interested in your strategies for this game. I find that it is very
difficult to get more than four 4-ways in one game..so scores in excess of
1700 are pretty difficult to get. Please mail me them. One strategy than
I use is to try to have columns of shapes and rows of colors...if you get the
pieces in the correct order, you are bound to have a few 4-ways...
It is rare that I get less than 5 4ways, and I normally get 6 4-ways, and
occasionally 7, and once 8. I also almost always use up all the pieces, so it
is rare that my score is below several thousand. (I forget the highest score) I
haven't been playing too long, so I expect that this isn't all that spectacular
as I'm still improving, so others are sure to do better. My basic strategy is
the same as yours, except that I concentrate on the middle pieces (where you are
trying to get 4 middle 4ways), and then just a couple of the corners, basically
trying to ensure that I get some 4ways rather than trying to do all the basic
ones at once, thereby diluting your pieces so that they don't get completed in
time. Basically, if you have a piece, your placement of it depends upon which
4-way is nearest to completion.
Also, be sure to get the lower left and upper right middle 4-ways. I actually
try to complete those first before completing the "normal" upper left and lower
right middle 4-ways since it takes fewer pieces to complete, and time is of the
essence in the opening game.
Of course, many of the 4ways fail when you get the piece you were waiting for
too soon. In those cases, you then have to get a bit more creative. The
strategy varies depending on how far the 4-way buildup has gotten. You
basically have to look at what pieces have been played, and then try to change
the failed 4-way into a different color or symbol. This won't work if the 4-way
was almost near completion, but it does more early on.
Also, if you have the 4 middle 4-ways, or some approximation of them, note that
there are at least 2 more 4-ways which can be easily (?) built up off of the
lower left and upper right 4-ways. This gets tricky since often by then many
pieces have been played limiting the colors which will work with that symbol,
but it still is frequently possible to get one.