An Ice DM
TBD
| Designer(s): ISamEI, uriquack | Match Type: DM (for 2 players) |
| Featured in: Genius Invitational | |
An Ice DM is a simple observation dm that will require players to solve an ice maze faster and more efficiently than their opponent.
Ice Mazes
An Ice Maze will consist of three types of squares.
Snoms These are green tiles and can be moved throughout the maze.
Ice Tiles These are are blue tiles.
Rocks These are black tiles.
Goal Squares These are red tiles. When a Snom passes over a goal square, then it becomes locked into that square unmoving (and will function as a rock). There can only be 1 Snom on a goal square a time.
Solving a maze
A solution to the maze is an issue of orders (left, right, up, and down in some sequence) that leads to all the Snoms being on Goal Squares. When you issue an order, all the Snoms will move in that direction until they hit a rock or a border.
There will be at least 1 Snom in each maze and at least as many goal spaces as Snoms. The minimum dimensions will be 5x5 and the maximum will be 20x20. You can submit at most 15 moves in an answer.
A player can buzz in at any time, and will then have 1 minute to write a solution to the maze. After they suggest a solution, then the other player has 1 minute to suggest a solution that takes less moves.
There are three outcomes possible:
Player 1 has a solution, and it was shorter than or equal in length to Player 2's solution - Player 1 scores a point
Player 2 has a solution that was shorter than Player 1's solution - Player 2 scores a point
Player 1's solution is incorrect (or timed out). Player 2 scores a point
If neither player buzzes in after about 10 minutes, then the round will be junked. A maximum of 20 rounds will be played, after which the leading player, or player with most garnets in a tie, will win the game.
The player with more garnets, instead of buzzing in, can once a game say skip maze, the current maze will be skipped (if no one else buzzed in).
Winner
The game winner will be the first player to reach 7 points.
The above is an example board
Correction: Player 2 does not score if they time out 
Addendum: No external tools may be used during the game related to solving a board. You may use a stopwatch or similar to keep track of time.
Rule change: When buzzing in as player 1, you must write how many moves your solution requires. When presenting your solution, you must move exactly the number of steps stated when you buzzed in. If your solution consists of any other amount of steps - fewer or more - your opponent will gain a point.
Clarification: "Buzzing in" in this context is done by typing a number. Typing anything else than a number is not considered buzzing. I will accept the first legal submission - which means any number between 1 and 15, but not above 15. I will not grant lenience towards typos.