Tactic Jam
TBD
| Designer(s): penzo | Match Type: DM (for 2 players) |
| Featured in: Simply Genius | |
DM4 - Tactic Jam
(DM by penzo)
-- Overview --
This game is played over 5 rounds. The first player to win 3 rounds wins the DM.
In each round, players take turns constructing a Traffic Jam (also known as Rush Hour) puzzle with a target move count.
Players alternate placing down cars until one of the players believes that the currently constructed puzzle takes exactly the target number of moves to solve, and cannot be solved in fewer moves than the target number of moves.
If they are correct, they win the round.
If they are wrong, their opponent wins the round instead.
-- Rush Hour Rules --
Rush Hour is played on a 6 by 6 board.
A Yellow Taxi is placed on the first 2 spaces of the 3rd row. The goal of the puzzle is to move the taxi right and leave the board on the right side.
Additionally, some white cars are placed on the board, blocking the way.
Each car will have a label to make referring to it easier.
The Taxi is always labeled with a Z and all cars will be labeled in reverse alphabetical order, starting with Y.
Cars are 1-by-2 or 1-by-3 rectangles placed on the grid. Cars can only move forwards or backwards, they can not move sideways.
A move is defined as moving any car, any number of spaces. Moving the taxi also counts as a move.
It does not matter if a car has moved one, two or three spaces at once, it all counts as one move.
However, moving car Y, then car X, then car Y again will count as three moves.
-- Setup--
This game is played over 5 rounds. The rounds are fully independent from each other.
In the first round, kg, as the DMO, will decide the first player.
In all future rounds, the loser of the previous round will decide the first player.
After the first player is selected, players are shown the board for the round, which will always have the yellow taxi and can contain some white cars already present on the board.
Additionally, a target move count is revealed for the round.
-- Player’s Turn --
📝 Starting with the first player, and then alternating, players place cars on the grid to make the puzzle more difficult.
To place a car, name 2 or 3 empty spaces on the grid to place the car there.
Naturally, the coordinates have to be adjacent and be in a straight line.
📝 If you believe that your placement made the puzzle take a target number of moves to solve, you can say that the construction is finished.
This will start a 2 minute timer, during which you should list out the moves required to solve the constructed puzzle.
You can also say that the puzzle is finished before placing your car, in the case where you believe that the opponent placed the final car but did not claim the puzzle.
If you manage to provide a solution in 2 minutes, that will start another 2m timer, during which your opponent can try to prove that the puzzle takes less than the target number of moves to solve, proving that your claim was incorrect.
This ends the round.
If you solved the puzzle and the opponent didn’t, you get a point.
If you didn’t solve the puzzle, or the opponent solved it in fewer moves, they get a point.
Example solution: The puzzle below is solvable in 5 moves:
X up
W left
X down
Y down
Z right
📝 Alternatively, there can come up a situation where you believe that the last car placed by the opponent made the puzzle impossible to solve, in which case you can claim so and challenge your opponent.
This will start a 2 minute timer, during which the opponent must solve the puzzle in the target number of moves or fewer.
This ends the round.
If the opponent solves the puzzle, they get a point.
If the puzzle isn’t solved, you get a point.
In a rare case where no new cars can be placed, the player that placed the last car wins a point automatically.
-- Game End --
The game ends after a player has reached 3 points.
That player wins the DM and 1 garnet.
-- Administration --
This game has no private information.
Make your moves in #dm4-game-room.
To place a car, name 2 or 3 empty coordinates on the grid.
To claim the puzzle as finished or impossible, say so.
To solve the puzzle, say which car you’re moving and which direction, for example Z right to move to taxi to the right.
Naturally we will assume you move a car the furthest distance possible, but you can specify how far you want to go, for example move Z right 2
DMO and the previous loser are given 30s to decide the first player.
Players are given 1m to place down their car and/or claim finished or impossible.
If a claim is made, a new 2m timer starts.
Each player has a 5 minute period of reserve time for all their submissions. If they run out of reserve time, they lose the DM.
There will be a small break between rounds as a new round is prepared.