Comments on: Games, Games, Games, Games!

By: Jens Alfke

Jens Alfke — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:08:04 +0000

sunnan— Many connection games have pie rules, to prevent the first player from making an overly strong first move. Most people (including me) don’t find this a big deal; even with this nit added, Hex still has about the simplest rule set of any nontrivial game.

Personally, I regard Hex fairly highly (though I’m new at it) because I find that I enjoy playing it. I don’t think I need any more reason than that :-)

By: sunnan (LJ)

sunnan (LJ) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 21:48:39 +0000

The best hex strategy on any board that’s as wide as it’s high is to play in the middle of the board first. That’s why the “pie” rule (a.k.a. swap rule) exists, a hack where the first player more or less have to balance the game since the game isn’t balanced in itself. I don’t understand at all why Hex is so highly regarded.

By: Jens Alfke

Jens Alfke — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:01:45 +0000

J— No, I haven’t kept up with Rogue in the last few decades ;-) But I have friends who are into its descendent nethack. I hadn’t heard of TOME; I’ll go take a look.

By: J

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:38:06 +0000

Ah…an old Rogue fan! Have you tried TOME? http://t-o-m-e.net It is an actively maintained Rogue-like game (although MUCH deeper) that has kept me captivated for the past 8 years.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:37:08 +0000

Having the bee fly only when Buzzy is thinking isn’t a bad idea… Hrmm… You’re just full of good ideas! :-D

By: Jens Alfke

Jens Alfke — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:56:54 +0000

I do like silly gratuitous animations (and I love David Lanham’s art), so I’m torn about it.

Maybe the bee could fly around while the AI is thinking? That way it would act as a sort of confirmation that something’s going on, and wouldn’t interrupt your thought processes.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:41:48 +0000

Thanks for the awesome Hexy review! Sorry the bee was distracting - it’s meant to be a bit of silly fun.. :P