Bay 12 Games Forum

This is really quite simple.

All things considered you kind of like the shower.

So, just stand there.  Enjoy getting damp.  Sing in the rain.  Duh.

Or, to be more specific: stay in this location and watch carefully for the source of the assault.  Remove those shoulder pad thingies so we look less like a target, just in case Alpha Rauthaz is to blame.  And is trigger-happy.  And we know she is, but whatever.

--Rexfelum

First things first.  Indulge in pyromaniacal cackling.

Look, sometimes you just have to go with tradition.  It worked for dancing. 

--Rexfelum

Who's to say this isn't a challenging physical task?

Uh . . .

I must confess that I had not completely explored this option.

--Rexfelum

It's also possible that flipping a tile requires the player to first control a certain number of adjacent tiles (e.g., 4)

. . . In which case the first player is even more guaranteed to win.  Does anybody else have a persecution complex yet?

--Rexfelum

Set a hexagon at the bottom.

Pick the center.

Okay, there's something going on here.  See:

Let's assume Cerol's suggestion won't work.  Then, if you count the tiles, the play sequence will be us, him, us, and the board will be filled.  Then let's assume the board expands when it fills.  Upon expansion, the opponent will easily and immediately win due to the pinwheel of two-in-a-row tiles available for a third tile.

So we get to Cerol's suggestion.  If it does work, then it's the only thing to prevent this pinwheel-based victory, as it will break up the pattern.  But if you could do this at any time, why didn't TE-8897765443 win on his third move by doing that to us?  The only possibility is that he's toying with us.

Then . . . we really, really want the tile at the bottom.  It gives us two-in-a-row for the first time.  The opponent will keep up his charade as long as possible, meaning he will just pick some other unimportant tile on his next turn.  And then we'll have him.

In sum: if Cerol is wrong, and the board doesn't expand, we draw.  If Cerol is wrong, and the board expands, we lose.  If Cerol is right, and we tip our hand by using that information, we lose.  If Cerol is right, and we use psychology, we win.

Select the bottom tile.  Prepare to select the leftmost red, for a shot at victory, on the next turn.

--Rexfelum

Edited P.S.: I recognize that there are multiple alternative tiles that would achieve the same victory for us.  These are my suggestion.

The art!  It is fantastic!  The being sick, not so much.  Feel better.

And now that I have told you to feel better, of course, there will be a sudden change in your health and you'll be up to drawing me that plump helmet like I requested.  This is how logic works.

--Rexfelum

I just checked out all his countermoves if we go with that "tile to the bottom-left of the original tile."  Which we should.  If he follows by claiming a tile contiguous with his others along the right rim, we will win with a line along the left rim.  He will not be dumb enough to do so, and will instead block us along the left rim.  Then we will pinwheel around the middle until we draw.

--Rexfelum