Monday, January 16, 2012

Jim M. submits the following queer puzzle

What to capture first? It's made even more tricky by the fact that, even if you roll safely,
you *might* have to roll a second time...

Player: jimmosk *Classically Fuzzy* *Bronze Medal in Men's Bars* *Bronze Medal in Men's Judo*

Your Button Man: RandomBM (^2 6 Gq8 ^8 Gq12) 
Score: 32 (-1.6 sides) 

Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 2 / 0 / 0 (Out of 3 wins)

Your Captured Dice: Twin Die (both with 10 sides), Berserk Queer 6-sided die


Queer
12-sided die
Time and Space
8-sided die
  1 4
Captured last turn
Queer
8-sided die
Queer
8-sided die
Queer
5-sided die
  5   7   3
Opponent: lephantman13 *Perfect Memory*

Button Man: RandomBM (qB6 q8 q8 qB10 (10,10)) 

Score: 34.5 (1.6 sides) 
Rounds Won/Lost/Tied: 0 / 2 / 0

Captured Dice: Time and Space 2-sided die, 6-sided die, Queer 8-sided die, Time and Space 8-sided die

1 comment:

Gryphon said...

Taking the 5-sider gives you a seven in twelve chance of rerolling safely, but if you have to roll again, you won't be able to take enough sides to guarantee a win. There are three such situations, all of which allow you to take either die, giving you a five in six chance of a safe reroll by taking the die showing 5. Net result: 13 times out of 24, you'll win.

Taking either 8-sider gives you a 50-50 chance of rerolling safely, and you can guarantee a win if you have to roll again by taking the other 8-sider (possible in every such situation except if you take the die showing 5 and then roll a 6).

Therefore, your odds are slightly better if you take the 5-sider.