Gridgame

Thursday 27 October 2005 — This is 19 years old. Be careful.

gridgame is an abstract Flash game. Click on a circle, it turns a quarter turn. If its markings connect with a neighbors, then the neighbor turns. Chain reactions ensue. From the random board, it is difficult to predict what will happen. Sometimes what looks like a fruitful vein of energy sputters out after a short time. Actions taken as a mindless afterthought can create extended chains of unexpected consequences. It reminds me of life...

Comments

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Thomas "Duffbert" Duff 7:12 PM on 27 Oct 2005
So can I blame my missed deadline on you now? :)
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Ned Batchelder 7:40 PM on 27 Oct 2005
I'll write a note for your boss if you think it will help...
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Dave 8:51 PM on 27 Oct 2005
That is quite cool. First few clicks were OK, but then I hit one for 564. Very cool.
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Ned Batchelder 8:54 PM on 27 Oct 2005
Once, I ended up with a 1350!! Who knows why?
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Robert Kern 11:19 PM on 27 Oct 2005
I've found that the best chain reactions occur in the mid-game when there are substantial homogeneous domains (they're essential for propagating the reaction and racking up points) separated by thin random domains (which are needed to reflect the waves back and provide new configurations that will restart the reactions in the homogeneous domains over and over again). Starting the reaction in one of those thin random domains seems to be best.

And if we're comparing high scores, 2295.

Curse you, Ned, for killing productivity! Bless you, Ned, for finding such a wonderful demonstration of self-organizing behavior!
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Stan Rogers 2:11 AM on 28 Oct 2005
Unfortunately, the actionscript seems to miss some collisions. My best was 2197 (so far -- I'll be stuck with this for life now), but I did notice a failure to propagate occasionally when nearly the whole grid was active. I was kind of hoping to identify some "life forms" -- stable groups that propagate in an identifiable pattern. Getting the grid set up regularly first is the hard part (nearly had it when the 2197 happened).
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Sam 5:11 AM on 28 Oct 2005
Hit 1356 on my third click. Trying my best to stay away from it now... Nice.
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mike 10:07 AM on 28 Oct 2005
2500 on 16th click. Need a new name tho, I nominate "Once".
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Bob 10:55 AM on 28 Oct 2005
1005 on my first click.
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Ned Batchelder 11:01 AM on 28 Oct 2005
I didn't mean for this to turn into a gridgame smackdown!

Mike: why "Once"?
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Chris Hamoen 3:14 PM on 28 Oct 2005
Alright - if our blog isn't updated today, it's your fault!! :)
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Stan Rogers 1:29 PM on 29 Oct 2005
"Once", I presume, is an indication of how many times Mike plans to play the game. I look at it a lot like "Life", in that the game is mathematically interesting. I have found a couple of "organisms" so far, and am working on a slght modification of the game would allow them to "live" indefinitely -- the result of their propagation across the game space is that they leave the squares they traverse exactly as they found them.
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mike 7:32 AM on 31 Oct 2005
Stan is right, "Once" for the number of time most of us will touch it. It is beautiful and satisfying, but only once...

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