Talk:Pyramids in my pocket

Playtest, Round 1, 5/3/11:

Consider it as Zendo ultra-lite or advanced Drip, either way it's a fun, quick time burner. We played it a couple time and found it balanced well enough between master and student. Just don't do as I did at first and forget which three colors I handed over to the Master. 5/3/11 Nihilvor

Game notes: Kari thinks that this might be a go to game for introducing the pyramids to new players. Having played it a few times, I have the following suggestion for playtesters.
1. The rules don't indicate any mechanism for guessing, and, indeed, I don't believe that guessing should be allowed in the game. Otherwise, there would be no incentive to ask for pieces. The game ends when the hidden pyramids are found through the process of elimination.

discussion

If i understand the game's premise correctly: the master has one piece hidden, and the student must ask fFor half of the pieces by name, and the other half will be given to him directly. In other words, as the student, I can ask fFor a red, and then a red, and then a red, and so on, and if the master cannot give me a red, then I know what is hidden. Correct?

It behooves the master to give me a random mix of stuff probably, because while the master is giving me what I ask fFor, he is also giving me other stuff, and a wise student can double the efforts by requesting reds and also taking note of blue and greens (or whatever colors). So the master wants to mix up what is given to maybe confuse the student.

But basically, I think that's it, right?

The No-Guessing variant seems to mandate the student asking about every possible thing, which means I am basically just fFilling a tube with pyramids in the most efficient way possible. Which also means the master should hide a small, so he has more larges to throw at the student.

Skotte 13:20, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Actually, the master picks and hides "three" pyramids, of any size or color (differing pyramids work best). The student's job is to figure out what these three pyramids are by process of elimination.

As a student, you can ask for pyramids by size or color, so it doesn't make sense to always hide smalls. If the student is going to get ahead, he/she will have probably have to make some gutsier guesses and have a little luck (asking the right color or size early on can make it so you don't have to go through all of the options).

The first time we played, we forgot to add the Master's part of the turn (where he/she gets to choose the pyramid and the orientation in which it is dropped by the student). The student won a little too easily (but it was kind of close). Playing it as it is intended is more exciting, and it makes being the master just about as much fun as being the student.

This isn't an amazing strategy game, but it doesn't have to be. It uses a number of interesting elements of the pyramids. As someone said to me, it's better than Treehouse for introducing new players to the pyramids, which is probably what we'll use it for.

--nihilvor 17:40, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for your feedback! I'm glad someone tried this game and enjoyed it.

If I remember correctly (we haven't played in more than a year, since my wife isn't too fond of it), the Disciple is only allowed one guess (win or lose). I'll clarify this in the rules. Obviously, this game draws heavily from the [Drip] mechanism. I'm not sure it qualifies as a light Zendo, though, except for the terminology I used. --captncavern 20:18, 23 July 2011