+jgkspsx Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 2023 HSC rules This round we play Shanghai's Spider board and a favorite homebrew puzzle game Biniax. Round Over: Monday May 1 (full points), Sunday October 1st (rank points only) 2023 12:01am US Pacific After two months of fairly steep challenges, let's spend some time with a couple of relaxing, meditative games. Shanghai Manual / instructions / discussion: https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareID=2392 Settings - Table: Spider HSC Record: First year! Description: Try to clear all of the tiles! Share both your time and points! Ranking based on points descending and time ascending for those who finished the board! NOTE: Simply restarting with "Restart Same Game" will keep the same tiles as before, and is not fair. Make sure you choose "Select New Game" and then choose Spider again to make it a fair fight. Scores: 1. @jeremiahjt - 144 / 6:44 (+ bonus for clearing the board) 2. @Rick Dangerous - 144 / 6:53 (+ bonus for clearing the board) 3. @jgkspsx - 144 / 8:44 (+ bonus for clearing the board) 4. @MichaG - 144 / 13:21 (+ bonus for clearing the board) 5. @JagChris - 144 / 22:32 (+ bonus for clearing the board) 6. @jblenkle - 138 / 9:06 7. Your name here! 8. Your name here! 9. Your name here! 10. Your name here! Bonus Challenge: Clear the board with 144 points for 2 bonus points! Ends May 1. Biniax Note that the original Biniax game is also on the Biniax 2 cartridge from @Songbird - so if you don't want to use a flashcart or an emulator there is another option! Manual / instructions / discussion: https://atarigamer.com/lynx/game/Biniax/194993682 Download link: https://atarigamer.com/lynx/game/Biniax/194993682 Settings: Defaults! HSC Record: First year! Description: Don't get trapped in the falling binary pairs! Scores: 1. @Rick Dangerous - 5230 (+ bonus for beating the high score) 2. @MichaG - 5080 (+ bonus for beating the high score) 3. @Ninjabba - 4990 (+ bonus for beating the high score) 4. @jgkspsx - 4300 (+ bonus for beating the high score) 5. Your name here! 6. Your name here! 7. Your name here! 8. Your name here! 9. Your name here! 10. Your name here! Bonus Challenge: score more than 2500 points for 2 bonus points! Current season point standings: Name Total Total Retail Total Indie MichaG 693 284 384 jgkspsx 688 296 392 Rick Dangerous 674 286 388 Ninjabba 501 178 298 jeremiahjt 300 300 0 agradeneu 223 100 98 JagChris 184 184 0 KidGameR186496 127 102 0 Songbird 102 0 102 jblenkle 90 90 0 Any corrections please post. Please put your score in text in your post please to make my life a little easier 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 I think the HSC record for Shanghai (in the post above) is wrong, there is no record for Spider yet and the scoring is done differently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jeremiahjt Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 1 minute ago, Rick Dangerous said: I think the HSC record for Shanghai (in the post above) is wrong, there is no record for Spider yet and the scoring is done differently. He copy and pasted from Pinball Jam, so that is doctor_shred's Pinball Jam record. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 3, 2023 Author Share Posted April 3, 2023 Woops! Will fix it. My indie game of the month turned out to be unusable so I had to try a bunch of others to find a valid one, and forgot to go back and fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 142 Tiles in 8:26 time I have been playing Shanghai for years and JUST realized that if you hit option 2 there are like 3-4 different song options. lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jeremiahjt Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Initial time of 6:44 for Shanghai Spider. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaG Posted April 7, 2023 Share Posted April 7, 2023 I's a good game for the Anbernic. Won the game in 13:21 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 I did it! I finished the board!! Oh bother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 Okay, finally did it in 8:44. Used a hint I didn’t really need. Did we factor hints into the scoring before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 I have a survey about commercial homebrew games you would like to play: Make sure to vote! I am thinking of having only one cartridge but several games for July “vacation” that will require a ~$30 purchase including shipping (although it would be a good opportunity to buy several other cartridges as well if you don’t have them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 9, 2023 Author Share Posted April 9, 2023 Biniax: 4300 Everytime I die it’s because I got too greedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagChris Posted April 9, 2023 Share Posted April 9, 2023 3 hours ago, jgkspsx said: Okay, finally did it in 8:44. Used a hint I didn’t really need. Did we factor hints into the scoring before? I played a couple games and keep losing in a far longer time than you guys are winning at. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 10, 2023 Author Share Posted April 10, 2023 6 hours ago, JagChris said: I played a couple games and keep losing in a far longer time than you guys are winning at. I had a bunch of wipeouts before I got a good one in. Every board has its own strategy - for this one I work on the big pile in the center and the middle horizontal legs. The upper and lower pairs of legs are less wide and easier to punch holes in, so I try to save those tiles for emergencies for as long as possible. If you can access four of the same tile (not counting flowers and seasons) immediately clear it out of the way. There is no sense in saving pieces if everything is already accessible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagChris Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 7 minutes ago, JagChris said: Congratulations!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Here are some tips from the manual: Start with the Dragon puzzle. It is not necessarily easy, but the strategy is a little easier because the original tile layout is less com-plicated. Learn to play each puzzle. Each layout has its own challenges. Concentrate on the tiles that block the most moves. These include single tiles that block two tiles and tiles on the highest stack in the center of the puzzle. Try to remove these tiles first. Watch for identical tiles that are next to each other. If you remove the other pair of these tiles, the puzzle may become impossible. Always check for triples. If you've found a pair to remove, look for a third (and fourth) free tile that also matches. If you take two out of three matching tiles, make sure the one you leave is blocking the fewest important tiles. If you're not sure what to do with a triple, leave it and make another move instead. If you do see all four tiles of one kind free at once, remove them so they're out of your way. Look ahead as many moves as you can. This prevents you from making a move that may block a future move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 Hints do not come with a time penalty, but they are not always good moves either. Should we allow them or not? I don’t see past discussion of it. Me and @MichaG both used them… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jeremiahjt Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 Nobody has ever cared about hints being used in the past. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Correct, hints have always been allowed. However, if you do use them, people look down at you as a rank amateur. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 18, 2023 Author Share Posted April 18, 2023 6 hours ago, Rick Dangerous said: Correct, hints have always been allowed. However, if you do use them, people look down at you as a rank amateur. My, uh, finger slipped 😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 Kidding! The best way to avoid using hints, I've found, is to pause the game, take a 5 minute mental break, go get some water, etc, when you come back you'll likely find what you are looking for with a fresh set of eyes. Shanghai: 144 6:53 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) Biniax: 330 Cool game I FINALLY understand how to play it now...lol Edited April 19, 2023 by Rick Dangerous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 If you are moving your color into the set of colors above, how does the game decide what color the action piece will become? Does it always become the same color as the piece on the left, right, or is it random? Or is there a color hierarchy in the game? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted April 20, 2023 Author Share Posted April 20, 2023 4 minutes ago, Rick Dangerous said: If you are moving your color into the set of colors above, how does the game decide what color the action piece will become? Does it always become the same color as the piece on the left, right, or is it random? Or is there a color hierarchy in the game? Pieces are always two colors. You can only take the piece if you have one of the colors. When you take the piece you are left with the opposite color. Biniax 2 has been on my wishlist for a while, playing this definitely makes me want to try it more! I like this a lot but it could use some kind of combo bonus or something to make long chains feel more exciting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjabba Posted April 20, 2023 Share Posted April 20, 2023 My score for Biniax: 4990 Fun game, tried it a few times to get to this. My main strategy is to stay in the middle three lanes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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