Great point, Jeff, about it not really being a review.
Greg, btw, is one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. Really very cool.
-- Matthew
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Wed, 04/27/2005 - 00:20
#31
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Wed, 04/27/2005 - 02:10
#33
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Nope, that's Greg Aleknevicus. Who is also a cool guy.
-- Matthew
Wed, 04/27/2005 - 02:13
#34
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Well, my response was more of a "Review of a Review", not a personal judgement on the reviewer. I tip my hat to anyone who gives a game exposure. I guess I just want abstracts to regain some of the luster they deserve, and this review didn't seem to do that. the fact that this wasn't even an official review changes the tone a lot. No wonder he was writing about a single play-through of a game he never expected to play again!
But, to be fair, I'd probably give a similar review if asked what I thought about a sports car after a test drive. I'd say something like "Well, the seats were comfortable, and I guess it'd have really good acceleration in the right circumstances, like a closed track or something. Boy, that clutch was tight, though. Overall, a good ride, I guess."
And then the car buffs would be all over me about failing to notice the chromed engine parts.
Wed, 04/27/2005 - 20:37
#35
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Oops, looks like I missed a bunch of messages.
sedjtroll wrote:
As for strategy in this game
I agree there's a "gambling" element and it could be enhanced my giving a bigger reward. You suggest giving 5 points for a big 'pul in a group instead of 1. In your example, you're nearing the end and would gamble for that big pul if it were worth that much. But at the end, big 'puls are not really that good because you will have a hard time enclosing them anyway. Of course it's even worse at 1 point...
Wed, 04/27/2005 - 20:56
#36
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Hedge-o-Matic wrote:
This game's great. But I do have a question about the name. Did you have a version called "Pul" at some time? Micropul is just a bit awkward. Everyone I show it to say "Pill?" It's just an awkward-sounding name; sort of hard to say. Since this is supposed to be some exotic element, could you re-brand this as something vaguely elemental sounding?
It was "micropul" from the beginning but at one point, the term "Pul" was used to describe a block, which is composed of micropuls and catalysts.
Yeah, I know it's a weird sounding name and it's intentional. It may sound pretentious but it's just a silly name I thought up while doodling funny circles and lines. Frankly, I thought it was elemental sounding. I like Quarks that Darke suggested. At one point, a friend suggested calling the game "Quantum Dominoes". It sounded way too cheesy at the time but I can't say I hate it now.
If you're interested, this is how I pronounce micropul: " me kro pul " (u like the french u or the german ü)
Tue, 05/10/2005 - 03:18
#37
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
I saw someone post about their solitaire scores on BGG, so I played a game tonight and wanted to show off...
Supply: 32
Hand: 0
Groups: 13, 26, 27 (Big 'pul = 5 pts)
Total: 98
- Seth
Thu, 09/01/2005 - 02:32
#38
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
looks fun...
could anyone post a link that works to the updated rules and such? as the second link in the first page post doesn't work...
and nothing to download at BGG
Sun, 11/06/2005 - 02:47
#39
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
duck, you can download it here http://neutralbox.com/micropul/
Seth, I came so close to beat your legendary 99 game :)
Sun, 11/06/2005 - 15:19
#40
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
I've been intrigued by this game from the rules and description, and thanks to the online version, I just tried it out. I scored 79 (supply:18, hand:0, groups:36, 21, 4) on my first game which looks to be a decent score.
Mon, 11/07/2005 - 01:54
#41
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
hpox wrote:
duck, you can download it here http://neutralbox.com/micropul/
Seth, I came so close to beat your legendary 99 game :)
That site is totally awesome!!! I played 1 game on there, and Ilove it! I did notice that it's too easy to misclikck - twices I placed when I meant to rotate :(
By the way, check the scoreboard ;)
- Seth
P.S. In solitaire, I like the 'look at a time' thing for activating a "+" thing. Good idea!
Mon, 11/07/2005 - 15:08
#42
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
I love this game!!! It's probably the best solo puzzle type game I have ever played online!
There is one graphical thing that I would improve. As soon as you enclose an area, the color could be applied and scored. This would help me to remember what areas I have already enclosed and which ones I haven't.
In my last game, I was enclosing lots of smaller areas until I realized that you only score for your biggest 3 - I still got a 77 so not bad. My top score so far is 87 which is currently #20 - I see that many more people have been playing lately as my earlier score of 79 is not good enough for the leaderboard anymore!
I know this game is free, but I would gladly pay $10 or so for a English version with a few more options (maybe more game modes?)
Whoever designed this, I give you the highest props - I am going over to BGG right now and rate it a 9. I will bump up to a 10 for an advanced version with more bells and whistles.
Mon, 11/07/2005 - 20:26
#43
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Seth, you beat me again!!!? On your first try???? You're now my official arch-nemesis buddy. :)
Just a clarification, the flash game wasn't programmed by me. But by Hozo. He's got a few other games on his site. Click Home and try them. He emailed me last friday to see if I was ok with him putting the game online. Hell yeah! I did have a few suggestions and he implemented them very quickly.
Markmist. If you want to learn the rules in english, check out http://neutralbox.com/micropul/
As for the bells and whistles you will have to ask him but personally I like it as it is. The score board could be better though. I've been working on a standalone computer micropul game for some time now (3 weeks) - and learning test-driven development along - but it won't be ready until 2006. My plan is build a strong networking architecture and to re-use it to build a playtesting app (for all kinds of boardgames).
Mon, 11/07/2005 - 23:43
#44
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
That's very, very cool, hpox! :-)
-Bryk
Tue, 11/08/2005 - 12:29
#45
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Nice game hpox!
I just started playing the flash version today but have already got three ratings in the top 30 ;)
Now that I have realised you get 2 points for every chit in your supply I will try and beat my 97...
Nestalawe'
p.s, my highest score was -
supply:6
hand:1
groups:42, 44, 4
total:97
Tue, 11/08/2005 - 13:34
#46
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
In the online flash game ... how/when/why does it select the groups that it does? I don't see a way to drop a stone, or any other way to select the groups to own ... and I'm pretty sure it's not picking my biggest groups.
Otherwise -- it's a nice implementation.
-Bryk
Tue, 11/08/2005 - 15:27
#47
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Brykovian wrote:
In the online flash game ... how/when/why does it select the groups that it does? I don't see a way to drop a stone, or any other way to select the groups to own ... and I'm pretty sure it's not picking my biggest groups. Otherwise -- it's a nice implementation.
-Bryk
I thought it was automatically selecting the 3 biggest groups at the end of the game. However, in a recent game it obviously did not. I should have scored 32 pts for a white group, but instead it gave me 2 pts for a black group. This dropped my score from what should have been 85 to 55. I wish I could post my screenshot here, but I can't figure out how to copy Flash into a format that could be posted.
My guess is that the program is assuming that you are placing stones on your first three groups - no matter what the size. I will have to play more to test this theory. If this is the case, you have to be extra careful not to create a group that you don't want to count at the end of the game!
Tue, 11/08/2005 - 17:44
#48
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Darn! I can't for some reason download the file with the rules and I don't know where to find the online flash-game.
I can open the tiles-page, but without the rules, they don't do me any good, do they?
If anyone could be so kind as to send me a message with the copy/pasted rules, or post a link to that flash-version of the game, I would be delighted!!
Cheese!
Wed, 11/09/2005 - 15:32
#49
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
In my latest game of micropul, I was all set to post a monster score and then this happened: I needed to place two more tiles to close off my final area. However, The Big Pul with the dot was exposed and I only had 1 tile left in the core! So, it was impossible for me to close it off and as I placed my last tile, the game was scored and I was one tile away...
I could have scored a 98!!!!!
Instead I got:
supply:24
hand:0
groups:41,3,1
total:69
My highest score so far is 90... I will keep trying...
Wed, 11/09/2005 - 16:31
#50
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
i jost got 93 and im rank 14 on high score ^^
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 14:37
#51
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Managed a 94, finally. I think there are a lot more people playing the flash version now, because that only put me in 17th!
Groups: 40,36,2
Supply: 8 tiles
Hand: 0 tiles
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 14:41
#52
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
I just banged out a 92 that got me back on the leaderboard. Getting tougher and tougher to stay on there!
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 18:20
#53
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
I just scored a 96!!!! Woo hoo! I am in the Top 10.
I am starting to believe that breaking 100 is indeed possible, in this game I missed out on drawing 2 big puls.
supply:26
hand:2
groups:33,21,14
total:96
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 18:48
#54
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Woohoo! I broke 100.
Supply: 14
Hand: 3
Groups: 42, 40, 1
Total: 100
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 19:19
#55
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Gamebot wrote:
Woohoo! I broke 100.
Supply: 14
Hand: 3
Groups: 42, 40, 1
Total: 100
So it IS possible! I shall have to play some more then, I suppose...
- Seth
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 21:34
#56
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Gogolski wrote:
Quote:
Darn! I can't for some reason download the file with the rules and I don't know where to find the online flash-game.
I can open the tiles-page, but without the rules, they don't do me any good, do they?
If anyone could be so kind as to send me a message with the copy/pasted rules, or post a link to that flash-version of the game, I would be delighted!!
Cheese!Cheese...
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 22:13
#57
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
PDF Rules are here: http://neutralbox.com/micropul/files/micropul-Rules-1.2.1.pdf
Online Flash Game is here: http://hozo.hp.infoseek.co.jp/micropul/index.html
-Bryk
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 22:26
#58
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
btw, I figured out my problem with understanding the scoring. The game will score your best 3 groups ... but you actually have to close them off before they count (I kinda missed that part when reading the rules, I guess).
It's tough competition -- I'm consistently scoring in the high-80s, and even a couple 91s ... which aren't even good enough to make the top 30 any more.
-Bryk
Thu, 11/10/2005 - 23:02
#59
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Thanks a bunch! For some reason the PDF won't open, but it probably has something to do with my crappy computer... (I have removed and reinstalled Adobe Reader four times now...)
Without reading the rules:
First game: 0 points
Second: 22
Third: 52
I think I'm almost getting the rules.
Cheese!
Fri, 11/11/2005 - 11:11
#60
Micropul - Bragging Rights!
Gamebot wrote:
Woohoo! I broke 100.
Supply: 14
Hand: 3
Groups: 42, 40, 1
Total: 100
On ya Gamebot!
Well I wasn't first, but just cracked 100 now -
I guess I misunderstood, I thought it was an 'official' review of the game. Even if it were, I guess there's no such thing as bad publicity...
I imagine he would be. This is The Games Journal guy, right?
- Seth