You might be surprised but I do agree, with some observations I want other people to see.
We both know you can make exactly 1 safe click on that Minesweeper board. The rules of MS Minesweeper place the mines after that click and guarantee you can’t lose on that click. From that point on, you have to use the board numbers to continue. There is a bounty on proving that you can win ANY board with just the numbers, but so far it’s unclaimed. That means Minesweeper, as we understand it, makes you guess sometimes and some amount of chance is involved.
So Minesweeper:
- Guarantees you cannot lose on the first move.
- Presents hints that allow you to find safe moves.
- Also presents states where you can only make educated guesses, and might lose due to chance.
That’s exactly how I view Gems of War, even vs. a Goblin team.
- My only guarantee is I will have at least 1 match every turn. Sometimes, this single match gives my opponent a huge advantage on their turn.
- Sometimes, I have many choices. Then it’s my job to try and figure out which one is “best” for me. Often, every move can lead to a major advantage for my opponent.
- Enemy troops can widen or narrow the definition of “major advantage”.
When I’m fighting Goblins, it’s like I’m playing Minesweeper on Hard. I expect I’m going to have to make some guesses, and each of those guesses carries a chance of risking the entire game. I’m comfortable with that, and don’t mind a game with an element of chance. Some people aren’t.
But I feel like there is absolutely no way to satisfy the people who want to remove chance from this game. The bare mechanics of a PQ-style match 3 always involve the same elements of chance. Like Minesweeper, no matter how hard you argue you’ve always got choices, I can craft a board that shows you no good choices. “Doesn’t happen a lot” is not the same thing as “never happens.”