Sandbox/Zendo-Tao

From Looney Pyramid Games Wiki


What follows is a sample game of Zendo-Tao. It is also a place to playtest Zendo-Tao. Feel especially free to contribute comments and questions, whether you're a player or a bystander.

It may be easier to compare koans on the koan index of this page.


0
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg
0
1 1
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

It is the start of a new game, so I posted three koans, one marked white, one marked black, and one that is as-yet undecided. The first turn is done. There's no need to be so wordy about starting a new game normally, but players are always welcome to comment during games of Zendo-Tao, just as in games of Zendo. -- Albert 9:14 (Note: The "undecided" koan Albert's talking about is koan 2, which appears below the horizontal line. It was not marked when Albert posted.)


2 2
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

Albert's koan 2 now teaches us that the rule is not AKHTBN if there are an odd number of pyramids. -- Bonita 9:51 (Bonita placed a white stone at koan 2, above, by adding the letter 'w' to the template name. She posted the rule that just became invalid, and she included koan 3, below. Of course, koan 3 was not marked until Chris posted. Bonita kept her two rules secret, but they were AKHTBN if it has at least one green pyramid in case the next koan were marked white and AKHTBN if it has an upright large green pyramid but no others upright for black.)


3
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg
3

Bonita's koan 3 now teaches us that the rule is not AKHTBN iff it contains at least one green piece. -- Chris 10:15 (Chris placed a black stone at koan 3 by adding 'b' to the template name, posts a newly invalidated rule (Though there were many others, such as AKHTBN iff it contains an upright large) and a new koan, below.)


4
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg
4

Chris's koan 4 tells us that the rule is not AKHTBN if the number of upright pips is either 3 or 0, talking about the total number of pips on all upright pieces, if any. -- Danni 11:02


5 5
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

Master Danni's koan 5, is it true that AKHTBN if more than half of the pips are from green pyramids? That is, green pips are more than half of all of the pips in the koan. The true rule is not that rule, for even Master Danni's koan has the buddha nature. And don't miss the clarity and perfection that Eeyore's photos show. (Thanks, Eeyore!) These pieces remain untouched by human hands, just like M&Ms and Oreos on the assembly line. -- Albert 12:30


6
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg
6

Chris reminds us all that there's no particular order to player's turns, and that the rule is not AKHTBN iff it contains no mediums. -- Chris 12:38


7 7
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

I'm going to enter this game for real, because it's getting to where I'm running out of possible rules. But I know now that it's not AKHTBN if it has neither medium nor flat pieces, because this one gets a white stone. -- Rootbeer 22:19, 24 May 2005 (GMT)


8
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg

http://img214.echo.cx/img214/5753/koanlymrb5tr.th.jpg
8 http://tinyurl.com/bmnq6

I see now that the rule is not AKHTBN if the total number of green and blue pieces is an odd number. In this case there's just one blue (or green) piece, an odd number, but no buddha nature. — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 16:01, 27 May 2005 (GMT) (Note: This user is playing two consecutive turns, many hours apart.)


9
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg

http://img263.echo.cx/img263/2033/koanmysbbgr6gn.th.jpg
9 http://tinyurl.com/8rn3r

Obviously, the rule is not AKHTBN if the total number of green and blue pips is an odd number positive number.. Obvious, there are three here and it does not have the buddha nature. -JEEP 07:08, 1 Jun 2005 (GMT)

But the blue piece in koan 8 appears small to me, making it black with one pip. -- GregF 11:03, 1 Jun 2005 (GMT)
The thumbnail looks that way. Did you see the full-sized image? The blue piece in koan 8 is a two-pointer. My inchoate naming scheme gave that koan a name containing "lymrb" because there's a Large Yellow and Medium Red and Blue in the koan, not that you're expected to know that. Sorry it's so far out of focus, though. — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 14:59, 1 Jun 2005 (GMT)

http://www.willowpeterson.com/daddy/yellowtree-small.jpg
10 http://tinyurl.com/ctekd

10
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

(anyone with a better picture of a yellow tree, please replace this one.)

That's a fine picture of a yellow tree. It shows everything it needs to show. And now that I've marked it, I see that my favorite rule is now destroyed: AKHTBN if "all of the green pieces and all of the blue pieces" in the koan means "exactly one large piece".Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 21:07, 2 Jun 2005 (GMT)


http://img192.echo.cx/img192/8752/koanlyby3to.th.jpg
11 http://tinyurl.com/7pgcs

11
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

I see now that the nifty rule AKHTBN if all yellow pieces (if any) are confined to all-yellow trees has been disproved. It's nifty because it masquerades so well as a simple "no yellow" rule. Nobody has taken a turn for a while. May I now claim the victory, or can anyone still offer an ambiguous koan? — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 00:01, 10 Jun 2005 (GMT) (Yes, I know this is premature. But I want the example game to show at least one blocked request.)


I don't believe so. There are still at least two rules remaining. Here is a koan two of them mark differently: -- GregF 21:43, 10 Jun 2005 (GMT)

12
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg

http://img275.echo.cx/img275/5368/koans3y0zn.th.jpg
12 http://tinyurl.com/ajddd

I liked the nice rule AKHTBN if it does not have exactly one yellow piece until this koan disproved it. Fortunately, after much study, I've found a koan that's still undecided. — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 18:12, 19 Jun 2005 (GMT)


http://img279.echo.cx/img279/8278/koanlymbsy3sr.th.jpg
13 http://tinyurl.com/bsneo

13
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/4504/whitestone3fm.jpg

This white stone disproves AKHTBN if the numbers of small, medium, and large yellow pieces are either all three even numbers, or all three odd. It's been a while since anybody has been able to take a turn, so if I ask to claim the victory, will somebody be able to take it away from me? — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 14:59, 21 Jun 2005 (GMT)


Well, I can. There are still at least two rules, as demonstrated by this still-ambiguous koan: -- GregF 21:28, 26 Jun 2005 (GMT)

14
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg

http://img90.echo.cx/img90/4029/koanlymrmy6yz.th.jpg
14 http://tinyurl.com/99k95

But the black stone disproves AKHTBN iff the statement "There are any ungrounded yellow pieces if and only if there are any grounded yellow pieces" is true. (It's hard to find a non-awkward way of stating it- either the koan contains both grounded and ungrounded yellow pieces, or it contains neither.) I believe that leaves us with only one rule; can anyone prove otherwise? -- GregF 00:12, 29 Jun 2005 (GMT)

Another way would be to say AKHTBN if "there are grounded yellow pieces" is just as true (or false) as "there are ungrounded yellow pieces". That's a cool rule, but I hadn't thought of it. I had AKHTBN if the number of yellow pips is anything but 1, 2, or 3, so a single yellow piece will always lack the Buddha Nature (as will combinations of pieces with the same number of yellow pips). — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 03:02, 30 Jun 2005 (GMT)

I see that there are still two possible rules. This koan, if marked, would reduce me to only one rule. Does anyone else see three rules left? -JEEP 04:31, 12 Jul 2005 (GMT)

15
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/5230/koanm2y0qi.th.jpg
15 http://tinyurl.com/8qv92


I do; marking that last one black disproved AKHTBN iff the total pip count of yellow pyramids is an even number other than 2, (And, of course, 0 is even) but there are still at least two more rules. The koan that marks them differently is: -- GregF 12:58, 12 Jul 2005 (GMT)

16
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/5505/blackstone2ht.jpg

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4135/koanlysb4dn.th.jpg
16 http://tinyurl.com/7fm8o


Hmm... well, If I debate the fairness, but by marking it white, I can say that the rule is NOT AKHTBN iff it does not contain an upright medium yellow that is not in a single color tree AND it does not contain any flat pieces that are not large blue pieces. Now we can debate the fairness of this rule. If it's acceptable, I will post a koan that is a small, upright, blue piece with a large yellow piece over it (not touching it) and a large blue piece stacked on top of the large yellow. -JEEP 03:54, 14 Jul 2005 (GMT)

The legality of this play (Specifically the fairness/validity of the disproven rule) is being disputed on Talk:Sandbox/Zendo-Tao. Join the discussion there to determine if this play is legal.

The previous play was deemed invalid. See Koan 12. -JEEP 21:54, 14 Jul 2005 (GMT)


Koan 16 disproves AKHTBN if yellow implies that a large yellow points to yellow or blue. (The logical relationship A implies B means that if A is true, then B must be as well; it may be re-written as B or not A. In this case, that would read AKHTBN if a large yellow piece points to a yellow or blue OR there are no yellow pieces.) I still see one viable rule. Is there another? — Rootbeer (Tom) (U | T | C) 23:18, 11 Aug 2005 (GMT)


If Tom (or whoever was claiming victory - I'm unsure) doesn't mind the large chronological gap (Aug'05 - Feb'06), I see at least two (possibly border-line-fair) rules. The ambiguous koan follows. -- Rain 00:39, 17 Feb 2006 (GMT)


http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/5148/2b3r5jp.th.jpg
17 http://tinyurl.com/b9od6




It may be easier to compare koans on the koan index of this page.

Feel free to continue this example game. Please sign each posting with four tildes (~~~~) OR with a pseudonym (like Albert and Bonita) for play-testing purposes.