Snowman Meltdown/Strategy

Strategy Hints

1. Players should probably sit so the board is either right-side-up or upside-down to them; otherwise, game movement may become confusing. As long as you are facing either the top or bottom of the board, the tile directions will work correctly. That is, a Crowns tile specifies that you can travel northwest or southeast. Your northwest is southeast for someone facing you, and vice versa.
2. It is possible to take arithmetic short cuts. For example, a 5 of Moons will let you travel either five tiles west or east, if it is not your flavour. Moving five tiles west on a wrapping 4x4 board is the same as moving one tile east, and vice versa.
3. If you're at the edge of the board, and you get confused about how to travel two tiles northeast (say), make the moves separately; that is, first travel two tiles north, then travel two tiles east, or vice versa.
4. Travel from a 2 tile in either direction will normally end on the same tile. Therefore...
5. If the 2 of Crowns and the 2 of Arms are placed two squares apart diagonally during setup, they form a trap for players of other flavours. Travel from one will always end on the other.
6. Toward the end of the game, you may be able to force your opponent to melt down, by blocking her movement with a well-placed force field.
7. The game is much enhanced by shouting the following things:

• "I've got a blow dryer and I'm not afraid to use it!"
• "Your money or your slush!"
• "Don't mess with me! This thing is set on DRY, not FLUFF!"
• As you melt an opponent's snowman down to just his top piece: "Now that's how to get a head in life!"
• When refusing a hold-up: "MELT ME!" (There is a ruder retort having to do with the function of blow dryers, but we thought it best to omit it from this family game.)
• And, of course, in your best Margaret Hamilton voice: "I'm mellltttiiiinnnggg..."

It also helps to say these things in a progressively squeakier voice as your snowmen become smaller and smaller.