Snowman Meltdown/Strategy
Strategy Hints[edit | edit source]
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Travel from a 2 tile in either direction will normally end on the same tile. Therefore...
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.