CMYK 7

Feb 17 2024

Tags

CMYK is such a gentle puzzle when playing it solitaire. I don't know why I don't play it more often. Today I went back to 4 stacks of 12 for 48 tiles, and did pretty well scoring 30 for 6 hexes, and 2 each for 4 triangles placed. I suspect getting more than 6 hexes with 48 tiles would be pretty difficult. I'm also realizing that it's possible to more or less memorize some of the tiles, and understand the patterns. For example, I believe there is always 3 colors on each tile, such that no tile has only one color, or two colors. Laying tiles such that completion requires the same color on both sides isn't going to score.

Here's the final configuration, and yes it's better for photos to play on a solid black mat:

CMYK 7

What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

Have a solo game ready to play.
Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
Referee a game in progress.