The strengh of the boxes

MORBAK is a multiplayer puzzle game. It means that the chance doesn’t take part. We confront a human opponent and not an artificial intelligence. In order to win we must be better than our opponent, we need to put in place an effective strategy of attack or defense whether one starts the game or not. This article aims to avoid big mistakes to beginners, ie play in the first blow many « strong » boxes. A good level of opponent could indeed take a significant advantage over the game by switching these boxes to his own color. Reading this article will avoid undoubtedly many defeats to all those who take the trouble to linger. Indeed when one begins and one faces more experienced players, a series of soundly defeats may lead some to persevere and improve, but also discourage many others, who might mistakenly think that the game is too difficult, or they do not have the skill to play!

The MORBAK square chessboard consists of seven rows and seven columns, 49 boxes. Depending on the number of lines a box allows to perform, it will not have the same « value » or « strength ». It is therefore easy to understand that if you play too many « strong » cases in the first shots, ie the boxes which allows to complete a large number of lines, the opponent will have big interest to take it back by swapping those squares! The previous article in this series refers to THE ONE box which  was dangerous to start a game with, this one deepens the subject.

The boxes of above chessboards  contain two values. The first is the number of lines that the box allows to perform. The second is the product (multiplication) of the first value by the minimum number of adverse boxes to play around with, preventing the box to perform a single line.For example the A1 box allows you to complete 3 lines, first value = 3.Only 3 boxes around prevent A1 box from completing a line : A2 boxes, B1 and B2. So the second value = 3×3 = 9. Both values ​​therefore give a representation of the « strength » of the boxes. The higher these values ​​are, the stronger the box is.

It therefore appears that playing in the first blow too many « strong »boxes (row 4, column D, C3, C5, E3, E5) is very risky, because if the opponent switch it to his own color, he can take a significant advantage. Nevertheless, it is possible to play some of these squares early in the game if you have a well-established strategy. In this case preparing an adequate defense strategy and making the opponent use a lot of swapping moves.

A multiplayer puzzle game with a well thought through opening strategy. A friendly atmosphere and a modern interface,  are all the ingredients to gather around the board and have fun!