How Do You Play the Mystery X Game?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the rules and mechanics of a game referred to as the "Mystery X Game." Participants explore how to play the game, clarify rules, and express confusion about the gameplay and winning conditions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that the goal of the game is to win by narrowing down options until only one possibility remains.
  • Others express confusion about whether players should guess the answer directly or provide clues that may not align with others' thoughts.
  • Concerns are raised about the validity of clues and the potential for disputes if a clue does not fit the established properties of X.
  • One participant questions why the first poster does not simply state the answer to win automatically.
  • A later reply introduces the idea of a time limit for rounds, suggesting that if no new property is posted after a certain period, the last poster wins.
  • Another participant compares the game to a countdown game, discussing strategies for winning based on reducing categories.
  • Some participants propose alternative games with similar mechanics, indicating a desire for clearer rules and structure.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express confusion and uncertainty about the rules and mechanics of the game, with no consensus on how to proceed or clarify the gameplay. Multiple competing views on the nature of the game and its winning conditions remain unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unclear rules regarding the validity of clues, the process for determining a winner, and how to handle disputes over clues that may not fit the established properties of X.

  • #31
One little extra rule : plurals, tense changes, etc (forms other than the root) are not considered new words. Okay ?
 
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  • #32
Gokul43201 said:
One little extra rule : plurals, tense changes, etc (forms other than the root) are not considered new words. Okay ?
I was just going to ask about that.
 
  • #33
Also, what happens if the n'th letter allows k possibilities and the n+1'th letter allows one possibility but also completes the word ?

For instance ...
 
  • #34
...M a v i n - I win !

Or do I ??
 
  • #35
Gokul43201 said:
...M a v i n - I win !

Or do I ??
I'd say you win because use of the "n" cancels out any other words that I am aware of.
 
  • #36
You know, you posted "One little extra rule : plurals, tense changes, etc (forms other than the root) are not considered new words. Okay ?" just before you posted "mavin." You made a new rule and then used it immediately, because if you hadn't made that rule then there could be "mavins" or "mavin."

X
 
  • #37
By the way, should we allow dictionaries?

Should we allow words with dashes in them? Terms with spaces in them that are listed in the dictionary? Prefixes?
 
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  • #38
BicycleTree said:
You know, you posted "One little extra rule : plurals, tense changes, etc (forms other than the root) are not considered new words. Okay ?" just before you posted "mavin." You made a new rule and then used it immediately, because if you hadn't made that rule then there could be "mavins" or "mavin."

X
Rather clever of him, wasn't it? :smile: At least he waited for a response and didn't just announce a new rule and proceed anyway.

I see no problem with people using dictionaries. You might have to (and we'd definitely need to be able to use them to confirm a challenge if needed), and this will make it a learning game too. I think there's enough skill involved that using a dictionary isn't an unfair advantage of any sort.

I would argue that if there's a space, then it's two separate words (I think that's what you're talking about, phrases in the dictionary). So, I'd say those wouldn't be allowed.

I'm not so sure about hyphenation. How about as long as it's not two separate words if you remove the hyphen, then hyphenated words are okay? Oh, but then if we do allow hyphens, do they need to be included as a character just like a letter is added, or are they sort of wild cards that can be assumed present at any place and any time?
 
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  • #39
BicycleTree said:
You know, you posted "One little extra rule : plurals, tense changes, etc (forms other than the root) are not considered new words. Okay ?" just before you posted "mavin." You made a new rule and then used it immediately, because if you hadn't made that rule then there could be "mavins" or "mavin."

X
Okay, I forfeit my victory and hand over my wreath to you.

That was really just an experimental round...more for debugging purposes than anything else; and it did identify a bug anyway.

No hyphenated words allowed, or multiple word "words".
 
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  • #40
Xo

Victory! Xosa
 
  • #41
BicycleTree said:
You know, you posted "One little extra rule : plurals, tense changes, etc (forms other than the root) are not considered new words. Okay ?" just before you posted "mavin." You made a new rule and then used it immediately, because if you hadn't made that rule then there could be "mavins" or "mavin."

X
Gokul still wins because he was simply clarifying the rules, I was just about to post the same question and I knew exactly why he was asking the question. :approve: