Glyphic Solitude

After I played about twenty games I found it slightly easier to translate the glyphs into numbers (Your Mileage May Vary). I don't believe that you are likely to win until you start to see the glyphs as numbers instead of just semi-random splotches.

FYI: Ideally, you should read this tutorial on a "big screen" device (like a personal computer) and follow along by exploring actual game moves (on your hand-held device) for each section.

Rules

• You can put any Card on any Card that is one larger
• you can put any five on any six, for example
• You can also put an 'F' (or a fifteen) on a zero
• so the Values constitute a "modulo sixteen" system
  
• or a circle, for you non-mathematical types
• like a clock
• because one follows twelve on a clock
  
• or twenty-four
• depending on where you live
  
• If the Cards are in the same Suit they become a Run
• an entire Run can be moved as a single thing
• You can put any Card into a Hole
• You can 'split' a Run by moving some of the Cards to another column
• this is an advanced technique (see next section)
• if you do this by accident it looks really weird
• it is not a bug, it is a feature
• because it is documented
  

The object of the game it to arrange all of the Cards into four descending Runs.

Tactics and Strategy

The main points:

• Creating a Hole increases your ability to create Runs
• create a Hole as soon as possible
  
• maintain the Hole as long as possible
• avoid filling any Holes when you Deal the last four Cards
• if possible
  
• learn to use the Hole to your advantage
• two Holes is even better
• etcetera
• Don't be afraid to create deep columns of Cards
• Cards stacked in order are good
• even if they are not the same Suit
• Cards piled in disorder are bad
• especially if they are the same Suit
• there must be a 'life lesson' there somewhere
  

• Avoid alternating two colors when stacking Cards
• This are more likely to 'lock' both Suits into a "death grip"
• which is a bad thing
  
• because you can't separate them
• which is why it is not called a "happy fun grip"
• "Splitting a Run" can be used to dig more deeply into a column if there is a Hole
• move the (non-Run) Card on top of the Run into the Hole
  
• split the Run onto another column
• move the Card from the Hole back onto the (bottom of the) Run
• move the remainder of the Run into the Hole
• move the next Card down to a new column
• repeat if possible
  
• reverse the steps above to re-assemble the Run(s)
• it is like the "Towers of Hanoi" game
• but upside down
  
• Once an entire Suit has been combined into a Run it can be moved to any column
• because it automatically 'splits' itself to fit
• unfortunately this almost never happens until the very end of the game
• Before you Deal a new layer, try to expose as many Cards of different Values as possible
  
• this will give you more options after you Deal
  
• expose one of any Card Value that is 'over represented'
• such as all four eights or all four threes
• otherwise Cards you need will become buried
  

• Learn to see the left and right halves of the Card as separate hexadecimal numbers.
• this makes it easier to see the patterns within the columns of Cards
  
• I prefer the term 'hedeximals'
• don't call them that in public
  
•  The lowest spoke on the left side alternates between visible and invisible for each successive Value
• these are 'Odd' and 'Even' Values, respectively
• this is a quick check for descending sequence
• because you can't have two Even Cards in a row.
• think of it as adding or subtracting one
  
• for the spokes above it

• Before you Deal a new layer, check each column explicitly to see if the bottom Card (or Run) can be moved
• it is very easy to miss something
• especially with a Run
• be sure you check the top Card in the Run
  
• think, "This is a six. Is there a seven hiding somewhere?"
• but use the actual Values of the Cards
  
• this is good practice for learning to read the Cards
  
• Before you move a Card or a Run *from* a column, check the Card (or Run) above it
• can the newly exposed Card participate (top or bottom) in a Run?
• is there another Card that would be a better choice for moving?
• always combine Cards in the same Suit when possible
  
• to create Runs
• unless you have a clever plan
• but not too clever
• maybe that is just my problem
• creating a Hole is the only thing better than creating a Run
• as long as you can use the hole to create more Runs
• If you decide not to move be sure you cancel the move
• or you may get an unpleasant surprise
• when your next 'from' column becomes a 'to' column
• and, there is no 'Undo' button
• Before you move a Card or a Run *to* a column, check the Cards (or Runs) in other columns
• can the card you are about to cover be moved to another column?
  
• is there another Card that would be a better choice for covering?
• same reasons as above
• still no 'Undo' button

• Don't worry if you get very few moves out of the initial Shuffle
• sometimes you need to Deal a few times to get enough matching cards
• anything is better than nothing
  
• if the card counter says '60' and you still have nothing you can start worrying
• not that worrying will actually help you win
• sometimes the game isn't soluble until the very last Deal
• sometimes it wont dissolve at all
  
• Relax, slow down, be patient, don't Deal until you have checked everything twice
  
• the obvious 'next move' isn't always obvious
  
• learn to enjoy the frustration
• if it was easy everyone would have done it already
• frustration is the price of originality
  
• it is only a game
• there will always be another Shuffle available
  
• You can't put a '7' on an 'F'
• you'll see

Terminology

• Each glyph is called a 'Card'
• There are (blurry) example images below
• the example game image has one Run
• it is an important Run
  
• A column with no Cards is called a 'Hole'
  
• The Cards are called the 'Deck' until they are dealt
• because 'Reserve' has too many letters
  
• The right hand spokes are called a 'Suit'
• The left hand spokes are called the 'Value'
• The two sides of a Card are two completely separate numbers
  
• so the lowest number Card (#0 and #10) could be called "the truth of time"
• whereas the #10 glyph would just be called 'time'
  
• this has no impact on the game
• I still think it is cool
  
• A series of descending Cards in the same Suit is called a 'Run'
• only the top and bottom Cards are shown for a Run
  
• the bottom Card in the Run will be plugged
• so that you can tell that it is a Run
  
• There are sixteen Cards (zero through F) in each Suit
  
• There are four Suits
• ten is black
  
• twenty is magenta (mine looks pink)
  
• forty is green
• eighty is red (mine looks orange)

Physical Game Mechanics

• There are sixty-four Cards in four Suits of sixteen
  
• The Cards are dealt in eight columns
• with one extra card added to each successive column
  
• The game only works in portrait mode
• I tried landscape
• it was a disaster
• now it just refuses to play
• I hope it isn't mad at me
  
• The 'Shuffle' button will start a new game
• The 'Deal (##)' button will deal a new layer of Cards
• do this when you run out of moves
• it usually makes everything worse
  
• you can Deal three and a half new layers of Cards
• the button also shows the number of Cards dealt so far
• the number of Cards dealt so far is a decimal number
• because I took pity on you
  
• The 'Close' button will end the game and return to the normal display
• do this when your boss shows up
• There is no 'Undo' button
• no "cheat codes" either
• just like life
• The game only uses the inner spokes of the glyph to form the Card
• because it is already overcomplicated
• the right spokes are ten, twenty, forty and eighty bottom to top
• the left spokes are one, two, four and eight bottom to top
• adding combinations of spokes creates Values zero to fifteen (0 - F)
• zero is the combination with no left spokes
  
• Click on the *column* you are moving Cards From
• you don't need to click the exact Card or 'drag' it
• because cute animation is for sissies
• plus, I don't know how to do it
  
• and, there is only one Card you can 'Select' per column
• why do other solitaire games make you drag a Card?
• "Selected #" will show the Value and Suit of the Card
• if you select a Run, this is the Value of the top Card
• you can use this to learn to read the Values
• Click on the *column* you are moving Cards To
• you will get an error message if the Cards are not in sequence
• the column will "shift up" to keep the bottom Card on the screen
• don't forget that the column is deeper that it looks
  
• you can stack the entire Deck in one column
• this might not help you win the game
• although it shouldn't hurt anything
• you can pretend that this is how you win
• it is not actually easier than the real method
  
• except that you don't have to worry about matching Suits
  
• If you click the From column twice the "Move Canceled" message will be shown
• do this when you change your mind
• or see your error
  
• then pick a new From column
• Winning does absolutely nothing to the display
  
• just like an actual physical Card game
• no fireworks or dancing Cards
• I don't know how to do that either
• and, winning is your problem, not mine
• although I wish you the best of luck
• because you will need it
  

Historical Perspective

This game is descended from a version of a Solitaire card game called "Once in a Thousand Years". I assume that it was given this name because that was the frequency of winning. While testing the game I lost 25 games before I finally won the first one. Winning is certainly possible, but it may not happen anytime soon, dear reader.

Caution: This game will often be utterly insoluble.

My mother added the following rules to make the game (slightly) less frustrating and more playable:

• You can put a King on an Ace
• You can put any Card into a Hole (not just a King)

I removed the 'face-down' hidden cards (one row in the original game), and modified the Deck to make it compatible with Instrumentation. The difficulty decrease (eight columns instead of seven) and increase (sixteen cards per Suit instead of thirteen) roughly balance each other out (7/16 = 6/13 - .024 [truncated]). It is still a hard game to beat, but it is also exhilarating when you see how you can recursively restructure a chaotic pile of cards into groups of organized sequences (for very small values of exhilaration).

Examples

Here are all of the Cards, in ascending order from zero to 'F' (or fifteen). According to the Java color names, the Suits are Black, Magenta, Green and Red. If that doesn't help you, look at the single spoke on the right side of each Card.

The names of the (right side) Suits are Time (black #10), Object (magenta #20), State (green #40) and Self (red #80).

The pattern for the quantity of 'left side' spokes is 0 1 1 2  - 1 2 2 3 - 1 2 2 3 - 2 3 3 4 . The names of the (left side) Values are:

This means that the antipenultimate (third from the bottom) black Card in the second column would be called "the test of time". I assume that these Cards will withstand that test and replace the Tarot eventually. The game calls that Card the "D of time" because we only care about the numbers right now.

If you like, you can think of the "Lettered Cards" as Viscountess, Earl, Marquess, Duke, Queen and King (or Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum and Kingdom, if you prefer). I picked these names because too many of Santa's reindeer have names that start with 'D' or 'C'.

Notice that one card is already plugged. The next move is yours.

Hint: put the 'A' on the 'B' on the 'C'

Test Results

I kept track of my progress while I was playing the game (or working hard on Quality Assurance). I also played a number of partial games that ended when I found an unplayable bug. I didn't count the partial games, because I don't know if I would have won or not, but they probably helped my learning curve. Well, that and the fact that I wrote the game code, designed the Cards, was very good with the original Card game and I have been working with binary numbers for almost forty years. (in other words, Your Mileage May Vary)

As the games progressed the moves (and my mistakes, just after I made them) became more obvious. Losing became less frustrating, because I knew that it wasn't my fault (except on those occasions where I made some incredibly stupid move, which is more annoying than frustrating).

At any rate, here are the results of my game testing.

Of course, these numbers obviously weren't entirely the result of my increasing familiarity with the game. There is an element of luck that determines if a given game is easy or impossible or (usually) just insanely difficult. No, seriously ...   I wrote the shuffling algorithm (it uses a Java Random.nextInt(64) call) and sometimes I'd still swear it is dealing me bad Cards on purpose. It does appear that winning two games in a row depletes your available luck and initiates a 'jinx' scenario.