Number Game Notes; Slay
Posted by Rob Herman at June 13th, 2006
Reader John Rhoadhouse reported that he tried The Number Game recently. Unsurprisingly, he found the early game to be very easy. For an extra challenge, he tried playing without running numbers together. This adds a lot of challenge to the early game! Exponentiation becomes very important. With this extra restriction, he got stuck at 143 (142 = 53 + 42 + 1).
There is a neat little game out there called Slay. It plays like a board game: turn-based, little pieces that you move around. It’s not a board game, which is good, because the bookkeeping details would be prohibitive. (It’s easy to get a general idea of what’s going on, but counting the exact size of territories would be a pain.) As a multiplayer game, it’s hampered a little bit by slow play and inherently unfair starting conditions; but the game is simple enough that the AI is very respectable and it will happily fight you as long as you desire. A free demo is available; the full version is a little pricey, but the game really is surprisingly fun.
P.S. I have a guest article lined up for Thursday, so swing by anyway, to read the article and see if I managed to set up the autoposting correctly.
P.P.S. I got my first comment spam last week. I’m a teeny tiny bit honored and I’m sure that’s the best that’s ever going to come of it.
After a little extra work I got up to 150 with the exception of 146 which erks me to no end. I can post the whole thing if it won’t bother anyone that I post a 150 line comment. Here are few to give you an idea of the higher numbers
144 = (4*3)^2*1^5
147 = (5+1)^2*4+3 (this one took a while and involved several expertments in factoring and distribution)
149 = (4*3)^2+5*1
okay here is the list (I cheated a little on 146 just for completeness)
0 5-4-1^2^3
1 1^2^3^4^5
2 2*1^3^4^5
3 3*1^2^4^5
4 4*1^2^3^5
5 5*1^2^3^4
6 2*3*1^4^5
7 4+2+1^3^5
8 4*2*1^3^5
9 3^2*1^4^5
10 2*5*1^3^4
11 2*5+1^3^4
12 3*4*1^3^4
13 3*4+1^3^4
14 2*5+4*1^2
15 3*5*1^2^4
16 3*5+1^2^4
17 2^3+1^4^5
18 5*2+4+3+1
19 4*5-1^2^3
20 4*5*1^2^3
21 5*4+1^2^3
22 5*4+2*1^3
23 2*3*4-1^5
24 2*3*4*1^5
25 5^2*1^3^4
26 5^2+1^3^4
27 3*(4+5)*1^2
28 4*(5+2)*1^3
29 4*(5+2)+1^3
30 2*3*5*1^4
31 2*3*5+1^4
32 4*(3+5)*1^2
33 4*(3+5)+1^2
34 4*(3+5)+2^1
35 (4+3)*5*1^2
36 (5+4-3)^2*1
37 (5+4-3)^2+1
38 3*(2*4+5)-1
39 3*(2*4+5)*1
40 4*2*5*1^3
41 4*2*5+1^3
42 (5+1^2)*(4+3)
43 4*2*5+3^1
44 4*2*5+3+1
45 (4+3+2)*5*1
46 (4+3+2)*5+1
47 (1+2)^3+(4*5)
48 4*2*(5+1^3)
49 (4+3)^2*1^5
50 5^2*(3-1^4)
51 (5*2+3)*4-1
52 (5*2+3)*4*1
53 (5*2+3)*4+1
54 (4*2+3)*5-1
55 (4*2+3)*5*1
56 (4*2+3)*5+1
57 5*4*3-2-1
58 5*4*3-2*1
59 5*4*3-2+1
60 5*4*3*1^2
61 5*4*3+1^2
62 5*4*3+2^1
63 5*4*3+2+1
64 (5+3)^2*1^4
65 (5+3)^2+1^4
66 (2*4+3)*(5+1)
67 (5+4-1)^2+3
68 (5*3+2)*4*1
69 3^4-(5+1)*2
70 3^4-5*2-1
71 3^4-5*2*1
72 3^4-5*2+1
73 3^4-5-2-1
74 3^4-5-2*1
75 3^4-5-1^2
76 3^4-5*1^2
77 3^4-5+1^2
78 3^4-5+2^1
79 3^4-2*1^5
80 3^4-1^2^5
81 3^4*1^2^5
82 3^4+1^2^5
83 3^4+2*1^5
84 3^4+2+1^5
85 3^4+5-1^2
86 3^4+5*1^2
87 3^4+5+1^2
88 3^4+5+2*1
89 3^4+5+2+1
90 3^4+5*2-1
91 3^4+5*2*1
92 3^4+5*2+1
93 3^4+2*(5+1)
94 (4^2+3)*5-1
95 (4^2+3)*5*1
96 (4^2+3)*5+1
97 5^2*4-3*1
98 5^2*4-3+1
99 5^2*4-1^3
100 5^2*4*1^3
101 5^2*4+1^3
102 5^2*4+3-1
103 5^2*4+3*1
104 5^2*4+3+1
105 3^4+5^2-1
106 3^4+5^2*1
107 3^4+5^2+1
108 5^3-4^2-1
109 5^3-4^2*1
110 5^3-4^2+1
111 (5^2+3)*4-1
112 (5^2+3)*4*1
113 (5^2+3)*4+1
114 (4^2+3)*(5+1)
115 5^3-(4+1)*2
116 5^3-4*2-1
117 5^3-4*2*1
118 5^3-4-2-1
119 5^3-4-2*1
120 5^3-4-1^2
121 5^3-4*1^2
122 5^3-4+1^2
123 5^3-2*1^4
124 5^3-1^2^4
125 5^3*1^2^4
126 5^3+1^2^4
127 5^3+2*1^4
128 5^3+4-1^2
129 5^3+4*1^2
130 5^3+4+1^2
131 5^3+4+2*1
132 5^3+4+2+1
133 5^3+4*2*1
134 5^3+4*2+1
135 5^3+(4+1)*2
136 (5+3)*(4^2+1)
137 (4^3+5)*2-1
138 (4^3+5)*2*1
139 (4^3+5)*2+1
140 5^3+4^2-1
141 5^3+4^2*1
142 5^3+4^2+1
143 (3*4)^2-1^5
144 (3*4)^2*1^5
145 (3*4)^2+1^5
146 5!+4!+2*1^3
147 (5+1)^2*4+3
148 (3*4)^2+5-1
149 (3*4)^2+5*1
150 (3*4)^2+5+1