Let's play Zendo with images from the DROD level editor!
I left a bit of time after the other game finished to see if someone else wanted to start one, but decided to start one since it's been a few hours. I tweaked the rules description a bit.
(Note: I have obtained permission from mrimer to post images from the editor in this forum for this game. You get to do that too as part of playing the game.)
What's Zendo?
Zendo is a game about logic, and observation. The full rules of Zendo are not suited to play over an online forum, but we can play a simpler version of it no problem.
How it works: Zendo is a game about koans, which in this case are cropped screenshots from the DROD level editor. Some koans have the Buddha-nature, and some do not have the Buddha-nature. The Master knows the
Secret Rule that determines whether a koan has the Buddha-nature or not. The players of the game try to identify the Secret Rule.
Initially, I will show you two koans, one of which has the Buddha-nature and one of which does not (I say which is which). Post in this thread to do either of two things:
1) Post a koan of your own and ask, "
Master, does this koan have the Buddha-nature?"
(You don't have to ask in those terms if you prefer not to.) I will tell you whether or not your koan has the Buddha-nature, and I will add it to the OP. (You should use a suitable imagehost to host your koan.)
2) Make a guess as to the Secret Rule. If your guess is correct, you have achieved enlightenment. (The game is a race to identify the Secret Rule. You are not required to put your guess in spoilers, although I guess you can if you really want to.)
If you make an incorrect guess, I will post a koan that disproves your guess - that is, I will post a koan that has the Buddha-nature even though your rule says it should not, or that does not have the Buddha-nature even though your rule says it should.
If I think the rule that you guessed is ambiguous, I may ask questions to clarify what precisely your rule is before I respond.
Additional rules:
- After asking for a koan to be marked ([1] above), you may not ask another until either another person has asked, or 24 hours have passed (whichever happens first).
- After making a guess as to the rule ([2] above), you may not make another guess until either another
two people have guessed, or 36 hours have passed (whichever happens first).
These two things are independent. You can make a guess and then, if I tell you that your guess was incorrect, ask for a koan to be marked without waiting to be able to post another guess. You can ask for a koan to be marked, and then make a guess after getting a response. If you make a guess and it is incorrect, then two other people have to make a guess (or 36 hours have to pass) before you can guess again - if someone merely asks for a koan to be marked, that doesn't count towards allowing you to guess again.
Rules that restrict what can and what cannot be the Secret Rule:
The "
Spock rule"
states that it must be possible to determine whether a koan has the Buddha-nature simply by looking at the koan with one's eyes. The rule says that you can't come up with a Secret Rule that requires meta-information about the koan that can't be discerned just by looking at it. Essentially, it says that the Secret Rule must be "
fair"
.
The following are examples of Secret Rules that would comply with the Spock Rule:
- The koan contains at least two Wraithwings.
- The koan contains a Slayer standing next to an orb.
- The koan shows a square area of the room.
- The koan does not contain any Wubbas.
The following are examples of Secret Rules that would not comply with the Spock Rule:
- The koan is hosted at an imagehost whose name begins with "
i"
.
- The koan was first posted between 15 and 45 minutes past the hour, on a weekday.
- Let n be the number of koans that were posted before the koan in question. Then n+1 is not a prime number.
In addition to the Spock Rule, a Secret Rule should not generally be overly contrived. This is a more subjective rule, but it should nevertheless be adhered to. If it is difficult to phrase the Secret Rule without chaining statements about the koan together using the words "
and"
and "
or"
, then the Secret Rule is probably too contrived.
The rules above are not contrived. The following rule is contrived:
- The koan contains 3 Waterskippers AND it does not contain a Slayer AND it contains more Roaches than Evil Eyes AND it is square.
OK! Let's play Zendo!
The following koans have the Buddha-nature:
(Timo006)
(response to guess by Casebier)
(response to guess by Timo006)
(CuriousShyRabbit)
(response to guess by Timo006)
(Kargaros)
(The Stew Boy)
(brian_s)
(Maurog)
(brian_s)
(Kargaros)
The following koans do not have the Buddha-nature:
(response to guess by The Stew Boy)
(response to guess by PMIT)
(CuriousShyRabbit and Timo006)
[Last edited by Hammerite at 10-20-2010 02:21 PM]
