PicoSet
PicoSet is a digital PICO-8 version of the 1991 card game Set.
How to play
A Set deck contains 81 cards, each of which has a unique combination of 4 different properties:
- number: 1, 2, or 3 symbols
- shape: oval, diamond, or squiggle
- color: red, green, or blue
- shading: empty, striped, or solid
3 cards form a set if, for each property, all 3 cards are either all the same, or all different. Your goal is to find sets and eliminate them from the game.
If you cannot find a set on the board, you may deal 3 more cards from the deck, up to a maximum of 20 (at which point it should be mathematically guaranteed that a set is on the board somewhere). The game ends when the deck is empty and there are no more sets remaining. You may also end the game early by holding O.
Scoring
When you make a set, you receive a score based on how many empty squares are on the board - this means you get higher scores for making sets when there are fewer cards out. The minimum score for a set is 3 and the maximum is 20.
This is awesome! I love Set, this works great and I like the scoring aspect that lets me play solo.
I scored a 286 on my first play.
I am always in favor of more card/board games on PICO-8 and I think I will like this game a lot, but I'm maybe not understanding the rules. Here's what I read in your post:
3 cards form a set if, for each property, all 3 cards are either all the same, or all different. Your goal is to find sets and eliminate them from the game.
and
If you cannot find a set on the board, you may deal 3 more cards from the deck, up to a maximum of 20 (at which point it should be mathematically guaranteed that a set is on the board somewhere).
So this is what I have now:
I don't have any set of cards where each property is the same for all three, so that means I need to try for three different cards. Looking at what I have, one of the green cards has to be my 2, which eliminates both of the blue 3s because they're both diamonds like the greens. So the red has to be the 3, but the only red 3 on the board has stripes, so I have to use striped red squiggle 3, solid green diamond 2. But now that eliminates all the blue 1s because they're either striped, solid, diamond or squiggle, so I have no combinations where every property is different or every property is the same. So I think I lost, but that is supposed to be impossible with a full 20 cards. Where am I going wrong?
@kozm0naut: Thank you, I'm glad you like it!
@2bitchuck: Thanks for the detailed feedback! My explanation of the rules may be a little misleading. The four properties are independent - some properties can be all-the-same, other properties can be all-different. What you can't have in a set is a property where two cards have it and the other one doesn't.
In your posted screenshot, there are several sets - I've highlighted one of them:
This is a set because:
- all numbers are different (3, 2, 1)
- all shapes are the same (diamond)
- all colors are different (blue, green, red)
- all shadings are different (empty, solid, striped)
Here's another set:
This is a set because:
- all numbers are different (3, 1, 2)
- all shapes are different (diamond, squiggle, oval)
- all colors are the same (blue)
- all shadings are the same (solid)
Hopefully this helps!
@hawthorn This makes SO much more sense to me now, thank you for expanding that out! Now I'm definitely sure this is going to be my jam.
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