Using switchpoints

It's a simple concept, but probably the biggest strategic headscratcher that new players encounter is how to effectively use switchpoints.

To recap from the app's tutorial, switchpoints are the two marked center-points. Move the appropriate matching piece to activate a switch and then here's the dilemma... which one of your four pieces to choose?

Whichever location you tap, any piece there "switches" to the opposite type of piece, but remains the same color. If it's your piece, it always remains your piece, but switching is the most immediately powerful change you can make to the playing board; see illustration.

Some accomplished gamers I've challenged to Pirate Ring have had trouble "seeing through" to the full resulting flip of this move. It doesn't seem to be a skillset that always carries over from other games, so people sometimes have to get used to the concept of using switchpoints well.

So, here's three tips--

#1. Make rings. Easy, right? Unless you anticipate being immediately defended (by a coin--in the app). Sometimes it's worth it to wait for the right moment to switch.  With some care, you can avoid some needless ring/coin standoffs.

#2. Foil your opponent from going to the Dreadnay. He really wants to, but if you switch a shared location then he can't move to the center without opening your ring for additional ships that you would earn.

#3. If you're on a 3 and you're sharing the spot with your opponent, don't be impatient about moving your ring away. That can allow an opponent to switch his piece there (to a ring scoring 3 ships) and then your ring can't even move back to cover the loss.

Powers of Two 1:2:4:8:16

Pythagoras said, "All things can be expressed in numerical terms because all things can be reduced to numbers" and the history of Zelda (or Mario, etc) observes that powers of 2 (as a binary combination) have long been the framework of videogames... so, Numerologists, here's your go at Pirate Ring. 

• Dreadnay=1

• Switchpoints=2

• Pieces to a side=4

• Number positions=8

• Total number of ships=16

There are patterns which emerge to (maybe) intrigue you. This is a game entirely about numbers and the paths which interconnect them. As a player, you simply slide one of your rings/coins along a marked line to a new position, and there's some math-geek joy in the numeric turbulence of that choice. 

If your rings surround a number then you've recruited that many ships. The abstraction of numbers is framed within a pirate's theme; and the endgame is devised as a final battle at sea. But for victory it's always about just one thing. The numbers. And of course, whose is larger...

Alright then, some Pirate riddles:

1) Most # of ships possible to recruit when you move to Dreadnay for a win?

2) Or, most # possible to recruit with your rings, period.

3) How many connecting lines on the board?

4) Including the two broken lines?

If you're unsure then you'd best play Pirate Ring (app for iPhone/iPad!)

Some answers then...

1) 8  2)10  3)16  4)18

And, here in the Pirate Ringdom, we prefer the old GameCenter icon, mostly because of its classic look and the fact that it features a chess piece, godfather of turn-based strategy. Pirate Ring totally conforms to iOS7 and 8 standards, but we don't like those bubblegum bubbles of the new icon... so you'll notice in-app that we're sticking with our ol' favorite. Knight, bat, rocket, arrow-- bring it on!