re: #334 freetoken

So, to occupy my idle-braincycles, I’ve transitioned from Solitaire (some decent apps on the Chrome store) to playing dominoes (excellent stand-alone app in the Chrome store.)

Such frivolities as they are, the also illustrate to me how little we can change an outcome, once a choice has been made.

Take a game of “Block”, one of the common games using dominoes. With 4 players, each player only gets 5 “bones”, which means only 20 of the 28 in the pack are actually in play. So often a player may have only one choice of a domino to play. Once the first player starts and chooses the opening block, there are only a not-very-numerous possible outcomes in the universe of the game.

And even as a player with more than one possible play, sometimes it really does not matter what choice one makes, in regards to the outcome of the game.

The opening play sets the course for the entire game.

Just something to think about…

Back when my son was three, I played Shoots Chutes and Ladders. That game is entirely predetermined once the cards are shuffled. I won five times in a row. On the sixth game, I prearranged the cards so he could win. I don’t start torturing my kids like that until they’re five.