Game strategy
Unless specified, it is assumed a No Pink rule is in effect.
The following is based on my own experiences.
To stack or not to stack? In my humble opinion, you should stack if the gain outweighs or equals the possible loss on the next turn.
How to choose the best word combination for stacking:
Rule #1. The word combination must produce subsequent perpendicular words, of which
no two adjacent words should be stealable by a single letter on a given side (and this, by virtue of the word itself or it's positioning).
In addition, the word itself must not be stealable by 2 letters or
less. [Wow! Don't read that too many times, you may end up with a headache!]
Having said that, it's best to see an example:
Perfect example of efficient stacking:
- GREEN has stacked "DEER", exposing only one tile, the
"R". What makes "DEER" so unstackable? Here is why: although "DE" is stealable with one letter from the bottom, "OE" is not, making this word combination unstackable, with the exception of the single "R".
- In addition, "DEER" can only be stolen with a minimum of three
letters on the right.
- Since the chances of a three letter steal is rare (but not impossible),
there is a great chance that either GREEN or RED will block "DEER"
on the next turn by stacking the R wisely to prevent "DEERFLY".
- Meets all criteria of the rule #1, therefore a very strong
attack by GREEN. (Taken from game GREEN (katiekisses) vs. RED (Garfield^)
with permission of the player.
Example of a weaker stack-attack [catchy!]:
1. Red placed the word "DELIMIT".
2. Green stacked the word "BEER". This produced the subsequent perpendicular words: "BI", "EM". Both of these words, as you can see, can be stolen by a single letter from the same side (in this case, bottom), hence causing a possible loss.
3. Red "counter-stacked" with the word "GEN" and produced the following subsequent words which cannot multi-stacked: "BIG", "EME".
Why Red's move cannot be "multi-stacked" and yet is still weak":
Remember, it takes 2 adjacent words to fit the criteria in order to be stacked.
First word: "BIG" cannot be stolen by a single letter form either top or bottom, therefore it is not a candidate for stacking.
Second word: "EME" can be stolen by a single letter from the top or the bottom and therefore seems to be a candidate _ and in fact is the reason why RED's move is weak.
Red is in trouble: By virtue of its positioning, "EME" cannot be stolen from the bottom by 1 single letter. Therefore, since no 2 adjacent words fit the criteria, there are no "multi-stacking" moves that can be made.
However this does not mean that RED's move is totally safe from counterattacks. Although it cannot be "multi-stacked" from the bottom, a single letter from the top can steal it. Example: "SEME"/"SMOG".
Had RED put down the word "GUN" instead of "GEN", stacking from top and bottom would have been protected, but not from the right: "MOA"/"AY"/"BEERY". RED got a bleeding nose in that battle with GREEN (Taken from game GREEN (ausgal) vs. RED (Garfield^)
with permission of the player.)
For your viewing pleasure:
I have compiled a table listing the 2 and 3 letter words which make it difficult if not impossible to stack. Enjoy!
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