Fujisan

Players	1
Length	10 minutes
Required Bits	single standard piecepack
Designer	James_Kyle?
Version	1.0.1
Version Date	2004-01-17
License	Copyright 2004 James_Kyle?

Description

Get all four monks to the top of Mt. Fuji and back.

Rules

http://www.piecepack.org/rules/Fujisan.pdf

/TextVersion?

Reviews & Comments

Entry in the SolitaryConfinement contest.

"I had seen a picture of Fuji-san (at Rozmiarek Games Page) and I wanted to try it. It was delightful little abstract. I echo Susan's comment on the game being easy - I solved it two times out of three. Last game might've been unsolvable (well, that's my excuse). Still, it's a game I'll probably try again, as it's easy to set up and plays fast. While it's easy, it's still fun to solve." (./) -- Mikko Saari at Gameblog

The rules don't say anything about the ace coins (or I just didn't notice it). Are they treated as 1? I tried treating them as null coins (when treating them as 1-coins the game seemed to be far too easy, but I might be wrong), which worked rather well (solved 4 of 5 games). -- KarlBartel

Karl, when I judged Fuji-san as an entry in the solitaire contest I used the ace coins as value 1. Mik, there are certainly unsolvable attempts at Fuji-san - usually when it proves impossible to get the preists onto the mountain in the first place. If I can get my priests on the mountain I can usually solve the game, although I haven't played often enough (played around 5 games) to know if I am just lucky or if this is a game feature. -- Phillip_Lerche?

The Country road variant doesn't work, when a null coin is on the top of the mountain. I'd suggest treating them as value 1 coins when moved to the bottom. I like this game, but it really is too easy when aces are treated as value 1. I'll write down the results of all games I play in order to suggest a slightly modified version. I'm currently thinking about either a ace-as-null version with a slightly easier first move for one of the priests, or an ace-as-six version. Now I'll get back to playing, umm, I mean 'playtesting' (this sounds much more useful ;-) ). Anyway, it's my favorite piecepack solitaire so far. Not extremely challenging, but fun. (./) (./) -- KarlBartel

A nice solitaire brain burner. It's usually either solvable or there's nowhere you can go from the beginning, but I consider that a feature instead of a bug. The earlier you know that a setup is doomed, the sooner you can start playing again. (./) (./) -- ClarkRodeffer

Puzzles and Challenges

Here are four Fuji-san puzzles of increasing difficulty. Instead of shuffling the coins, lay them out as shown in one of the puzzles. Play according to the regular rules and try to get all four priests to the summit. To really show your expertise, count your moves and check that the length of your solution is as short as the solution posted here.

If you can't solve the puzzle or your solution isn't quite short enough, read the complete solution. There are many possible solutions to each puzzle, but none shorter than the ones posted here. When you've solved all four puzzles, check out the two challenges.

Puzzle One - Easy

554344221335
311400512200

Check the /LengthOfSolutionOne? or see the complete /SolutionOne?.

Puzzle Two - Medium

444520240311
125335325100

Check the /LengthOfSolutionTwo? or see the complete /SolutionTwo?.

Puzzle Three - Hard

523043220545
301111542403

Check the /LengthOfSolutionThree? or see the complete /SolutionThree?.

Puzzle Four - Expert

551102224335
244331001054

Check the /LengthOfSolutionFour? or see the complete /SolutionFour?.

If you think you have found a shorter solution, first check that you've followed all the rules. If you still think you have a shorter solution, send it to DonKirkby.

Challenge One

Find a puzzle harder than any of these. Specifically, its shortest solution should be longer than any of the solutions posted here. Such a puzzle does exist. If you find one, send it to DonKirkby and he'll post the current record holder's name on the /ChallengeOne? page.

Challenge Two

Find an upper limit for the length of optimal solutions. Each solvable puzzle has one or more solutions that use the fewest moves. These solutions are called "optimal solutions". In other words, imagine you were to analyse all possible layouts and find an optimal solution to each solvable layout. What can you prove about the length of the longest optimal solutions? The lowest upper limit along with a proof will be posted on the /ChallengeTwo? page. Send your proof to DonKirkby or just post it on the /ChallengeTwo? page.

Links

BGG page: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/35893

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CategoryGame? SolitairePuzzlesCategory