Play Tips

Is a fault inevitable? Consider the result.

By: Fantomius

Sometimes, during the course of a game of Polarity, you’ll find yourself in the position where you have to place a leaner, yet you can’t find a good spot to place one—virtually guaranteeing that you’ll create a fault. This disruption is good for your opponent who will get to convert all touching pieces into towers of his/her own color.
This is a scenario we normally don’t like to think about, since we’d feel powerless to prevent a fault. Unfortunately, it’s a very real scenario that happens to us on occasion, so we might as well think about how to best deal with it.
If you should find yourself in such a scenario (where you think you’ll create a disruption no matter where you try to place a leaner), consider the outcome of each conceivable disruption; some outcomes will cost you considerably more points than others.
Let me give an example: Suppose you are playing white and both you and your opponent each have one tower of six discs on the board. You are limited to placing a leaner next to one of those two towers. No matter which tower you try to place a leaner next to, you are confident that a fault will occur. Which tower should you place next to?
The answer, I believe, is to place next to your opponent’s tower. That way, if your white disc should touch his black tower, your opponent just gets one extra point, as he/she will convert your white disc to just another black point.
If you decide instead to place a leaner that creates a fault which touches your own tower, then your opponent will get your white piece and your tower, resulting in seven more points for him/her, and six less points for you! This gives your opponent a net gain of thirteen points!
So it’s clear that, should you accidentally create a fault/disruption, it’s best that it should come in contact with your opponent’s towers rather than your own.
There’s one more benefit to this approach, however: After you create a disruption, there is still a chance that your opponent may cause another disruption (when trying to convert the pieces you faulted during your own turn). If this should happen, instead of gaining one point, your opponent may end up losing around six points!
In conclusion, if you want to risk placing a leaner that will most certainly result in a fault, consider playing next to your opponent’s towers instead of your own. That way, the consequences will be much less painful for you.