The below questions are designed to be looked at, in order, to help you determine what type of game you are dealing with and thus how you should approach it: Is it Sequencing? Look for words such as "sequence, order, rank, etc." in the opening paragraph. If you are unsure, check the rules. If any discuss an entity being before or after something else, it's Sequencing. If it is Sequencing, is it Strict or Loose? Look at the rules. If any tell you an exact amount of space between two entities or tell you an exact middle position (i.e. not first or last) that an entity must go into, it's Strict, which means you will create a sketch of Dashes & Numbers. If none of the rules do this, it's Loose, which means you will create a Branching Tree sketch. If it's not Sequencing, then how many types of entities are present? If we have six different cars (T, V, W, X, Y, Z) and three different options (Power Windows, Leather Interior, and Sunroof) that doesn't mean we have nine types of entities. Instead we have two, the cars and the options. Is there only one type of entity? The game is Selection. This often means there is No Sketch and instead you will need to build out the formal logic for each rule and the contrapositive. If you find it useful, you can also create an In & Out Table, to help you keep track of what entities must be in versus what must be out. Remember, a positive leading to a negative (A --> ~B) means at least one of the two must always be Out and a negative leading to a positive (~C --> D) means at least one of the two must always be In. Not every Selection game includes these type of rules. Are there two types of entities? The game is either Matching or Distribution. Either way you will use a Table. Place the more logically concrete entity (often a location or the thing getting/receiving the other entity) on top and the less concrete entity below. If either entity gives you numerical information (e.g. there are two boats of four people each) put that entity on top (the boats). Also, remember, if the entity below can be used multiple times, it's Matching (in the Cars & Options game Power Windows, Leather Interior and Sunroof could all be used again and again). If it can only occur once, it's Distribution (in the game with People going to either a Soccer Match, a Movie, or a Restaurant, each person could only attend one activity). Are there three types of types of entities? The game is either Matching (rare) or a Hybrid. Either way you will use a Grid. A Matching game sketch will place the two concrete entities on the outside and the question in the middle (the Dormitory game is a classic example: Dorms and Wings on the outside, Gender in the middle). A Hybrid will still place the question in the middle, but usually rows of different entities will be stacked on top of each other (this happens in the Volunteers and Tasks game: the Volunteers were the top row, Tasks were the second, and Positions the bottom). Are there more than three types of entities (rare)? The game is a Hybrid. Just like the above, you will use a Grid, with rows of different entities stacked on top of each other. While the above questions cover almost any scenario you could encounter, there are three notable exceptions: 1) If after determining that a game is Sequencing you notice that there is either a Matching or Distribution element also present, the game is a Hybrid. If the Sequencing was Strict, you will use a Grid (again, think Volunteers and Tasks, entities stacked in rows). If the Sequencing was Loose (rare in Hybrids), you will most likely use a Table with a Branching Tree sketch beneath it. 2) When Selection is added to a Sequencing or Distribution game, it becomes a Hybrid game, but Selection does not significantly alter the original Sequencing or Distribution sketch. Think of the Horse Race game. If instead of Sequencing six horses in six positions, we were asked to Sequence seven horses in six positions, the sketch would still just be Dashes & Numbers, like any other Strict Sequencing game, even though we are now also Selecting six of seven. The only useful addition to the sketch would be an Out slot, to keep track of what was not selected. When Selection and Matching are paired, however, instead of the usual Table or Grid, empty slots are used to keep track of the entities. This can be seen in the Dinosaur game from Prep Test 57. Please note that this is a very rare type of Hybrid. 3) Sometimes a game won't seem to fit neatly into a Table, Grid, etc. sketch. If this happens, use common sense (The "Situation" part of SEAL) to determine what type of picture would be appropriate. Examples of this are when you are given buildings across the street from each other (draw it top down, street in the middle, buildings running parallel to it) or a building/garage with multiple floors (draw a box with numbers, starting at 1, running up the side).
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AuthorVitali Kremez Archives
October 2015
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