Clubhouse Games -- #4. Four-in-a-Row

Channel:

YuuGiJoou

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Published on August 12, 2021 4:00:21 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvDWGGxwCCY

Game:

Counter-Strike: Source (2004)

Duration: 5:25

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Where? I can't see!
There, diagonally!
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(Pretty sneaky, sis!)

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4. Four-in-a-Row

Do you suppose it was someone's bright idea to make this game the fourth one overall? The pattern behind what goes where in this collection is certainly not completely incomprehensible, but the broader strokes make way more sense than the finer details.

Its tactile appeal is definitely the real deal, because it puts you in charge of surly gravity and lets each move make a satisfying sound you'd be hard pressed to find outside a shonen melodramatization of far dryer games. This game's virtualization of all related sensations is definitely right on the money, and the frame is even of a super pleasant transparent construction, letting you savor all the details, even the ones that might've been obscured far less tantalizingly by opaque plastic.

The "problem" comes in when you're no longer mesmerized by such things and start analyzing it with a more critical eye that will emerge only after that particular range for most people. At which point, the game will feel... distressingly LESS than two-dimensional.

That's not to say that it's at all depressingly deterministic like some other games I've taken the chance to complain about already (and we're only four games in!), but I think perhaps playing it a little too much with the overly mechanical AI opponents starts to show you where its whimsy ends and cold, hard reality starts to set in.

Once divorced from any wonderment, you'll probably start focusing on the basic detail of "if I put a chip here, I lose" and "if my opponent puts one there, I win"... which is a fair (if a tad bleak) assessment of what the game boils down to. Assuming both players are equally aware of this, it can become a rather joyless procession of "I'll make every possible move EXCEPT for that!" ...at which point we reach the "he loves me, he loves me not" binary countdown differentiator we saw in Dots and Boxes, don't we?

One might argue that total victory in a single match is by definition the extremest form of landslide you can get... but NOT prolonging the inevitable with a procession of extra moves and scores is precisely the middleman we'd want to carve out of that OTHER example borderline NON-game.

Victory should be quick, decisive, and relatively painless for the recipient of its alternative. Otherwise, it can only ever really be fun for the winner... and a game needs it to be fun for everyone, or else who would ever really want to play it in the long run?

Besides, setting up a single road to victory is such a low plateau to aim for. You might only need ONE set of four to win... but how's about orchestrating SEVERAL independent schemes to success?!

Just be careful... the two-tone nature of this puzzle and its not-too-big grid can lull your pattern recognition into a false sense of security, as it's very easy to slip in a little blind spot here or there, especially if your opponent is focusing on doing likewise. Can't see the forest for the trees if there's a competing forest setting up shop in the same spot!

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The actually embarrassing part is that it took me awhile to realize that I'd... already won the game. In fact, looking back at the footage, it's highly probable that I never knew! The thing about that is... if the one outcome were to be prevented, it'd open up the spot above it, which means I would have won regardless.

I'd pretend like that was on purpose to torment my opponent a little... but I'm pretty sure it probably worked the other way, and he knew it was there... but also knew that blocking it would only call attention to the inevitable defeat that awaited for doing so.

Therefore, let's just stick with the original plan! I think you can tell where there were little sub-strategies coming into place on either side of the board... just don't trip yourself up overcomplicating them with unnecessary little maneuvers and considerations.

Amazingly, my opponent opted not to continue with more matches for whatever reason. Yes, I know. I'm shocked as well.

Although it's possible that time was also a factor... there's a LOT of game in this... um... game... and not everything is totally equivalent in time put in versus enjoyment extracted.

I'm willing to bet that this last factor is probably the culprit, however, as I'm well-versed in the general feeling of an overly deterministic game bearing down on you... but I'm going to flex a little personal latitude and proclaim that this ultimately isn't one of them.

But it sure feels like it sometimes. And that much, I find worryingly relatable.

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I'd be remiss not to ponder the music for this one... it's like something out of one of the wackier episodes of Spongebob Squarepants.

It goads you into a pace just a little faster than you probably SHOULD make your moves. There's nothing stopping you from taking this turn-based affair as slow as you want to, but... c'mon, the ukulele has spoken!

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