Zygotestrategy game

Zygote is a simple strategy game against the computer. The field is full of cells in two colours, and a bigger cell can swallow a smaller neighbour. The rules fit in one sentence, but the winner is not whoever eats the most right away. It is whoever sees what each capture will lead to two or three turns later.

Every turn changes the whole field. A cell that has grown becomes a threat to its neighbours, but also comes closer to maturing, and a mature zygote no longer swallows anything. Add hidden viruses: the bot cannot see your traps, and you cannot see its. Every tempting capture then becomes a question: is this prey or bait?

The rules in a minute

The square field holds about forty cells: the amber ones are yours, the blue ones belong to the bot. You take turns. A turn is a capture: you drag your cell onto a neighbouring cell smaller than it, and that cell's area is added to yours. You can swallow the bot's cells and your own. A cell that is bigger or the same size cannot be swallowed.

A cell that grows to 10% of the total area matures into a zygote. It freezes, with an eye for a nucleus, and from then on it cannot be swallowed, but it does not swallow anything either.

At the end, only zygote area counts. Immature cells, however big, score nothing. The game ends when nobody has a capture left.

Why a simple game demands foresight

Every capture cuts both ways. Your cell gets bigger, so it can now eat more of its neighbours. But it has also changed its position and size, and bot cells that could not reach it before may now be next to it. The juiciest prey often hands the bot an even juicier reply.

So before you move, it helps to play the bot's turn in your head. Which of your cells could it eat after this capture? Are you pushing its big cell towards the maturing threshold? Will you still have a move if the bot gives its best reply?

The second reason is the end of the game. Only zygotes count, so growing is not enough: you have to mature in time. A cell that stops one step short of the threshold with no prey left gives you nothing at the end.

When to let a cell mature

Maturing is a decision, not an accident. A zygote secures its area for good: nobody can take it away, not even with a virus. But it leaves the fight: it no longer swallows and no longer protects its neighbours.

Early zygotes are safe, but the field gets more crowded after them, and you have fewer active cells. Late zygotes can be bigger, but while a cell is still growing it remains a target for the bot's virus.

Viruses and shots: a game of hidden information

You can hide a virus in any of your cells. If the bot swallows that cell, the whole result of the capture goes to you. The bot cannot see your viruses, and you cannot see its. All you can see is how many viruses each side has used.

A good trap is a cell the bot really wants to eat. It should be within the bot's reach and big enough for the capture to look worthwhile. A virus lives for only three of your opponent's turns, so hiding one long before the right moment is wasted.

An antivirus shot is the answer to the bot's traps. You give it before a capture: if the prey held a bot virus, the shot neutralises it. You have only three shots, so save them for captures that matter: big prey, or a move after which your cell matures.

Common mistakes

Eating the biggest cell in reach without checking what the bot can do next.

Growing one huge cell and keeping it immature until the end. It becomes the main target for a virus and scores nothing unless it matures.

Hiding viruses in cells the bot cannot reach. Such a virus simply fades after three turns.

Using a shot before every capture. The shots run out just when the bot finally sets a trap.

Practical tips

Keep several of your cells of different sizes near the prey: whatever the bot replies, you will still have a move.

Watch the bot's cells that are close to the maturing threshold. It is often better to eat a small cell next to such an almost-zygote than to let it finish growing.

Be suspicious of tempting bot cells sitting right under your big cell. That is exactly where a virus makes sense. If the capture is decisive and you still have shots, use one.

Bot levels

On Easy the bot is greedy: it moves almost at random and ignores your viruses. This level is for learning the rules.

The Medium bot weighs the virus risk, your reply and its own next move. It already punishes careless captures.

The Hard bot never makes a random move and stays fully cautious. It suspects exactly the cells where a trap makes sense, so beating it takes planning several turns ahead.