Tips cantstop
The numbers near the centre of the board are easier to roll. If you manage to get your tokens on 6/7/8 or 5/7/8 or 6/7/9, it's highly likely that you'll be able to advance. Time to get greedy and make the most of it! In turn, if you have advanced on 2, 3, 11, or 12, and have all three black tokens on the board, it is often advisable to stop immediately. Remember, a move ahead on 2/12 is worth about 4 moves on 6/7/8.
The longer you can delay putting the third black token on the table, the longer you can safely continue rolling. For this reason, on your first few rolls, it is usually preferable to advance on one track only (especially if you can do it twice) than on two different tracks.
Manage your risks. If you're far ahead, play it a bit safer. If you're far behind, the best you can get by avoiding risks is a respectable defeat.
Remember that you can't use tracks won by any player. This includes the ones you've won, and the ones you're about to win if you stop. Thus in the later stages of the game, it's easy to get stuck and lose a turn.
Pick your battles. In games with more than 2 players (especially 3), try not to fight the same opponent on every track you go for.
Never ever assume that you'll win a track even if you only need to move one more, especially near the centre of the board.
Rule of 28
A researcher found an heuristic to help playing the game (Michael Keller, 1986). Each column has a number of points :
- 2 and 12 are worth 6 points
- 3 and 11 are worth 5
- 4 and 10 are worth 4
- 5 and 9 are worth 3
- 6 and 8 are worth 2
- 7 is worth 1
When you progress a black token on a column, add the number of points to your total. When you put a black token on the table for the first time, double the value. Whenever your total is equal or more than 28, stop.
For further refinement, add 2 if all the black tokens are on odd columns, and subtract 2 if they are on even columns. Add 4 points if all the tokens are on value less than 8, or if all three are on values greater than 6.
Remember this strategy is not flawless.
