1pxg: Hold when black, release when white

Yesterday’s prototype was flawed, but a loophole in the rules still allowed avoiding the lose state, at the cost of the desired reflex-based challenge. Today’s iteration sees the addition of a rule concerning the “white” state. The “release when white” rule is implemented as a transition to the lose state if any button is pressed while in the white state. The new state flow is as follows:

[](https://i1.wp.com/www.bauger.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/06-hwb-rww.png)Hold when black, release when white

Ugh, now the prototype is really broken. No workarounds, no loopholes, it is impossible to not lose at the end of the black state, given the insane speed one state transitions to the next. You can see for yourself if you desire:

Click here to show/hide the prototype

Click on the pixel to interact with it, then use your keyboard.

There’s nevertheless a very obvious lesson to be drawn from this: while failure is an important part of games, it is important to remember that it must **above all** have a reasonably attainable victory condition (or ways to avoid losing). Games can be insanely difficult, but never impossible.

I told you it was an obvious lesson… I’ll try to fix it on tomorrow’s prototype.