Great game! I think the powerups seem to be bait here. I've won all but one of the last 12ish games by never taking any powerups and simply waiting for the opp

Great game! I think the powerups seem to be bait here. I've won all but one of the last 12ish games by never taking any powerups and simply waiting for the opponent to reveal themselves by taking them. The only time I used a powerup was to pounce onto a bomb when I suspected the enemy was close and about to take it. The powerups are often useless unless you already know the position of the opponent, which you most likely won't if they don't reveal themselves by picking up one of their own or clearly move towards them. And when you take a powerup it's easy for an invisible opponent to quickly track you down and pounce you from an unknown/ambiguous direction without you having much opportunity to react. If you get a sense the enemy are generally moving towards a non-bomb powerup by the tiles they step on, you can even prepare for it by simply staying around the powerup tile and pounce them the moment they pick it up, without exposing yourself to any risk if you are wrong. If both players avoid powerups I suspect it mostly would become a game of chance (unless one player carelessly steps upon a combination of tiles that reveals their position). The way powerups permanently changes the board by marking the tiles is a good idea in theory, but right now it adds another huge weakness to using a powerup. Your opponent will be able to very effectively track you even AFTER you used the powerups by using the marked tiles in your vicinity. I would change it, maybe by only giving the information about the marked tiles to the player using the powerup. I would also make it harder to move onto tiles you've stepped on before, to increase the ability to narrow down an opponent over time even if they try to remain hidden.