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I have friends who play Wordle in hard mode because it's called hard mode, but I don't because it's a much less interesting game. The strategic decision of whet

by taneq 3y ago

I have friends who play Wordle in hard mode because it's called hard mode, but I don't because it's a much less interesting game. The strategic decision of whether to try for the answer or use a 'throwaway' word to gain more information adds a lot to the game.

jrm4 3y ago
Ha, agreed. It's interesting that the first article I clicked about hard mode seems to suggest that it makes the game easier and (at the risk of being snotty) shows that the author REALLY DOESN'T get information theory.
wrsh07 3y ago
The difficulty is different - in hard mode you can trap yourself such that whether you guess the answer is pure luck. The average number of guesses to solve is (trivially) higher because you've constrained the "guess space" more. But as you point out, having more choice is a different kind of difficulty. The game's creator called it hard because it will take you more guesses, not because each guess is harder
- hombre_fatal 3y ago
  > not because each guess is harder Not sure about that. It's definitely harder to always have to come up with a word that fits the constraints. It's how I thought you were supposed to play until I realized you can guess a random word every time just to see if the target word has those letters which makes the game trivial.
  - wrsh07 3y ago
    It depends on where the difficulty comes from (for you!) That's my whole point. My understanding from watching jorbs is that the highest skill aspect of slay the spire is correctly navigating shops because you have the most choices. So in the sense that "if I pick a random valid guess" you are more likely to come upon a good guess in hard mode, non-hard-mode is harder. However, in the sense that "you, a human, have to think of a word that matches the constraints and not just any five letter thing" hard mode is harder
    - ghaff 3y ago
      It also depends on your objective. I play in nominally easy mode but if I get a certain threshold of information on my first guess I’ll go for a possible answer. Whereas if you use three words to eliminate the most letters you’ll probably never solve in less than 4 or 5.

by taneq 3y ago

jrm4 3y ago

Ha, agreed. It's interesting that the first article I clicked about hard mode seems to suggest that it makes the game easier and (at the risk of being snotty) shows that the author REALLY DOESN'T get information theory.

wrsh07 3y ago

The difficulty is different - in hard mode you can trap yourself such that whether you guess the answer is pure luck. The average number of guesses to solve is (trivially) higher because you've constrained the "guess space" more. But as you point out, having more choice is a different kind of difficulty. The game's creator called it hard because it will take you more guesses, not because each guess is harder

hombre_fatal 3y ago
> not because each guess is harder Not sure about that. It's definitely harder to always have to come up with a word that fits the constraints. It's how I thought you were supposed to play until I realized you can guess a random word every time just to see if the target word has those letters which makes the game trivial.
- wrsh07 3y ago
  It depends on where the difficulty comes from (for you!) That's my whole point. My understanding from watching jorbs is that the highest skill aspect of slay the spire is correctly navigating shops because you have the most choices. So in the sense that "if I pick a random valid guess" you are more likely to come upon a good guess in hard mode, non-hard-mode is harder. However, in the sense that "you, a human, have to think of a word that matches the constraints and not just any five letter thing" hard mode is harder
  - ghaff 3y ago
    It also depends on your objective. I play in nominally easy mode but if I get a certain threshold of information on my first guess I’ll go for a possible answer. Whereas if you use three words to eliminate the most letters you’ll probably never solve in less than 4 or 5.