You're right that there seem to be interaction rules that are not stated in the tips. If you play a long game, then new pixels added later in the game are wiped

You're right that there seem to be interaction rules that are not stated in the tips. If you play a long game, then new pixels added later in the game are wiped out easily. Having recently done some agent-based modeling work which is related to automata (even though in this case non-deterministic), I wanted to try out how few pixels I could add from the pseudo god mode to turn the tide in different situations. And, as you noted, late in a single game, established colors have some sort of implicit advantage with much higher numbers, regardless of how many new pixels you add. I also agree with you that the interface adds to the frustration. It takes a long time to place pixels, when I imagine the interesting part for most people is the result of different placements, not the challenge of getting the pixels into place.