Welcome back to Game On, I'm Tom Scott.
I'm David Bodycombe.
Today, we have Hannah Nicklin, professional game designer,
and Katie Steckles, mathematician,
up against each other in a game of skill.
It's a game called Tumblin-Dice.
The idea is you have to flick the dice, you get four each,
down the set of wooden steps there.
But the steps have got different multipliers on there
so for example, if your dice is showing 3
and it lands on the number 4 multiplier,
then that dice is worth 12.
And it's the highest score at the end of the game that wins, best of two.
That's it.
All right. And they're playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who kicks off.
Okay. I'll go first.
(It's very tense right now.)
You're making it more tense!
(Feel the tension.)
So that's 4 points, times 1 because it's on that section of the board,
that's 4 points to Katie.
Yep. Simple as that.
I mean, it's more likely to roll this way than that way, so..
You're using physics!
You're allowed to place the dice how you like at the top of the stairs.
The precision that's going into this!
It's pretty unlikely for the...
Yeah, you're not going to be able to predict that.
Whoa!
-- Jolly good ×3, that was. -- Oh man.
I sense a little bit of sarcasm coming from the sofa there. Just a little.
-- This is tense(!) -- It's very tense.
Aww, that's a... that's a flaw, that is.
I mean, you're like 4 for 4 there? You've not lost any points to your previous round.
Positively thinking.
I wouldn't have done that(!)
I wouldn't have done that, so...
You are allowed to try and improve your dice down the table by hitting them.
And knock your opponent's, presumably?
Yeah, exactly. That too.
Ohh!
Off the chain!
I would've done that(!)
Apparently I'm good at this! I mean, we'll find out in a second.
That is amazingly difficult.
Playing it safe.
It's not nothing. It's not nothing. I'll take that.
I mean, we tried this in rehearsals, and it's like --
it would just go through the gate all the time.
Yeah, Katie is doing about as well as I did in rehearsals.
-- Oh, come on! -- What?!
-- Ah, it's only a one though.
And I was actually just trying to disrupt one of your pieces...
When I say Hannah's a game designer, I'm not talking about video games
she designs physical, real-life things. So for all I know,
dice and counters may be her...
Even so, this is amazing skill.
I'm actually left-handed, so...
Can she target Katie's dice and just them throw them off?
-- Yeah... -- But she risks knocking them further down.
I think play something safe.
That doesn't mean that's where it's going! Based on my performance.
This is the last one of this round.
-- Right. -- Played that last one safe.
All right, let's play another.
It's all right. It's first to two.
So we reset, that is 1-0 to Hannah. Other player starts first now.
Beginner's luck! Don't worry, I started off good too.
Then I got donked!
Oh, she's getting the 6s on the face side.
No. I'm putting it on the 5, so that it'll fall to a 6 if it comes off.
Incredibly strategic(!)
Yeah, basically, if you want to be good at this game, just do that.
-- Just do that. -- It's very simple.
How is that possible?!
I've got a mountain to climb, guys.
I'm going to try and knock it off. That's what I'm going to do.
That's... 'cos there's nothing in your way.
That's my only strategy right now.
Aww. I was going to try and knock you off!
I thought that'd be, like, insult to injury
but I lost a dice there.
Has she lost it(?)
She has got 24, so she's probably fine.
-- It's fine. -- That could've worked!
Well. This is interesting.
It is, isn't it?
'Cos now, if I get a few solid 3s...
I'm so tense!
Okay, that's six points.
Dramatic scenes! Right. So what do I need with this one dice?
This is impressive if I win with only one dice.
There's 24 there, and I've got 9, so I need to score at least 24-9.
-- It's 15. -- So I need to get...
So if she can get a 5 on the 3 step, that would at least force a tie.
I'm going for it! I'm going to go for it.
-- Ooh. -- Not even close.
Play it again anyway! I'm so invested.
Such a good game.
So Hannah is straight through to the semi-final against Steven Bridges,
it's going to be Katie versus Emma Blackery before that though, in the first elimination match.
What's that going to be?
It's going to be a strategic number game called Black Hole.
All right. That, next time, on Game On.
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