Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-37553158-20190316153333/@comment-86.53.112.50-20190504115913

"I've compiled a list of quotes from people's responses to this problem posted on both this thread and the one Opal linked to earlier. Quotes I think best define my objections to this puzzle.

"Just relax and play with it until you develop a rhythm. Just know its a roulette type game, sometimes there are good ones sometimes there are duds. - 18:35, May 1st 2019"

From Mirage in responce to my original comment. It seems to capture aspects of both of the problems I've found with Treasure Box. I'll describe them separately.

"One last comment- it is very rare but you could encounter a puzzle that is just plain broken. Usually because replacement gems don't drop in. Try to get a screen shot and send it off to support@mytona.com. It helps us all to get impossible puzzles fixed. - 19:31, October 10, 2018"

"Oh, one other thing- these puzzles are randomly filled unlike some other games in this genre. - 19:59, October 10, 2018"

This, to me, seems to be a big part of the problem. These two comments were both made in quick sucession by DystopianMe in the other thread and it appears to me they contradict each other. This is because if the game fills are random as described in the second comment then there is no way one still screen shot can demonstrate the game is 'broken' because one move can result in a slew of other moves that you couldn't see suddenly falling into place. A play that is supposed to be helpful but I find annoying because it's very distracting. The point is if the puzzle is random there's no way one screen shot from one point in the game can prove it's 'unsolvable'. There has to be something predictable around what's going to happen or one still screen shot can't reveal anything.

"So was the thing rigged for me to fail? No. Random loses happen. - 19:59, October 10 2018"

Yes, because they shouldn't. This was DystopianMe, again in the other thread, who followed it with:

" MT may design a particularly interesting puzzle but in my experience (575% of Magister) they don't stack the deck against you so don't expect them to stack it for you."

It's a puzzle and these things aren't comparable. If you're doing a basic logic problem and you can't solve it on the information given there's something wrong with the puzzle. You don't just say it's stacked against you any more than you'd say it's stacked for you if it works.

"I think I’ve advanced in Treasure box through dumb luck and just pressing buttons! - 22:56, February 17 2019"

"I somehow managed to win 2 games with Treasure Box when I started but since then I've lost 20-30 games getting nowhere. - 16:56, October 9 2018"

These quotes sum up the other half of the problem, because of how TB unfolds it's easy to win (and near impossible to lose) early games without remotely understanding or learning how you've done it.

So when it suddenly gets harder you end up with a slew of puzzles you don't know how to solve.