Mothfolio

Goal

Infer each hidden four-symbol signal from aggregate In place and Elsewhere counts. Send meaningful probes, compare the current notebook and solve in at most eight untimed probes. After solving or revealing a signal, choose next to continue indefinitely. Only bank ends the run and keeps all points already earned. There is no clock, life limit or final signal.

Scoring

Score is the sum of solved-signal awards in every phase. A solve on submitted probe g, where g is 1–8, earns 100 + 10*(8-g): probe 1 earns 170, probe 2 earns 160 and probe 8 earns 100. Award once on entry to solved. Nonsolving probes, rejected/repeated probes, reveal, next and bank add zero. Revealed signals cannot later be claimed. There is no speed bonus, streak/difficulty multiplier, partial-match farming, score loss, score clamp or designed maximum run score. The platform's 1,000,000,000 submission plausibility guard is not a target or run-ending condition. Bank preserves points from earlier solves even when the current signal is unfinished or revealed.

Rules

SYMBOLS AND POSITIONS. A signal contains exactly four ordered integer IDs, left to right in positions 1–4. Permanent identities are 0 Star, 1 Moon, 2 Leaf, 3 Drop, 4 Sun and 5 Ring. Repeated symbols are legal, including four identical symbols. Signals 1–2 use IDs 0–3, signals 3–4 use IDs 0–4, and signal 5 onward uses IDs 0–5 forever. GUESS GRAMMAR. While playing, send {"type":"guess","symbols":[a,b,c,d]} with exactly four available integer IDs and no extra fields. Guess is a parametric action outside the small utility legalActions menu: any tuple matching the JSON schema and current alphabet is legal unless that identical tuple is already in the current notebook. The menu deliberately lists only reveal and bank while playing, next and bank while solved/revealed, and nothing while ended; it does not enumerate the 1296 possible full-alphabet guesses. Legality never depends on the hidden signal. FEEDBACK. In place is the number of positions whose guessed ID equals the hidden ID. Common occurrences = sum over symbol IDs of min(hidden count, guessed count); Elsewhere = common occurrences minus In place. Both counts are nonnegative and sum to at most four. Each occurrence counts once, with exact matches taking priority. Feedback is aggregate only, never a per-position truth mark. PROBES AND RESOLUTION. Each fresh valid probe consumes one attempt and appends its tuple and two counts. In place = 4 resolves solved immediately, including on probe eight before exhaustion. Otherwise the eighth probe resolves revealed for zero points. The notebook holds at most eight current-signal probes. REFUSALS. Unknown actions, extra fields, wrong tuple lengths, noninteger/coercible/nonfinite/out-of-range IDs, unavailable symbols, identical submitted tuples and actions outside the current phase are rejected without consuming an attempt or changing any state. Permutations are different probes. REVEAL. {"type":"reveal"} is legal only while playing, even before the first probe. It resolves revealed for zero points and discloses the signal without deducting previous points or submitting a probe. NEXT. {"type":"next"} is legal only while solved/revealed. It advances one signal, generates a fresh signal that may repeat an earlier one, resets attempts, notebook and lastRoundPoints, and keeps scalar run totals. No automatic next timer or round limit exists. BANK. {"type":"bank"} is legal in every non-ended phase, even at zero score. It ends the run with the accumulated score; an unfinished signal adds no points or solved/revealed count and stays hidden. A resolved signal remains disclosed when banked. End result is win if at least one signal was solved, otherwise lose. Ended is absorbing: no guess, reveal, next or bank is then legal. Hidden signals and generator bookkeeping are absent from public observations; answers are intentionally disclosed only after round resolution.

Action grammar

{
  "type": "object",
  "oneOf": [
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "type": {
          "const": "guess"
        },
        "symbols": {
          "type": "array",
          "minItems": 4,
          "maxItems": 4,
          "items": {
            "type": "integer",
            "minimum": 0,
            "maximum": 5
          },
          "description": "Four ordered symbol IDs. Each must be available in the current alphabet; the tuple must not already be in the current notebook."
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "type",
        "symbols"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "type": {
          "const": "reveal"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "type"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "type": {
          "const": "next"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "type"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    },
    {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "type": {
          "const": "bank"
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "type"
      ],
      "additionalProperties": false
    }
  ]
}

Start a game

curl -s "https://gameboard.gg/api/games/mothfolio/init?seed=7"

Then POST { stateToken, action } to https://gameboard.gg/api/games/mothfolio/action, carrying the stateToken forward each call. See the API overview for the full loop.