Alice in Borderland: The Cycle Continues

58.2) Side Story 5 - Nine of Hearts [2]

"For example, each citizen game must end with either every citizen dying, and every player dying. Each citizen game, no matter how slim the odds were, had to be physically possible to beat. However, they couldn't just be trivial. Simple rules like that."

===Rafferty Bucke===

"Oh?" I asked, perking up. "Is that so?"

'From what I've observed, this game seems to shift its meta strategy every few rounds, as players adapt against the dominant strategy. During the first few rounds, players had no information to go off of, and were still exploring the game's dynamics. As a result, they all shot the ceiling to burn through their bullets and begin unraveling information, still too unfamiliar with the game to make a move as bold as shooting someone else.'

The mobster smiled, his mouth firm. "You let on more than you show. First day here, and you seem like a seasoned veteran." He spun his gun in his hands, toying with the trigger. "I don't want to keep playing against you."

"Are you sure? That's the reason you want to come after me?" I asked, my eyes twitching. The blonde's attention was towards a fly buzzing in her peripheral vision, but the old man watched, face encapsulated. "Not just because you want to get rid of someone else?"

The mobster pressed his button, then turned to the blonde. "Pretty sure."

'However, after player's have begun familiarizing themselves with the game, that's when they start shifting from defense or passivity, to offense. That's the stage we got out of, but I have a hunch we're now going to be entering the next meta: passing. As players scramble to shoot each other in an attempt to kill or steal bullet information, players will take advantage of it, and try to pass, in order to know the upcoming bullet spots. Then, players will take advantage of the passivity, and start being aggressive again. So, this is the cycle of dominant strategy within this game: defensive, to aggressive, to passive, then looping back to aggressive, and so forth.'

"Well, so it seems like the mobster is shooting me." I said, leaning in and pretending to press a button. "Don't waste your bullets, I've put my shield up. But say, the mobster dude is already so far ahead of the rest of us...

"Now would be a pretty good time to pass, wouldn't it?" The blonde's eyes widened, and she made eye contact with the old man, taking her hands off the table. The mobster stiffened, a line of sweat running down his forehead.

'However, that makes me wonder: at this stage of the game, is there still a place in the meta for shooting at the ceiling? By now, if you want to burn through bullets, the obvious choice is to shoot someone else. But if the only point of the ceiling option is to set the stage for the rest of the game and offer a viable strategy in the beginning rounds, why is it the source for such a bounty of information? No one would be able to successfully extract someone else's bullet information so early in the game. There's something I'm missing...

'But back to this round. The blonde could kill anyone if she wanted to. The mobster was overconfident, he failed to convince the others to attack me, and now he's at the mercy of her. But his plan was lackluster anyways... He's been playing so well so far, has he just blundered? I have all my shields, and could always bet on shooting myself.'

The time neared thirty seconds, and I analyzed the players. The mobster's hands were now shaking, his life now at the complete mercy of the blonde. She sat back, hands lying against her head. The old man however, had a blank face. As if... He had figured something out.

The old man was an interesting character. He was competent, but his actions moved with a fatigue clear of age. He seemed like a passive man prior to the game, but got serious quick. My guess–he was friendly at his core, but would push it all aside in these games for his own survival. My gut instinct pinged, and I made my choice last second, as did the blonde, who returned with a satisfied smirk. The only cause would be her selecting to kill the mobster.