CORDIAL MINUET ENSEMBLE

It was my first day playing, and I figured it could be nice to write up some initial thoughts about the game from a new player's perspective. I'll outline some of the basic strategies I've been able to kind of pick up on, and include how certain aspects of the game made me feel and react initially.

Preparing To Play
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I was a fan of previous games by Rohrer, so when I heard of this game (back before the graphics were changed) I was intrigued. I kind of picked up on the basic rules and how the game worked, but haven't actually had any hands on time until the recent public opening. I watched the "how to play" video, watched a different and lengthier video that demonstrated it a bit more, and read the brief guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordialminuet/ … egy_guide/

This means I didn't go into the game completely blind. I knew what I was getting into (to some extent) and did a little preparation before starting. I'm generally a little hesitant with putting money on the line, and I'm not a fan of leaving things to chance. That's partially why this game was appealing though, due to its reliance more on strategy and learning your opponent's tendencies rather than luck of the draw.

[New Game] -> [Create]
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I've only played games at $0.01 so far. But man oh man, even though there's very little on the line it still adds something special to each game. I really like this aspect, that as long as I play smart, I shouldn't have to invest more than my initial $2 deposit if I just want to play for fun. For a game all about risk, it has a surprising amount of respect for what I invest in the game. There's no real pressure to bite off more than I can chew, and it lets me play at my own pace and risk. I also don't feel like I'll lose because I was dealt a "bad board", I'll loose because I couldn't predict my opponent's moves. Loosing and winning feels earned for the most part (especially over time), and that feeling is amplified more by the real money aspect.

I really admire how anonymous everything is in-game, but at the same time... I sometimes yearn to be able to communicate with more than my bets and board moves mid-match. I think I'm fine with not being able to track players and whatnot after the games are over, but in-game I sometimes feel... restricted. I'll predict my opponent's next move flawlessly, or have them play a smart bet against me... and will sometimes smile and mutter to myself "Oh you clever person you". But it feels hollow, they'll never know my reaction to that last great move and I'll never know theirs. I feel like there needs to be some very simple system of communication mid-match, like a way to express yourself briefly after a turn has ended. I've never played it, but Hearthstone comes to mind for having little ways to interact like this in a similar format. I'm also a fan of the Demon's/Dark Souls series and how they do anonymous interactions with gestures, it adds quite a lot to each encounter but still retains an air of mystery.

I do wonder if the deepness of the anonymous interactions may end up hurting the community a bit. It's no doubt somewhat unique, but it also feels like it's hard to retain a sense of the community surrounding the game because of it. Another thing that occurred to me while opening up the game once more, was that I noticed a game available for $6,666.99. I'll probably never participate in a game of that caliber, but I'd be incredibly interested in being able to observe it from the shadows through some kind of in-game spectator mode.

Strategies I've Witnessed and Used So Far
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I probably have about a ~70% success rate at the moment. To me "success" means I leave with more than I arrived with. I'm not some amazing player, but I've picked up on a couple of things that might be useful.

Even just after my first day I already was able to pick up on one memorable strategy I saw an opponent using frequently (also mentioned in the guide I linked above). It's the "give them the row with the lowest high number" strategy. It's fairly easy to counter once you pick up on it, especially if they rely on it heavily. The goal for them is to try and knock your potential score window down so that by the end, there's less chance of you being able to bluff your way to a win. The person I played was super predictable using this and I could almost always give myself fairly good numbers by looking for that row.

I leave when I'm ahead and I feel uncomfortable predicting their moves. If I've got > 140 or so chips and facing an unpredictable player I normally will leave while I've got the advantage. Even though I only play for pennies haha, I play cautious like this as a way to practice for games where higher stakes may be involved and might be hard-ish to walk away from.

When I'm running out of time for a move my general "go to" quick strategy (if the first turn has already passed), is to observe the numbers in their previously chosen rows. I generally want to give them the columns that line up with the largest numbers in their previously chosen rows. This is because if they've already cancelled out a large number like a 32 for themselves by selecting that row for me... I want to exploit that. It means that the rest of the numbers are more likely to give them lower amounts, though you still have to be careful of other large numbers in the same column. It's a good little way for me to make a quick decision if needed, and it's easy to layer this tactic with other strategies. Of course, when selecting a column for yourself the process is the complete opposite. Look for the smallest numbers they've already cancelled out, and pick those columns since you're more likely to get a higher point distribution.

I'm a bad liar, but that's okay. Even though I can't bluff for my life, I can still out play my opponents and get myself in positions where I'm confident I have the advantage. I fold when I make mistakes and can't predict my opponent right, rather than continuing on blindly. This has the added benefit of giving me more time to learn them before I've lost much. This is mostly why I like this game right now. I feel like I can actually sit down and learn someone's move habits rather than relying more on luck and understanding how they bet. Understanding their betting is a part of it too, but I enjoy being able to intentionally out play opponents mostly through learning the board moves.