Board Game Arena

I am unsure which clues are intended to be "exact" in the hotel puzzles.

A) There are N characters on this floor.

Is this exact, or does it mean there are at least X characters on this floor?

B) Character X is on the same floor as character Y.

Does this mean these are the only characters on the floor, or could there be other characters on that floor?

C) Character X is with N other characters.

Does this mean character X is with EXACTLY N other characters? Or AT LEAST N other characters?

I was wondering as well.

As far as I can tell and informal language usually puts it:
- If there's only a number ("There are 3 characters[...]"), it is meant as exactly that number.
- Non-exact clues would be marked with something like "at least", "more than", "not more than" or something.

I'd appreciate feedback on this, since I'm not the maker of this game and therefore also only have my trial and error knowledge, no extensive rulebook.

It seems to me that if the given variables are self contained as a "relationship", then that's all the hint is and no additional context is enforced, where as if there are wildcard variables that are not self contained then it forces exact context.

Analyzing the possible hints from the rules booklet: https://boardgamearena.com/link?url=htt ... 0&id=25549

1 ORANGE monster is here.
2 There is no one on this floor.
3 There are exactly 2 monsters here.
4 BLUE monster is not here.
5 GREEN monster is alone on this floor.
6 BLUE monster is with 2 other monsters.
7 ORANGE monster is just above PURPLE monster.
8 YELLOW monster is higher than ORANGE monster.
9 ORANGE and PURPLE monsters are on the same floor.
10 ORANGE and PURPLE monsters are not on the same floor.

So with your questions:

A) There are N characters on this floor. <- this is exact: rule 3

B) Character X is on the same floor as character Y. <- rule 9: there may be more characters and they may not necessarily be the only monsters on the floor

C) Character X is with N other characters. <- this is also exact: rule 6. no more no less than N other characters

kingdedede745 wrote: ↑06 March 2025, 07:27 I am unsure which clues are intended to be "exact" in the hotel puzzles.

A) There are N characters on this floor.

Is this exact, or does it mean there are at least X characters on this floor?

B) Character X is on the same floor as character Y.

Does this mean these are the only characters on the floor, or could there be other characters on that floor?

C) Character X is with N other characters.

Does this mean character X is with EXACTLY N other characters? Or AT LEAST N other characters?

Sorry I didn't see your message before.

A : Exactly N characters.
B : It could be other characters
C : Exactly

Yoann

Here is what I do: is the information extremely valuable and don't require any thinking?
If yes, then the meaning of the clue is the minimal possible.
If not, then the meaning of the clue is the maximum possible.

By the way, just like in sudoku and other logic puzzles, there's also a huge implied secret clue: "There is only one possible orientation"! So if you ever get into a situation where under an assumption, the remaining variables would result in two characters being able to sit in any of the two spots and swap and still work, then the assumption is invalid (for logic abduction if you work fast with logic abduction instead of deduction)