<p>Puzzle Strike is related to Dominion in its buy-new-chips mechanics, but its attack and defense mechanics are more strongly tied to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, the video game without a prequel. Puzzle Fighter has much of the same dynamic as Puzzle Strike: the closer you are to losing, the more ammunition you're holding.</p>

<p>I don't have any hard numbers to back me up about any first-player advantage, but this <a href="http://www.sirlin.net/articles/slippery-slope-and-perpetual-comeback.html" rel="nofollow">article about slippery slope vs. perpetual comeback</a> (written by someone involved in the creation of both Puzzle Strike and Puzzle Fighter) puts Puzzle Fighter firmly on the "perpetual comeback" side of the scale: being close to death is also being close to launching a huge attack on your opponent. Winning isn't about slowly wearing down your opponent and forcing them to jump on a slippery slope of "losing = less resources" (such as in an attack-heavy game of Dominion).  Instead, winning Puzzle Strike or Puzzle Fighter is about getting in the <em>last, largest</em> attack. Going first isn't <em>quite</em> irrelevant in that case, but winning is more about taking advantage of the current board state than buying cards one turn ahead of your opponents.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-19T04:58:33.213Z
2014-04-03T21:03:09.650Z
2014-04-03T21:03:09.650Z
PotatoEngineer
<p><strong>Does Puzzle Strike favor the player who goes first?</strong></p>

<p>Puzzle Strike takes a lot of cues from Dominion, and Dominion is well-known for having a distinct advantage for the first player, as discussed in <a href="https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/a/13662/4773">various other places</a>.  However, Puzzle Strike also has a very different victory condition and a lot of back-and-forth "combat" that eventually determines it.  Does this fix the first-player-problem with its peers, and by how much?</p>

<puzzle-strike>
First-player advantage in Puzzle Strike?
Southpaw Hare
# First-player advantage in Puzzle Strike?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-18)

**Does Puzzle Strike favor the player who goes first?**

Puzzle Strike takes a lot of cues from Dominion, and Dominion is well-known for having a distinct advantage for the first player, as discussed in [various other places](https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/a/13662/4773). However, Puzzle Strike also has a very different victory condition and a lot of back-and-forth "combat" that eventually determines it. Does this fix the first-player-problem with its peers, and by how much?

**Tags:** puzzle-strike


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-01-19. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Puzzle Strike is related to Dominion in its buy-new-chips mechanics, but its attack and defense mechanics are more strongly tied to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, the video game without a prequel. Puzzle Fighter has much of the same dynamic as Puzzle Strike: the closer you are to losing, the more ammunition you're holding.

I don't have any hard numbers to back me up about any first-player advantage, but this [article about slippery slope vs. perpetual comeback](http://www.sirlin.net/articles/slippery-slope-and-perpetual-comeback.html) (written by someone involved in the creation of both Puzzle Strike and Puzzle Fighter) puts Puzzle Fighter firmly on the "perpetual comeback" side of the scale: being close to death is also being close to launching a huge attack on your opponent. Winning isn't about slowly wearing down your opponent and forcing them to jump on a slippery slope of "losing = less resources" (such as in an attack-heavy game of Dominion). Instead, winning Puzzle Strike or Puzzle Fighter is about getting in the *last, largest* attack. Going first isn't *quite* irrelevant in that case, but winning is more about taking advantage of the current board state than buying cards one turn ahead of your opponents.


---

