I figured folk might have more time than usual to play with a big builder, and the XmasTree certainly needed it.
I tried to price things so that you could build without worrying too much about how much it cost.
Both entrants managed to get one dillo to every portal, and all succeeded in promoting the yellow dillo to be star of the show in the blue portal at the top (500 bonus).
All solutions sent grey over the top with a rocket, which was nice to see. The POC did it slightly differently, sending him across first, then lifting both yellow and grey with one rocket.
Not sure if the "hidden" spoiler even got read, or perhaps it was worded a little too obscurely. The rules required each coloured dillo to go to a portal that matched it's colour. But there was no requirement to send every dillo to a different portal. This "cheat" allowed the POC to send both reds to one red portal, and both greens to one green portal.
Everything was downhill or across, and only grey and yellow had to travel up. Discovering how easy it was to "open" the central flaps was also important. I was very surprised just how much those longer plates could compress. And how little effort was needed to do it.
So, winning the choice of the Xmas presents:
1st, scoring 4004 (3504 + 500), is Mark_man. Congratulations! And thanks for spending so much time on this.
2nd, scoring 2711 (2211 + 500), is Arunion. Congratulations! You succeeded. And for a while, victory was in your grasp. Again.
Thanks for playing, and I'm grateful for having had the chance to "experiment" with a different sort of challenge. Insane? Yeah, maybe.
But when you see the POC, you might think it wasn't that bad after all.....
