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Heh. Even when you think you're going good... you end up seeing how you're going to lose. It's so maddening. =)

I haven't won a match of pearls against the computer, ever.

After playing these for a Day I have beaten 1 and 2. The first one was alot tougher but once I figured out the math, it works every time. The second one, I recorded his moves and used it against him till he was forced to lose to his own moves. However, I have only gotten to do it with him going first. The Third one I am on Level 3, and decided to break for now

I hate that game. Level 4 kicked my butt so many times. I got there pretty quickly, but now with 3 rows I can't figure out how to win. It's so aggrivating.

I can't figure the game out. Gets me every time.

What's the math? How do you win?

I am about 11-3 against the comp. in just less than an hour.

i beat pearls before swine II when he goes first, i got him once, i knwo what to do but only if he makes 1 of two moves (taking 1 on the last row, or taking 2 on the 2nd to last row)

"Stephen DesRoches
It's all about the binary digits"

That is exactly right. Just leave him with a sum of binary digits, where each digit in the sum is even and you will win every time. I went to level 32 on Pearls III, with about a 90% win record. The only reseaon I lost was because I counted wrong a few times. It's hard to count all those little pearls when there are 29 pearls in row 6! Just set up a spread sheet to convert to binary.

That is exactly right. Just leave him with a sum of binary digits, where each digit in the sum is even and you will win every time. in english plz

This is about as "in english" as I can get. It's where I learned how to do the binary solution. http://world.std.com/~reinhold/math/nim.html It's somewhat complex, but if you memorize 1-6 in binary you can do Pearls II no problem. I sugest setting up a spreadsheet for Pearls III tho.

Hey Everyone this is upsetting me hardcore i almost can do it but its impossible but if there are people out there that can beat him please tell me how i can use a strategy on this guy otherwise it just blows the big one thank you very much

chris
Read my other two postings and go the web site I posted. It's the only way to win consistently.

I have to thank all of you for going back and forth like this... My friends and I got a hell of a laugh out of it.

I finally beat it!! I started writing out the system but it takes too long

please just tell me a simple way to beat him on pearls before swine II! something like first, you remove blah. then, blah. etc... JUST TELL ME!

Its not that easy. You have to leave him with a number that has all even digits. You find the number by adding all the pearls in each row as binary digits. The first pearl is 1 then 10 then 11 then 100 then 101 then 110. If you read the link in the guys post you will understand what I mean.

Right now I'm in Level 12, I love this game! If anybody need a hand, I can help out.

This game must be the most irritatingly impossible game in the world

So what's the code? Because whenever I try to set him up, he gets ME in a trap

The Solution to Pearls Before Swine II!

I'm not that good with math, so here's the easiest (dumb guy) way I've found on beating this game. All you have to do is use the vampire guy's moves against him.

It's easy to do. Just open the game in 2 windows.
On one window, let him go first, and on the other, you go first.
Every move he makes on your first window, you make on your second.
Inevitably you will beat the laughing fucker.

So ya, this is a sure fire method if your playing Pearls Before Swine II.
You can all thank me later ;)
My email is kris@koolplace.com if you have any questions.

Guys ... Whats on with you ? I played that game for the first time and passed all levels ...

i would love to beat the guy but haven't managed it yet. any tips on leaving him with a number comprised of all even digits? i don't like having to hear him say all his rubbish before i can re-start the game each time, is there any way i can skip this intro? (i play on the transience site, are there others?) contact by e-mail if you like or here. thanks.

you can totally beat him super easy if you just do the 2 window thing - i tired it and it works great, i spend 4 hours trying to beat him one night - and it was driving me crazy. Thanks for the tip!

I can't understand the solution stragies about part III.
Can anybody explain to me?
Where can I find related information about this game?
Thanks!

summing up the binary strat: here's how to do it on paper. it's the easiest way to start, and once u learn it on paper, then u can start using spreadsheet.

write down 4 2 1 on a piece of paper. this totals 7. if there are more than 7 pearls in a row, then add 8. hence, you have 8 4 2 1. if you can't see the pattern for this alone, then i suggest you give up. next, put a 1 in the column according to what you need to add up to the number of pearls in a row. 7 is 0 1 1 1. 6 is 0 1 1 0. 5 is 0 1 0 1. this isn't hard either. just write them all for every row. so now you have this grid of 1s and 0s. tally up each column.
next, is the slightly tricky part. once you mastered this, the game is totally in your hands. you will need to get all even numbers for every digit; zero counts as an even number in this case. you will know which row you need to change based on the first odd digit in the sequence.
say you have a total of 3 2 2 (from rows of 7,6,5). you know you have to get that 3 to a 2 (remember that you can only move one digit at a time; also remember that the first number can only move down since you can only take away pearls). this setup is easy since you can remove 4 pearls (1 0 0) from any row. now the computer has 2 2 2.
now let's imagine that the computer takes away one from the middle row, leaving you with 3 5 5. the totals are now 0 1 1; 1 0 1; 1 0 1. the resulting total is 2 1 2. the digit you have to change is now the second column. and now you have to do this without changing the first or third. since the only row you can do this is the first, you will be working with that row - 0 1 1, and since you want to change the second row w/o disturbing any of the others you will be taking away 2 (0 1 0). this leaves him w/ 2 0 2.
the last situation is the trickiest one, but still absolutely doable. let's say that there are two digits that need to be changed. let's say 2 1 1. the rows are 0 0 1; 1 1 0; 1 0 0. this adds up to be 1 6 4. the possible ways to get 2 1 1 to all even digits can be 2 0 0, 2 0 2 (remember that you cannot raise beyond 2 1 1 to 2 2 0 or 2 2 2. that being said, we know we have to get the second column to zero. the only row we can work with is the row of 6. taking away 2 (0 1 0) to bring it to 0 will result in a total of 2 0 1. this is not good enough. however, taking away 1 will yield 5 (1 0 1). the total is now 0 0 1+1 0 1+1 0 0= 2 0 2.
if any one has trouble with this now, please tell me.

Why write down "4 2 1" on a piece of paper? How do you reach the conclusion of "then add 8?" etc., etc. I don't the flow of your logic.

actives, when the cpu takes one from the middle row, it leaves 213, not 212.

ALRIGHT YOU GUYS ARE MAKING THIS WAY TOO COMPLICATED!!!!!! THERE ARE A FEW EASY PATTERNS TO FOLLOW---> (these are by rows) like if you can force him to 1-1-1 you win or 2-2,3-3,4-4,5-5,etc. or1-1-2-2,1-1-3-3,1-1-4-4,etc. or 1-2-3,1-3-4,1-4-5,1-5-6,1-6-7,etc. if you are good enough, you can force him to the smaller patterns and eventually win the game. by the way, get a life, i only know these patterns from my math class. and actives needs to focus on other, more important things, like going outside once in a while. what a freakin pasty face.

or you can make him go first and see what he does. then try again and do like he does. i too dream in color and in rhyme so i guess im one of a kind and thats why my words are heard and confined to the ears of the blind

Incredible actives, it works perfectly!!

Finally I understand the game :) Thanks

Ummm... all u do is take 4 from the third or fourth row,

and on his turn if there are :

1,x,(x+1) on different row, except for 1,3,4

a pair of row with same number of pearls - then copy exactly wat he do until it comes down to the last pearl

2 pair of rows with same number of pearls - same as above

you basically won. how hard can this be? win it like everytime

The binary thing is crap.

The two window trick is the REAL easy way to win. Worked for me.

Actives, I follow your instructions, but it looks like there's no way to beat him. In Pearls 2 you start with 4 rows, repectively of 3,4,5 and 6 pearls for each row. Let's number them:
1)ooo
2)oooo
3)ooooo
4)oooooo

Now, as per you said, the first row I should change would be the 2nd row, taking away one pearl so we have:
1)ooo
2)ooo
3)ooooo
4)oooooo
After that he removes OR 1 pearl from the 4th row, OR all the 3 pearls from the 1st or the 2nd row. Choosing the 2nd option, he leaves you like that:
1)ooo
2)
3)ooooo
4)oooooo
Now, we still have all even columns. So we can either draw all pearls from row 1, or take 2 pearls from rows 3, or 3 pearls from row 4. Lets' take 3 pearls from row 4:
1)ooo
2)
3)ooooo
4)ooo
He will now remove all pearls from the 3rd row, leaving you in the shit with:
1)ooo
2)
3)
4)ooo
Here basically the game is finished. Yo cannot do anything to win. If you take 1 pearl from one row, he will take another pearl from the other row leaving you with 2-2. If you remove all pearls from one row, he will take 2 pearls from the other, and you're done.

I think that is impossible to win starting first.

Bonny:

Following the "binary" explanation given by Actives:

At the start:
000 converts to binary 011
0000 to 100
00000 to 101
000000 to 110
Add it up ---
322

Al digits must be even, so you must convert the total to 222. This can be achieved by subtracting 100 from any row. "100" is the binary of 4, therefore you must remove 4 pearls from any row. This is the only way to beat the @#$?!