The chain locks all four of its pieces at the opening by construction, and the
pieces grown around it are mostly locked too, so a level built from it hands a
player two rim pieces and a third of a second of animation before any thinking
starts. Measured across the 235-level pool: median two tappable pieces at the
opening, and the best departure available plays for 0.57s.
Growth now reserves a couple of slots for showcase pieces — tappable at the
opening, with a route long enough to read as a journey and short enough to stay
under the animation ceiling. Median opening choices go 2 to 3 and the best
opening show 0.72s to 1.12s, without shortcutting the lock: each candidate is
still put through the solver.
Rotation quota is gone from the board. Turning is free and it is what the game
is about, so depth is grown rather than capped; what is gated is whether each
turn pays out, whether pieces swing between hopeless and trivial, and whether
there is a show up front.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
