User:Baminnick/enes100/poppit

The information below is regarding the poppit project:
 * Here is a link to the team page: Team Poppit Project

Problem Statement
There are a few methods that can lead the player to sufficiently beat the game Poppit, with only a few balloons remaining. What strategies are most effective at beating this game?

Task Summary
My main task in this project was to develop a method of organizing balloons, so that a strategy can be used to beat the game. The classification and identity of a balloon based on the color, location, and cluster type.

Organizing Balloons
To understand poppit, I developed several possibilities which can be used to classify balloons and then therefore logically proceed with popping the balloons. The most logical and defining method to organize and classify balloons is composed of groupings and location. Classifying a balloon how the balloon is defined under the main group and the sub group. The main group is what color balloon is being defined. This leads to the sub group which is defined by whether or not this single balloon is alone or in a cluster. After classifying the main group and sub group of the balloon, the next step to organizing this balloon is to identify its location. To identify a balloon's location, the column number and row numbers are used. In summation, a balloon is completely defined by its group and the location.

Data and Results
I used several methods to attempt to beat the game poppit. Each method was developed based on its different advantages and disadvantages it has with other methods. The different methods that I used are shown in the list below:


 * 1.  Pop balloons in large clusters first
 * 2.  Pop balloons in small clusters first
 * 3.  Bottom to top
 * 4.  Top to bottom
 * 5.  Left to right
 * 6.  Right to left
 * 7.  Pop darker colored balloons (blue, purple, and green) first
 * 8.  Pop lighter colored balloons (red and yellow) first

By interpreting the data it would appear that the most effective method is popping the lighter colored balloons first, and then proceeding to pop whatever remains. This method popped more balloons than other methods, but not 100% of the time. My data and results do not conclude that this is the strongest method. Other strategies can be used to beat this game effectively.

Analysis and Conclusion
By understanding the classification of a single balloon and relating its classification to other balloons, a method to popping the balloons may begin. Organizing the balloons before hand ensures an understanding of why so many balloons remain after a certain method is used. Therefore someone playing the game poppit can now differ the advantages and disadvantages of their methods clearly.