Mathematrix

[JG]

New game on the Probius-e terminals.

Essentially the questions revolve around previous questions, all of them arithmetic sums.

For example,

Q1: What is 2+6?
Q2: What is 9/3?
Q3: What is 3*Q1?
Q4: What is 7*7?
Q5: What is Q2+Q4?
Q6: What is Q3/1?

That crudely illustrates the question structure. Never more than two integers and one arithmetic sign. Each 'go' is based around a spinning die which stops on a 'random' number by player prompt. You advance up a progressive trail collecting cash as you go with the end of the trail being a guaranteed £20 jackpot. It's about 60 spaces long. As well as cash prizes there are also 'safe' cash, shuffle squares, boosts, knock backs and bonus squares.

Shuffle is a bastard. It mixes up the questions, usually swapping about three sets.

For those of you who are slightly nerdy, a programmable calculator is useful. You can usually bag a couple of quid before the evil shuffle where it all goes to pot and you can't remember whether question six was in position three or if the answer was three. No doubt it gets easier with practise, but it's quite addictive and after the first couple of wins the % usually gets me as I try and get greedy and no I don't take a programmable calculator down the pub, I'm not that sad, even though I am a pro-loner(!) clink, clink. On top of the King's neck, that's where. Boom. Boom. I'm not an SWP expert, I just have the odd game here and there. This game is totally different, but I guess it could just keep giving you knock backs if really dead.

I've seen a £12 win from a local Imperial maths graduate and actuary. I've bagged the odd £5, anyone had the jackpot on this yet?

[Ernest W. Quality]

So, is it really the case that the questions are trivial arithmetic, and the only way it shags you is by shuffling?

[fotherz]

I've seen a £12 win from a local Imperial maths graduate and actuary.

So an Oxford maths graduate and actuary might get even more?

Bonus.

[grecian]

Sounds good to me. What is the Probius-E terminal? What other games does it have on it?

[Weyland]

Sounds too easy to me. That's ripe for emptying, surely? Even with the shuffle. Or am I missing something?

[Istenem]

maybe the mythical cabinet, i for one have never witnessed such a thing.

[grecian]

maybe the mythical cabinet, i for one have never witnessed such a thing.

It's perhaps the Mythical Cabinet of Whetstone, which I think was mentioned on here once and which I did see. Had a load of rip-offs of mainstream games but all of them very difficult to win on. Never seen it before or since.

[jonesey]

Long time since was at University but seem to recall that mathematics lectures tended to be about things like group theory, vector spaces and differential equations rather than practising adding up. The former topics rarely come up on SWP machines in my experience.

Of course things will have changed since then, and I know that universities have to spend more time on the basics. Maybe closer to truth to say that a recent Oxford maths graduate might get even more ?

[Drpepper]

If i find one of these god help the person who goes on the machine after me.

[JG]

Trust me the shuffle is a right bloomin' pain. Once you've answered a question it's just displayed as a card with Qx on the back. When the cards shuffle the numbers stay in the same order, so you have to remember that Q2 is now where Q6 was and is labelled as Q6, even though it's really Q2. Several shuffles and it's a headache with a programmable calculator I imagine.

The Probius-e is essentially like those old gamesnets, but more 'Itboxy' with multicoloured flourescent strips down the side of the machine. They're also quite wide, like a Paragon.

Lots of lol @ group theory. My actuarial acquantaince never used to shut up about group theory. Apparently group theory could be used to apply to lots of things. That's all I know. Sorry.

I guess it just keeps knocking you back to useless squares after a while and it'll stop using integers so it'll be like silly spoiler nonsense questions.

What is Q1/Q6? a) 4.5225
b) 4.6333
c) 4.2152


Best of luck if you find one, I'll just stick with that non SWP game that's good for a quick £140 when full.