Rules
Find Hidden Patterns is a visual search game from the final of University War Season 1. Two players share one board of arrows and race to find copies of a small target pattern.
The board
The board is 10 columns wide (1 to 10) and 8 rows tall (A to H). Every square holds an arrow pointing north, east, south or west. Each round shows a target: a 2 by 2 block of four arrows.
A match is a 2 by 2 block on the board that is the target turned by 0, 90, 180 or 270 degrees. When the block turns, each arrow turns with it. Mirror images do not count. You name a match by its top-left square, for example “C7”.
A turn on the show
Players take turns, with 10 seconds per turn. On your turn you may:
- Answer a coordinate. A new match scores +1. A wrong or already-found match costs -1.
- Pass, for 0 points.
- Call End, claiming every match has been found. If true, +3 and the round ends. If not, -2 and the turn passes.
After a correct answer, the same player may call End within 5 seconds. The game has 6 rounds with a new target each round, and a new board from round 4. The player with more points wins.
Our version
Boards and targets
- Every board is random, with each round’s target planted a few times at random turns. A solver then counts every match and the board is rebuilt until each target has 3 to 8 matches.
- Every target looks different at each of its four turns, and no two targets on a board are the same shape turned. Matches may overlap.
- The number of matches is never shown during play. It is revealed only once the round is over.
Daily and Practice (solo)
- One board with three targets, one after another. Find every match for a target, then call End to move to the next one. Your score is your time.
- A wrong or repeated answer adds 10 seconds. An End with matches still hidden adds 20 seconds and you carry on searching (it does not end the run).
- You can give up and see every match. The Daily board is the same for everyone each day. Practice boards can be raced against friends in an online room.
Vs AI and online (show rules)
- First player: both players roll a die (re-rolled on a tie) and the higher roll starts round 1. After that, the first player alternates each round. The show used dice; the alternation is our reading of it.
- Turns: 10 seconds each (20 on easy against the AI). Running out of time counts as a pass.
- Bonus End: after a correct answer you get a 5-second window. Call End for +3 (or -2 if matches are left), or press Pass to hand the turn over at once. If you do nothing, the turn passes when the 5 seconds are up. A correct answer does not give you another answer.
- Stalled rounds: six passes or timeouts in a row end the round with nobody scoring the End. The show never needed this rule; it stops a round from running forever.
- Between rounds: every match is shown for 4 seconds, with the ones nobody found outlined in red.
- Six rounds: rounds 1 to 3 share one board, rounds 4 to 6 share a new one. A tie after round 6 is a draw.
- The AI solves the same board you see. On harder levels it is more likely to spot a match each turn, answers faster, slips less often and is less likely to call End too early.
Show turned targets: with this setting on (the default), the other three turns of the target are drawn next to it. Turn it off to rotate in your head, as on the show.
Strategy
Anchor on the odd arrow. If one arrow in the target points differently from the rest, look for that arrow first. It stays the odd one out at every turn.
Turn the pattern, not your head. Learn the target at all four turns before you start scanning. A 90-degree turn moves the top-left arrow to the top-right and turns every arrow a quarter clockwise.
Watch for mirror traps. Boards are full of near misses, and a reflection looks right at a glance. Check one arrow’s direction before you answer.
Scan in strips. Work through two rows at a time from left to right, so no block is missed.
Count before you End. Matches can overlap. When the board seems empty, an End is worth three answers, but an early End costs two points and hands your rival the turn. Use the bonus window after your last answer when you are sure.
Passing is a move. If you have not found anything, a pass costs nothing, while a guess costs a point.
Sources: fan wikis.