Islands: A New Single-Player Card Game created by Bryan and Caiqian

The card game, “Islands”, was born from the combined efforts of Bryan Cropper and Caiqian Wu. Bryan first attempted to create a single-player grid-based card game that would be more skill based than solitaire. After tinkering for several days, he showed a prototype to Caiqian. Together they perfected it. On April 11, 2011, while visiting the 117 islands of Venice, Bryan and Caiqian finished fine-tuning the game and dubbed it “Islands.”

Setting up the game

1) Make sure you have a full deck made of 52 cards (with Jokers removed). Shuffle the deck.

2) The deck should be face down. From the top of the deck, place 12 cards face up on the table in a 3 card by 4 card rectangle. You are now ready to solve the grid on the Easy level!

Feel free to try more challenging initial grid set ups as suggested by the diagram below.

3) Check to see if there are any strings* in the initial grid, you must clear them now and make them into land* (as you would do upon creating a string during a turn) before starting your first turn. If the initial setup contains a string that makes the grid impossible to solve, follow steps explained in the Impossible Initial Setup Procedure.

*Strings and land are defined in the sections, Clearing Strings and Making Land.

The Turn

1) Flip the card from the top of the remaining deck.

2) Place the card face-up on the grid. You may only place it on top of land or face-up cards.

3) If any strings are formed, all cards of the string(s) MUST be cleared and made into land.

4) Repeat this process until you’ve won the game or your deck has no more cards.

At any point during the game, you may choose to look at any face-up card on the grid, even those underneath other face-up cards. You may NOT look at any face-down cards (this includes all land and the cards in your remaining deck other than the top card).

How to Win

You win if, at any point during the game, there are no more cards face-up on the grid. You lose if there are still cards face-up on the grid when you run out of cards in your remaining deck.

Clearing Strings

In order to get rid of face-up cards on the grid, you need to clear strings and make land. A string can either be a set (three or four of a kind) or a run (three or more consecutive cards of the same suit). Each card in the string must connect to the next card on one of its sides (diagonal connections do not count.)

Only the top cards of the grid are used in strings. Strings do not have to be connected in straight lines or in ascending or descending order (for runs). Aces can either be high or low, not both. Below green checks indicate valid strings.

Making Land

Once you have made a string it is time to make land! Making land is the only way to get rid of face-up cards on the grid. In the diagram below the pile of flipped-over cards is the land. To make land:

1) Be sure you have a connected, valid string.

2) Choose one location amongst the three or more cards that make up the string to form your land.

3) Gather ALL of the cards from string to that one location on the grid.

4) Flip ALL of the cards in that location on the grid to the face-down position, including any cards not involved in the string.

Here is an example of making land once you have a string. For this example, The 8 of diamonds is chosen as the location where land will be formed.

Since land can be made on any point of the string, this move would also be a legal choice.

Land could NOT have been made at the king’s position because the king was not part of the string.

Once land is made, it stays face-down for the rest of the game. For the remainder of the game you can place a card from the remaining deck on top of land during a turn.

Chain Reactions

If a new string is revealed by clearing a previous string, you must also clear the newly revealed string on the grid (and any other new strings created as a result, and so on) and turn them into land before you may flip over the next card from the top of the deck.

Multiple String Possibilities

If there is a card that may be used for two unique strings, you may only choose to use that card for one string, but not both.

Impossible Initial Setup Procedure

Impossible initial setups are caused by initial strings that isolate one or more cards. If you are in this situation do the following.

1) Remove all of the cards in the string that makes the setup impossible. Shuffle these cards into your deck.

2) Deal out new cards where the string used to be.

3) Start the game as normal.

Here is an example where a string on the initial grid isolates two cards and therefore makes the game impossible to win.

Iceland Part 2: Black Columns, Ice Caves, Blue Lagoon

In the second half of our Iceland trip Caiqian and I were able to drive out from Reykjavik to explore Iceland's south coast. Being able to use a rental car was really nice since it provides such freedom and flexibility. However there are downsides to renting a car, especially in snowy Iceland.

Breakdown

One activity Caiqian and I were looking forward to was seeing the hot springs river, which is a stream of water that is geothermally heated. Unfortunately, life had other plans for us and we never were able to see the springs in the short ~5 hours of daylight Iceland offers each day in Winter.

Beautiful white landscape and roads become frightening when your car just stops working

On the day we were driving out, we filled up our rental car with diesel and after driving out a mile or so in -15C weather, the car just stopped working. I kept pushing harder on the gas pedal until I ran out of pedal, and then the vehicle just slowed to a stop. We had to turn on our cell phone data, call the rental car company, who sent a mechanic to solve the problem. While we were waiting though we did get a citizen with a tow truck who chatted us up about our troubles.

Folks first thought that it was my fault and I must have put gasoline in the diesel engine, which was disproved with my receipt. Then it was thought that the diesel station had water in the line. However the truth that the mechanic discovered was that the diesel had gelled up, a condition that can happen at -15C. Unfortunately that took us all day and it was dark by the time we got our car back.

Mechanic in the drivers seat and a concerned citizen standing outside

Other than that though, getting the rental car was great, especially for the long day where Caiqian and I got too see columnar basalt and ice caves in the same day!

Black Basalt Columns

The drive to the ice caves from our Air BnB was more than two hours each way, so our day started in the dark. First stop was to see a natural phenomena whereby lava solidifies and contracts to form naturally occurring hexagonal columns. This was a bucket list item that I thought I could only get crossed off in Scotland so I was quite pleased to see the phenomenon occurred in Iceland as well.

Black columnar basalt at the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach near Vik

After jumping on the columns myself and hearing the waves crash behind me, Caiqian and I got back in the car to make it to the main event, our second glacier hike.

Ice Cave Hike

After a long but beautiful drive, we found our way to the tour guides who were going to show us to the ice caves.

Can't do this in Texas

After a quick snack Caiqian and I made our way into a very distinctive bus designed for driving down very difficult and rocky terrain.

Our ride out to the glacier

After surviving the bumpiest drive of my life, we put on our crampons (Caiqian and I were now very capable since we did it the day prior), grabbed our ice pick, and started our second glacier hike. Unlike the first hike which was beautiful and bare due to rain, this hike was much more snowy and designed more for beginners, which was welcome since our legs were still tired.

Sights while hiking Vatnajökull

After hiking through the beautiful snowy landscapes and admiring a huge game-of-thrones sized crow, we made our way to a real natural ice cave.

Posing in front of the ice cave

Inside the cave the walls were beautiful, smooth, and looked like they were flowing but then frozen in time. It's hard to capture in the dark, but the ice was also a gorgeous blue, and at that moment I knew adding this to the bucket list was a smart choice.

Inside the ice cave

After making our way back, it was almost time to wrap up our Iceland adventure. But there was still one more even we were going to experience...

The Blue Lagoon

On the morning we were to fly out, Caiqian and I made our way to the blue lagoon, a gigantic manmade hot spring. Caiqian and I went early in the morning, while it was nearly freezing outside. Nevertheless, we donned our bathing suits, and ran through the freezing air to submerge ourselves int the magical steamy lagoon.

Main Blue Lagoon Entrance

On subsequent entrances and exits, we realized there was a second way to enter the lagoon from the inside to keep yourself warmer. The best part about this secret side entrance was opening the door to the outside lagoon that was half submerged.

Hidden secondary blue lagoon entrance

Going to the lagoon in the early hours was truly magical, we watched the sun rise on a cold, cold day from the swirling mist rising from our gigantic blue hot tub. The mist made it so you couldn't even see the sides of the lagoon, so it was just like swimming/walking through a haze, looking at the mountains surrounding us.

Beautiful steam rising in the sunrise

There were also amenities that we found deep int he pool, such as the in-pool bar which served us our one free drink.

Toasting the vacation at Blue Lagoon

Also we were able to get free silica masks to open our pores, rejuvenate the skin, yadda yadda... I did enjoy how silly we looked.

Silica mud and algae masks

After wading in the pool for hours, daylight eventually came and so did hordes of tourists, but being in the mostly secluded pool in the early hours is an experience I will always remember. For our last major meal in Iceland we were able to eat at the Blue Lagoon restaurant wearing nothing but our bathrobes and swimsuits underneath, a pretty unusual experience in itself.

Eating dinner in our bathrobes afterward

And that's it for our Iceland trip! Between the two glacier hikes, multiple hot springs, horse rides, waterfalls, and unique cuisine I can confidently say this was a truly awesome experience and I would highly recommend going if you have ever been curious about visiting.

Iceland Part 1: Exotic Food, Tolting, Golden Circle, and Glacier Slurping

Day One

After a long year Caiqian and I finally made it to Iceland for our end-of-November-start-of-December vacation. Iceland at this time of year is interesting because the sun rises at 11:00 and sets at 4:00 pm, so there's not a lot of daylight to see things with. After landing, our first landmark we stumbled upon in Reykjavik was the distinctive Hallgrímskirkja Church.

Hallgrímskirkja Church at Reykjavik City Center

Every international trip exposes Caiqian and I to new ideas and concepts that we've never experienced before. In Iceland, there are some customs that make sense given the cold and wet environment. One of our favorite Icelandic staples was the very hot towel drier found in multiple AirBnB's we stayed at.

Heated towel rack

While we really enjoyed the towel warmers, another Icelandic custom we were not as stoked about was how all the beds have two mini-comforters, instead of one big shared comforter like in the United States.

Separate comforters in one bed?

Before going into our mini adventures, I want to highlight some of our favorite foods we experienced in Iceland. First I'd like to point out the only place we went to multiple times, Braud and Co, which had delicious pastries at reasonable prices (which is important considering that Iceland has one of the highest costs for food of any country).

Braud & Co

While Iceland is not a cheap place to satisfy your hunger, it does have a lot of unique foods not found elsewhere that I wanted to try out. One example is fermented shark, which has an aftertaste of cleaning ammonia.

Hákarl (fermented shark), Plokkfiskur (Icelandic Fish Stew), smoked lamb on flatbread, dried fish and butter at Cafe Loki

This is not to say food there isn't delicious. One dish we had multiple times, and are now trying to replicate in the US, is their creamy shellfish soup, which highlights the fresh seafood that surrounds the country.

Shellfish Soup from Silfra Restaurant was our favorite

Another food I hope to recreate in the states is Icelandic hotdogs. Icelandic hotdogs have fried crispy and cooked sweet onions below the hot dog. They are topped with a remoulade, sweet brown mustard, and mild ketchup sauce. Yum!

Pylsa (Icelandic Hot Dog) from Reykjavik Street Dog

Now for some contentious foods - puffin and whale. These creatures are not endangered in Iceland and the what is a very particular Minke whale which is plentiful around Iceland. That said, I knew these were meats I wouldn't get elsewhere so I was curious of they would taste different than meats I am used to.

Puffin (top) and whale (bottom) from Hereford Steakhouse

I can say the meats are unlike steak, chicken, pork, etc. Actually, they taste like a seamless blend of land and sea creature.

Puffin tastes like chicken with a hint of anchovies, which makes sense considering all the fish puffin eat.

Whale tastes and has the consistency of steak, but with anchovy/fish oil substituting that steak fat.

Horse Riding

I did not eat horse in Iceland (although it was offered) instead, we rode the cute small Icelandic horses, which, our guide was quick to point out, were not ponies.

There are no ponies in Iceland, only small horses (who act like dogs). Did you know that there's 1 horse for every 3 human citizens?

Trotting, posing, tolting, and climbing

Below are some miscellaneous 10-second horse videos if you are into seeing horse antics, or the tolt in action.

After eating in Reykjavik and doing our horse tours, Caiqian and I took our rental car on the well-marketed Golden Circle. Unfortunately it was a very wet day when we went for our drive, but we tried to keep spirits high in the rain. First stop was Thingvellir National Park, which has a small waterfall and also features the divide between the North American and European Tectonic plates. It's  these plates moving apart which exposes Iceland to so much geothermal energy (geothermal energy powers >85% of buildings in Iceland).

Oxararfoss Waterfall at Thingvellir National Park

At our next stop Caiqian and I couldn't bring ourselves to wait outside for 15-30 minutes to wait for the famous geyser to erupt, but we did see the ground steam and the geyser steam plume drift by from the parking lot which was good enough for us.

Near the Geysir

Caiqian and I did get out of the car for our last Golden Circle stop, at the extremely large Gulfoss waterfalls. It was a pretty waterfall, but you can see our pained expressions at being out in the soaking rain.

Gullfoss Waterfall

Ice glacier hike

The main reason why I wanted to visit Iceland, and soon, was to, in the words of my bucket list "hike a glacier before it was too late." So Caiqian and I hiked two on our trip. I'll be sharing the second hike in the next blog post.

In the pic below you can see the terminal face of the first glacier we hiked, and our guide told us that where we were standing was where the front of the glacier was just a few years ago. It really brought forth how much the glacier had receded.

 Terminal Face of Solheimajokull Glacier

To climb up to the top of the glacier we first had to traverse the intricate and winding crevasses.

Navigating glacier crevasses

After hours of hiking we finally emerged on top of the majestic glacier and took some triumphant shots on top of the glacier looking out to the valley below.

View from top of Solheimajokull Glacier

The best part of the glacier hike was when our guide showed us how we could just drink the water streams coming off the glacier. Caiqian was a bit more civilized, using her cupped hands, while I just went in head first.

Glacier water right from the source!

When we drank, our guide joked by shouting, "who's that peeing up there?" Overall it was a really great experience that was rewarding and also highlighted how we are losing our glaciers rapidly. This hike was pretty amazing since the rain exposed the bare ice and volcanic ash. Next time, we'll show off some more of Iceland's beauty including ice caves!