Turing Tumble Community

Dr. Nim - Full Implementation

I have recreated the classic toy Dr. Nim on Turing Tumble. My implementation is accurate enough that it can be used with the original instruction manual, given the following substitutions:

  1. The bits at the top of the board correspond to the “flip-flops”. These must be set to the correct position at the start of the game based on the number of balls and the win condition (leave or take the last ball). You can use the tables in the manual to determine the starting positions for the bits by using the following conversions:

     _ / _   =    L
                 L  L
    
     _ _ /   =    R
                 L  R 
    
     _ _ _   =    L 
                 R  R
    
     / _ _   =    R
                 R  L
    

    NOTE: It is not possible to represent the / _ / flip-flop state using this configuration of bits. Fortunately, the table entries that use this state are (mostly) redundant to other entries, and so this does not impact my implementation’s ability to work with any number of balls.

  2. The gear bits in the middle of the board correspond to the “equalizer”. This causes the machine to make one misplay, thus making it possible for the player to win when going either first or second. Pointing to the right is the starting position.

  3. The gear bits at the bottom of the board correspond to the “turn switch”. Pointing to the right indicates that it is the player’s turn, and pointing to the left indicates that it is the machine’s turn.

  4. Pulling the blue lever corresponds to pushing the “trigger”.

DrNimAnnotated

I believe my implementation to be minimal and bug-free. If either is not true, or if you have any questions or other thoughts, please reply!

7 Likes

Hello RingTheBell,
Welcome to the community!

That is really cool that you were able to make a recreation that you can use with the original Dr. Nim game manual, with all of the different game modes. The “equalizer” is very clever too!

Thank you for sharing!

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Thank you! I’m excited to be here!

wow this is a very hard to get game (Dr.nim) can u tell me or give me the link to buy it? thank you(:

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Welcome!

Dr. Nim has not been produced in several decades, so it is indeed hard to come by. That’s one of the reasons I emulated it on Turing Tumble: so that people today can experience it for themselves. If you must have an original Dr. Nim, your best bet is probably eBay (that’s where I got mine).

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image Awesome!! I also created a version without the part that lets the computer make one mistake, but it is with only two switches and the computer ends it turn automatically too :grinning:
See the attached picture.
Point the gears to the right and the player plays, point it to the left and the computer plays and ends its turn automatically.
The player must start at the beginning, otherwise the computer takes 4 marbles, so it cheats on purpose, because it knows it can only win when it gives the player a multiple of 4. I think this is a cool cheat feature :grinning:

2 Likes

Welcome!

I’m glad to see other people taking an interest in this puzzle. I especially like your turn-tracking mechanism. I had to try it for myself so I made a simulation (I was even able to save you a few components):

https://lodev.org/jstumble/?board=lirfelferfee1fer1ferbfexgrfrbrfrglreb_15_0

Screen Shot 2021-11-02 at 9.31.30 PM