Mapping games seven cities drill

[kristinaroz93]

"In a country, some of seven cities- BFJNQSX- are directly connected by highways..."

what is meant by the idea that because the highways are able to loop around each other, that this then makes the problem a grouping excercise. I still do not see how it is a grouping excercise!
Can someone do some hypotheticals following the rules of this problem to sort of show me how the rules interact and what is meant by them? =)

And would the ski chalet problem (mentioned in the bible) be a good problem to go over given my confusion with these set of rules ?

Thanks in adance!

[Adam Tyson]

I'm afraid you and I must have different versions of that book, and I can't find that problem in my copy. That said, with the information provided it appears to me that the game is not about putting the cities in one particular order, but rather about which cities can be connected to which other cities by those highways (much like other games that involve maps, or like the paths in the ski chalet game). Which cities can B connect to? That's a group. Which cities can F connect to? That's another group. Try attacking it that way and see what happens.

The rules in the ski chalet game make it so that each chalet can connect only to two other chalets, and the paths must be straight, so no looping around to the back door to avoid crossing paths! In that sense, that game should be a little easier to deal with than the highways exercise because it will be more restricted. After you have played a bit with the highways, give that chalet game a go. Maybe try sketching out a few templates to see what could possibly happen once you start making connections?

Good luck!