Tips lovelinks

Here are some strategies in the Bronze round 2-player game:

On the first turn, matching numbers on both link lays will score 4 points. This might come in handy later.

Try not to create a 3-link bracelets-in-assembly in the early stages of play unless you are sure that the opposition cannot immediately lay two links to complete the bracelet.

If possible, try not to let an opponent dominate a bracelet – that means ensuring you add one link at least to any bracelet-in-assembly. Conversely prioritise bracelets that you dominate, which might force the opponent to add a link to break the domination.

Keep a very close eye on the bronze links to come – this will help you to decide on which links to play that will ensure the bracelet-in-assembly remains incomplete at the end of the bronze round.

Don’t waste M links in the bronze round as they can link to the otherwise difficult black 5s and 8s. M links that complete a bracelet will incur a penalty.

Be canny with 7’s as they can only join 7’s. Overall in the standard game, at least one bracelet with a 7 will not be completed. By placing one 7 in each bracelet rather than linking 7s you are increasing the chances of large bracelets staying incomplete.

Be sure to lay two links to complete a bracelet in the correct order to ensure that a link with one or two matching numbers is placed last, allowing the matching points to be collected. Completed bracelets do not score highly in the Bronze round unless they contain precious jewels, so completing these should be a priority.

The player who starts the silver round might be able capitalise on large bracelets-in-assembly left after the bronze round. Hence it is worth keeping tabs on the bracelets completed to see who will start that round. This will vary according to the number of bracelets completed in the round. Each time a bracelet is completed a player has to start a new bracelet, which reduces the number of bronze links to come. There are 20 bronze links in the general stock at the start of the game. The maths says that player 1 will start if the number of bracelets completed is 0,2,4 in the round, and player 2 will start if the bracelets completed are 1 or 3.