CREATIVE NOTES / CODING & PLAYFUL LEARNING
How Can a Duplicate Weather Friend Help Fill a Gap?
Imagine the album already has a Sunny Bun and the next box brings another one. Its copy count rises, and the stamp balance gains one too. What can that stamp do? Pocket Weather Blind Boxes appears in the portfolio of Zhan Yining, also known as Monica. The portfolio editorial team uses the page rules and code to explore how the game records duplicates and selects figures for a trade, with an imaginary ledger as a guide.
One draw, two entries in the ledger
Start with the count for this design before the draw. If it was zero, it becomes one and the stamp balance stays the same. If there was already at least one, the draw is a duplicate: add one copy of the figure and one stamp. The rule applies to any figure already owned, including a duplicate of the secret figure. If the album had one Sunny Bun, a second copy increases its count to two while the number of different designs collected stays the same.
A trade checks the balance and the gaps
A trade can go ahead when the balance is at least three stamps and at least one of the six regular figures is still missing. The program lists those missing designs, picks one at random, records its count as one and subtracts three stamps. The list excludes regular figures already owned and the secret figure. Each successful trade fills exactly one regular slot, and the duplicate copies already collected stay in the album.
Follow a trade on paper
Suppose the ledger shows four regular designs, with Cloud Puff and Snow Flurry missing, and a balance of two stamps. A trade is unavailable at this point. If the next entry is a duplicate Sunny Bun, its count rises by one and the balance goes from two to three. The missing list still contains only Cloud Puff and Snow Flurry. A trade can now go ahead. Suppose the random choice is Cloud Puff: record one Cloud Puff, zero stamps and one missing regular design, Snow Flurry. If Snow Flurry is chosen instead, reverse the two entries. This is an imaginary ledger for checking the rules.
Why might the button stay disabled with enough stamps?
Suppose all six regular figures are collected, four stamps remain and the only empty slot is the secret figure. The list of missing regular figures is empty, so the button stays disabled and the four stamps remain. The balance is also preserved if one regular figure is missing but there are only two stamps. Check “Are there enough stamps?” and “Is there a regular slot left to fill?” separately. That explains why the same balance of four may allow a trade in one album and leave the button disabled in another.
Write a before and after row for each action
On paper, write three things: the count for each design, the stamp balance and the list of missing regular figures. Choose an imaginary action, put the before and after rows side by side and circle what changed. For example, if only Snow Flurry is missing and the balance is five, a successful trade takes its count from zero to one, leaves two stamps and empties the list. Checking for another trade still finds no candidate, and the balance stays at two.
In programming, the values a program needs to remember are called its state. Here, the trade list can be calculated from the album whenever it is needed. As the album changes, so does that list. When saving works, the album and stamps stay in the current browser. The paper exercise can stop after any row and still show exactly what each rule changed.
Two more questions
Does a duplicate secret figure earn a stamp?
Yes. The program checks whether the design was already owned before the draw. A duplicate secret figure earns one stamp, while the trade list always contains only missing regular figures.
With three stamps, can I choose which figure to receive?
The program chooses at random from the current list of missing regular figures. If just one is missing, it is the only possible result. If the list is empty, even a sufficient balance is left untouched.
Explore the project
Prepared by the portfolio editorial team from the project rules and existing code, with AI-assisted writing and translation. Calculations and suggested activities are not Monica’s quotations or personal records. Portfolio inclusion does not mean she independently completed every design or line of code.