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Samesby

a fair race

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01 Opening
Samesby beat 1 of 5

Samesby is a penguin. He waddles across the League Field with a cheerful, rolling walk, and in each flipper he holds up a small square board of tiles. The two boards are exactly the same. Every hidden square in one matches a hidden square in the other, in exactly the same place.

"Two racers," Samesby says, lifting the boards high. "One board each. The very same board."

Samesby runs the races in the League, and he takes fairness very seriously, in the most cheerful way possible.

02 Samesby
Samesby beat 2 of 5

It started the day two young otters, Brook and Ripple, wanted to race. They each grabbed a random board, started at the same time, and played as fast as they could. Ripple finished first, whooping with joy.

"I win!" Ripple shouted.

Brook frowned. "That's not fair! Your board had a giant empty patch that opened up half the board at once. Mine was full of tricky numbers. You got an easy one!"

Ripple's whoop faded. "I didn't pick an easy one on purpose," Ripple said, feeling suddenly guilty about a win that had felt so good a moment ago.

03 Samesby
Samesby beat 3 of 5

Samesby waddled over, beaming. "Nobody did anything wrong," he said. "But Brook's right that it wasn't a fair race. You were racing two different boards, so you can't tell who played better. Maybe Ripple was faster. Or maybe Ripple just got lucky with the board. There's no way to know."

He held up his two identical boards. "Let's do it properly. I'll make you a race code."

He tapped out a short code. "When you both type in this code, the League builds the exact same board for each of you. Same mines. Same numbers. Same free opening. Square for square, identical. Brook, you'll play one. Ripple, you'll play the other."

The otters typed in the code. Two identical boards appeared.

04 Samesby
Samesby beat 4 of 5

"Now," said Samesby, "whatever happens, it's all about how you play. Neither of you can get a luckier board, because there's only one board. It's just in two places."

The race began. This time it was close, really close. Brook, who had been so frustrated, found a clever proof near the middle and pulled ahead. Ripple used a chord to catch up. They finished just a few seconds apart, with Brook in front.

Brook grinned. Ripple laughed. "You got me," Ripple said, "and that one counts. Same board, fair and square."

"And here's the best part," said Samesby. "You can compare more than just who was faster. You can compare your clicks too, and your efficiency, because it was the same board. Maybe one of you was quicker, and the other wasted fewer clicks. On the same board, all of it means something."

05 Closing
Samesby beat 5 of 5

"Can we race again with a new code?" asked Brook.

"As many times as you like," said Samesby happily, already tapping out another. "No leaderboard, no rankings. Just two friends, one board, and a good race."

Samesby feels most like Samesby at the start of a race, when both racers look down at their boards and know they're exactly the same. It is a bright, bubbly, even feeling, like two friends lining up side by side on the same starting line, both with the same chance.

You have a bit of Samesby in you whenever you make sure a contest is fair before it begins. Next time you race a friend, share a race code, and say it the way he does: "Samesby hands both racers the very same board."

Then may the best game win.

Hear it as an audio drama

A short play starring Samesby, from Sweep League. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.

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Read the drama script
  1. Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and Sweep League — this is Samesby, in chapter 1 of the Sweep League cast.
  2. Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
  3. Narrator: Samesby the penguin waddled across the League Field holding two identical boards.
  4. Ripple: I finished first! I win!
  5. Brook: Not fair! Your board had a giant empty patch. Mine was full of tricky numbers.
  6. Ripple: I didn't pick an easy one on purpose.
  7. Samesby: Nobody did anything wrong. But you raced two different boards, so we can't tell who played better.
  8. Brook: Then what?
  9. Samesby: A race code! You both type it in, and the League builds the exact same board for each of you.
  10. Narrator: This time the race was close. Brook finished just ahead.
  11. Ripple: You got me, and that one counts.
  12. Samesby: And now you can compare clicks and efficiency too, because it was the same board.
  13. Brook: I was faster, but you wasted fewer clicks!
  14. Narrator: Hand both racers the very same board. That's Samesby's whole idea.
  15. Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
  16. Narrator: Apps stay free forever.
  17. Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
  18. Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.

The Sweep League ensemble

Samesby is one of the friends in Sweep League. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.

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