About the game
This game consist on a deck of 24 cards. Each has a color (there are only 3 colors) and a number (from 1 to 8), and each card is unique.
Every turn you are given cards (randomly) from the deck, until you have 5 cards (you can have up to 5 cards in your hand). You can also discard cards you do not need.
The goal is to make combinations of three cards by arranging them in a sequence or by having the same number in the three cards.
When you make a combination, you get points according to a table, then those cards are discarded from your hand.
The game ends when the deck is empty, and you have no combinations left to make.
| Combination | Points |
|---|---|
| 1, 1, 1 | 20 |
| 2, 2, 2 | 30 |
| 3, 3, 3 | 40 |
| 4, 4, 4 | 50 |
| 5, 5, 5 | 60 |
| 6, 6, 6 | 70 |
| 7, 7, 7 | 80 |
| 8, 8, 8 | 90 |
| 1, 2, 3 | 10 |
| 2, 3, 4 | 20 |
| 3, 4, 5 | 30 |
| 4, 5, 6 | 40 |
| 5, 6, 7 | 50 |
| 6, 7, 8 | 60 |
If the cards of the combination have the same colors there are 40 extra points. (Note: this happens only when the combination is a sequence).
The Problem
I need to find an optimal action for a given state. I tried using vanilla MCTS but I didn't get good results.
Do you think there is another way to see the problem and use a different approach for this game? Thanks!