There is something wrong with the game, the sum of the number of cells of each color is not constant.
Also it for some reason got almost impossible to paint the board one color; beginning was easy enough. A splash was enough. Somehow the "end-game" is nearly impossible to complete. The very frustrating input method does not help the least.
You're right that there seem to be interaction rules that are not stated in the tips. If you play a long game, then new pixels added later in the game are wiped out easily.
Having recently done some agent-based modeling work which is related to automata (even though in this case non-deterministic), I wanted to try out how few pixels I could add from the pseudo god mode to turn the tide in different situations. And, as you noted, late in a single game, established colors have some sort of implicit advantage with much higher numbers, regardless of how many new pixels you add.
I also agree with you that the interface adds to the frustration. It takes a long time to place pixels, when I imagine the interesting part for most people is the result of different placements, not the challenge of getting the pixels into place.
Is: "Cells surrounded by three or more cells belonging to the same opponent are consumed", not the reason for the non-constant # of cells?
I imagine that is the author's language for the fact cells get captured and turned. In fact, I don't see how it would possible for the # to stay constant; how would anyone color ever "win"(take over the board) if such a requirement was maintained?
I also may not be correctly following your questions logic...
Also it for some reason got almost impossible to paint the board one color; beginning was easy enough. A splash was enough. Somehow the "end-game" is nearly impossible to complete. The very frustrating input method does not help the least.
Otherwise, nice idea!