Let's see if I can explain what is happening.

every time you place an item, an action occurs. the action of the "men" is always the same.....unless you place an item out of order.

each item, after it is placed, will change each time a new item is placed.

Some items only change only 1 or 2 times no matter how early you place them. some items change more often. Those are the items you need to place first, and you will find this out through trial and error.

When you are through placing the items your "score" will come up. The items that got MAX were placed soon enough to make all of its potential changes. They all need to say MAX in order to win.....and when you do win, you WILL know it.

Now I need to go back and see if I can recreate the win.