A pattern of separate, independent houses is drawn using matchsticks. Each house consists of a square base and a triangular roof, taking \(6\) matchsticks in total. If a row of these houses is built such that adjacent houses share a common vertical matchstick wall, how many matchsticks are needed for \(n\) houses?
1. Write the general rule to find the number of matchsticks required for \(n\) houses.
2. The matchsticks needed for 12 houses is .
Answer variants:
61
60
\(5n - 1\)
\(5n + 1\)
\(6n\)
62