Improvements to filled-grid generation. Introduced a cunning idea
[sgt/puzzles] / puzzles.but
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e91825f8 1\title Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
2
3\cfg{winhelp-filename}{puzzles.hlp}
4\cfg{winhelp-contents-titlepage}{Contents}
5
6\cfg{text-filename}{puzzles.txt}
7
fccfd04d 8\cfg{html-contents-filename}{index.html}
8709d5d9 9\cfg{html-template-filename}{%k.html}
10\cfg{html-index-filename}{docindex.html}
fccfd04d 11\cfg{html-leaf-level}{1}
12\cfg{html-contents-depth-0}{1}
13\cfg{html-contents-depth-1}{2}
14\cfg{html-leaf-contains-contents}{true}
15
e91825f8 16\cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info}
17
18\cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps}
19\cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf}
20
1d8e8ad8 21\define{by} \u00D7{x}
22
f1010613 23\define{dash} \u2013{-}
24
e91825f8 25This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games.
26
07a54e52 27\copyright This manual is copyright 2004-2008 Simon Tatham. All rights
e91825f8 28reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence.
29See \k{licence} for the licence text in full.
30
8709d5d9 31\cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">}
e91825f8 32
8709d5d9 33\versionid $Id$
e91825f8 34
35\C{intro} Introduction
36
37I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small
38desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and
39play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever
8a771ea7 40else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found
41a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I
42was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged
43that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on
bb219ea1 44both, and have more recently done a port to \i{Mac OS X} as well. When I
8a771ea7 45find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll
46be added to this collection and will immediately be available on
47both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front
f1010613 48ends \dash PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be \dash
49then all the games in this framework will immediately become
50available on another platform as well.
e91825f8 51
aafaa7fb 52The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; they
53are re-implementations of existing game concepts within my portable
54puzzle framework. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing the
55rules of any of these puzzles. (I don't even claim authorship of all
56the code; some of the puzzles have been submitted by other authors.)
e91825f8 57
58This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see
59\k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like
60with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them
61yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong.
62
63The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at
64\I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}.
65
66Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to
67\W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}.
68You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug:
69
70\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}
71
72\ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end
73(to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game.
74
75
76\C{common} \ii{Common features}
77
78This chapter describes features that are common to all the games.
79
80\H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions
81
82These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu
83and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific
84actions.
85
bb219ea1 86(On \i{Mac OS X}, to conform with local user interface standards, these
3101ae26 87actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit
bacaa96e 88menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.)
89
e91825f8 90\dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N})
91
92\dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state.
93
2b06373b 94\dt \ii\e{Restart game}
e91825f8 95
2b06373b 96\dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.)
e91825f8 97
668be019 98\dt \ii\e{Load}
99
100\dd Loads a saved game from a file on disk.
101
102\dt \ii\e{Save}
103
104\dd Saves the current state of your game to a file on disk.
105
106\lcont{
107
ff359b8a 108The Load and Save operations preserve your entire game
668be019 109history (so you can save, reload, and still Undo and Redo things you
110had done before saving).
111
112}
113
3c9388ef 114\dt \I{printing, on Windows}\e{Print}
e28d0584 115
116\dd Where supported (currently only on Windows), brings up a dialog
117allowing you to print an arbitrary number of puzzles randomly
118generated from the current parameters, optionally including the
3c9388ef 119current puzzle. (Only for puzzles which make sense to print, of
120course - it's hard to think of a sensible printable representation
121of Fifteen!)
e28d0584 122
e91825f8 123\dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_})
124
125\dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the
2b06373b 126session.)
e91825f8 127
2b06373b 128\dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R})
e91825f8 129
2b06373b 130\dd Redoes a previously undone move.
e91825f8 131
bacaa96e 132\dt \ii\e{Copy}
133
134\dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
135format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a
136web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else.
137(Not all games support this feature.)
138
2ac6d24e 139\dt \ii\e{Solve}
140
141\dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
142games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of
143no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved
144state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a
145solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a
146mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution
147tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does
148provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment
149with set-piece moves and transformations.
150
151\lcont{
152
153Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have
154typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot
155solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did
156invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still
157other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only
158if they aren't too difficult.
159
e8124727 160The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
161chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
162solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo.
163
2ac6d24e 164}
165
e91825f8 166\dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q})
167
168\dd Closes the application entirely.
169
1185e3c5 170\H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID}
171
172There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
173recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
174same puzzle.
175
176The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the
bb219ea1 177\I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on \i{Mac OS X}) each
1185e3c5 178show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to
179reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date.
180
181You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
182(via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a
183later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use
184either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see
185\k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
186
187The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
188is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game,
189whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was
190provided as input to the random number generator used to create the
191puzzle. This means that:
192
193\b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although
194some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions).
195So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle
196you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can
197play the same one as you.
198
199\b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
200generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you
201can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid
202puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or
203more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a
204random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody
205has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before
206anybody else.
207
208\b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
209as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive
210game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
211
212\b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you
213use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This
214is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or
215modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a
216different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use
217a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the
218same version of the program as yours.
219
220\lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number
221of the program. Programs with the same version number running on
222different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)}
223
224\I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which
225encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid
226size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of
227the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string
228of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by
229arbitrary data.
230
231If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to
232show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
233generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed,
234however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
235ID derived from that random seed.
236
237Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
238between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data
239provided with the random seed which is not included in the
240descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
241only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important
242when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
243(\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
244
245These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
246in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced}
247difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a
248\q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying
249\q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will
250generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having
251trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask
252for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced}
253difficulty which it was previously set on.
e91825f8 254
255\H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu
256
257The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of
258\i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new
259random game with the parameters specified.
260
1185e3c5 261The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which
262allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters
263available are specific to each game and are described in the
264following sections.
e91825f8 265
266\H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line}
267
bb219ea1 268(This section does not apply to the \i{Mac OS X} version.)
8a771ea7 269
e91825f8 270The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
271information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
272tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
273some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
274appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
275
bb219ea1 276However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to
277\I{default parameters, specifying}default to a particular set of
278parameters, you can specify them on the command line.
e91825f8 279
280The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
281using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select
1185e3c5 282\q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see
283\k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of
284two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents
285the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and
286anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
e91825f8 287
288If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
289line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
290
291For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron}
292from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
1185e3c5 293will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only
294the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text
295on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
e91825f8 296
297If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game
298will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
299occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
300than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
301
1185e3c5 302(You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
303\q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do
304then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be
305missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.)
306
bb219ea1 307\H{common-unix-cmdline} \i{Unix} \i{command-line} options
3c9388ef 308
309(This section only applies to the Unix port.)
310
ff359b8a 311In addition to being able to specify game parameters on the command
312line (see \k{common-cmdline}), there are various other options:
313
314\dt \cw{--game}
315
316\dt \cw{--load}
317
318\dd These options respectively determine whether the command-line
319argument is treated as specifying game parameters or a \i{save} file
320to \i{load}. Only one should be specified. If neither of these options
321is specified, a guess is made based on the format of the argument.
3c9388ef 322
323\dt \cw{--generate }\e{n}
324
325\dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being displayed,
bb219ea1 326a number of descriptive game IDs will be \I{generating game IDs}invented
327and printed on standard output. This is useful for gaining access to
328the game generation algorithms without necessarily using the frontend.
3c9388ef 329
330\lcont{
331
332If game parameters are specified on the command-line, they will be
333used to generate the game IDs; otherwise a default set of parameters
334will be used.
335
336The most common use of this option is in conjunction with \c{--print},
337in which case its behaviour is slightly different; see below.
338
339}
340
341\dt \I{printing, on Unix}\cw{--print }\e{w}\cw{x}\e{h}
342
343\dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being displayed,
344a printed representation of one or more unsolved puzzles is sent to
345standard output, in \i{PostScript} format.
346
347\lcont{
348
349On each page of puzzles, there will be \e{w} across and \e{h} down. If
350there are more puzzles than \e{w}\by\e{h}, more than one page will be
351printed.
352
353If \c{--generate} has also been specified, the invented game IDs will
354be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise, a list of game IDs
355is expected on standard input (which can be descriptive or random
356seeds; see \k{common-id}), in the same format produced by
357\c{--generate}.
358
359For example:
360
361\c net --generate 12 --print 2x3 7x7w | lpr
362
363will generate two pages of printed Net puzzles (each of which will
364have a 7\by\.7 wrapping grid), and pipe the output to the \c{lpr}
365command, which on many systems will send them to an actual printer.
366
367There are various other options which affect printing; see below.
368
369}
370
371\dt \cw{--version}
372
373\dd Prints version information about the game, and then quits.
374
375The following options are only meaningful if \c{--print} is also
376specified:
377
378\dt \cw{--with-solutions}
379
380\dd The set of pages filled with unsolved puzzles will be followed by
381the solutions to those puzzles.
382
383\dt \cw{--scale }\e{n}
384
385\dd Adjusts how big each puzzle is when printed. Larger numbers make
386puzzles bigger; the default is 1.0.
387
388\dt \cw{--colour}
389
390\dd Puzzles will be printed in colour, rather than in black and white
391(if supported by the puzzle).
392
e28d0584 393
e91825f8 394\C{net} \i{Net}
395
396\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net}
397
398(\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called
399\i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.)
400
401I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet}
6e8e5c51 402\k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other
403implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a
e91825f8 404network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then
405shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to
406rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an
6e8e5c51 407entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter
408clause means that there are no closed paths within the network.
409Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid,
e91825f8 410all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are
411highlighted.
412
413\B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}
414
415\H{net-controls} \i{Net controls}
416
417\IM{Net controls} controls, for Net
418\IM{Net controls} keys, for Net
419\IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net
420
421This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
422controls are:
423
424\dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys
425
426\dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key
427
428\dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key
429
118473f5 430\dt \e{Rotate tile by 180 degrees}: \q{F} key
431
e91825f8 432\dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key
433
434\dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can
435also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally
436turn it.
437
f0ee053c 438The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may
439be useful:
440
441\dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys
442
443\dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that
444tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together.
445
446\dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys
447
448\dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
449(It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will
450be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be
451helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.)
452
cbb5549e 453\dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key
454
455\dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
456orientations.
457
e91825f8 458(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
459
460\H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters
461
462These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
463\q{Type} menu.
464
465\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
466
467\dd Size of grid in tiles.
468
469\dt \e{Walls wrap around}
470
471\dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
472and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
473
474\dt \e{Barrier probability}
475
476\dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
477barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a
478higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they
479act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints).
480
481\lcont{
482
483The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the
484barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if
1185e3c5 485you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle
486(see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter,
487and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the
488same starting grid, with the only change being the number of
489barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint,
490you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same
491parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed
492from the original Net window.
e91825f8 493
494}
495
40fde884 496\dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
497
498\dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
499only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
500difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
501feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all}
502the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
503advanced player.)
504
e28d0584 505
e91825f8 506\C{cube} \i{Cube}
507
508\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube}
509
510This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
511Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16
512squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move
513is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that
514it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue
515square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you
516roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is
517put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces
518that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
519squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
520moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
521
522Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
523once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
524you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an
525octahedron or an icosahedron.
526
527\B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}
528
529\H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls}
530
531\IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube
532\IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube
533\IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube
534
a1d5acff 535This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
e91825f8 536
a1d5acff 537Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
538solid) towards the mouse pointer.
539
540The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
541the four cardinal directions.
e91825f8 542On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is
543more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't
544make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric
545keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement.
546
547(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
548
549\H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters
550
551These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
552\q{Type} menu.
553
554\dt \e{Type of solid}
555
556\dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
557tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
558
559\dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom}
560
561\dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
562triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows
563respectively.
564
565
566\C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen}
567
568\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen}
569
1d8e8ad8 570The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}}
571with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares
572contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to
573choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space.
574The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the
575space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the
576bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}).
e91825f8 577
578\H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls}
579
580\IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen
581\IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen
582\IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen
583
584This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
585
586A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty
587space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the
588mouse pointer.
589
590The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction
591indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction).
592
593(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
594
595\H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters
596
597The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
598menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once
599you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!)
600
601
602\C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen}
603
604\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen}
605
606Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
607\k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
608hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
609is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up
610or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
611re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
612vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
613the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
614playing on different sizes of grid.
615
616I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if
617so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
618thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
619that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
620rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
621thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
622rather than just engineering.
623
624\H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls
625
626This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will
627move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated.
628Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction.
629
630(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
631
632\H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters
633
81875211 634The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
635\q{Type} menu are:
636
637\b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
638
639\b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
640the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way
641that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
642override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to
643be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise
644set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer
645(say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the
646more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter
647than the target length will turn out to be possible.
648
e91825f8 649
9038fd11 650\C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle}
651
652\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle}
653
654Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
655(see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
656containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
657ascending order.
658
659In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
a3631c72 660tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in
661the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
662settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
9038fd11 663
664I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid
665Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
666you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
667developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
668
669\H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls
670
671To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
672you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square,
673which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
674meet.
675
676In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at
677a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in
678the centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
679
680Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
681Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
682
683(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
684
685\H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters
686
687Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom}
688option on the \q{Type} menu:
689
690\b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
691
692\b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time.
693
694\b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
695(the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there
696are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim
697is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into
698the second row, and so on.
699
a3631c72 700\b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
d50832a3 701you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
702drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete
703the puzzle.
a3631c72 704
81875211 705\b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
706the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any
707arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this
708by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed.
709Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling
710moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move
711shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask
712for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target
713length will turn out to be possible.
714
9038fd11 715
e91825f8 716\C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles}
717
718\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles}
719
720You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all)
721of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of
722various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one
723numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the
724number written in its numbered square.
725
726Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli}
26801d29 727\k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle
728Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's
729implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of
730any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not
731quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side
732you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own
733specification.
e91825f8 734
6ae37301 735\B{nikoli-rect} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}
e91825f8 736
6ae37301 737\B{puzzle-palace-rect} \W{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}\cw{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}
e91825f8 738
739\H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls
740
741This game is played with the mouse.
742
743Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw
744an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any
745existing edges within that rectangle).
746
747When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded.
748
749(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
750
751\H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters
752
40fde884 753These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
754\q{Type} menu.
755
756\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
757
758\dd Size of grid, in squares.
759
760\dt \e{Expansion factor}
aea3ed9a 761
40fde884 762\dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
763the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
764rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
aea3ed9a 765Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size
766you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns.
767
40fde884 768\lcont{
769
aea3ed9a 770The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
771simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
772further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that
773each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big
774after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the
775size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size
776without adding any more rectangles.
777
4a03dbb4 778Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game
779more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive
780and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high,
781though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles
782to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial.
aea3ed9a 783
40fde884 784}
785
786\dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
787
788\dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
789have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
790difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
791feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the
792possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced
793player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
794
6ae37301 795
e91825f8 796\C{netslide} \i{Netslide}
797
798\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide}
799
6bbab0fe 800This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the
801movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but
802instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
803into place by moving a whole row at a time.
e91825f8 804
e91825f8 805As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse.
806See \k{sixteen-controls}.
807
aa27d493 808\I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar
809meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see
810\k{sixteen-params}).
e91825f8 811
6bbab0fe 812Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
6ae37301 813
e28d0584 814
b6b0369e 815\C{pattern} \i{Pattern}
816
817\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern}
818
819You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
820or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
821runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
822lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
823fill in the entire grid black or white.
824
825I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
2e1e03ff 826\q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under
b6b0369e 827different names.
828
829Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
830of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
831generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
832groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
833a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
834squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
835The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
836
2e1e03ff 837\H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls
b6b0369e 838
839This game is played with the mouse.
840
841Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
842white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
843Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
844default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again.
845
846You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
847a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
848(respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
849with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
850grey.
851
2e1e03ff 852(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
853
b6b0369e 854\H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters
855
856The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
857menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
e91825f8 858
6ae37301 859
1d8e8ad8 860\C{solo} \i{Solo}
861
862\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo}
863
864You have a square grid, which is divided into square or rectangular
865blocks. Each square must be filled in with a digit from 1 to the
866size of the grid, in such a way that
867
868\b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
869
870\b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
871
872\b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
873
874You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
875rest of the numbers correctly.
876
877The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual grid, divided
878into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes with
879rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a
8806\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks).
881
882If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
883additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
884you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1
885to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}.
886
3012ffca 887I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's
888also been popularised by various newspapers under the name
889\q{Sudoku} or \q{Su Doku}. Howard Garns is considered the inventor
890of the modern form of the puzzle, and it was first published in
891\e{Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games}. A more elaborate treatment
892of the history of the puzzle can be found on Wikipedia
893\k{wikipedia-solo}.
1d8e8ad8 894
6ae37301 895\B{nikoli-solo} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm}
896
3012ffca 897\B{wikipedia-solo} \W{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku}\cw{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku}
898
1d8e8ad8 899\H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls
900
901To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
902type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
903make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
904Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
905
c8266e03 906If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
907number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
908have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
909
910The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
911them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
912particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
913particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
914numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
915
916To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
917the same number again.
918
919All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
920a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
921pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
922
1d8e8ad8 923(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
924
925\H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters
926
927Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
6ae37301 928grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of
929rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
930the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows,
931each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
1d8e8ad8 932
fbd0fc79 933You can introduce an optional extra constraint on the puzzles,
934requiring that the two main diagonals of the grid also contain one
935of every digit. (This is sometimes known as \q{Sudoku-X} in
936newspapers.) In this mode, the squares on the two main diagonals
937will be shaded slightly so that you know it's enabled.
938
ef57b17d 939You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
940puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
941make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
942clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
943have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
944
7c568a48 945Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
946Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of
947deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode
948of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
949particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there
950will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times,
951whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make
952partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in
e28d0584 953(or the set of numbers that could be in a square).
954\#{Advanced, Extreme?}
955At \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will
de60d8bd 956eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out
957to be wrong.
7c568a48 958
c65d92ac 959Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select one
960of the higher difficulty levels, Solo may have to make many attempts
961at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough for you. Be
962prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured a large
963puzzle size.
7c568a48 964
ef57b17d 965
7959b517 966\C{mines} \i{Mines}
967
968\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines}
969
970You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
971you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
972\e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine,
973you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
974are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
975squares.
976
977This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
978perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
979
980This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
981generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
982never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to
983deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
984versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
985two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
986are.
987
988\H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls
989
990This game is played with the mouse.
991
992If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
993
994If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
995indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
996a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
997again to remove a mark placed in error.
998
999If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear
1000around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many
1001flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered
1002squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So
1003once you think you know the location of all the mines around a
1004square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to
1005click on each of the remaining squares one by one.
1006
1007If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding
1008eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
1009turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
1010will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
1011square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
1012
11d31eb9 1013All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
1014
7959b517 1015Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
11d31eb9 1016use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
1017in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
1018them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
1019like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
1020will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
1021game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
1022
1023(If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
1024implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
1025Solve menu option.)
7959b517 1026
1027\H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters
1028
1029The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
1030menu are:
1031
1032\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1033
1034\dd Size of grid in squares.
1035
1036\dt \e{Mines}
1037
08781119 1038\dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
1039mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in
1040which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares
1041in the grid to be mines.
1042
1043\lcont{
1044
1045Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities,
1046the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid.
1047
1048}
7959b517 1049
1050\dt \e{Ensure solubility}
1051
1052\dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
1053ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the
1054initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by
1055other implementations, you can switch off this option.
1056
1057
6bbab0fe 1058\C{samegame} \i{Same Game}
1059
1060\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame}
1061
1062You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
209ab5a7 1063highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
6bbab0fe 1064the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
1065the faster you clear the arena).
1066
1067If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but
209ab5a7 1068single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you
6bbab0fe 1069lose.
1070
1071Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up:
1072blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty
1073columns are filled from the right.
1074
6bbab0fe 1075Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1076
209ab5a7 1077\H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls}
1078
1079\IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game
1080\IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game
1081\IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game
1082
1083This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
6bbab0fe 1084
1085If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly
1086clearing the current selection).
1087
1088If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
1089rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
1090
1091If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
1092
209ab5a7 1093The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
1094Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
1095pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
1096
e28d0584 1097(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1098
6bbab0fe 1099\H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters
1100
209ab5a7 1101These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1102\q{Type} menu.
1103
6bbab0fe 1104\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1105
1106\dd Size of grid in squares.
1107
1108\dt \e{No. of colours}
1109
1110\dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours,
209ab5a7 1111the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to
1112successfully clear the grid.
1113
1114\dt \e{Scoring system}
1115
1116\dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default
1117system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score
1118any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of
1119two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively
1120more points.
6bbab0fe 1121
e4a7ab56 1122\dt \e{Ensure solubility}
1123
1124\dd If this option is ticked (the default state), generated grids
1125will be guaranteed to have at least one solution.
1126
1127\lcont{
1128
1129If you turn it off, the game generator will not try to guarantee
1130soluble grids; it will, however, still ensure that there are at
1131least 2 squares of each colour on the grid at the start (since a
1132grid with exactly one square of a given colour is \e{definitely}
1133insoluble). Grids generated with this option disabled may contain
1134more large areas of contiguous colour, leading to opportunities for
1135higher scores; they can also take less time to generate.
1136
1137}
1138
f4afe206 1139
1140\C{flip} \i{Flip}
1141
1142\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip}
1143
1144You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1145light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1146and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1147do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1148
1149Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1150change when you flip it.
1151
d6acbe63 1152\H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls}
f4afe206 1153
1154\IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip
1155\IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip
1156\IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip
1157
33317d37 1158This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1159
1160Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or
1161use the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter
1162key to flip.
79cb09e9 1163
5f6050b4 1164If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will mark some of
1165the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1166mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square
1167\e{without} a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate
1168that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
f4afe206 1169
e28d0584 1170(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1171
f4afe206 1172\H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters
1173
1174These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1175\q{Type} menu.
1176
1177\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1178
1179\dd Size of grid in squares.
1180
1181\dt \e{Shape type}
1182
1183\dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1184by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses},
1185causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours
1186(or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting,
1187\q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so
1188the game is different every time.
1189
1190
c6203e43 1191\C{guess} \i{Guess}
1192
1193\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.guess}
1194
1195You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a
1196predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a
1197certain number of guesses.
1198
1199Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs
9ffde3e8 1200in the correct places (in black), and also the number of
1201correctly-coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white).
c6203e43 1202
1203This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as
bb219ea1 1204a board game \q{\i{Mastermind}}, with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row,
1205and 10 guesses. However, this version allows custom settings of number
1206of colours (up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses.
c6203e43 1207
64455a5a 1208Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1209
c6203e43 1210\H{guess-controls} \i{Guess controls}
1211
1212\IM{Guess controls} controls, for Guess
1213\IM{Guess controls} keys, for Guess
1214\IM{Guess controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Guess
1215
9ffde3e8 1216This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1217
9c63a011 1218With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand
1219side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also be
1220dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To
1221remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid.
c6203e43 1222
9ffde3e8 1223Right-clicking in the current guess adds a \q{hold} marker; pegs
c6203e43 1224that have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess
1225after marking.
1226
9ffde3e8 1227Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can be
1228used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a
9c63a011 1229peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the
59dae0db 1230selected colour in the chosen position. \q{D} or Backspace removes a
1231peg, and \q{H} adds a hold marker.
9ffde3e8 1232
9c63a011 1233When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be highlighted;
9ffde3e8 1234clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them with the arrow keys
9c63a011 1235and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will mark the current guess,
1236copy any held pegs to the next guess, and move the \q{current guess}
1237marker.
c6203e43 1238
1239If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be displayed
9ffde3e8 1240below; if you run out of guesses (or select \q{Solve...}) the solution
9c63a011 1241will also be revealed.
c6203e43 1242
e28d0584 1243(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1244
13b443e3 1245\H{guess-parameters} \I{parameters, for Guess}Guess parameters
c6203e43 1246
1247These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1248\q{Type} menu. The default game matches the parameters for the
9ffde3e8 1249board game \q{Mastermind}.
c6203e43 1250
1251\dt \e{Colours}
1252
1253\dd Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10
1254(more is harder).
1255
1256\dt \e{Pegs per guess}
1257
1258\dd Number of pegs per guess (more is harder).
1259
1260\dt \e{Guesses}
1261
1262\dd Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is harder).
1263
1264\dt \e{Allow blanks}
1265
1266\dd Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it easier, because
1267you know that those will never be counted as part of the solution). This
1268is turned off by default.
1269
1270Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you really wanted
1271that, use one extra colour.
1272
1273\dt \e{Allow duplicates}
1274
1275\dd Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more than once;
1276this increases the search space (making things harder), and is turned on by
1277default.
1278
1279
13b443e3 1280\C{pegs} \i{Pegs}
1281
1282\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pegs}
1283
1284A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a
33a3deb2 1285peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically)
1286to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but one
1287of the pegs initially present.
13b443e3 1288
e28d0584 1289This game, best known as \I{Solitaire, Peg}\q{Peg Solitaire}, is
1290possibly one of the oldest puzzle games still commonly known.
13b443e3 1291
1292\H{pegs-controls} \i{Pegs controls}
1293
1294\IM{Pegs controls} controls, for Pegs
1295
1296To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to
1297its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away
1298from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and
1299there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted
1300and the intervening peg will be removed.
1301
1302Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A
1303space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it
1304is an obstacle which you must work around.
1305
e28d0584 1306(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
13b443e3 1307
1308\H{pegs-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pegs}Pegs parameters
1309
1310These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1311\q{Type} menu.
1312
1313\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1314
1315\dd Size of grid in holes.
1316
1317\dt \e{Board type}
1318
1319\dd Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or a
1320randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently
1321supported are \q{Cross} and \q{Octagon} (also commonly known as the
1322English and European traditional board layouts respectively).
1323Selecting \q{Random} will give you a different board shape every
1324time (but always one that is known to have a solution).
1325
1326
6c04c334 1327\C{dominosa} \i{Dominosa}
1328
1329\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.dominosa}
1330
f1010613 1331A normal set of dominoes \dash that is, one instance of every
1332(unordered) pair of numbers from 0 to 6 \dash has been arranged
1333irregularly into a rectangle; then the number in each square has
1334been written down and the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is
1335to reconstruct the pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match
1336the provided array of numbers.
6c04c334 1337
1338This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its
1339name from those initials.
1340
1341\H{dominosa-controls} \i{Dominosa controls}
1342
1343\IM{Dominosa controls} controls, for Dominosa
1344
1345Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino
1346covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to
1347place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones
1348it overlaps.
1349
1350Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between
1351them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two
1352numbers are \e{not} covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again
1353removes the line.
1354
e28d0584 1355(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
6c04c334 1356
1357\H{dominosa-parameters} \I{parameters, for Dominosa}Dominosa parameters
1358
1359These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1360\q{Type} menu.
1361
1362\dt \e{Maximum number on dominoes}
1363
1364\dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the
1365set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going up to N
1366will give rise to an (N+2) \by (N+1) rectangle; so, in particular,
1367the default value of 6 gives an 8\by\.7 grid.
1368
1369\dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
1370
1371\dd Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents
1372have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
1373difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you can turn off
1374this feature. Also, finding \e{all} the possible solutions can be an
1375additional challenge for an advanced player. Turning off this option
1376can also speed up puzzle generation.
1377
1378
9d6c3859 1379\C{untangle} \i{Untangle}
1380
1381\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.untangle}
1382
1383You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn
1384between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is
1385to position the points so that no line crosses another.
1386
1387I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{Planarity}
1388\k{Planarity}, written by John Tantalo.
1389
1390\B{Planarity} \W{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}\cw{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}
1391
1392\H{untangle-controls} \i{Untangle controls}
1393
1394\IM{Untangle controls} controls, for Untangle
1395
1396To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it
1397into a new position.
1398
e28d0584 1399(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1400
9d6c3859 1401\H{untangle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Untangle}Untangle parameters
1402
1403There is only one parameter available from the \q{Custom...} option
1404on the \q{Type} menu:
1405
1406\dt \e{Number of points}
1407
1408\dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of
1409points in the generated graph.
1410
1411
bf7ebf5a 1412\C{blackbox} \i{Black Box}
1413
1414\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.blackbox}
1415
1416A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to
1417deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers from positions
1418on the edge of the arena and observing how they are deflected.
1419
1420Lasers will fire straight until they hit the opposite side of the
1421arena (at which point they emerge), unless affected by balls in one of
1422the following ways:
1423
1424\b A laser that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never re-emerge.
1425 This includes lasers that meet a ball on the first rank of the arena.
1426
1427\b A laser with a ball to its front-left square gets deflected 90 degrees
1428 to the right.
1429
1430\b A laser with a ball to its front-right square gets similarly deflected
1431 to the left.
1432
1433\b A laser that would re-emerge from the entry location is considered to be
ebf54ec9 1434 \q{reflected}.
bf7ebf5a 1435
a4c9750f 1436\b A laser which would get deflected before entering the arena (down the
1437 \q{firing range}) by a ball to the front-left or front-right of its
1438 entry point is also considered to be \q{reflected}.
bf7ebf5a 1439
ebf54ec9 1440Lasers that are reflected appear as a \q{R}; lasers that hit balls
1441dead-on appear as \q{H}. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing point
bf7ebf5a 1442and the location where the laser emerges (this number is unique to
1443that shot).
1444
1445You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the
1446entry and exit patterns of the lasers; once you have placed enough
1447balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked.
1448
1449Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each
1450of the laser behaviours shown above:
1451
1452\c 1RHR----
1453\c |..O.O...|
1454\c 2........3
1455\c |........|
1456\c |........|
1457\c 3........|
1458\c |......O.|
1459\c H........|
1460\c |.....O..|
1461\c 12-RH---
1462
1463As shown, it is possible for a ball to receive multiple reflections
1464before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a ball may be reflected
ebf54ec9 1465(possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the \q{H} on the
bf7ebf5a 1466left side of the example).
1467
1468Note that any layout with more that 4 balls may have a non-unique
1469solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the
1470board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the fifth
1471ball is (possible positions marked with an x):
1472
1473\c --------
1474\c |........|
1475\c |........|
1476\c |..O..O..|
1477\c |...xx...|
1478\c |...xx...|
1479\c |..O..O..|
1480\c |........|
1481\c |........|
1482\c --------
1483
1484For this reason when you have your guesses checked the game will
1485check that your solution \e{produces the same results} as the
1486computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the
1487computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at
1488\e{any} of the locations marked with an x, and you would still win.
1489
1490Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1491
1492\H{blackbox-controls} \i{Black Box controls}
1493
1494\IM{Black Box controls}controls, for Black Box
1495
1496To fire a laser, left-click in a square around the side of the arena.
1497The results will be displayed immediately. Lasers may not be fired
1498twice (because the results will never change). Holding down the left
1499button will highlight the current go (or a previous go) to confirm the
1500exit point for that laser, if applicable.
1501
1502To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a
1503black circle will appear marking the guess; to remove the guessed ball
1504click again.
1505
1506Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by
1507right-clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by
1508right-clicking in the laser firing range above/below that column, or
1509to the left/right of that row.
1510
1511When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed a button will
a4c9750f 1512appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that will mark
bf7ebf5a 1513your guesses.
1514
27388471 1515If you click the \q{mark} button and your guesses are not correct,
1516the game will show you as little information as possible to
1517demonstrate this to you, so you can try again. If your ball
1518positions are not consistent with the laser paths you already know
1519about, one laser path will be circled to indicate that it proves you
1520wrong. If your positions match all the existing laser paths but are
1521still wrong, one new laser path will be revealed (written in red)
1522which is not consistent with your current guesses.
1523
1524If you decide to give up completely, you can select Solve to reveal
1525the actual ball positions. At this point, correctly-placed balls
1526will be displayed as filled black circles; incorrectly-placed balls
1527are displayed as filled black circles with red crosses, and missing
1528balls are filled red circles. In addition, a red circle marks any
1529laser you had already fired which is not consistent with your ball
1530layout (just as when you press the mark button), and red text marks
bf7ebf5a 1531any laser you \e{could} have fired in order to distinguish your ball
1532layout from the right one.
1533
1534(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1535
1536\H{blackbox-parameters} \I{parameters, for Black Box}Black Box parameters
1537
1538These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1539\q{Type} menu.
1540
1541\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1542
ebf54ec9 1543\dd Size of grid in squares. There are 2 \by \e{Width} \by \e{Height} lasers
bf7ebf5a 1544per grid, two per row and two per column.
1545
1546\dt \e{No. of balls}
1547
1548\dd Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single number,
ebf54ec9 1549or a range (separated with a hyphen, like \q{2-6}), and determines the
1550number of balls to place on the grid. The \q{reveal} button is only
bf7ebf5a 1551enabled if you have guessed an appropriate number of balls; a guess
1552using a different number to the original solution is still acceptable,
1553if all the laser inputs and outputs match.
1554
1555
f1010613 1556\C{slant} \i{Slant}
1557
1558\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.slant}
1559
1560You have a grid of squares. Your aim is to draw a diagonal line
1561through each square, and choose which way each line slants so that
1562the following conditions are met:
1563
1564\b The diagonal lines never form a loop.
1565
1566\b Any point with a circled number has precisely that many lines
1567meeting at it. (Thus, a 4 is the centre of a cross shape, whereas a
1568zero is the centre of a diamond shape \dash or rather, a partial
1569diamond shape, because a zero can never appear in the middle of the
1570grid because that would immediately cause a loop.)
1571
1572Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-slant}.
1573
1574\B{nikoli-slant}
1575\W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm}
1576(in Japanese)
1577
f1010613 1578\H{slant-controls} \i{Slant controls}
1579
1580\IM{Slant controls} controls, for Slant
f1010613 1581
1582Left-clicking in a blank square will place a \cw{\\} in it (a line
1583leaning to the left, i.e. running from the top left of the square to
1584the bottom right). Right-clicking in a blank square will place a
1585\cw{/} in it (leaning to the right, running from top right to bottom
1586left).
1587
1588Continuing to click either button will cycle between the three
1589possible square contents. Thus, if you left-click repeatedly in a
1590blank square it will change from blank to \cw{\\} to \cw{/} back to
1591blank, and if you right-click repeatedly the square will change from
1592blank to \cw{/} to \cw{\\} back to blank. (Therefore, you can play
1593the game entirely with one button if you need to.)
1594
1595(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1596
e3478a4b 1597\H{slant-parameters} \I{parameters, for Slant}Slant parameters
f1010613 1598
1599These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1600\q{Type} menu.
1601
1602\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1603
1604\dd Size of grid in squares.
1605
15164c74 1606\dt \e{Difficulty}
1607
1608\dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Hard level,
1609you are required to do deductions based on knowledge of
1610\e{relationships} between squares rather than always being able to
1611deduce the exact contents of one square at a time. (For example, you
1612might know that two squares slant in the same direction, even if you
1613don't yet know what that direction is, and this might enable you to
1614deduce something about still other squares.) Even at Hard level,
1615guesswork and backtracking should never be necessary.
1616
f1010613 1617
e3478a4b 1618\C{lightup} \i{Light Up}
1619
1620\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.lightup}
1621
1622You have a grid of squares. Some are filled in black; some of the
1623black squares are numbered. Your aim is to \q{light up} all the
1624empty squares by placing light bulbs in some of them.
1625
1626Each light bulb illuminates the square it is on, plus all squares in
1627line with it horizontally or vertically unless a black square is
1628blocking the way.
1629
1630To win the game, you must satisfy the following conditions:
1631
1632\b All non-black squares are lit.
1633
1634\b No light is lit by another light.
1635
1636\b All numbered black squares have exactly that number of lights adjacent to
1637 them (in the four squares above, below, and to the side).
1638
1639Non-numbered black squares may have any number of lights adjacent to them.
1640
1641Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-lightup}.
1642
1643Light Up was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1644
1645\B{nikoli-lightup}
1646\W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm}
1647(beware of Flash)
1648
1649\H{lightup-controls} \i{Light Up controls}
1650
1651\IM{Light Up controls} controls, for Light Up
e3478a4b 1652
1653Left-clicking in a non-black square will toggle the presence of a light
1654in that square. Right-clicking in a non-black square toggles a mark there to aid
1655solving; it can be used to highlight squares that cannot be lit, for example.
1656
1657You may not place a light in a marked square, nor place a mark in a lit square.
1658
1659The game will highlight obvious errors in red. Lights lit by other
1660lights are highlighted in this way, as are numbered squares which
1661do not (or cannot) have the right number of lights next to them.
1662
1663Thus, the grid is solved when all non-black squares have yellow
1664highlights and there are no red lights.
1665
e28d0584 1666(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
e3478a4b 1667
1668\H{lightup-parameters} \I{parameters, for Light Up}Light Up parameters
1669
1670These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1671\q{Type} menu.
1672
1673\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1674
1675\dd Size of grid in squares.
1676
1677\dt \e{%age of black squares}
1678
1679\dd Rough percentage of black squares in the grid.
1680
1681\lcont{
1682
1683This is a hint rather than an instruction. If the grid generator is
1684unable to generate a puzzle to this precise specification, it will
1685increase the proportion of black squares until it can.
1686
1687}
1688
1689\dt \e{Symmetry}
1690
1691\dd Allows you to specify the required symmetry of the black squares
1692in the grid. (This does not affect the difficulty of the puzzles
1693noticeably.)
1694
1695\dt \e{Difficulty}
1696
1697\dd \q{Easy} means that the puzzles should be soluble without
1698backtracking or guessing, \q{Hard} means that some guesses will
1699probably be necessary.
1700
1701
c51c7de6 1702\C{map} \i{Map}
1703
1704\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.map}
1705
1706You are given a map consisting of a number of regions. Your task is
1707to colour each region with one of four colours, in such a way that
1708no two regions sharing a boundary have the same colour. You are
1709provided with some regions already coloured, sufficient to make the
1710remainder of the solution unique.
1711
1712Only regions which share a length of border are required to be
1713different colours. Two regions which meet at only one \e{point}
1714(i.e. are diagonally separated) may be the same colour.
1715
1716I believe this puzzle is original; I've never seen an implementation
bb219ea1 1717of it anywhere else. The concept of a \i{four-colouring} puzzle was
c51c7de6 1718suggested by Owen Dunn; credit must also go to Nikoli and to Verity
1719Allan for inspiring the train of thought that led to me realising
1720Owen's suggestion was a viable puzzle. Thanks also to Gareth Taylor
1721for many detailed suggestions.
1722
c51c7de6 1723\H{map-controls} \i{Map controls}
1724
1725\IM{Map controls} controls, for Map
c51c7de6 1726
1cdd1306 1727To colour a region, click the left mouse button on an existing
1728region of the desired colour and drag that colour into the new
1729region.
c51c7de6 1730
1731(The program will always ensure the starting puzzle has at least one
1732region of each colour, so that this is always possible!)
1733
1734If you need to clear a region, you can drag from an empty region, or
1735from the puzzle boundary if there are no empty regions left.
1736
1cdd1306 1737Dragging a colour using the \e{right} mouse button will stipple the
1738region in that colour, which you can use as a note to yourself that
1739you think the region \e{might} be that colour. A region can contain
1740stipples in multiple colours at once. (This is often useful at the
1741harder difficulty levels.)
1742
e857e161 1743If you press L during play, the game will toggle display of a number
1744in each region of the map. This is useful if you want to discuss a
1745particular puzzle instance with a friend \dash having an unambiguous
1746name for each region is much easier than trying to refer to them all
1747by names such as \q{the one down and right of the brown one on the
1748top border}.
1749
e28d0584 1750(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
c51c7de6 1751
1752\H{map-parameters} \I{parameters, for Map}Map parameters
1753
1754These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1755\q{Type} menu.
1756
1757\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1758
1759\dd Size of grid in squares.
1760
1761\dt \e{Regions}
1762
1763\dd Number of regions in the generated map.
1764
1765\dt \e{Difficulty}
1766
1767\dd In \q{Easy} mode, there should always be at least one region
1cdd1306 1768whose colour can be determined trivially. In \q{Normal} and \q{Hard}
1769modes, you will have to use increasingly complex logic to deduce the
1770colour of some regions. However, it will always be possible without
1771having to guess or backtrack.
c51c7de6 1772
b3728d72 1773\lcont{
1774
1775In \q{Unreasonable} mode, the program will feel free to generate
1776puzzles which are as hard as it can possibly make them: the only
1777constraint is that they should still have a unique solution. Solving
1778Unreasonable puzzles may require guessing and backtracking.
1779
1780}
1781
c51c7de6 1782
6193da8d 1783\C{loopy} \i{Loopy}
1784
1785\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.loopy}
1786
1787You are given a grid of dots. Your aim is to draw a single unbroken
1788loop from dot to dot within the grid.
1789
1790Some of the square spaces between the dots contain numbers. These
1791numbers indicate how many of the four edges of that square are part
1792of the loop. The loop you draw must correctly satisfy all of these
1793clues to be considered a correct solution.
1794
1795Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-loopy}.
1796
1797Loopy was contributed to this collection by Mike Pinna.
1798
1799\B{nikoli-loopy}
1800\W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/3/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/3/index-e.htm}
1801(beware of Flash)
1802
6193da8d 1803\H{loopy-controls} \i{Loopy controls}
1804
1805\IM{Loopy controls} controls, for Loopy
6193da8d 1806
1807Click the left mouse button between two dots to add a line segment
1808connecting them. Click again to remove that line segment.
1809
1810If you are sure that a particular line segment is \e{not} part of
1811the loop, you can click the right mouse button to add a small cross
1812indicating this. Click again to remove the cross.
1813
e28d0584 1814(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
6193da8d 1815
1816\H{loopy-parameters} \I{parameters, for Loopy}Loopy parameters
1817
1818These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1819\q{Type} menu.
1820
1821\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1822
1823\dd Size of grid in squares.
1824
550742c1 1825\dt \e{Difficulty}
6193da8d 1826
550742c1 1827\dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle.
1828\#{FIXME: what distinguishes Easy, Medium, and Hard? In particular,
1829when are backtracking/guesswork required, if ever?}
6193da8d 1830
1831
81eef9aa 1832\C{inertia} \i{Inertia}
1833
1834\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.inertia}
1835
1836You are a small green ball sitting in a grid full of obstacles. Your
1837aim is to collect all the gems without running into any mines.
1838
1839You can move the ball in any orthogonal \e{or diagonal} direction.
1840Once the ball starts moving, it will continue until something stops
1841it. A wall directly in its path will stop it (but if it is moving
1842diagonally, it will move through a diagonal gap between two other
1843walls without stopping). Also, some of the squares are \q{stops};
1844when the ball moves on to a stop, it will stop moving no matter what
1845direction it was going in. Gems do \e{not} stop the ball; it picks
1846them up and keeps on going.
1847
1848Running into a mine is fatal. Even if you picked up the last gem in
1849the same move which then hit a mine, the game will count you as dead
1850rather than victorious.
1851
1852This game was originally implemented for Windows by Ben Olmstead
1853\k{bem}, who was kind enough to release his source code on request
1854so that it could be re-implemented for this collection.
1855
1856\B{bem} \W{http://xn13.com/}\cw{http://xn13.com/}
1857
1858\H{inertia-controls} \i{Inertia controls}
1859
1860\IM{Inertia controls} controls, for Inertia
1861\IM{Inertia controls} keys, for Inertia
1862\IM{Inertia controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Inertia
1863
1864You can move the ball in any of the eight directions using the
1865numeric keypad. Alternatively, if you click the left mouse button on
1866the grid, the ball will begin a move in the general direction of
1867where you clicked.
1868
8b5b08f7 1869If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, the program will
1870compute a path through the grid which collects all the remaining
1871gems and returns to the current position. A hint arrow will appear
1872on the ball indicating the direction in which you should move to
1873begin on this path. If you then move in that direction, the arrow
1874will update to indicate the next direction on the path. You can also
1875press Space to automatically move in the direction of the hint
1876arrow. If you move in a different direction from the one shown by
1877the arrow, the hint arrows will stop appearing because you have
1878strayed from the provided path; you can then use \q{Solve} again to
1879generate a new path if you want to.
1880
81eef9aa 1881All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
1882In particular, if you do run into a mine and die, you can use the
1883Undo function and resume playing from before the fatal move. The
1884game will keep track of the number of times you have done this.
1885
1886\H{inertia-parameters} \I{parameters, for Inertia}Inertia parameters
1887
1888These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1889\q{Type} menu.
1890
1891\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1892
1893\dd Size of grid in squares.
1894
1895
86e60e3d 1896\C{tents} \i{Tents}
1897
1898\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.tents}
1899
1900You have a grid of squares, some of which contain trees. Your aim is
1901to place tents in some of the remaining squares, in such a way that
1902the following conditions are met:
1903
1904\b There are exactly as many tents as trees.
1905
1906\b The tents and trees can be matched up in such a way that each
1907tent is directly adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not
1908diagonally) to its own tree. However, a tent may be adjacent to
1909other trees as well as its own.
1910
1911\b No two tents are adjacent horizontally, vertically \e{or
1912diagonally}.
1913
1914\b The number of tents in each row, and in each column, matches the
1915numbers given round the sides of the grid.
1916
1917This puzzle can be found in several places on the Internet, and was
1918brought to my attention by e-mail. I don't know who I should credit
1919for inventing it.
1920
1921\H{tents-controls} \i{Tents controls}
1922
1923\IM{Tents controls} controls, for Tents
1924
1925Left-clicking in a blank square will place a tent in it.
1926Right-clicking in a blank square will colour it green, indicating
1927that you are sure it \e{isn't} a tent. Clicking either button in an
1928occupied square will clear it.
1929
565394e7 1930If you \e{drag} with the right button along a row or column, every
1931blank square in the region you cover will be turned green, and no
1932other squares will be affected. (This is useful for clearing the
1933remainder of a row once you have placed all its tents.)
1934
86e60e3d 1935(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1936
1937\H{tents-parameters} \I{parameters, for Tents}Tents parameters
1938
1939These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1940\q{Type} menu.
1941
1942\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1943
1944\dd Size of grid in squares.
1945
1946\dt \e{Difficulty}
1947
1948\dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
1949puzzles require more complex deductions, but at present none of the
1950available difficulty levels requires guesswork or backtracking.
1951
1952
e7c63b02 1953\C{bridges} \i{Bridges}
1954
1955\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.bridges}
1956
1957You have a set of islands distributed across the playing area. Each
1958island contains a number. Your aim is to connect the islands
1959together with bridges, in such a way that:
1960
1961\b Bridges run horizontally or vertically.
1962
1963\b The number of bridges terminating at any island is equal to the
1964number written in that island.
1965
1966\b Two bridges may run in parallel between the same two islands, but
1967no more than two may do so.
1968
1969\b No bridge crosses another bridge.
1970
1971\b All the islands are connected together.
1972
1973There are some configurable alternative modes, which involve
1974changing the parallel-bridge limit to something other than 2, and
1975introducing the additional constraint that no sequence of bridges
1976may form a loop from one island back to the same island. The rules
1977stated above are the default ones.
1978
1979Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-bridges}.
1980
1981Bridges was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1982
1983\B{nikoli-bridges}
1984\W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/14/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/14/index-e.htm}
1985
1986\H{bridges-controls} \i{Bridges controls}
1987
1988\IM{Bridges controls} controls, for Bridges
1989
1990To place a bridge between two islands, click the mouse down on one
1991island and drag it towards the other. You do not need to drag all
1992the way to the other island; you only need to move the mouse far
1993enough for the intended bridge direction to be unambiguous. (So you
1994can keep the mouse near the starting island and conveniently throw
1995bridges out from it in many directions.)
1996
1997Doing this again when a bridge is already present will add another
1998parallel bridge. If there are already as many bridges between the
1999two islands as permitted by the current game rules (i.e. two by
2000default), the same dragging action will remove all of them.
2001
2002If you want to remind yourself that two islands definitely \e{do
2003not} have a bridge between them, you can right-drag between them in
2004the same way to draw a \q{non-bridge} marker.
2005
2006If you think you have finished with an island (i.e. you have placed
2007all its bridges and are confident that they are in the right
2008places), you can mark the island as finished by left-clicking on it.
2009This will highlight it and all the bridges connected to it, and you
2010will be prevented from accidentally modifying any of those bridges
2011in future. Left-clicking again on a highlighted island will unmark
2012it and restore your ability to modify it.
2013
2014Violations of the puzzle rules will be marked in red:
2015
2016\b An island with too many bridges will be highlighted in red.
2017
2018\b An island with too few bridges will be highlighted in red if it
2019is definitely an error (as opposed to merely not being finished
2020yet): if adding enough bridges would involve having to cross another
2021bridge or remove a non-bridge marker, or if the island has been
2022highlighted as complete.
2023
2024\b A group of islands and bridges may be highlighted in red if it is
2025a closed subset of the puzzle with no way to connect it to the rest
2026of the islands. For example, if you directly connect two 1s together
2027with a bridge and they are not the only two islands on the grid,
2028they will light up red to indicate that such a group cannot be
2029contained in any valid solution.
2030
2031\b If you have selected the (non-default) option to disallow loops
2032in the solution, a group of bridges which forms a loop will be
2033highlighted.
2034
2035(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2036
2037\H{bridges-parameters} \I{parameters, for Bridges}Bridges parameters
2038
2039These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
2040\q{Type} menu.
2041
2042\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
2043
2044\dd Size of grid in squares.
2045
2046\dt \e{Difficulty}
2047
2048\dd Difficulty level of puzzle.
2049
2050\dt \e{Allow loops}
2051
2052\dd This is set by default. If cleared, puzzles will be generated in
2053such a way that they are always soluble without creating a loop, and
2054solutions which do involve a loop will be disallowed.
2055
2056\dt \e{Max. bridges per direction}
2057
2058\dd Maximum number of bridges in any particular direction. The
2059default is 2, but you can change it to 1, 3 or 4. In general, fewer
2060is easier.
2061
2062\dt \e{%age of island squares}
2063
2064\dd Gives a rough percentage of islands the generator will try and
2065lay before finishing the puzzle. Certain layouts will not manage to
2066lay enough islands; this is an upper bound.
2067
2068\dt \e{Expansion factor (%age)}
2069
2070\dd The grid generator works by picking an existing island at random
2071(after first creating an initial island somewhere). It then decides
2072on a direction (at random), and then works out how far it could
2073extend before creating another island. This parameter determines how
2074likely it is to extend as far as it can, rather than choosing
2075somewhere closer.
2076
2077High expansion factors usually mean easier puzzles with fewer
2078possible islands; low expansion factors can create lots of
2079tightly-packed islands.
2080
2081
149255d7 2082\C{unequal} \i{Unequal}
2083
2084\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.unequal}
2085
2086You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to
055b9cd2 2087the size of the grid, and some squares have greater-than signs between
149255d7 2088them. Your aim is to fully populate the grid with numbers such that:
2089
2090\b Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit
2091
2092\b Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit
2093
2094\b All the greater-than signs are satisfied.
2095
feb306dc 2096In \q{Trivial} mode (available via the \q{Custom} game type
2097selector), there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve
2098the \i{Latin square} only.
149255d7 2099
2100At the time of writing, this puzzle is appearing in the Guardian
055b9cd2 2101weekly under the name \q{\i{Futoshiki}}.
149255d7 2102
2103Unequal was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2104
2105\H{unequal-controls} \i{Unequal controls}
2106
2107\IM{Unequal controls} controls, for Unequal
2108
2109Unequal shares much of its control system with Solo.
2110
2111To play Unequal, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2112type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
2113make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
2114Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
2115
2116If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
2117number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
2118have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
2119
2120The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
2121them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
2122particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
2123particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
2124numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
2125
2126To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
2127the same number again.
2128
2129All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
2130a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
2131pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
2132
2133(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2134
2135\H{unequal-parameters} \I{parameters, for Unequal}Unequal parameters
2136
2137These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
2138\q{Type} menu.
2139
2140\dt \e{Size (s*s)}
2141
2142\dd Size of grid.
2143
2144\dt \e{Difficulty}
2145
845a3be0 2146\dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Trivial
feb306dc 2147level, there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve the
2148Latin square only. At Recursive level (only available via the
2149\q{Custom} game type selector) backtracking will be required, but
2150the solution should still be unique. The levels in between require
2151increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to backtrack.
149255d7 2152
2153
ab3a1e43 2154
2155\C{galaxies} \i{Galaxies}
2156
2157\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.galaxies}
2158
2159You have a rectangular grid containing a number of dots. Your aim is
2160to draw edges along the grid lines which divide the rectangle into
2161regions in such a way that every region is 180\u00b0{-degree}
2162rotationally symmetric, and contains exactly one dot which is
2163located at its centre of symmetry.
2164
2165This puzzle was invented by \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-galaxies}, under
a799e87f 2166the name \q{Tentai Show}; its name is commonly translated into
2167English as \q{Spiral Galaxies}.
ab3a1e43 2168
f3ed4ec3 2169Galaxies was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2170
ab3a1e43 2171\B{nikoli-galaxies} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show/}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show/}
2172
2173\H{galaxies-controls} \i{Galaxies controls}
2174
2175\IM{Galaxies controls} controls, for Galaxies
2176
2177Left-click on any grid line to draw an edge if there isn't one
2178already, or to remove one if there is. When you create a valid
2179region (one which is closed, contains exactly one dot, is
2180180\u00b0{-degree} symmetric about that dot, and contains no
2181extraneous edges inside it) it will be highlighted automatically; so
2182your aim is to have the whole grid highlighted in that way.
2183
2184During solving, you might know that a particular grid square belongs
2185to a specific dot, but not be sure of where the edges go and which
2186other squares are connected to the dot. In order to mark this so you
2187don't forget, you can right-click on the dot and drag, which will
2188create an arrow marker pointing at the dot. Drop that in a square of
2189your choice and it will remind you which dot it's associated with.
2190You can also right-click on existing arrows to pick them up and move
2191them, or destroy them by dropping them off the edge of the grid.
2192(Also, if you're not sure which dot an arrow is pointing at, you can
2193pick it up and move it around to make it clearer. It will swivel
2194constantly as you drag it, to stay pointed at its parent dot.)
2195
2196(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2197
2198\H{galaxies-parameters} \I{parameters, for Galaxies}Galaxies parameters
2199
2200These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
2201\q{Type} menu.
2202
2203\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
2204
2205\dd Size of grid in squares.
2206
2207\dt \e{Difficulty}
2208
2209\dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
59206b9c 2210puzzles require more complex deductions, and the \q{Unreasonable}
a799e87f 2211difficulty level may require backtracking.
ab3a1e43 2212
2213
2214
8b3b3223 2215\C{filling} \i{Filling}
2216
2217\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.filling}
2218
2219You have a grid of squares, some of which contain digits, and the
2220rest of which are empty. Your job is to fill in digits in the empty
2221squares, in such a way that each connected region of squares all
2222containing the same digit has an area equal to that digit.
2223
2224(\q{Connected region}, for the purposes of this game, does not count
2225diagonally separated squares as adjacent.)
2226
2227For example, it follows that no square can contain a zero, and that
2228two adjacent squares can not both contain a one. No region has an
2229area greater than 9 (because then its area would not be a single
2230digit).
2231
2232Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-fillomino}.
2233
2234Filling was contributed to this collection by Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker.
2235
2236\B{nikoli-fillomino}
2237\W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino/}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino/}
2238
2239\H{filling-controls} \I{controls, for Filling}Filling controls
2240
2241To play Filling, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
b182e5d5 2242type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. By dragging the
2243mouse, you can select multiple squares to fill with a single keypress.
2244If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and
2245press 0, Space, Backspace or Enter to clear it again (or use the Undo
2246feature).
8b3b3223 2247
2248(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2249
2250\H{filling-parameters} \I{parameters, for Filling}Filling parameters
2251
2252Filling allows you to configure the number of rows and columns of the
2253grid, through the \q{Type} menu.
2254
2255
ab3a1e43 2256
e91825f8 2257\A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
2258
07a54e52 2259This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2008 Simon Tatham.
e91825f8 2260
8b3b3223 2261Portions copyright Richard Boulton, James Harvey, Mike Pinna and
2262Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker.
e91825f8 2263
2264Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
2265obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
a799e87f 2266(the \q{Software}), to deal in the Software without restriction,
e91825f8 2267including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
2268publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
2269and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
2270subject to the following conditions:
2271
2272The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
2273included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
2274
a799e87f 2275THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \q{AS IS}, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
e91825f8 2276EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
2277MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
2278NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
2279BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
2280ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
2281CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
2282SOFTWARE.
2283
3c9388ef 2284\IM{command-line}{command line} command line
2285
bb219ea1 2286\IM{default parameters, specifying} default parameters, specifying
2287\IM{default parameters, specifying} preferences, specifying default
2288
2289\IM{Unix} Unix
2290\IM{Unix} Linux
2291
2292\IM{generating game IDs} generating game IDs
2293\IM{generating game IDs} game ID, generating
2294
1185e3c5 2295\IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option
2296\IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option
e91825f8 2297
2298\IM{game ID} game ID
2299\IM{game ID} ID, game
2300\IM{ID format} ID format
2301\IM{ID format} format, ID
2302\IM{ID format} game ID, format
2303
2304\IM{keys} keys
2305\IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard)
2306
2307\IM{initial state} initial state
2308\IM{initial state} state, initial
2309
2310\IM{MIT licence} MIT licence
2311\IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT