I've been meaning to do this for ages: all the Makefiles now give
[sgt/puzzles] / puzzles.but
CommitLineData
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
e91825f8 23This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games.
24
14a7c1c6 25\copyright This manual is copyright 2004-5 Simon Tatham. All rights
e91825f8 26reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence.
27See \k{licence} for the licence text in full.
28
8709d5d9 29\cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">}
e91825f8 30
8709d5d9 31\versionid $Id$
e91825f8 32
33\C{intro} Introduction
34
35I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small
36desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and
37play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever
8a771ea7 38else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found
39a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I
40was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged
41that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on
42both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I
43find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll
44be added to this collection and will immediately be available on
45both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front
46ends - PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be - then all
47the games in this framework will immediately become available on
48another platform as well.
e91825f8 49
aafaa7fb 50The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; they
51are re-implementations of existing game concepts within my portable
52puzzle framework. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing the
53rules of any of these puzzles. (I don't even claim authorship of all
54the code; some of the puzzles have been submitted by other authors.)
e91825f8 55
56This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see
57\k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like
58with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them
59yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong.
60
61The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at
62\I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}.
63
64Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to
65\W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}.
66You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug:
67
68\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}
69
70\ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end
71(to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game.
72
73
74\C{common} \ii{Common features}
75
76This chapter describes features that are common to all the games.
77
78\H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions
79
80These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu
81and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific
82actions.
83
bacaa96e 84(On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these
3101ae26 85actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit
bacaa96e 86menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.)
87
e91825f8 88\dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N})
89
90\dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state.
91
2b06373b 92\dt \ii\e{Restart game}
e91825f8 93
2b06373b 94\dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.)
e91825f8 95
668be019 96\dt \ii\e{Load}
97
98\dd Loads a saved game from a file on disk.
99
100\dt \ii\e{Save}
101
102\dd Saves the current state of your game to a file on disk.
103
104\lcont{
105
106The Load and Save operations should preserve your entire game
107history (so you can save, reload, and still Undo and Redo things you
108had done before saving).
109
110}
111
e91825f8 112\dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_})
113
114\dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the
2b06373b 115session.)
e91825f8 116
2b06373b 117\dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R})
e91825f8 118
2b06373b 119\dd Redoes a previously undone move.
e91825f8 120
bacaa96e 121\dt \ii\e{Copy}
122
123\dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
124format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a
125web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else.
126(Not all games support this feature.)
127
2ac6d24e 128\dt \ii\e{Solve}
129
130\dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
131games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of
132no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved
133state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a
134solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a
135mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution
136tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does
137provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment
138with set-piece moves and transformations.
139
140\lcont{
141
142Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have
143typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot
144solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did
145invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still
146other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only
147if they aren't too difficult.
148
e8124727 149The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
150chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
151solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo.
152
2ac6d24e 153}
154
e91825f8 155\dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q})
156
157\dd Closes the application entirely.
158
1185e3c5 159\H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID}
160
161There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
162recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
163same puzzle.
164
165The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the
166\I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) each
167show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to
168reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date.
169
170You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
171(via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a
172later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use
173either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see
174\k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
175
176The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
177is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game,
178whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was
179provided as input to the random number generator used to create the
180puzzle. This means that:
181
182\b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although
183some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions).
184So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle
185you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can
186play the same one as you.
187
188\b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
189generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you
190can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid
191puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or
192more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a
193random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody
194has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before
195anybody else.
196
197\b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
198as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive
199game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
200
201\b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you
202use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This
203is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or
204modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a
205different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use
206a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the
207same version of the program as yours.
208
209\lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number
210of the program. Programs with the same version number running on
211different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)}
212
213\I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which
214encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid
215size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of
216the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string
217of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by
218arbitrary data.
219
220If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to
221show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
222generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed,
223however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
224ID derived from that random seed.
225
226Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
227between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data
228provided with the random seed which is not included in the
229descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
230only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important
231when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
232(\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
233
234These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
235in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced}
236difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a
237\q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying
238\q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will
239generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having
240trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask
241for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced}
242difficulty which it was previously set on.
e91825f8 243
244\H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu
245
246The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of
247\i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new
248random game with the parameters specified.
249
1185e3c5 250The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which
251allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters
252available are specific to each game and are described in the
253following sections.
e91825f8 254
255\H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line}
256
8a771ea7 257(This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.)
258
e91825f8 259The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
260information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
261tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
262some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
263appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
264
265However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default
266to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the
267command line.
268
269The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
270using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select
1185e3c5 271\q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see
272\k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of
273two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents
274the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and
275anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
e91825f8 276
277If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
278line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
279
280For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron}
281from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
1185e3c5 282will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only
283the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text
284on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
e91825f8 285
286If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game
287will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
288occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
289than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
290
1185e3c5 291(You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
292\q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do
293then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be
294missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.)
295
e91825f8 296\C{net} \i{Net}
297
298\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net}
299
300(\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called
301\i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.)
302
303I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet}
6e8e5c51 304\k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other
305implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a
e91825f8 306network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then
307shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to
308rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an
6e8e5c51 309entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter
310clause means that there are no closed paths within the network.
311Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid,
e91825f8 312all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are
313highlighted.
314
315\B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}
316
317\H{net-controls} \i{Net controls}
318
319\IM{Net controls} controls, for Net
320\IM{Net controls} keys, for Net
321\IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net
322
323This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
324controls are:
325
326\dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys
327
328\dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key
329
330\dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key
331
118473f5 332\dt \e{Rotate tile by 180 degrees}: \q{F} key
333
e91825f8 334\dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key
335
336\dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can
337also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally
338turn it.
339
f0ee053c 340The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may
341be useful:
342
343\dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys
344
345\dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that
346tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together.
347
348\dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys
349
350\dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
351(It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will
352be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be
353helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.)
354
cbb5549e 355\dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key
356
357\dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
358orientations.
359
e91825f8 360(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
361
362\H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters
363
364These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
365\q{Type} menu.
366
367\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
368
369\dd Size of grid in tiles.
370
371\dt \e{Walls wrap around}
372
373\dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
374and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
375
376\dt \e{Barrier probability}
377
378\dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
379barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a
380higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they
381act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints).
382
383\lcont{
384
385The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the
386barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if
1185e3c5 387you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle
388(see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter,
389and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the
390same starting grid, with the only change being the number of
391barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint,
392you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same
393parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed
394from the original Net window.
e91825f8 395
396}
397
40fde884 398\dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
399
400\dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
401only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
402difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
403feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all}
404the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
405advanced player.)
406
e91825f8 407\C{cube} \i{Cube}
408
409\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube}
410
411This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
412Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16
413squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move
414is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that
415it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue
416square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you
417roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is
418put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces
419that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
420squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
421moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
422
423Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
424once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
425you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an
426octahedron or an icosahedron.
427
428\B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}
429
430\H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls}
431
432\IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube
433\IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube
434\IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube
435
a1d5acff 436This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
e91825f8 437
a1d5acff 438Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
439solid) towards the mouse pointer.
440
441The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
442the four cardinal directions.
e91825f8 443On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is
444more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't
445make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric
446keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement.
447
448(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
449
450\H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters
451
452These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
453\q{Type} menu.
454
455\dt \e{Type of solid}
456
457\dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
458tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
459
460\dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom}
461
462\dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
463triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows
464respectively.
465
466
467\C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen}
468
469\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen}
470
1d8e8ad8 471The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}}
472with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares
473contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to
474choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space.
475The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the
476space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the
477bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}).
e91825f8 478
479\H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls}
480
481\IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen
482\IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen
483\IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen
484
485This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
486
487A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty
488space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the
489mouse pointer.
490
491The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction
492indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction).
493
494(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
495
496\H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters
497
498The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
499menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once
500you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!)
501
502
503\C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen}
504
505\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen}
506
507Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
508\k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
509hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
510is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up
511or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
512re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
513vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
514the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
515playing on different sizes of grid.
516
517I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if
518so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
519thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
520that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
521rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
522thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
523rather than just engineering.
524
525\H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls
526
527This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will
528move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated.
529Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction.
530
531(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
532
533\H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters
534
81875211 535The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
536\q{Type} menu are:
537
538\b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
539
540\b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
541the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way
542that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
543override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to
544be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise
545set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer
546(say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the
547more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter
548than the target length will turn out to be possible.
549
e91825f8 550
9038fd11 551\C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle}
552
553\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle}
554
555Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
556(see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
557containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
558ascending order.
559
560In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
a3631c72 561tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in
562the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
563settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
9038fd11 564
565I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid
566Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
567you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
568developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
569
570\H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls
571
572To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
573you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square,
574which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
575meet.
576
577In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at
578a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in
579the centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
580
581Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
582Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
583
584(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
585
586\H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters
587
588Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom}
589option on the \q{Type} menu:
590
591\b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
592
593\b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time.
594
595\b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
596(the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there
597are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim
598is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into
599the second row, and so on.
600
a3631c72 601\b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
d50832a3 602you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
603drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete
604the puzzle.
a3631c72 605
81875211 606\b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
607the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any
608arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this
609by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed.
610Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling
611moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move
612shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask
613for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target
614length will turn out to be possible.
615
9038fd11 616
e91825f8 617\C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles}
618
619\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles}
620
621You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all)
622of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of
623various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one
624numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the
625number written in its numbered square.
626
627Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli}
26801d29 628\k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle
629Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's
630implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of
631any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not
632quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side
633you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own
634specification.
e91825f8 635
6ae37301 636\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 637
6ae37301 638\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 639
640\H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls
641
642This game is played with the mouse.
643
644Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw
645an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any
646existing edges within that rectangle).
647
648When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded.
649
650(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
651
652\H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters
653
40fde884 654These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
655\q{Type} menu.
656
657\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
658
659\dd Size of grid, in squares.
660
661\dt \e{Expansion factor}
aea3ed9a 662
40fde884 663\dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
664the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
665rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
aea3ed9a 666Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size
667you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns.
668
40fde884 669\lcont{
670
aea3ed9a 671The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
672simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
673further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that
674each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big
675after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the
676size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size
677without adding any more rectangles.
678
4a03dbb4 679Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game
680more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive
681and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high,
682though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles
683to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial.
aea3ed9a 684
40fde884 685}
686
687\dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
688
689\dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
690have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
691difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
692feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the
693possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced
694player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
695
6ae37301 696
e91825f8 697\C{netslide} \i{Netslide}
698
699\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide}
700
6bbab0fe 701This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the
702movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but
703instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
704into place by moving a whole row at a time.
e91825f8 705
e91825f8 706As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse.
707See \k{sixteen-controls}.
708
aa27d493 709\I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar
710meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see
711\k{sixteen-params}).
e91825f8 712
6bbab0fe 713Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
6ae37301 714
b6b0369e 715\C{pattern} \i{Pattern}
716
717\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern}
718
719You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
720or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
721runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
722lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
723fill in the entire grid black or white.
724
725I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
2e1e03ff 726\q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under
b6b0369e 727different names.
728
729Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
730of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
731generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
732groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
733a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
734squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
735The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
736
2e1e03ff 737\H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls
b6b0369e 738
739This game is played with the mouse.
740
741Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
742white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
743Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
744default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again.
745
746You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
747a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
748(respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
749with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
750grey.
751
2e1e03ff 752(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
753
b6b0369e 754\H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters
755
756The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
757menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
e91825f8 758
6ae37301 759
1d8e8ad8 760\C{solo} \i{Solo}
761
762\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo}
763
764You have a square grid, which is divided into square or rectangular
765blocks. Each square must be filled in with a digit from 1 to the
766size of the grid, in such a way that
767
768\b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
769
770\b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
771
772\b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
773
774You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
775rest of the numbers correctly.
776
777The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual grid, divided
778into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes with
779rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a
7806\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks).
781
782If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
783additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
784you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1
785to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}.
786
6ae37301 787I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's also
1d8e8ad8 788been popularised by various newspapers under the name \q{Sudoku} or
789\q{Su Doku}.
790
6ae37301 791\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}
792
1d8e8ad8 793\H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls
794
795To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
796type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
797make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
798Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
799
c8266e03 800If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
801number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
802have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
803
804The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
805them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
806particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
807particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
808numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
809
810To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
811the same number again.
812
813All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
814a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
815pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
816
1d8e8ad8 817(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
818
819\H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters
820
821Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
6ae37301 822grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of
823rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
824the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows,
825each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
1d8e8ad8 826
ef57b17d 827You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
828puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
829make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
830clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
831have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
832
7c568a48 833Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
834Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of
835deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode
836of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
837particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there
838will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times,
839whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make
840partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in
de60d8bd 841(or the set of numbers that could be in a square). At
842\q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will
843eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out
844to be wrong.
7c568a48 845
846Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select
847\q{Intermediate} or \q{Advanced} difficulty, Solo may have to make
848many attempts at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough
849for you. Be prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured
850a large puzzle size.
851
ef57b17d 852
7959b517 853\C{mines} \i{Mines}
854
855\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines}
856
857You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
858you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
859\e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine,
860you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
861are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
862squares.
863
864This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
865perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
866
867This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
868generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
869never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to
870deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
871versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
872two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
873are.
874
875\H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls
876
877This game is played with the mouse.
878
879If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
880
881If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
882indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
883a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
884again to remove a mark placed in error.
885
886If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear
887around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many
888flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered
889squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So
890once you think you know the location of all the mines around a
891square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to
892click on each of the remaining squares one by one.
893
894If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding
895eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
896turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
897will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
898square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
899
11d31eb9 900All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
901
7959b517 902Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
11d31eb9 903use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
904in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
905them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
906like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
907will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
908game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
909
910(If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
911implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
912Solve menu option.)
7959b517 913
914\H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters
915
916The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
917menu are:
918
919\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
920
921\dd Size of grid in squares.
922
923\dt \e{Mines}
924
08781119 925\dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
926mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in
927which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares
928in the grid to be mines.
929
930\lcont{
931
932Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities,
933the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid.
934
935}
7959b517 936
937\dt \e{Ensure solubility}
938
939\dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
940ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the
941initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by
942other implementations, you can switch off this option.
943
944
6bbab0fe 945\C{samegame} \i{Same Game}
946
947\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame}
948
949You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
209ab5a7 950highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
6bbab0fe 951the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
952the faster you clear the arena).
953
954If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but
209ab5a7 955single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you
6bbab0fe 956lose.
957
958Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up:
959blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty
960columns are filled from the right.
961
209ab5a7 962The game generator does not try to guarantee soluble grids;
6bbab0fe 963it will, however, ensure that there are at least 2 squares of each
964colour on the grid at the start (and will forbid custom grids for which
965that would be impossible).
966
967Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
968
209ab5a7 969\H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls}
970
971\IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game
972\IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game
973\IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game
974
975This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
6bbab0fe 976
977If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly
978clearing the current selection).
979
980If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
981rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
982
983If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
984
209ab5a7 985The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
986Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
987pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
988
6bbab0fe 989\H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters
990
209ab5a7 991These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
992\q{Type} menu.
993
6bbab0fe 994\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
995
996\dd Size of grid in squares.
997
998\dt \e{No. of colours}
999
1000\dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours,
209ab5a7 1001the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to
1002successfully clear the grid.
1003
1004\dt \e{Scoring system}
1005
1006\dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default
1007system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score
1008any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of
1009two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively
1010more points.
6bbab0fe 1011
f4afe206 1012
1013\C{flip} \i{Flip}
1014
1015\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip}
1016
1017You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1018light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1019and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1020do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1021
1022Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1023change when you flip it.
1024
d6acbe63 1025\H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls}
f4afe206 1026
1027\IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip
1028\IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip
1029\IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip
1030
33317d37 1031This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1032
1033Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or
1034use the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter
1035key to flip.
79cb09e9 1036
5f6050b4 1037If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will mark some of
1038the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1039mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square
1040\e{without} a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate
1041that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
f4afe206 1042
1043\H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters
1044
1045These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1046\q{Type} menu.
1047
1048\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1049
1050\dd Size of grid in squares.
1051
1052\dt \e{Shape type}
1053
1054\dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1055by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses},
1056causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours
1057(or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting,
1058\q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so
1059the game is different every time.
1060
1061
c6203e43 1062\C{guess} \i{Guess}
1063
1064\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.guess}
1065
1066You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a
1067predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a
1068certain number of guesses.
1069
1070Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs
9ffde3e8 1071in the correct places (in black), and also the number of
1072correctly-coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white).
c6203e43 1073
1074This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as
9ffde3e8 1075a board game \q{Mastermind}, with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row, and 10 guesses.
c6203e43 1076However, this version allows custom settings of number of colours
1077(up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses.
1078
64455a5a 1079Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1080
c6203e43 1081\H{guess-controls} \i{Guess controls}
1082
1083\IM{Guess controls} controls, for Guess
1084\IM{Guess controls} keys, for Guess
1085\IM{Guess controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Guess
1086
9ffde3e8 1087This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1088
9c63a011 1089With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand
1090side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also be
1091dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To
1092remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid.
c6203e43 1093
9ffde3e8 1094Right-clicking in the current guess adds a \q{hold} marker; pegs
c6203e43 1095that have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess
1096after marking.
1097
9ffde3e8 1098Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can be
1099used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a
9c63a011 1100peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the
59dae0db 1101selected colour in the chosen position. \q{D} or Backspace removes a
1102peg, and \q{H} adds a hold marker.
9ffde3e8 1103
9c63a011 1104When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be highlighted;
9ffde3e8 1105clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them with the arrow keys
9c63a011 1106and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will mark the current guess,
1107copy any held pegs to the next guess, and move the \q{current guess}
1108marker.
c6203e43 1109
1110If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be displayed
9ffde3e8 1111below; if you run out of guesses (or select \q{Solve...}) the solution
9c63a011 1112will also be revealed.
c6203e43 1113
13b443e3 1114\H{guess-parameters} \I{parameters, for Guess}Guess parameters
c6203e43 1115
1116These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1117\q{Type} menu. The default game matches the parameters for the
9ffde3e8 1118board game \q{Mastermind}.
c6203e43 1119
1120\dt \e{Colours}
1121
1122\dd Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10
1123(more is harder).
1124
1125\dt \e{Pegs per guess}
1126
1127\dd Number of pegs per guess (more is harder).
1128
1129\dt \e{Guesses}
1130
1131\dd Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is harder).
1132
1133\dt \e{Allow blanks}
1134
1135\dd Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it easier, because
1136you know that those will never be counted as part of the solution). This
1137is turned off by default.
1138
1139Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you really wanted
1140that, use one extra colour.
1141
1142\dt \e{Allow duplicates}
1143
1144\dd Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more than once;
1145this increases the search space (making things harder), and is turned on by
1146default.
1147
1148
13b443e3 1149\C{pegs} \i{Pegs}
1150
1151\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pegs}
1152
1153A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a
33a3deb2 1154peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically)
1155to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but one
1156of the pegs initially present.
13b443e3 1157
1158This game, best known as \q{Peg Solitaire}, is possibly one of the
1159oldest puzzle games still commonly known.
1160
1161\H{pegs-controls} \i{Pegs controls}
1162
1163\IM{Pegs controls} controls, for Pegs
1164
1165To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to
1166its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away
1167from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and
1168there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted
1169and the intervening peg will be removed.
1170
1171Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A
1172space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it
1173is an obstacle which you must work around.
1174
1175
1176\H{pegs-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pegs}Pegs parameters
1177
1178These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1179\q{Type} menu.
1180
1181\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1182
1183\dd Size of grid in holes.
1184
1185\dt \e{Board type}
1186
1187\dd Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or a
1188randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently
1189supported are \q{Cross} and \q{Octagon} (also commonly known as the
1190English and European traditional board layouts respectively).
1191Selecting \q{Random} will give you a different board shape every
1192time (but always one that is known to have a solution).
1193
1194
6c04c334 1195\C{dominosa} \i{Dominosa}
1196
1197\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.dominosa}
1198
de3b0e33 1199A normal set of dominoes - that is, one instance of every (unordered)
1200pair of numbers from 0 to 6 - has been arranged irregularly into a
6c04c334 1201rectangle; then the number in each square has been written down and
1202the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is to reconstruct the
1203pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match the provided array
1204of numbers.
1205
1206This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its
1207name from those initials.
1208
1209\H{dominosa-controls} \i{Dominosa controls}
1210
1211\IM{Dominosa controls} controls, for Dominosa
1212
1213Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino
1214covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to
1215place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones
1216it overlaps.
1217
1218Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between
1219them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two
1220numbers are \e{not} covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again
1221removes the line.
1222
1223
1224\H{dominosa-parameters} \I{parameters, for Dominosa}Dominosa parameters
1225
1226These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1227\q{Type} menu.
1228
1229\dt \e{Maximum number on dominoes}
1230
1231\dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the
1232set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going up to N
1233will give rise to an (N+2) \by (N+1) rectangle; so, in particular,
1234the default value of 6 gives an 8\by\.7 grid.
1235
1236\dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
1237
1238\dd Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents
1239have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
1240difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you can turn off
1241this feature. Also, finding \e{all} the possible solutions can be an
1242additional challenge for an advanced player. Turning off this option
1243can also speed up puzzle generation.
1244
1245
9d6c3859 1246\C{untangle} \i{Untangle}
1247
1248\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.untangle}
1249
1250You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn
1251between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is
1252to position the points so that no line crosses another.
1253
1254I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{Planarity}
1255\k{Planarity}, written by John Tantalo.
1256
1257\B{Planarity} \W{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}\cw{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}
1258
1259\H{untangle-controls} \i{Untangle controls}
1260
1261\IM{Untangle controls} controls, for Untangle
1262
1263To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it
1264into a new position.
1265
1266\H{untangle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Untangle}Untangle parameters
1267
1268There is only one parameter available from the \q{Custom...} option
1269on the \q{Type} menu:
1270
1271\dt \e{Number of points}
1272
1273\dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of
1274points in the generated graph.
1275
1276
bf7ebf5a 1277\C{blackbox} \i{Black Box}
1278
1279\cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.blackbox}
1280
1281A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to
1282deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers from positions
1283on the edge of the arena and observing how they are deflected.
1284
1285Lasers will fire straight until they hit the opposite side of the
1286arena (at which point they emerge), unless affected by balls in one of
1287the following ways:
1288
1289\b A laser that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never re-emerge.
1290 This includes lasers that meet a ball on the first rank of the arena.
1291
1292\b A laser with a ball to its front-left square gets deflected 90 degrees
1293 to the right.
1294
1295\b A laser with a ball to its front-right square gets similarly deflected
1296 to the left.
1297
1298\b A laser that would re-emerge from the entry location is considered to be
ebf54ec9 1299 \q{reflected}.
bf7ebf5a 1300
a4c9750f 1301\b A laser which would get deflected before entering the arena (down the
1302 \q{firing range}) by a ball to the front-left or front-right of its
1303 entry point is also considered to be \q{reflected}.
bf7ebf5a 1304
ebf54ec9 1305Lasers that are reflected appear as a \q{R}; lasers that hit balls
1306dead-on appear as \q{H}. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing point
bf7ebf5a 1307and the location where the laser emerges (this number is unique to
1308that shot).
1309
1310You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the
1311entry and exit patterns of the lasers; once you have placed enough
1312balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked.
1313
1314Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each
1315of the laser behaviours shown above:
1316
1317\c 1RHR----
1318\c |..O.O...|
1319\c 2........3
1320\c |........|
1321\c |........|
1322\c 3........|
1323\c |......O.|
1324\c H........|
1325\c |.....O..|
1326\c 12-RH---
1327
1328As shown, it is possible for a ball to receive multiple reflections
1329before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a ball may be reflected
ebf54ec9 1330(possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the \q{H} on the
bf7ebf5a 1331left side of the example).
1332
1333Note that any layout with more that 4 balls may have a non-unique
1334solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the
1335board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the fifth
1336ball is (possible positions marked with an x):
1337
1338\c --------
1339\c |........|
1340\c |........|
1341\c |..O..O..|
1342\c |...xx...|
1343\c |...xx...|
1344\c |..O..O..|
1345\c |........|
1346\c |........|
1347\c --------
1348
1349For this reason when you have your guesses checked the game will
1350check that your solution \e{produces the same results} as the
1351computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the
1352computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at
1353\e{any} of the locations marked with an x, and you would still win.
1354
1355Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1356
1357\H{blackbox-controls} \i{Black Box controls}
1358
1359\IM{Black Box controls}controls, for Black Box
1360
1361To fire a laser, left-click in a square around the side of the arena.
1362The results will be displayed immediately. Lasers may not be fired
1363twice (because the results will never change). Holding down the left
1364button will highlight the current go (or a previous go) to confirm the
1365exit point for that laser, if applicable.
1366
1367To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a
1368black circle will appear marking the guess; to remove the guessed ball
1369click again.
1370
1371Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by
1372right-clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by
1373right-clicking in the laser firing range above/below that column, or
1374to the left/right of that row.
1375
1376When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed a button will
a4c9750f 1377appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that will mark
bf7ebf5a 1378your guesses.
1379
1380Once marked, correctly-placed balls are displayed as filled black
1381circles. Incorrectly-placed balls are displayed as filled black
1382circles with red crosses, and missing balls are filled red circles.
1383In addition, a red circle marks any laser you had already fired
1384which is not consistent with your ball layout, and red text marks
1385any laser you \e{could} have fired in order to distinguish your ball
1386layout from the right one.
1387
1388(All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1389
1390\H{blackbox-parameters} \I{parameters, for Black Box}Black Box parameters
1391
1392These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1393\q{Type} menu.
1394
1395\dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1396
ebf54ec9 1397\dd Size of grid in squares. There are 2 \by \e{Width} \by \e{Height} lasers
bf7ebf5a 1398per grid, two per row and two per column.
1399
1400\dt \e{No. of balls}
1401
1402\dd Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single number,
ebf54ec9 1403or a range (separated with a hyphen, like \q{2-6}), and determines the
1404number of balls to place on the grid. The \q{reveal} button is only
bf7ebf5a 1405enabled if you have guessed an appropriate number of balls; a guess
1406using a different number to the original solution is still acceptable,
1407if all the laser inputs and outputs match.
1408
1409
e91825f8 1410\A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
1411
8a771ea7 1412This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2005 Simon Tatham.
e91825f8 1413
6bbab0fe 1414Portions copyright Richard Boulton and James Harvey.
e91825f8 1415
1416Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
1417obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
1418(the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
1419including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
1420publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
1421and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
1422subject to the following conditions:
1423
1424The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
1425included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
1426
1427THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
1428EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
1429MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
1430NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
1431BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
1432ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
1433CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
1434SOFTWARE.
1435
1185e3c5 1436\IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option
1437\IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option
e91825f8 1438
1439\IM{game ID} game ID
1440\IM{game ID} ID, game
1441\IM{ID format} ID format
1442\IM{ID format} format, ID
1443\IM{ID format} game ID, format
1444
1445\IM{keys} keys
1446\IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard)
1447
1448\IM{initial state} initial state
1449\IM{initial state} state, initial
1450
1451\IM{MIT licence} MIT licence
1452\IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT