| 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 | |
| 8 | \cfg{html-contents-filename}{index.html} |
| 9 | \cfg{html-template-filename}{%k.html} |
| 10 | \cfg{html-index-filename}{docindex.html} |
| 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 | |
| 16 | \cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info} |
| 17 | |
| 18 | \cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps} |
| 19 | \cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf} |
| 20 | |
| 21 | \define{by} \u00D7{x} |
| 22 | |
| 23 | This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | \copyright This manual is copyright 2004 Simon Tatham. All rights |
| 26 | reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence. |
| 27 | See \k{licence} for the licence text in full. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | \cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">} |
| 30 | |
| 31 | \versionid $Id$ |
| 32 | |
| 33 | \C{intro} Introduction |
| 34 | |
| 35 | I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small |
| 36 | desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and |
| 37 | play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever |
| 38 | else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found |
| 39 | a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I |
| 40 | was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged |
| 41 | that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on |
| 42 | both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I |
| 43 | find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll |
| 44 | be added to this collection and will immediately be available on |
| 45 | both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front |
| 46 | ends - PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be - then all |
| 47 | the games in this framework will immediately become available on |
| 48 | another platform as well. |
| 49 | |
| 50 | The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; I |
| 51 | saw them elsewhere, and rewrote them in a form that was more |
| 52 | convenient for me. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing |
| 53 | the rules of any of these puzzles; all I claim is authorship of the |
| 54 | code (or at least those parts of the code that weren't contributed |
| 55 | by other people!). |
| 56 | |
| 57 | This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see |
| 58 | \k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like |
| 59 | with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them |
| 60 | yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong. |
| 61 | |
| 62 | The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at |
| 63 | \I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to |
| 66 | \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}. |
| 67 | You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug: |
| 68 | |
| 69 | \W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html} |
| 70 | |
| 71 | \ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end |
| 72 | (to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game. |
| 73 | |
| 74 | |
| 75 | \C{common} \ii{Common features} |
| 76 | |
| 77 | This chapter describes features that are common to all the games. |
| 78 | |
| 79 | \H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions |
| 80 | |
| 81 | These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu |
| 82 | and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific |
| 83 | actions. |
| 84 | |
| 85 | (On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these |
| 86 | actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit |
| 87 | menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.) |
| 88 | |
| 89 | \dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N}) |
| 90 | |
| 91 | \dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state. |
| 92 | |
| 93 | \dt \ii\e{Restart game} |
| 94 | |
| 95 | \dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.) |
| 96 | |
| 97 | \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_}) |
| 98 | |
| 99 | \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the |
| 100 | session.) |
| 101 | |
| 102 | \dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R}) |
| 103 | |
| 104 | \dd Redoes a previously undone move. |
| 105 | |
| 106 | \dt \ii\e{Copy} |
| 107 | |
| 108 | \dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text |
| 109 | format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a |
| 110 | web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else. |
| 111 | (Not all games support this feature.) |
| 112 | |
| 113 | \dt \ii\e{Solve} |
| 114 | |
| 115 | \dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some |
| 116 | games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of |
| 117 | no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved |
| 118 | state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a |
| 119 | solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a |
| 120 | mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution |
| 121 | tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does |
| 122 | provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment |
| 123 | with set-piece moves and transformations. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | \lcont{ |
| 126 | |
| 127 | Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have |
| 128 | typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot |
| 129 | solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did |
| 130 | invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still |
| 131 | other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only |
| 132 | if they aren't too difficult. |
| 133 | |
| 134 | The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo |
| 135 | chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to |
| 136 | solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo. |
| 137 | |
| 138 | } |
| 139 | |
| 140 | \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q}) |
| 141 | |
| 142 | \dd Closes the application entirely. |
| 143 | |
| 144 | \H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID} |
| 145 | |
| 146 | There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and |
| 147 | recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the |
| 148 | same puzzle. |
| 149 | |
| 150 | The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the |
| 151 | \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) each |
| 152 | show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to |
| 153 | reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date. |
| 154 | |
| 155 | You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program |
| 156 | (via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a |
| 157 | later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use |
| 158 | either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see |
| 159 | \k{common-cmdline} for more detail. |
| 160 | |
| 161 | The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID |
| 162 | is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game, |
| 163 | whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was |
| 164 | provided as input to the random number generator used to create the |
| 165 | puzzle. This means that: |
| 166 | |
| 167 | \b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although |
| 168 | some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions). |
| 169 | So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle |
| 170 | you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can |
| 171 | play the same one as you. |
| 172 | |
| 173 | \b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically |
| 174 | generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you |
| 175 | can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid |
| 176 | puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or |
| 177 | more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a |
| 178 | random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody |
| 179 | has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before |
| 180 | anybody else. |
| 181 | |
| 182 | \b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such |
| 183 | as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive |
| 184 | game IDs suitable for use with these programs. |
| 185 | |
| 186 | \b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you |
| 187 | use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This |
| 188 | is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or |
| 189 | modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a |
| 190 | different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use |
| 191 | a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the |
| 192 | same version of the program as yours. |
| 193 | |
| 194 | \lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number |
| 195 | of the program. Programs with the same version number running on |
| 196 | different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)} |
| 197 | |
| 198 | \I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which |
| 199 | encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid |
| 200 | size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of |
| 201 | the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string |
| 202 | of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by |
| 203 | arbitrary data. |
| 204 | |
| 205 | If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to |
| 206 | show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't |
| 207 | generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed, |
| 208 | however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game |
| 209 | ID derived from that random seed. |
| 210 | |
| 211 | Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical |
| 212 | between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data |
| 213 | provided with the random seed which is not included in the |
| 214 | descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is |
| 215 | only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important |
| 216 | when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo |
| 217 | (\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID. |
| 218 | |
| 219 | These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type |
| 220 | in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced} |
| 221 | difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a |
| 222 | \q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying |
| 223 | \q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will |
| 224 | generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having |
| 225 | trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask |
| 226 | for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced} |
| 227 | difficulty which it was previously set on. |
| 228 | |
| 229 | \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu |
| 230 | |
| 231 | The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of |
| 232 | \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new |
| 233 | random game with the parameters specified. |
| 234 | |
| 235 | The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which |
| 236 | allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters |
| 237 | available are specific to each game and are described in the |
| 238 | following sections. |
| 239 | |
| 240 | \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line} |
| 241 | |
| 242 | (This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.) |
| 243 | |
| 244 | The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save |
| 245 | information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score |
| 246 | tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least |
| 247 | some people to play them at work, and those people will probably |
| 248 | appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!) |
| 249 | |
| 250 | However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default |
| 251 | to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the |
| 252 | command line. |
| 253 | |
| 254 | The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want |
| 255 | using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select |
| 256 | \q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see |
| 257 | \k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of |
| 258 | two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents |
| 259 | the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and |
| 260 | anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu). |
| 261 | |
| 262 | If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command |
| 263 | line, it will start up with the settings you specified. |
| 264 | |
| 265 | For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron} |
| 266 | from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you |
| 267 | will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only |
| 268 | the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text |
| 269 | on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}. |
| 270 | |
| 271 | If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game |
| 272 | will start up in the specific game that was described. This is |
| 273 | occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID |
| 274 | than by pasting it into the game ID selection box. |
| 275 | |
| 276 | (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the |
| 277 | \q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do |
| 278 | then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be |
| 279 | missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.) |
| 280 | |
| 281 | \C{net} \i{Net} |
| 282 | |
| 283 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net} |
| 284 | |
| 285 | (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called |
| 286 | \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.) |
| 287 | |
| 288 | I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet} |
| 289 | \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans. The computer prepares a |
| 290 | network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then |
| 291 | shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to |
| 292 | rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an |
| 293 | entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{Is it also true |
| 294 | that a correct solution will not contain any cycles?} As a visual aid, |
| 295 | all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are |
| 296 | highlighted. |
| 297 | |
| 298 | \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm} |
| 299 | |
| 300 | \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls} |
| 301 | |
| 302 | \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net |
| 303 | \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net |
| 304 | \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net |
| 305 | |
| 306 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The |
| 307 | controls are: |
| 308 | |
| 309 | \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys |
| 310 | |
| 311 | \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key |
| 312 | |
| 313 | \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key |
| 314 | |
| 315 | \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key |
| 316 | |
| 317 | \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can |
| 318 | also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally |
| 319 | turn it. |
| 320 | |
| 321 | \dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key |
| 322 | |
| 323 | \dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random |
| 324 | orientations. |
| 325 | |
| 326 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 327 | |
| 328 | \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters |
| 329 | |
| 330 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 331 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 332 | |
| 333 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} |
| 334 | |
| 335 | \dd Size of grid in tiles. |
| 336 | |
| 337 | \dt \e{Walls wrap around} |
| 338 | |
| 339 | \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge, |
| 340 | and from top to bottom, and vice versa. |
| 341 | |
| 342 | \dt \e{Barrier probability} |
| 343 | |
| 344 | \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable |
| 345 | barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a |
| 346 | higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they |
| 347 | act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints). |
| 348 | |
| 349 | \lcont{ |
| 350 | |
| 351 | The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the |
| 352 | barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if |
| 353 | you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle |
| 354 | (see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter, |
| 355 | and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the |
| 356 | same starting grid, with the only change being the number of |
| 357 | barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint, |
| 358 | you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same |
| 359 | parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed |
| 360 | from the original Net window. |
| 361 | |
| 362 | } |
| 363 | |
| 364 | \C{cube} \i{Cube} |
| 365 | |
| 366 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube} |
| 367 | |
| 368 | This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a |
| 369 | Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16 |
| 370 | squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move |
| 371 | is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that |
| 372 | it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue |
| 373 | square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you |
| 374 | roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is |
| 375 | put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces |
| 376 | that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue |
| 377 | squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your |
| 378 | moves and try to do it in as few as possible. |
| 379 | |
| 380 | Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature: |
| 381 | once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid, |
| 382 | you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an |
| 383 | octahedron or an icosahedron. |
| 384 | |
| 385 | \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm} |
| 386 | |
| 387 | \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls} |
| 388 | |
| 389 | \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube |
| 390 | \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube |
| 391 | \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube |
| 392 | |
| 393 | This game is played with the keyboard. The arrow keys are used to roll the |
| 394 | cube (or other solid). |
| 395 | |
| 396 | On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is |
| 397 | more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't |
| 398 | make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric |
| 399 | keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement. |
| 400 | |
| 401 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 402 | |
| 403 | \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters |
| 404 | |
| 405 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 406 | \q{Type} menu. |
| 407 | |
| 408 | \dt \e{Type of solid} |
| 409 | |
| 410 | \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid): |
| 411 | tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron. |
| 412 | |
| 413 | \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom} |
| 414 | |
| 415 | \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a |
| 416 | triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows |
| 417 | respectively. |
| 418 | |
| 419 | |
| 420 | \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen} |
| 421 | |
| 422 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen} |
| 423 | |
| 424 | The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}} |
| 425 | with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares |
| 426 | contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to |
| 427 | choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space. |
| 428 | The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the |
| 429 | space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the |
| 430 | bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}). |
| 431 | |
| 432 | \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls} |
| 433 | |
| 434 | \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen |
| 435 | \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen |
| 436 | \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen |
| 437 | |
| 438 | This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard. |
| 439 | |
| 440 | A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty |
| 441 | space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the |
| 442 | mouse pointer. |
| 443 | |
| 444 | The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction |
| 445 | indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction). |
| 446 | |
| 447 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 448 | |
| 449 | \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters |
| 450 | |
| 451 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} |
| 452 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once |
| 453 | you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!) |
| 454 | |
| 455 | |
| 456 | \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen} |
| 457 | |
| 458 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen} |
| 459 | |
| 460 | Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see |
| 461 | \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no |
| 462 | hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move |
| 463 | is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up |
| 464 | or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid |
| 465 | re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just |
| 466 | vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on |
| 467 | the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try |
| 468 | playing on different sizes of grid. |
| 469 | |
| 470 | I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if |
| 471 | so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I |
| 472 | thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling |
| 473 | that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle |
| 474 | rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one |
| 475 | thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part |
| 476 | rather than just engineering. |
| 477 | |
| 478 | \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls |
| 479 | |
| 480 | This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will |
| 481 | move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated. |
| 482 | Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction. |
| 483 | |
| 484 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 485 | |
| 486 | \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters |
| 487 | |
| 488 | The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the |
| 489 | \q{Type} menu are: |
| 490 | |
| 491 | \b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. |
| 492 | |
| 493 | \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on |
| 494 | the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way |
| 495 | that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can |
| 496 | override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to |
| 497 | be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise |
| 498 | set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer |
| 499 | (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the |
| 500 | more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter |
| 501 | than the target length will turn out to be possible. |
| 502 | |
| 503 | |
| 504 | \C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle} |
| 505 | |
| 506 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle} |
| 507 | |
| 508 | Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen |
| 509 | (see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each |
| 510 | containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into |
| 511 | ascending order. |
| 512 | |
| 513 | In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four |
| 514 | tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in |
| 515 | the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced |
| 516 | settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles. |
| 517 | |
| 518 | I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid |
| 519 | Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle |
| 520 | you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I |
| 521 | developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle. |
| 522 | |
| 523 | \H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls |
| 524 | |
| 525 | To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group |
| 526 | you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square, |
| 527 | which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles |
| 528 | meet. |
| 529 | |
| 530 | In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at |
| 531 | a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in |
| 532 | the centre tile of the square you want to rotate. |
| 533 | |
| 534 | Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise. |
| 535 | Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise. |
| 536 | |
| 537 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 538 | |
| 539 | \H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters |
| 540 | |
| 541 | Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom} |
| 542 | option on the \q{Type} menu: |
| 543 | |
| 544 | \b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid. |
| 545 | |
| 546 | \b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time. |
| 547 | |
| 548 | \b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable |
| 549 | (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there |
| 550 | are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim |
| 551 | is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into |
| 552 | the second row, and so on. |
| 553 | |
| 554 | \b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If |
| 555 | you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle |
| 556 | drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete |
| 557 | the puzzle. |
| 558 | |
| 559 | \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on |
| 560 | the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any |
| 561 | arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this |
| 562 | by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed. |
| 563 | Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling |
| 564 | moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move |
| 565 | shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask |
| 566 | for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target |
| 567 | length will turn out to be possible. |
| 568 | |
| 569 | |
| 570 | \C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles} |
| 571 | |
| 572 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles} |
| 573 | |
| 574 | You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all) |
| 575 | of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of |
| 576 | various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one |
| 577 | numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the |
| 578 | number written in its numbered square. |
| 579 | |
| 580 | Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli} |
| 581 | \k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle Palace} |
| 582 | \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's implementation, my version |
| 583 | automatically generates random grids of any size you like. The quality |
| 584 | of puzzle design is therefore not quite as good as hand-crafted |
| 585 | puzzles would be (in particular, a unique solution cannot be |
| 586 | guaranteed), but on the plus side you get an inexhaustible supply of |
| 587 | puzzles tailored to your own specification. |
| 588 | |
| 589 | \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} |
| 590 | |
| 591 | \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} |
| 592 | |
| 593 | \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls |
| 594 | |
| 595 | This game is played with the mouse. |
| 596 | |
| 597 | Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw |
| 598 | an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any |
| 599 | existing edges within that rectangle). |
| 600 | |
| 601 | When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded. |
| 602 | |
| 603 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 604 | |
| 605 | \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters |
| 606 | |
| 607 | The \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} menu offers you \e{Width} |
| 608 | and \e{Height} parameters, which are self-explanatory. |
| 609 | |
| 610 | \q{Expansion factor} is a mechanism for changing the type of grids |
| 611 | generated by the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few |
| 612 | large rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask |
| 613 | Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size |
| 614 | you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns. |
| 615 | |
| 616 | The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will |
| 617 | simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing |
| 618 | further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that |
| 619 | each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big |
| 620 | after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the |
| 621 | size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size |
| 622 | without adding any more rectangles. |
| 623 | |
| 624 | Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game |
| 625 | more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive |
| 626 | and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high, |
| 627 | though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles |
| 628 | to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial. |
| 629 | |
| 630 | |
| 631 | \C{netslide} \i{Netslide} |
| 632 | |
| 633 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide} |
| 634 | |
| 635 | This game was submitted by Richard Boulton. It combines the grid |
| 636 | generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the movement of Sixteen (see |
| 637 | \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but instead of rotating tiles back |
| 638 | into place you have to slide them into place by moving a whole row at |
| 639 | a time. |
| 640 | |
| 641 | As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse. |
| 642 | See \k{sixteen-controls}. |
| 643 | |
| 644 | \I{parameters, for Netslide}Game parameters are the same as for Net |
| 645 | (see \k{net-params}). |
| 646 | |
| 647 | |
| 648 | \C{pattern} \i{Pattern} |
| 649 | |
| 650 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern} |
| 651 | |
| 652 | You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black |
| 653 | or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the |
| 654 | runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the |
| 655 | lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to |
| 656 | fill in the entire grid black or white. |
| 657 | |
| 658 | I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name |
| 659 | \q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under |
| 660 | different names. |
| 661 | |
| 662 | Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture |
| 663 | of something once you've solved them. However, since this version |
| 664 | generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random |
| 665 | groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually |
| 666 | a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of |
| 667 | squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.) |
| 668 | The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them. |
| 669 | |
| 670 | \H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls |
| 671 | |
| 672 | This game is played with the mouse. |
| 673 | |
| 674 | Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it |
| 675 | white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down |
| 676 | Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the |
| 677 | default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again. |
| 678 | |
| 679 | You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour |
| 680 | a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time |
| 681 | (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or |
| 682 | with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares |
| 683 | grey. |
| 684 | |
| 685 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 686 | |
| 687 | \H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters |
| 688 | |
| 689 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} |
| 690 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. |
| 691 | |
| 692 | |
| 693 | \C{solo} \i{Solo} |
| 694 | |
| 695 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo} |
| 696 | |
| 697 | You have a square grid, which is divided into square or rectangular |
| 698 | blocks. Each square must be filled in with a digit from 1 to the |
| 699 | size of the grid, in such a way that |
| 700 | |
| 701 | \b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit |
| 702 | |
| 703 | \b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit |
| 704 | |
| 705 | \b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit. |
| 706 | |
| 707 | You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the |
| 708 | rest of the numbers correctly. |
| 709 | |
| 710 | The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual grid, divided |
| 711 | into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes with |
| 712 | rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a |
| 713 | 6\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks). |
| 714 | |
| 715 | If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the |
| 716 | additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if |
| 717 | you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1 |
| 718 | to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}. |
| 719 | |
| 720 | I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's also |
| 721 | been popularised by various newspapers under the name \q{Sudoku} or |
| 722 | \q{Su Doku}. |
| 723 | |
| 724 | \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} |
| 725 | |
| 726 | \H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls |
| 727 | |
| 728 | To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then |
| 729 | type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you |
| 730 | make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press |
| 731 | Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature). |
| 732 | |
| 733 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) |
| 734 | |
| 735 | \H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters |
| 736 | |
| 737 | Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle |
| 738 | grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of |
| 739 | rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is |
| 740 | the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows, |
| 741 | each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.) |
| 742 | |
| 743 | You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated |
| 744 | puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also |
| 745 | make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more |
| 746 | clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles |
| 747 | have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible. |
| 748 | |
| 749 | Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles. |
| 750 | Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of |
| 751 | deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode |
| 752 | of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In |
| 753 | particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there |
| 754 | will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times, |
| 755 | whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make |
| 756 | partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in |
| 757 | (or the set of numbers that could be in a square). At |
| 758 | \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will |
| 759 | eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out |
| 760 | to be wrong. |
| 761 | |
| 762 | Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select |
| 763 | \q{Intermediate} or \q{Advanced} difficulty, Solo may have to make |
| 764 | many attempts at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough |
| 765 | for you. Be prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured |
| 766 | a large puzzle size. |
| 767 | |
| 768 | |
| 769 | \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence} |
| 770 | |
| 771 | This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2005 Simon Tatham. |
| 772 | |
| 773 | Portions copyright Richard Boulton. |
| 774 | |
| 775 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person |
| 776 | obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files |
| 777 | (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, |
| 778 | including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, |
| 779 | publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, |
| 780 | and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, |
| 781 | subject to the following conditions: |
| 782 | |
| 783 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be |
| 784 | included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. |
| 785 | |
| 786 | THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, |
| 787 | EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF |
| 788 | MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND |
| 789 | NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS |
| 790 | BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN |
| 791 | ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN |
| 792 | CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE |
| 793 | SOFTWARE. |
| 794 | |
| 795 | \IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option |
| 796 | \IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option |
| 797 | |
| 798 | \IM{game ID} game ID |
| 799 | \IM{game ID} ID, game |
| 800 | \IM{ID format} ID format |
| 801 | \IM{ID format} format, ID |
| 802 | \IM{ID format} game ID, format |
| 803 | |
| 804 | \IM{keys} keys |
| 805 | \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard) |
| 806 | |
| 807 | \IM{initial state} initial state |
| 808 | \IM{initial state} state, initial |
| 809 | |
| 810 | \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence |
| 811 | \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT |