1 \title Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
3 \cfg{winhelp-filename}{puzzles.hlp}
4 \cfg{winhelp-contents-titlepage}{Contents}
6 \cfg{text-filename}{puzzles.txt}
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}
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13 \cfg{html-contents-depth-1}{2}
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16 \cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info}
18 \cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps}
19 \cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf}
23 \define{dash} \u2013{-}
25 This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games.
27 \copyright This manual is copyright 2004-5 Simon Tatham. All rights
28 reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence.
29 See \k{licence} for the licence text in full.
31 \cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">}
35 \C{intro} Introduction
37 I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small
38 desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and
39 play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever
40 else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found
41 a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I
42 was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged
43 that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on
44 both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I
45 find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll
46 be added to this collection and will immediately be available on
47 both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front
48 ends \dash PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be \dash
49 then all the games in this framework will immediately become
50 available on another platform as well.
52 The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; they
53 are re-implementations of existing game concepts within my portable
54 puzzle framework. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing the
55 rules of any of these puzzles. (I don't even claim authorship of all
56 the code; some of the puzzles have been submitted by other authors.)
58 This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see
59 \k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like
60 with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them
61 yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong.
63 The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at
64 \I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}.
66 Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to
67 \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}.
68 You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug:
70 \W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}
72 \ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end
73 (to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game.
76 \C{common} \ii{Common features}
78 This chapter describes features that are common to all the games.
80 \H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions
82 These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu
83 and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific
86 (On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these
87 actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit
88 menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.)
90 \dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N})
92 \dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state.
94 \dt \ii\e{Restart game}
96 \dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.)
100 \dd Loads a saved game from a file on disk.
104 \dd Saves the current state of your game to a file on disk.
108 The Load and Save operations should preserve your entire game
109 history (so you can save, reload, and still Undo and Redo things you
110 had done before saving).
114 \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_})
116 \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the
119 \dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R})
121 \dd Redoes a previously undone move.
125 \dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
126 format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a
127 web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else.
128 (Not all games support this feature.)
132 \dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
133 games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of
134 no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved
135 state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a
136 solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a
137 mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution
138 tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does
139 provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment
140 with set-piece moves and transformations.
144 Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have
145 typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot
146 solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did
147 invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still
148 other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only
149 if they aren't too difficult.
151 The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
152 chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
153 solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo.
157 \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q})
159 \dd Closes the application entirely.
161 \H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID}
163 There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
164 recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
167 The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the
168 \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) each
169 show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to
170 reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date.
172 You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
173 (via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a
174 later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use
175 either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see
176 \k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
178 The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
179 is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game,
180 whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was
181 provided as input to the random number generator used to create the
182 puzzle. This means that:
184 \b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although
185 some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions).
186 So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle
187 you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can
188 play the same one as you.
190 \b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
191 generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you
192 can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid
193 puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or
194 more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a
195 random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody
196 has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before
199 \b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
200 as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive
201 game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
203 \b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you
204 use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This
205 is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or
206 modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a
207 different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use
208 a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the
209 same version of the program as yours.
211 \lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number
212 of the program. Programs with the same version number running on
213 different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)}
215 \I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which
216 encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid
217 size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of
218 the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string
219 of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by
222 If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to
223 show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
224 generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed,
225 however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
226 ID derived from that random seed.
228 Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
229 between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data
230 provided with the random seed which is not included in the
231 descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
232 only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important
233 when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
234 (\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
236 These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
237 in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced}
238 difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a
239 \q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying
240 \q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will
241 generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having
242 trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask
243 for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced}
244 difficulty which it was previously set on.
246 \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu
248 The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of
249 \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new
250 random game with the parameters specified.
252 The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which
253 allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters
254 available are specific to each game and are described in the
257 \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line}
259 (This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.)
261 The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
262 information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
263 tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
264 some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
265 appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
267 However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default
268 to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the
271 The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
272 using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select
273 \q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see
274 \k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of
275 two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents
276 the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and
277 anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
279 If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
280 line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
282 For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron}
283 from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
284 will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only
285 the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text
286 on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
288 If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game
289 will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
290 occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
291 than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
293 (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
294 \q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do
295 then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be
296 missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.)
300 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net}
302 (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called
303 \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.)
305 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet}
306 \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other
307 implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a
308 network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then
309 shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to
310 rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an
311 entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter
312 clause means that there are no closed paths within the network.
313 Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid,
314 all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are
317 \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}
319 \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls}
321 \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net
322 \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net
323 \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net
325 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
328 \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys
330 \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key
332 \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key
334 \dt \e{Rotate tile by 180 degrees}: \q{F} key
336 \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key
338 \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can
339 also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally
342 The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may
345 \dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys
347 \dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that
348 tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together.
350 \dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys
352 \dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
353 (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will
354 be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be
355 helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.)
357 \dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key
359 \dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
362 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
364 \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters
366 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
369 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
371 \dd Size of grid in tiles.
373 \dt \e{Walls wrap around}
375 \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
376 and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
378 \dt \e{Barrier probability}
380 \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
381 barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a
382 higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they
383 act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints).
387 The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the
388 barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if
389 you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle
390 (see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter,
391 and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the
392 same starting grid, with the only change being the number of
393 barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint,
394 you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same
395 parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed
396 from the original Net window.
400 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
402 \dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
403 only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
404 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
405 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all}
406 the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
411 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube}
413 This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
414 Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16
415 squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move
416 is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that
417 it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue
418 square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you
419 roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is
420 put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces
421 that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
422 squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
423 moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
425 Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
426 once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
427 you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an
428 octahedron or an icosahedron.
430 \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}
432 \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls}
434 \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube
435 \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube
436 \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube
438 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
440 Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
441 solid) towards the mouse pointer.
443 The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
444 the four cardinal directions.
445 On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is
446 more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't
447 make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric
448 keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement.
450 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
452 \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters
454 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
457 \dt \e{Type of solid}
459 \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
460 tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
462 \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom}
464 \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
465 triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows
469 \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen}
471 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen}
473 The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}}
474 with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares
475 contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to
476 choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space.
477 The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the
478 space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the
479 bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}).
481 \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls}
483 \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen
484 \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen
485 \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen
487 This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
489 A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty
490 space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the
493 The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction
494 indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction).
496 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
498 \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters
500 The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
501 menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once
502 you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!)
505 \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen}
507 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen}
509 Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
510 \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
511 hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
512 is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up
513 or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
514 re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
515 vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
516 the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
517 playing on different sizes of grid.
519 I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if
520 so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
521 thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
522 that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
523 rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
524 thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
525 rather than just engineering.
527 \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls
529 This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will
530 move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated.
531 Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction.
533 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
535 \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters
537 The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
540 \b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
542 \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
543 the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way
544 that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
545 override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to
546 be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise
547 set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer
548 (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the
549 more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter
550 than the target length will turn out to be possible.
553 \C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle}
555 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle}
557 Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
558 (see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
559 containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
562 In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
563 tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in
564 the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
565 settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
567 I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid
568 Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
569 you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
570 developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
572 \H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls
574 To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
575 you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square,
576 which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
579 In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at
580 a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in
581 the centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
583 Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
584 Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
586 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
588 \H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters
590 Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom}
591 option on the \q{Type} menu:
593 \b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
595 \b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time.
597 \b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
598 (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there
599 are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim
600 is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into
601 the second row, and so on.
603 \b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
604 you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
605 drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete
608 \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
609 the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any
610 arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this
611 by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed.
612 Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling
613 moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move
614 shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask
615 for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target
616 length will turn out to be possible.
619 \C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles}
621 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles}
623 You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all)
624 of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of
625 various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one
626 numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the
627 number written in its numbered square.
629 Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli}
630 \k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle
631 Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's
632 implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of
633 any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not
634 quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side
635 you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own
638 \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}
640 \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}
642 \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls
644 This game is played with the mouse.
646 Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw
647 an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any
648 existing edges within that rectangle).
650 When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded.
652 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
654 \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters
656 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
659 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
661 \dd Size of grid, in squares.
663 \dt \e{Expansion factor}
665 \dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
666 the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
667 rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
668 Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size
669 you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns.
673 The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
674 simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
675 further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that
676 each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big
677 after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the
678 size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size
679 without adding any more rectangles.
681 Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game
682 more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive
683 and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high,
684 though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles
685 to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial.
689 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
691 \dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
692 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
693 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
694 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the
695 possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced
696 player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
699 \C{netslide} \i{Netslide}
701 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide}
703 This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the
704 movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but
705 instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
706 into place by moving a whole row at a time.
708 As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse.
709 See \k{sixteen-controls}.
711 \I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar
712 meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see
715 Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
717 \C{pattern} \i{Pattern}
719 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern}
721 You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
722 or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
723 runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
724 lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
725 fill in the entire grid black or white.
727 I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
728 \q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under
731 Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
732 of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
733 generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
734 groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
735 a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
736 squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
737 The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
739 \H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls
741 This game is played with the mouse.
743 Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
744 white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
745 Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
746 default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again.
748 You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
749 a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
750 (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
751 with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
754 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
756 \H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters
758 The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
759 menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
764 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo}
766 You have a square grid, which is divided into square or rectangular
767 blocks. Each square must be filled in with a digit from 1 to the
768 size of the grid, in such a way that
770 \b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
772 \b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
774 \b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
776 You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
777 rest of the numbers correctly.
779 The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual grid, divided
780 into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes with
781 rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a
782 6\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks).
784 If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
785 additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
786 you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1
787 to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}.
789 I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's also
790 been popularised by various newspapers under the name \q{Sudoku} or
793 \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}
795 \H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls
797 To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
798 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
799 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
800 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
802 If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
803 number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
804 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
806 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
807 them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
808 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
809 particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
810 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
812 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
813 the same number again.
815 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
816 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
817 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
819 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
821 \H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters
823 Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
824 grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of
825 rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
826 the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows,
827 each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
829 You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
830 puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
831 make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
832 clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
833 have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
835 Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
836 Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of
837 deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode
838 of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
839 particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there
840 will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times,
841 whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make
842 partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in
843 (or the set of numbers that could be in a square). At
844 \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will
845 eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out
848 Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select
849 \q{Intermediate} or \q{Advanced} difficulty, Solo may have to make
850 many attempts at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough
851 for you. Be prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured
857 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines}
859 You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
860 you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
861 \e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine,
862 you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
863 are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
866 This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
867 perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
869 This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
870 generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
871 never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to
872 deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
873 versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
874 two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
877 \H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls
879 This game is played with the mouse.
881 If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
883 If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
884 indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
885 a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
886 again to remove a mark placed in error.
888 If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear
889 around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many
890 flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered
891 squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So
892 once you think you know the location of all the mines around a
893 square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to
894 click on each of the remaining squares one by one.
896 If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding
897 eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
898 turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
899 will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
900 square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
902 All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
904 Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
905 use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
906 in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
907 them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
908 like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
909 will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
910 game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
912 (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
913 implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
916 \H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters
918 The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
921 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
923 \dd Size of grid in squares.
927 \dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
928 mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in
929 which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares
930 in the grid to be mines.
934 Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities,
935 the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid.
939 \dt \e{Ensure solubility}
941 \dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
942 ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the
943 initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by
944 other implementations, you can switch off this option.
947 \C{samegame} \i{Same Game}
949 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame}
951 You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
952 highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
953 the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
954 the faster you clear the arena).
956 If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but
957 single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you
960 Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up:
961 blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty
962 columns are filled from the right.
964 Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
966 \H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls}
968 \IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game
969 \IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game
970 \IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game
972 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
974 If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly
975 clearing the current selection).
977 If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
978 rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
980 If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
982 The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
983 Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
984 pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
986 \H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters
988 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
991 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
993 \dd Size of grid in squares.
995 \dt \e{No. of colours}
997 \dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours,
998 the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to
999 successfully clear the grid.
1001 \dt \e{Scoring system}
1003 \dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default
1004 system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score
1005 any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of
1006 two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively
1009 \dt \e{Ensure solubility}
1011 \dd If this option is ticked (the default state), generated grids
1012 will be guaranteed to have at least one solution.
1016 If you turn it off, the game generator will not try to guarantee
1017 soluble grids; it will, however, still ensure that there are at
1018 least 2 squares of each colour on the grid at the start (since a
1019 grid with exactly one square of a given colour is \e{definitely}
1020 insoluble). Grids generated with this option disabled may contain
1021 more large areas of contiguous colour, leading to opportunities for
1022 higher scores; they can also take less time to generate.
1029 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip}
1031 You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1032 light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1033 and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1034 do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1036 Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1037 change when you flip it.
1039 \H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls}
1041 \IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip
1042 \IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip
1043 \IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip
1045 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1047 Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or
1048 use the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter
1051 If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will mark some of
1052 the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1053 mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square
1054 \e{without} a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate
1055 that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
1057 \H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters
1059 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1062 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1064 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1068 \dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1069 by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses},
1070 causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours
1071 (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting,
1072 \q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so
1073 the game is different every time.
1078 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.guess}
1080 You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a
1081 predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a
1082 certain number of guesses.
1084 Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs
1085 in the correct places (in black), and also the number of
1086 correctly-coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white).
1088 This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as
1089 a board game \q{Mastermind}, with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row, and 10 guesses.
1090 However, this version allows custom settings of number of colours
1091 (up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses.
1093 Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1095 \H{guess-controls} \i{Guess controls}
1097 \IM{Guess controls} controls, for Guess
1098 \IM{Guess controls} keys, for Guess
1099 \IM{Guess controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Guess
1101 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1103 With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand
1104 side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also be
1105 dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To
1106 remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid.
1108 Right-clicking in the current guess adds a \q{hold} marker; pegs
1109 that have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess
1112 Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can be
1113 used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a
1114 peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the
1115 selected colour in the chosen position. \q{D} or Backspace removes a
1116 peg, and \q{H} adds a hold marker.
1118 When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be highlighted;
1119 clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them with the arrow keys
1120 and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will mark the current guess,
1121 copy any held pegs to the next guess, and move the \q{current guess}
1124 If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be displayed
1125 below; if you run out of guesses (or select \q{Solve...}) the solution
1126 will also be revealed.
1128 \H{guess-parameters} \I{parameters, for Guess}Guess parameters
1130 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1131 \q{Type} menu. The default game matches the parameters for the
1132 board game \q{Mastermind}.
1136 \dd Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10
1139 \dt \e{Pegs per guess}
1141 \dd Number of pegs per guess (more is harder).
1145 \dd Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is harder).
1147 \dt \e{Allow blanks}
1149 \dd Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it easier, because
1150 you know that those will never be counted as part of the solution). This
1151 is turned off by default.
1153 Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you really wanted
1154 that, use one extra colour.
1156 \dt \e{Allow duplicates}
1158 \dd Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more than once;
1159 this increases the search space (making things harder), and is turned on by
1165 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pegs}
1167 A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a
1168 peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically)
1169 to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but one
1170 of the pegs initially present.
1172 This game, best known as \q{Peg Solitaire}, is possibly one of the
1173 oldest puzzle games still commonly known.
1175 \H{pegs-controls} \i{Pegs controls}
1177 \IM{Pegs controls} controls, for Pegs
1179 To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to
1180 its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away
1181 from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and
1182 there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted
1183 and the intervening peg will be removed.
1185 Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A
1186 space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it
1187 is an obstacle which you must work around.
1190 \H{pegs-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pegs}Pegs parameters
1192 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1195 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1197 \dd Size of grid in holes.
1201 \dd Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or a
1202 randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently
1203 supported are \q{Cross} and \q{Octagon} (also commonly known as the
1204 English and European traditional board layouts respectively).
1205 Selecting \q{Random} will give you a different board shape every
1206 time (but always one that is known to have a solution).
1209 \C{dominosa} \i{Dominosa}
1211 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.dominosa}
1213 A normal set of dominoes \dash that is, one instance of every
1214 (unordered) pair of numbers from 0 to 6 \dash has been arranged
1215 irregularly into a rectangle; then the number in each square has
1216 been written down and the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is
1217 to reconstruct the pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match
1218 the provided array of numbers.
1220 This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its
1221 name from those initials.
1223 \H{dominosa-controls} \i{Dominosa controls}
1225 \IM{Dominosa controls} controls, for Dominosa
1227 Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino
1228 covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to
1229 place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones
1232 Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between
1233 them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two
1234 numbers are \e{not} covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again
1238 \H{dominosa-parameters} \I{parameters, for Dominosa}Dominosa parameters
1240 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1243 \dt \e{Maximum number on dominoes}
1245 \dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the
1246 set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going up to N
1247 will give rise to an (N+2) \by (N+1) rectangle; so, in particular,
1248 the default value of 6 gives an 8\by\.7 grid.
1250 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
1252 \dd Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents
1253 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
1254 difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you can turn off
1255 this feature. Also, finding \e{all} the possible solutions can be an
1256 additional challenge for an advanced player. Turning off this option
1257 can also speed up puzzle generation.
1260 \C{untangle} \i{Untangle}
1262 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.untangle}
1264 You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn
1265 between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is
1266 to position the points so that no line crosses another.
1268 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{Planarity}
1269 \k{Planarity}, written by John Tantalo.
1271 \B{Planarity} \W{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}\cw{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}
1273 \H{untangle-controls} \i{Untangle controls}
1275 \IM{Untangle controls} controls, for Untangle
1277 To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it
1278 into a new position.
1280 \H{untangle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Untangle}Untangle parameters
1282 There is only one parameter available from the \q{Custom...} option
1283 on the \q{Type} menu:
1285 \dt \e{Number of points}
1287 \dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of
1288 points in the generated graph.
1291 \C{blackbox} \i{Black Box}
1293 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.blackbox}
1295 A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to
1296 deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers from positions
1297 on the edge of the arena and observing how they are deflected.
1299 Lasers will fire straight until they hit the opposite side of the
1300 arena (at which point they emerge), unless affected by balls in one of
1303 \b A laser that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never re-emerge.
1304 This includes lasers that meet a ball on the first rank of the arena.
1306 \b A laser with a ball to its front-left square gets deflected 90 degrees
1309 \b A laser with a ball to its front-right square gets similarly deflected
1312 \b A laser that would re-emerge from the entry location is considered to be
1315 \b A laser which would get deflected before entering the arena (down the
1316 \q{firing range}) by a ball to the front-left or front-right of its
1317 entry point is also considered to be \q{reflected}.
1319 Lasers that are reflected appear as a \q{R}; lasers that hit balls
1320 dead-on appear as \q{H}. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing point
1321 and the location where the laser emerges (this number is unique to
1324 You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the
1325 entry and exit patterns of the lasers; once you have placed enough
1326 balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked.
1328 Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each
1329 of the laser behaviours shown above:
1342 As shown, it is possible for a ball to receive multiple reflections
1343 before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a ball may be reflected
1344 (possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the \q{H} on the
1345 left side of the example).
1347 Note that any layout with more that 4 balls may have a non-unique
1348 solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the
1349 board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the fifth
1350 ball is (possible positions marked with an x):
1363 For this reason when you have your guesses checked the game will
1364 check that your solution \e{produces the same results} as the
1365 computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the
1366 computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at
1367 \e{any} of the locations marked with an x, and you would still win.
1369 Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1371 \H{blackbox-controls} \i{Black Box controls}
1373 \IM{Black Box controls}controls, for Black Box
1375 To fire a laser, left-click in a square around the side of the arena.
1376 The results will be displayed immediately. Lasers may not be fired
1377 twice (because the results will never change). Holding down the left
1378 button will highlight the current go (or a previous go) to confirm the
1379 exit point for that laser, if applicable.
1381 To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a
1382 black circle will appear marking the guess; to remove the guessed ball
1385 Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by
1386 right-clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by
1387 right-clicking in the laser firing range above/below that column, or
1388 to the left/right of that row.
1390 When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed a button will
1391 appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that will mark
1394 If you click the \q{mark} button and your guesses are not correct,
1395 the game will show you as little information as possible to
1396 demonstrate this to you, so you can try again. If your ball
1397 positions are not consistent with the laser paths you already know
1398 about, one laser path will be circled to indicate that it proves you
1399 wrong. If your positions match all the existing laser paths but are
1400 still wrong, one new laser path will be revealed (written in red)
1401 which is not consistent with your current guesses.
1403 If you decide to give up completely, you can select Solve to reveal
1404 the actual ball positions. At this point, correctly-placed balls
1405 will be displayed as filled black circles; incorrectly-placed balls
1406 are displayed as filled black circles with red crosses, and missing
1407 balls are filled red circles. In addition, a red circle marks any
1408 laser you had already fired which is not consistent with your ball
1409 layout (just as when you press the mark button), and red text marks
1410 any laser you \e{could} have fired in order to distinguish your ball
1411 layout from the right one.
1413 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1415 \H{blackbox-parameters} \I{parameters, for Black Box}Black Box parameters
1417 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1420 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1422 \dd Size of grid in squares. There are 2 \by \e{Width} \by \e{Height} lasers
1423 per grid, two per row and two per column.
1425 \dt \e{No. of balls}
1427 \dd Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single number,
1428 or a range (separated with a hyphen, like \q{2-6}), and determines the
1429 number of balls to place on the grid. The \q{reveal} button is only
1430 enabled if you have guessed an appropriate number of balls; a guess
1431 using a different number to the original solution is still acceptable,
1432 if all the laser inputs and outputs match.
1437 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.slant}
1439 You have a grid of squares. Your aim is to draw a diagonal line
1440 through each square, and choose which way each line slants so that
1441 the following conditions are met:
1443 \b The diagonal lines never form a loop.
1445 \b Any point with a circled number has precisely that many lines
1446 meeting at it. (Thus, a 4 is the centre of a cross shape, whereas a
1447 zero is the centre of a diamond shape \dash or rather, a partial
1448 diamond shape, because a zero can never appear in the middle of the
1449 grid because that would immediately cause a loop.)
1451 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-slant}.
1454 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm}
1458 \H{slant-controls} \i{Slant controls}
1460 \IM{Slant controls} controls, for Slant
1461 \IM{Slant controls} keys, for Slant
1462 \IM{Slant controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Slant
1464 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a \cw{\\} in it (a line
1465 leaning to the left, i.e. running from the top left of the square to
1466 the bottom right). Right-clicking in a blank square will place a
1467 \cw{/} in it (leaning to the right, running from top right to bottom
1470 Continuing to click either button will cycle between the three
1471 possible square contents. Thus, if you left-click repeatedly in a
1472 blank square it will change from blank to \cw{\\} to \cw{/} back to
1473 blank, and if you right-click repeatedly the square will change from
1474 blank to \cw{/} to \cw{\\} back to blank. (Therefore, you can play
1475 the game entirely with one button if you need to.)
1477 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1479 \H{slant-parameters} \I{parameters, for Slant}Slant parameters
1481 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1484 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1486 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1490 \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Hard level,
1491 you are required to do deductions based on knowledge of
1492 \e{relationships} between squares rather than always being able to
1493 deduce the exact contents of one square at a time. (For example, you
1494 might know that two squares slant in the same direction, even if you
1495 don't yet know what that direction is, and this might enable you to
1496 deduce something about still other squares.) Even at Hard level,
1497 guesswork and backtracking should never be necessary.
1500 \C{lightup} \i{Light Up}
1502 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.lightup}
1504 You have a grid of squares. Some are filled in black; some of the
1505 black squares are numbered. Your aim is to \q{light up} all the
1506 empty squares by placing light bulbs in some of them.
1508 Each light bulb illuminates the square it is on, plus all squares in
1509 line with it horizontally or vertically unless a black square is
1512 To win the game, you must satisfy the following conditions:
1514 \b All non-black squares are lit.
1516 \b No light is lit by another light.
1518 \b All numbered black squares have exactly that number of lights adjacent to
1519 them (in the four squares above, below, and to the side).
1521 Non-numbered black squares may have any number of lights adjacent to them.
1523 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-lightup}.
1525 Light Up was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1528 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm}
1531 \H{lightup-controls} \i{Light Up controls}
1533 \IM{Light Up controls} controls, for Light Up
1534 \IM{Light Up controls} keys, for Light Up
1535 \IM{Light Up controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Light Up
1537 Left-clicking in a non-black square will toggle the presence of a light
1538 in that square. Right-clicking in a non-black square toggles a mark there to aid
1539 solving; it can be used to highlight squares that cannot be lit, for example.
1541 You may not place a light in a marked square, nor place a mark in a lit square.
1543 The game will highlight obvious errors in red. Lights lit by other
1544 lights are highlighted in this way, as are numbered squares which
1545 do not (or cannot) have the right number of lights next to them.
1547 Thus, the grid is solved when all non-black squares have yellow
1548 highlights and there are no red lights.
1551 \H{lightup-parameters} \I{parameters, for Light Up}Light Up parameters
1553 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1556 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1558 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1560 \dt \e{%age of black squares}
1562 \dd Rough percentage of black squares in the grid.
1566 This is a hint rather than an instruction. If the grid generator is
1567 unable to generate a puzzle to this precise specification, it will
1568 increase the proportion of black squares until it can.
1574 \dd Allows you to specify the required symmetry of the black squares
1575 in the grid. (This does not affect the difficulty of the puzzles
1580 \dd \q{Easy} means that the puzzles should be soluble without
1581 backtracking or guessing, \q{Hard} means that some guesses will
1582 probably be necessary.
1587 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.map}
1589 You are given a map consisting of a number of regions. Your task is
1590 to colour each region with one of four colours, in such a way that
1591 no two regions sharing a boundary have the same colour. You are
1592 provided with some regions already coloured, sufficient to make the
1593 remainder of the solution unique.
1595 Only regions which share a length of border are required to be
1596 different colours. Two regions which meet at only one \e{point}
1597 (i.e. are diagonally separated) may be the same colour.
1599 I believe this puzzle is original; I've never seen an implementation
1600 of it anywhere else. The concept of a four-colouring puzzle was
1601 suggested by Owen Dunn; credit must also go to Nikoli and to Verity
1602 Allan for inspiring the train of thought that led to me realising
1603 Owen's suggestion was a viable puzzle. Thanks also to Gareth Taylor
1604 for many detailed suggestions.
1607 \H{map-controls} \i{Map controls}
1609 \IM{Map controls} controls, for Map
1610 \IM{Map controls} keys, for Map
1611 \IM{Map controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Map
1613 To colour a region, click on an existing region of the desired
1614 colour and drag that colour into the new region.
1616 (The program will always ensure the starting puzzle has at least one
1617 region of each colour, so that this is always possible!)
1619 If you need to clear a region, you can drag from an empty region, or
1620 from the puzzle boundary if there are no empty regions left.
1623 \H{map-parameters} \I{parameters, for Map}Map parameters
1625 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1628 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1630 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1634 \dd Number of regions in the generated map.
1638 \dd In \q{Easy} mode, there should always be at least one region
1639 whose colour can be determined trivially. In \q{Normal} mode, you
1640 will have to use more complex logic to deduce the colour of some
1641 regions. However, it will always be possible without having to
1645 \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
1647 This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2005 Simon Tatham.
1649 Portions copyright Richard Boulton and James Harvey.
1651 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
1652 obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
1653 (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
1654 including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
1655 publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
1656 and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
1657 subject to the following conditions:
1659 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
1660 included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
1662 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
1663 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
1664 MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
1665 NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
1666 BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
1667 ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
1668 CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
1671 \IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option
1672 \IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option
1674 \IM{game ID} game ID
1675 \IM{game ID} ID, game
1676 \IM{ID format} ID format
1677 \IM{ID format} format, ID
1678 \IM{ID format} game ID, format
1681 \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard)
1683 \IM{initial state} initial state
1684 \IM{initial state} state, initial
1686 \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence
1687 \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT