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}
12 \cfg{html-contents-depth-0}{1}
13 \cfg{html-contents-depth-1}{2}
14 \cfg{html-leaf-contains-contents}{true}
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 2004-2008 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 \i{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 \i{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 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 \I{printing, on Windows}\e{Print}
116 \dd Where supported (currently only on Windows), brings up a dialog
117 allowing you to print an arbitrary number of puzzles randomly
118 generated from the current parameters, optionally including the
119 current puzzle. (Only for puzzles which make sense to print, of
120 course - it's hard to think of a sensible printable representation
123 \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_})
125 \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the
128 \dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R})
130 \dd Redoes a previously undone move.
134 \dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
135 format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a
136 web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else.
137 (Not all games support this feature.)
141 \dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
142 games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of
143 no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved
144 state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a
145 solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a
146 mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution
147 tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does
148 provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment
149 with set-piece moves and transformations.
153 Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have
154 typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot
155 solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did
156 invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still
157 other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only
158 if they aren't too difficult.
160 The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
161 chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
162 solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo.
166 \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q})
168 \dd Closes the application entirely.
170 \H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID}
172 There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
173 recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
176 The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the
177 \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on \i{Mac OS X}) each
178 show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to
179 reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date.
181 You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
182 (via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a
183 later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use
184 either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see
185 \k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
187 The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
188 is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game,
189 whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was
190 provided as input to the random number generator used to create the
191 puzzle. This means that:
193 \b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although
194 some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions).
195 So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle
196 you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can
197 play the same one as you.
199 \b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
200 generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you
201 can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid
202 puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or
203 more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a
204 random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody
205 has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before
208 \b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
209 as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive
210 game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
212 \b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you
213 use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This
214 is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or
215 modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a
216 different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use
217 a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the
218 same version of the program as yours.
220 \lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number
221 of the program. Programs with the same version number running on
222 different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)}
224 \I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which
225 encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid
226 size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of
227 the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string
228 of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by
231 If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to
232 show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
233 generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed,
234 however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
235 ID derived from that random seed.
237 Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
238 between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data
239 provided with the random seed which is not included in the
240 descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
241 only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important
242 when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
243 (\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
245 These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
246 in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced}
247 difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a
248 \q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying
249 \q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will
250 generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having
251 trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask
252 for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced}
253 difficulty which it was previously set on.
255 \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu
257 The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of
258 \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new
259 random game with the parameters specified.
261 The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which
262 allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters
263 available are specific to each game and are described in the
266 \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line}
268 (This section does not apply to the \i{Mac OS X} version.)
270 The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
271 information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
272 tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
273 some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
274 appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
276 However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to
277 \I{default parameters, specifying}default to a particular set of
278 parameters, you can specify them on the command line.
280 The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
281 using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select
282 \q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see
283 \k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of
284 two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents
285 the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and
286 anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
288 If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
289 line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
291 For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron}
292 from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
293 will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only
294 the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text
295 on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
297 If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game
298 will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
299 occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
300 than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
302 (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
303 \q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do
304 then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be
305 missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.)
307 \H{common-unix-cmdline} \i{Unix} \i{command-line} options
309 (This section only applies to the Unix port.)
311 In addition to being able to specify game parameters on the command
312 line (see \k{common-cmdline}), there are various other options:
318 \dd These options respectively determine whether the command-line
319 argument is treated as specifying game parameters or a \i{save} file
320 to \i{load}. Only one should be specified. If neither of these options
321 is specified, a guess is made based on the format of the argument.
323 \dt \cw{--generate }\e{n}
325 \dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being displayed,
326 a number of descriptive game IDs will be \I{generating game IDs}invented
327 and printed on standard output. This is useful for gaining access to
328 the game generation algorithms without necessarily using the frontend.
332 If game parameters are specified on the command-line, they will be
333 used to generate the game IDs; otherwise a default set of parameters
336 The most common use of this option is in conjunction with \c{--print},
337 in which case its behaviour is slightly different; see below.
341 \dt \I{printing, on Unix}\cw{--print }\e{w}\cw{x}\e{h}
343 \dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being displayed,
344 a printed representation of one or more unsolved puzzles is sent to
345 standard output, in \i{PostScript} format.
349 On each page of puzzles, there will be \e{w} across and \e{h} down. If
350 there are more puzzles than \e{w}\by\e{h}, more than one page will be
353 If \c{--generate} has also been specified, the invented game IDs will
354 be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise, a list of game IDs
355 is expected on standard input (which can be descriptive or random
356 seeds; see \k{common-id}), in the same format produced by
361 \c net --generate 12 --print 2x3 7x7w | lpr
363 will generate two pages of printed Net puzzles (each of which will
364 have a 7\by\.7 wrapping grid), and pipe the output to the \c{lpr}
365 command, which on many systems will send them to an actual printer.
367 There are various other options which affect printing; see below.
373 \dd Prints version information about the game, and then quits.
375 The following options are only meaningful if \c{--print} is also
378 \dt \cw{--with-solutions}
380 \dd The set of pages filled with unsolved puzzles will be followed by
381 the solutions to those puzzles.
383 \dt \cw{--scale }\e{n}
385 \dd Adjusts how big each puzzle is when printed. Larger numbers make
386 puzzles bigger; the default is 1.0.
390 \dd Puzzles will be printed in colour, rather than in black and white
391 (if supported by the puzzle).
396 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net}
398 (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called
399 \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.)
401 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet}
402 \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other
403 implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a
404 network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then
405 shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to
406 rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an
407 entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter
408 clause means that there are no closed paths within the network.
409 Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid,
410 all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are
413 \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}
415 \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls}
417 \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net
418 \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net
419 \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net
421 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
424 \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys
426 \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key
428 \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key
430 \dt \e{Rotate tile by 180 degrees}: \q{F} key
432 \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key
434 \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can
435 also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally
438 The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may
441 \dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys
443 \dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that
444 tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together.
446 \dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys
448 \dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
449 (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will
450 be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be
451 helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.)
453 \dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key
455 \dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
458 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
460 \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters
462 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
465 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
467 \dd Size of grid in tiles.
469 \dt \e{Walls wrap around}
471 \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
472 and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
474 \dt \e{Barrier probability}
476 \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
477 barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a
478 higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they
479 act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints).
483 The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the
484 barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if
485 you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle
486 (see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter,
487 and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the
488 same starting grid, with the only change being the number of
489 barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint,
490 you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same
491 parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed
492 from the original Net window.
496 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
498 \dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
499 only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
500 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
501 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all}
502 the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
508 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube}
510 This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
511 Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16
512 squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move
513 is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that
514 it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue
515 square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you
516 roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is
517 put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces
518 that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
519 squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
520 moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
522 Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
523 once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
524 you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an
525 octahedron or an icosahedron.
527 \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}
529 \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls}
531 \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube
532 \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube
533 \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube
535 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
537 Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
538 solid) towards the mouse pointer.
540 The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
541 the four cardinal directions.
542 On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is
543 more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't
544 make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric
545 keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement.
547 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
549 \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters
551 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
554 \dt \e{Type of solid}
556 \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
557 tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
559 \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom}
561 \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
562 triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows
566 \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen}
568 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen}
570 The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}}
571 with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares
572 contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to
573 choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space.
574 The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the
575 space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the
576 bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}).
578 \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls}
580 \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen
581 \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen
582 \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen
584 This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
586 A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty
587 space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the
590 The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction
591 indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction).
593 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
595 \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters
597 The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
598 menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once
599 you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!)
602 \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen}
604 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen}
606 Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
607 \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
608 hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
609 is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up
610 or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
611 re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
612 vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
613 the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
614 playing on different sizes of grid.
616 I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if
617 so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
618 thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
619 that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
620 rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
621 thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
622 rather than just engineering.
624 \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls
626 This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will
627 move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated.
628 Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction.
630 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
632 \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters
634 The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
637 \b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
639 \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
640 the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way
641 that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
642 override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to
643 be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise
644 set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer
645 (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the
646 more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter
647 than the target length will turn out to be possible.
650 \C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle}
652 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle}
654 Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
655 (see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
656 containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
659 In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
660 tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in
661 the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
662 settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
664 I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid
665 Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
666 you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
667 developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
669 \H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls
671 To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
672 you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square,
673 which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
676 In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at
677 a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in
678 the centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
680 Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
681 Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
683 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
685 \H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters
687 Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom}
688 option on the \q{Type} menu:
690 \b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
692 \b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time.
694 \b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
695 (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there
696 are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim
697 is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into
698 the second row, and so on.
700 \b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
701 you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
702 drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete
705 \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
706 the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any
707 arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this
708 by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed.
709 Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling
710 moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move
711 shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask
712 for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target
713 length will turn out to be possible.
716 \C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles}
718 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles}
720 You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all)
721 of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of
722 various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one
723 numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the
724 number written in its numbered square.
726 Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli}
727 \k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle
728 Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's
729 implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of
730 any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not
731 quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side
732 you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own
735 \B{nikoli-rect} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}
737 \B{puzzle-palace-rect} \W{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}\cw{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}
739 \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls
741 This game is played with the mouse.
743 Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw
744 an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any
745 existing edges within that rectangle).
747 When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded.
749 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
751 \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters
753 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
756 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
758 \dd Size of grid, in squares.
760 \dt \e{Expansion factor}
762 \dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
763 the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
764 rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
765 Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size
766 you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns.
770 The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
771 simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
772 further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that
773 each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big
774 after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the
775 size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size
776 without adding any more rectangles.
778 Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game
779 more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive
780 and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high,
781 though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles
782 to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial.
786 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
788 \dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
789 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
790 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
791 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the
792 possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced
793 player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
796 \C{netslide} \i{Netslide}
798 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide}
800 This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the
801 movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but
802 instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
803 into place by moving a whole row at a time.
805 As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse.
806 See \k{sixteen-controls}.
808 \I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar
809 meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see
812 Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
815 \C{pattern} \i{Pattern}
817 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern}
819 You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
820 or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
821 runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
822 lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
823 fill in the entire grid black or white.
825 I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
826 \q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under
829 Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
830 of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
831 generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
832 groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
833 a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
834 squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
835 The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
837 \H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls
839 This game is played with the mouse.
841 Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
842 white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
843 Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
844 default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again.
846 You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
847 a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
848 (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
849 with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
852 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
854 \H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters
856 The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
857 menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
862 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo}
864 You have a square grid, which is divided into as many equally sized
865 sub-blocks as the grid has rows. Each square must be filled in with
866 a digit from 1 to the size of the grid, in such a way that
868 \b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
870 \b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
872 \b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
874 \b (optionally, by default off) each of the square's two main
875 diagonals contains only one occurrence of each digit.
877 You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
878 rest of the numbers correctly.
880 Under the default settings, the sub-blocks are square or
881 rectangular. The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual
882 grid, divided into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes
883 with rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a
884 6\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks). Alternatively, you
885 can select \q{jigsaw} mode, in which the sub-blocks are arbitrary
886 shapes which differ between individual puzzles.
888 If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
889 additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
890 you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1
891 to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}.
893 I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's
894 also been popularised by various newspapers under the name
895 \q{Sudoku} or \q{Su Doku}. Howard Garns is considered the inventor
896 of the modern form of the puzzle, and it was first published in
897 \e{Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games}. A more elaborate treatment
898 of the history of the puzzle can be found on Wikipedia
901 \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}
903 \B{wikipedia-solo} \W{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku}\cw{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku}
905 \H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls
907 To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
908 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
909 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
910 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
912 If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
913 number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
914 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
916 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
917 them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
918 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
919 particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
920 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
922 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
923 the same number again.
925 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
926 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
927 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
929 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
931 \H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters
933 Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
934 grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of
935 rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
936 the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows,
937 each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
939 If you tick the \q{X} checkbox, Solo will apply the optional extra
940 constraint that the two main diagonals of the grid also contain one
941 of every digit. (This is sometimes known as \q{Sudoku-X} in
942 newspapers.) In this mode, the squares on the two main diagonals
943 will be shaded slightly so that you know it's enabled.
945 If you tick the \q{Jigsaw} checkbox, Solo will generate randomly
946 shaped sub-blocks. In this mode, the actual grid size will be taken
947 to be the product of the numbers entered in the \q{Columns} and
948 \q{Rows} boxes. There is no reason why you have to enter a number
949 greater than 1 in both boxes; Jigsaw mode has no constraint on the
950 grid size, and it can even be a prime number if you feel like it.
952 You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
953 puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
954 make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
955 clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
956 have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
958 Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
959 Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of
960 deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode
961 of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
962 particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there
963 will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times,
964 whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make
965 partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in
966 (or the set of numbers that could be in a square).
967 \#{Advanced, Extreme?}
968 At \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will
969 eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out
972 Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select one
973 of the higher difficulty levels, Solo may have to make many attempts
974 at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough for you. Be
975 prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured a large
981 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines}
983 You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
984 you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
985 \e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine,
986 you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
987 are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
990 This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
991 perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
993 This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
994 generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
995 never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to
996 deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
997 versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
998 two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
1001 \H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls
1003 This game is played with the mouse.
1005 If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
1007 If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
1008 indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
1009 a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
1010 again to remove a mark placed in error.
1012 If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear
1013 around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many
1014 flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered
1015 squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So
1016 once you think you know the location of all the mines around a
1017 square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to
1018 click on each of the remaining squares one by one.
1020 If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding
1021 eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
1022 turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
1023 will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
1024 square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
1026 All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
1028 Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
1029 use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
1030 in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
1031 them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
1032 like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
1033 will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
1034 game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
1036 (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
1037 implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
1040 \H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters
1042 The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
1045 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1047 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1051 \dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
1052 mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in
1053 which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares
1054 in the grid to be mines.
1058 Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities,
1059 the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid.
1063 \dt \e{Ensure solubility}
1065 \dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
1066 ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the
1067 initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by
1068 other implementations, you can switch off this option.
1071 \C{samegame} \i{Same Game}
1073 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame}
1075 You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
1076 highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
1077 the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
1078 the faster you clear the arena).
1080 If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but
1081 single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you
1084 Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up:
1085 blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty
1086 columns are filled from the right.
1088 Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1090 \H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls}
1092 \IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game
1093 \IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game
1094 \IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game
1096 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1098 If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly
1099 clearing the current selection).
1101 If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
1102 rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
1104 If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
1106 The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
1107 Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
1108 pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
1110 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1112 \H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters
1114 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1117 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1119 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1121 \dt \e{No. of colours}
1123 \dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours,
1124 the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to
1125 successfully clear the grid.
1127 \dt \e{Scoring system}
1129 \dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default
1130 system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score
1131 any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of
1132 two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively
1135 \dt \e{Ensure solubility}
1137 \dd If this option is ticked (the default state), generated grids
1138 will be guaranteed to have at least one solution.
1142 If you turn it off, the game generator will not try to guarantee
1143 soluble grids; it will, however, still ensure that there are at
1144 least 2 squares of each colour on the grid at the start (since a
1145 grid with exactly one square of a given colour is \e{definitely}
1146 insoluble). Grids generated with this option disabled may contain
1147 more large areas of contiguous colour, leading to opportunities for
1148 higher scores; they can also take less time to generate.
1155 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip}
1157 You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1158 light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1159 and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1160 do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1162 Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1163 change when you flip it.
1165 \H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls}
1167 \IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip
1168 \IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip
1169 \IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip
1171 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1173 Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or
1174 use the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter
1177 If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will mark some of
1178 the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1179 mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square
1180 \e{without} a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate
1181 that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
1183 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1185 \H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters
1187 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1190 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1192 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1196 \dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1197 by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses},
1198 causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours
1199 (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting,
1200 \q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so
1201 the game is different every time.
1206 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.guess}
1208 You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a
1209 predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a
1210 certain number of guesses.
1212 Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs
1213 in the correct places (in black), and also the number of
1214 correctly-coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white).
1216 This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as
1217 a board game \q{\i{Mastermind}}, with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row,
1218 and 10 guesses. However, this version allows custom settings of number
1219 of colours (up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses.
1221 Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1223 \H{guess-controls} \i{Guess controls}
1225 \IM{Guess controls} controls, for Guess
1226 \IM{Guess controls} keys, for Guess
1227 \IM{Guess controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Guess
1229 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1231 With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand
1232 side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also be
1233 dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To
1234 remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid.
1236 Right-clicking in the current guess adds a \q{hold} marker; pegs
1237 that have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess
1240 Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can be
1241 used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a
1242 peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the
1243 selected colour in the chosen position. \q{D} or Backspace removes a
1244 peg, and \q{H} adds a hold marker.
1246 When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be highlighted;
1247 clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them with the arrow keys
1248 and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will mark the current guess,
1249 copy any held pegs to the next guess, and move the \q{current guess}
1252 If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be displayed
1253 below; if you run out of guesses (or select \q{Solve...}) the solution
1254 will also be revealed.
1256 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1258 \H{guess-parameters} \I{parameters, for Guess}Guess parameters
1260 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1261 \q{Type} menu. The default game matches the parameters for the
1262 board game \q{Mastermind}.
1266 \dd Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10
1269 \dt \e{Pegs per guess}
1271 \dd Number of pegs per guess (more is harder).
1275 \dd Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is harder).
1277 \dt \e{Allow blanks}
1279 \dd Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it easier, because
1280 you know that those will never be counted as part of the solution). This
1281 is turned off by default.
1283 Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you really wanted
1284 that, use one extra colour.
1286 \dt \e{Allow duplicates}
1288 \dd Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more than once;
1289 this increases the search space (making things harder), and is turned on by
1295 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pegs}
1297 A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a
1298 peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically)
1299 to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but one
1300 of the pegs initially present.
1302 This game, best known as \I{Solitaire, Peg}\q{Peg Solitaire}, is
1303 possibly one of the oldest puzzle games still commonly known.
1305 \H{pegs-controls} \i{Pegs controls}
1307 \IM{Pegs controls} controls, for Pegs
1309 To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to
1310 its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away
1311 from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and
1312 there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted
1313 and the intervening peg will be removed.
1315 Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A
1316 space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it
1317 is an obstacle which you must work around.
1319 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1321 \H{pegs-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pegs}Pegs parameters
1323 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1326 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1328 \dd Size of grid in holes.
1332 \dd Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or a
1333 randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently
1334 supported are \q{Cross} and \q{Octagon} (also commonly known as the
1335 English and European traditional board layouts respectively).
1336 Selecting \q{Random} will give you a different board shape every
1337 time (but always one that is known to have a solution).
1340 \C{dominosa} \i{Dominosa}
1342 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.dominosa}
1344 A normal set of dominoes \dash that is, one instance of every
1345 (unordered) pair of numbers from 0 to 6 \dash has been arranged
1346 irregularly into a rectangle; then the number in each square has
1347 been written down and the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is
1348 to reconstruct the pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match
1349 the provided array of numbers.
1351 This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its
1352 name from those initials.
1354 \H{dominosa-controls} \i{Dominosa controls}
1356 \IM{Dominosa controls} controls, for Dominosa
1358 Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino
1359 covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to
1360 place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones
1363 Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between
1364 them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two
1365 numbers are \e{not} covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again
1368 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1370 \H{dominosa-parameters} \I{parameters, for Dominosa}Dominosa parameters
1372 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1375 \dt \e{Maximum number on dominoes}
1377 \dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the
1378 set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going up to N
1379 will give rise to an (N+2) \by (N+1) rectangle; so, in particular,
1380 the default value of 6 gives an 8\by\.7 grid.
1382 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
1384 \dd Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents
1385 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
1386 difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you can turn off
1387 this feature. Also, finding \e{all} the possible solutions can be an
1388 additional challenge for an advanced player. Turning off this option
1389 can also speed up puzzle generation.
1392 \C{untangle} \i{Untangle}
1394 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.untangle}
1396 You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn
1397 between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is
1398 to position the points so that no line crosses another.
1400 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{Planarity}
1401 \k{Planarity}, written by John Tantalo.
1403 \B{Planarity} \W{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}\cw{http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity}
1405 \H{untangle-controls} \i{Untangle controls}
1407 \IM{Untangle controls} controls, for Untangle
1409 To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it
1410 into a new position.
1412 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1414 \H{untangle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Untangle}Untangle parameters
1416 There is only one parameter available from the \q{Custom...} option
1417 on the \q{Type} menu:
1419 \dt \e{Number of points}
1421 \dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of
1422 points in the generated graph.
1425 \C{blackbox} \i{Black Box}
1427 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.blackbox}
1429 A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to
1430 deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers from positions
1431 on the edge of the arena and observing how they are deflected.
1433 Lasers will fire straight until they hit the opposite side of the
1434 arena (at which point they emerge), unless affected by balls in one of
1437 \b A laser that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never re-emerge.
1438 This includes lasers that meet a ball on the first rank of the arena.
1440 \b A laser with a ball to its front-left square gets deflected 90 degrees
1443 \b A laser with a ball to its front-right square gets similarly deflected
1446 \b A laser that would re-emerge from the entry location is considered to be
1449 \b A laser which would get deflected before entering the arena (down the
1450 \q{firing range}) by a ball to the front-left or front-right of its
1451 entry point is also considered to be \q{reflected}.
1453 Lasers that are reflected appear as a \q{R}; lasers that hit balls
1454 dead-on appear as \q{H}. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing point
1455 and the location where the laser emerges (this number is unique to
1458 You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the
1459 entry and exit patterns of the lasers; once you have placed enough
1460 balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked.
1462 Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each
1463 of the laser behaviours shown above:
1476 As shown, it is possible for a ball to receive multiple reflections
1477 before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a ball may be reflected
1478 (possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the \q{H} on the
1479 left side of the example).
1481 Note that any layout with more that 4 balls may have a non-unique
1482 solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the
1483 board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the fifth
1484 ball is (possible positions marked with an x):
1497 For this reason when you have your guesses checked the game will
1498 check that your solution \e{produces the same results} as the
1499 computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the
1500 computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at
1501 \e{any} of the locations marked with an x, and you would still win.
1503 Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1505 \H{blackbox-controls} \i{Black Box controls}
1507 \IM{Black Box controls}controls, for Black Box
1509 To fire a laser, left-click in a square around the side of the arena.
1510 The results will be displayed immediately. Lasers may not be fired
1511 twice (because the results will never change). Holding down the left
1512 button will highlight the current go (or a previous go) to confirm the
1513 exit point for that laser, if applicable.
1515 To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a
1516 black circle will appear marking the guess; to remove the guessed ball
1519 Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by
1520 right-clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by
1521 right-clicking in the laser firing range above/below that column, or
1522 to the left/right of that row.
1524 When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed a button will
1525 appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that will mark
1528 If you click the \q{mark} button and your guesses are not correct,
1529 the game will show you as little information as possible to
1530 demonstrate this to you, so you can try again. If your ball
1531 positions are not consistent with the laser paths you already know
1532 about, one laser path will be circled to indicate that it proves you
1533 wrong. If your positions match all the existing laser paths but are
1534 still wrong, one new laser path will be revealed (written in red)
1535 which is not consistent with your current guesses.
1537 If you decide to give up completely, you can select Solve to reveal
1538 the actual ball positions. At this point, correctly-placed balls
1539 will be displayed as filled black circles; incorrectly-placed balls
1540 are displayed as filled black circles with red crosses, and missing
1541 balls are filled red circles. In addition, a red circle marks any
1542 laser you had already fired which is not consistent with your ball
1543 layout (just as when you press the mark button), and red text marks
1544 any laser you \e{could} have fired in order to distinguish your ball
1545 layout from the right one.
1547 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1549 \H{blackbox-parameters} \I{parameters, for Black Box}Black Box parameters
1551 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1554 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1556 \dd Size of grid in squares. There are 2 \by \e{Width} \by \e{Height} lasers
1557 per grid, two per row and two per column.
1559 \dt \e{No. of balls}
1561 \dd Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single number,
1562 or a range (separated with a hyphen, like \q{2-6}), and determines the
1563 number of balls to place on the grid. The \q{reveal} button is only
1564 enabled if you have guessed an appropriate number of balls; a guess
1565 using a different number to the original solution is still acceptable,
1566 if all the laser inputs and outputs match.
1571 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.slant}
1573 You have a grid of squares. Your aim is to draw a diagonal line
1574 through each square, and choose which way each line slants so that
1575 the following conditions are met:
1577 \b The diagonal lines never form a loop.
1579 \b Any point with a circled number has precisely that many lines
1580 meeting at it. (Thus, a 4 is the centre of a cross shape, whereas a
1581 zero is the centre of a diamond shape \dash or rather, a partial
1582 diamond shape, because a zero can never appear in the middle of the
1583 grid because that would immediately cause a loop.)
1585 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-slant}.
1588 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm}
1591 \H{slant-controls} \i{Slant controls}
1593 \IM{Slant controls} controls, for Slant
1595 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a \cw{\\} in it (a line
1596 leaning to the left, i.e. running from the top left of the square to
1597 the bottom right). Right-clicking in a blank square will place a
1598 \cw{/} in it (leaning to the right, running from top right to bottom
1601 Continuing to click either button will cycle between the three
1602 possible square contents. Thus, if you left-click repeatedly in a
1603 blank square it will change from blank to \cw{\\} to \cw{/} back to
1604 blank, and if you right-click repeatedly the square will change from
1605 blank to \cw{/} to \cw{\\} back to blank. (Therefore, you can play
1606 the game entirely with one button if you need to.)
1608 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1610 \H{slant-parameters} \I{parameters, for Slant}Slant parameters
1612 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1615 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1617 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1621 \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Hard level,
1622 you are required to do deductions based on knowledge of
1623 \e{relationships} between squares rather than always being able to
1624 deduce the exact contents of one square at a time. (For example, you
1625 might know that two squares slant in the same direction, even if you
1626 don't yet know what that direction is, and this might enable you to
1627 deduce something about still other squares.) Even at Hard level,
1628 guesswork and backtracking should never be necessary.
1631 \C{lightup} \i{Light Up}
1633 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.lightup}
1635 You have a grid of squares. Some are filled in black; some of the
1636 black squares are numbered. Your aim is to \q{light up} all the
1637 empty squares by placing light bulbs in some of them.
1639 Each light bulb illuminates the square it is on, plus all squares in
1640 line with it horizontally or vertically unless a black square is
1643 To win the game, you must satisfy the following conditions:
1645 \b All non-black squares are lit.
1647 \b No light is lit by another light.
1649 \b All numbered black squares have exactly that number of lights adjacent to
1650 them (in the four squares above, below, and to the side).
1652 Non-numbered black squares may have any number of lights adjacent to them.
1654 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-lightup}.
1656 Light Up was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1659 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm}
1662 \H{lightup-controls} \i{Light Up controls}
1664 \IM{Light Up controls} controls, for Light Up
1666 Left-clicking in a non-black square will toggle the presence of a light
1667 in that square. Right-clicking in a non-black square toggles a mark there to aid
1668 solving; it can be used to highlight squares that cannot be lit, for example.
1670 You may not place a light in a marked square, nor place a mark in a lit square.
1672 The game will highlight obvious errors in red. Lights lit by other
1673 lights are highlighted in this way, as are numbered squares which
1674 do not (or cannot) have the right number of lights next to them.
1676 Thus, the grid is solved when all non-black squares have yellow
1677 highlights and there are no red lights.
1679 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1681 \H{lightup-parameters} \I{parameters, for Light Up}Light Up parameters
1683 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1686 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1688 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1690 \dt \e{%age of black squares}
1692 \dd Rough percentage of black squares in the grid.
1696 This is a hint rather than an instruction. If the grid generator is
1697 unable to generate a puzzle to this precise specification, it will
1698 increase the proportion of black squares until it can.
1704 \dd Allows you to specify the required symmetry of the black squares
1705 in the grid. (This does not affect the difficulty of the puzzles
1710 \dd \q{Easy} means that the puzzles should be soluble without
1711 backtracking or guessing, \q{Hard} means that some guesses will
1712 probably be necessary.
1717 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.map}
1719 You are given a map consisting of a number of regions. Your task is
1720 to colour each region with one of four colours, in such a way that
1721 no two regions sharing a boundary have the same colour. You are
1722 provided with some regions already coloured, sufficient to make the
1723 remainder of the solution unique.
1725 Only regions which share a length of border are required to be
1726 different colours. Two regions which meet at only one \e{point}
1727 (i.e. are diagonally separated) may be the same colour.
1729 I believe this puzzle is original; I've never seen an implementation
1730 of it anywhere else. The concept of a \i{four-colouring} puzzle was
1731 suggested by Owen Dunn; credit must also go to Nikoli and to Verity
1732 Allan for inspiring the train of thought that led to me realising
1733 Owen's suggestion was a viable puzzle. Thanks also to Gareth Taylor
1734 for many detailed suggestions.
1736 \H{map-controls} \i{Map controls}
1738 \IM{Map controls} controls, for Map
1740 To colour a region, click the left mouse button on an existing
1741 region of the desired colour and drag that colour into the new
1744 (The program will always ensure the starting puzzle has at least one
1745 region of each colour, so that this is always possible!)
1747 If you need to clear a region, you can drag from an empty region, or
1748 from the puzzle boundary if there are no empty regions left.
1750 Dragging a colour using the \e{right} mouse button will stipple the
1751 region in that colour, which you can use as a note to yourself that
1752 you think the region \e{might} be that colour. A region can contain
1753 stipples in multiple colours at once. (This is often useful at the
1754 harder difficulty levels.)
1756 If you press L during play, the game will toggle display of a number
1757 in each region of the map. This is useful if you want to discuss a
1758 particular puzzle instance with a friend \dash having an unambiguous
1759 name for each region is much easier than trying to refer to them all
1760 by names such as \q{the one down and right of the brown one on the
1763 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1765 \H{map-parameters} \I{parameters, for Map}Map parameters
1767 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1770 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1772 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1776 \dd Number of regions in the generated map.
1780 \dd In \q{Easy} mode, there should always be at least one region
1781 whose colour can be determined trivially. In \q{Normal} and \q{Hard}
1782 modes, you will have to use increasingly complex logic to deduce the
1783 colour of some regions. However, it will always be possible without
1784 having to guess or backtrack.
1788 In \q{Unreasonable} mode, the program will feel free to generate
1789 puzzles which are as hard as it can possibly make them: the only
1790 constraint is that they should still have a unique solution. Solving
1791 Unreasonable puzzles may require guessing and backtracking.
1798 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.loopy}
1800 You are given a grid of dots. Your aim is to draw a single unbroken
1801 loop from dot to dot within the grid.
1803 Some of the square spaces between the dots contain numbers. These
1804 numbers indicate how many of the four edges of that square are part
1805 of the loop. The loop you draw must correctly satisfy all of these
1806 clues to be considered a correct solution.
1808 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-loopy}.
1810 Loopy was contributed to this collection by Mike Pinna.
1813 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/3/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/3/index-e.htm}
1816 \H{loopy-controls} \i{Loopy controls}
1818 \IM{Loopy controls} controls, for Loopy
1820 Click the left mouse button between two dots to add a line segment
1821 connecting them. Click again to remove that line segment.
1823 If you are sure that a particular line segment is \e{not} part of
1824 the loop, you can click the right mouse button to add a small cross
1825 indicating this. Click again to remove the cross.
1827 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1829 \H{loopy-parameters} \I{parameters, for Loopy}Loopy parameters
1831 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1834 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1836 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1840 \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle.
1841 \#{FIXME: what distinguishes Easy, Medium, and Hard? In particular,
1842 when are backtracking/guesswork required, if ever?}
1845 \C{inertia} \i{Inertia}
1847 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.inertia}
1849 You are a small green ball sitting in a grid full of obstacles. Your
1850 aim is to collect all the gems without running into any mines.
1852 You can move the ball in any orthogonal \e{or diagonal} direction.
1853 Once the ball starts moving, it will continue until something stops
1854 it. A wall directly in its path will stop it (but if it is moving
1855 diagonally, it will move through a diagonal gap between two other
1856 walls without stopping). Also, some of the squares are \q{stops};
1857 when the ball moves on to a stop, it will stop moving no matter what
1858 direction it was going in. Gems do \e{not} stop the ball; it picks
1859 them up and keeps on going.
1861 Running into a mine is fatal. Even if you picked up the last gem in
1862 the same move which then hit a mine, the game will count you as dead
1863 rather than victorious.
1865 This game was originally implemented for Windows by Ben Olmstead
1866 \k{bem}, who was kind enough to release his source code on request
1867 so that it could be re-implemented for this collection.
1869 \B{bem} \W{http://xn13.com/}\cw{http://xn13.com/}
1871 \H{inertia-controls} \i{Inertia controls}
1873 \IM{Inertia controls} controls, for Inertia
1874 \IM{Inertia controls} keys, for Inertia
1875 \IM{Inertia controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Inertia
1877 You can move the ball in any of the eight directions using the
1878 numeric keypad. Alternatively, if you click the left mouse button on
1879 the grid, the ball will begin a move in the general direction of
1882 If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, the program will
1883 compute a path through the grid which collects all the remaining
1884 gems and returns to the current position. A hint arrow will appear
1885 on the ball indicating the direction in which you should move to
1886 begin on this path. If you then move in that direction, the arrow
1887 will update to indicate the next direction on the path. You can also
1888 press Space to automatically move in the direction of the hint
1889 arrow. If you move in a different direction from the one shown by
1890 the arrow, the hint arrows will stop appearing because you have
1891 strayed from the provided path; you can then use \q{Solve} again to
1892 generate a new path if you want to.
1894 All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
1895 In particular, if you do run into a mine and die, you can use the
1896 Undo function and resume playing from before the fatal move. The
1897 game will keep track of the number of times you have done this.
1899 \H{inertia-parameters} \I{parameters, for Inertia}Inertia parameters
1901 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1904 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1906 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1911 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.tents}
1913 You have a grid of squares, some of which contain trees. Your aim is
1914 to place tents in some of the remaining squares, in such a way that
1915 the following conditions are met:
1917 \b There are exactly as many tents as trees.
1919 \b The tents and trees can be matched up in such a way that each
1920 tent is directly adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not
1921 diagonally) to its own tree. However, a tent may be adjacent to
1922 other trees as well as its own.
1924 \b No two tents are adjacent horizontally, vertically \e{or
1927 \b The number of tents in each row, and in each column, matches the
1928 numbers given round the sides of the grid.
1930 This puzzle can be found in several places on the Internet, and was
1931 brought to my attention by e-mail. I don't know who I should credit
1934 \H{tents-controls} \i{Tents controls}
1936 \IM{Tents controls} controls, for Tents
1938 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a tent in it.
1939 Right-clicking in a blank square will colour it green, indicating
1940 that you are sure it \e{isn't} a tent. Clicking either button in an
1941 occupied square will clear it.
1943 If you \e{drag} with the right button along a row or column, every
1944 blank square in the region you cover will be turned green, and no
1945 other squares will be affected. (This is useful for clearing the
1946 remainder of a row once you have placed all its tents.)
1948 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
1950 \H{tents-parameters} \I{parameters, for Tents}Tents parameters
1952 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1955 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1957 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1961 \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
1962 puzzles require more complex deductions, but at present none of the
1963 available difficulty levels requires guesswork or backtracking.
1966 \C{bridges} \i{Bridges}
1968 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.bridges}
1970 You have a set of islands distributed across the playing area. Each
1971 island contains a number. Your aim is to connect the islands
1972 together with bridges, in such a way that:
1974 \b Bridges run horizontally or vertically.
1976 \b The number of bridges terminating at any island is equal to the
1977 number written in that island.
1979 \b Two bridges may run in parallel between the same two islands, but
1980 no more than two may do so.
1982 \b No bridge crosses another bridge.
1984 \b All the islands are connected together.
1986 There are some configurable alternative modes, which involve
1987 changing the parallel-bridge limit to something other than 2, and
1988 introducing the additional constraint that no sequence of bridges
1989 may form a loop from one island back to the same island. The rules
1990 stated above are the default ones.
1992 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-bridges}.
1994 Bridges was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1997 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/14/index-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/14/index-e.htm}
1999 \H{bridges-controls} \i{Bridges controls}
2001 \IM{Bridges controls} controls, for Bridges
2003 To place a bridge between two islands, click the mouse down on one
2004 island and drag it towards the other. You do not need to drag all
2005 the way to the other island; you only need to move the mouse far
2006 enough for the intended bridge direction to be unambiguous. (So you
2007 can keep the mouse near the starting island and conveniently throw
2008 bridges out from it in many directions.)
2010 Doing this again when a bridge is already present will add another
2011 parallel bridge. If there are already as many bridges between the
2012 two islands as permitted by the current game rules (i.e. two by
2013 default), the same dragging action will remove all of them.
2015 If you want to remind yourself that two islands definitely \e{do
2016 not} have a bridge between them, you can right-drag between them in
2017 the same way to draw a \q{non-bridge} marker.
2019 If you think you have finished with an island (i.e. you have placed
2020 all its bridges and are confident that they are in the right
2021 places), you can mark the island as finished by left-clicking on it.
2022 This will highlight it and all the bridges connected to it, and you
2023 will be prevented from accidentally modifying any of those bridges
2024 in future. Left-clicking again on a highlighted island will unmark
2025 it and restore your ability to modify it.
2027 Violations of the puzzle rules will be marked in red:
2029 \b An island with too many bridges will be highlighted in red.
2031 \b An island with too few bridges will be highlighted in red if it
2032 is definitely an error (as opposed to merely not being finished
2033 yet): if adding enough bridges would involve having to cross another
2034 bridge or remove a non-bridge marker, or if the island has been
2035 highlighted as complete.
2037 \b A group of islands and bridges may be highlighted in red if it is
2038 a closed subset of the puzzle with no way to connect it to the rest
2039 of the islands. For example, if you directly connect two 1s together
2040 with a bridge and they are not the only two islands on the grid,
2041 they will light up red to indicate that such a group cannot be
2042 contained in any valid solution.
2044 \b If you have selected the (non-default) option to disallow loops
2045 in the solution, a group of bridges which forms a loop will be
2048 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2050 \H{bridges-parameters} \I{parameters, for Bridges}Bridges parameters
2052 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
2055 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
2057 \dd Size of grid in squares.
2061 \dd Difficulty level of puzzle.
2065 \dd This is set by default. If cleared, puzzles will be generated in
2066 such a way that they are always soluble without creating a loop, and
2067 solutions which do involve a loop will be disallowed.
2069 \dt \e{Max. bridges per direction}
2071 \dd Maximum number of bridges in any particular direction. The
2072 default is 2, but you can change it to 1, 3 or 4. In general, fewer
2075 \dt \e{%age of island squares}
2077 \dd Gives a rough percentage of islands the generator will try and
2078 lay before finishing the puzzle. Certain layouts will not manage to
2079 lay enough islands; this is an upper bound.
2081 \dt \e{Expansion factor (%age)}
2083 \dd The grid generator works by picking an existing island at random
2084 (after first creating an initial island somewhere). It then decides
2085 on a direction (at random), and then works out how far it could
2086 extend before creating another island. This parameter determines how
2087 likely it is to extend as far as it can, rather than choosing
2090 High expansion factors usually mean easier puzzles with fewer
2091 possible islands; low expansion factors can create lots of
2092 tightly-packed islands.
2095 \C{unequal} \i{Unequal}
2097 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.unequal}
2099 You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to
2100 the size of the grid, and some squares have greater-than signs between
2101 them. Your aim is to fully populate the grid with numbers such that:
2103 \b Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit
2105 \b Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit
2107 \b All the greater-than signs are satisfied.
2109 In \q{Trivial} mode (available via the \q{Custom} game type
2110 selector), there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve
2111 the \i{Latin square} only.
2113 At the time of writing, this puzzle is appearing in the Guardian
2114 weekly under the name \q{\i{Futoshiki}}.
2116 Unequal was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2118 \H{unequal-controls} \i{Unequal controls}
2120 \IM{Unequal controls} controls, for Unequal
2122 Unequal shares much of its control system with Solo.
2124 To play Unequal, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2125 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
2126 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
2127 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
2129 If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
2130 number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
2131 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
2133 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
2134 them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
2135 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
2136 particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
2137 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
2139 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
2140 the same number again.
2142 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
2143 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
2144 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
2146 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2148 \H{unequal-parameters} \I{parameters, for Unequal}Unequal parameters
2150 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
2159 \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Trivial
2160 level, there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve the
2161 Latin square only. At Recursive level (only available via the
2162 \q{Custom} game type selector) backtracking will be required, but
2163 the solution should still be unique. The levels in between require
2164 increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to backtrack.
2168 \C{galaxies} \i{Galaxies}
2170 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.galaxies}
2172 You have a rectangular grid containing a number of dots. Your aim is
2173 to draw edges along the grid lines which divide the rectangle into
2174 regions in such a way that every region is 180\u00b0{-degree}
2175 rotationally symmetric, and contains exactly one dot which is
2176 located at its centre of symmetry.
2178 This puzzle was invented by \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-galaxies}, under
2179 the name \q{Tentai Show}; its name is commonly translated into
2180 English as \q{Spiral Galaxies}.
2182 Galaxies was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2184 \B{nikoli-galaxies} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show/}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show/}
2186 \H{galaxies-controls} \i{Galaxies controls}
2188 \IM{Galaxies controls} controls, for Galaxies
2190 Left-click on any grid line to draw an edge if there isn't one
2191 already, or to remove one if there is. When you create a valid
2192 region (one which is closed, contains exactly one dot, is
2193 180\u00b0{-degree} symmetric about that dot, and contains no
2194 extraneous edges inside it) it will be highlighted automatically; so
2195 your aim is to have the whole grid highlighted in that way.
2197 During solving, you might know that a particular grid square belongs
2198 to a specific dot, but not be sure of where the edges go and which
2199 other squares are connected to the dot. In order to mark this so you
2200 don't forget, you can right-click on the dot and drag, which will
2201 create an arrow marker pointing at the dot. Drop that in a square of
2202 your choice and it will remind you which dot it's associated with.
2203 You can also right-click on existing arrows to pick them up and move
2204 them, or destroy them by dropping them off the edge of the grid.
2205 (Also, if you're not sure which dot an arrow is pointing at, you can
2206 pick it up and move it around to make it clearer. It will swivel
2207 constantly as you drag it, to stay pointed at its parent dot.)
2209 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2211 \H{galaxies-parameters} \I{parameters, for Galaxies}Galaxies parameters
2213 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
2216 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
2218 \dd Size of grid in squares.
2222 \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
2223 puzzles require more complex deductions, and the \q{Unreasonable}
2224 difficulty level may require backtracking.
2228 \C{filling} \i{Filling}
2230 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.filling}
2232 You have a grid of squares, some of which contain digits, and the
2233 rest of which are empty. Your job is to fill in digits in the empty
2234 squares, in such a way that each connected region of squares all
2235 containing the same digit has an area equal to that digit.
2237 (\q{Connected region}, for the purposes of this game, does not count
2238 diagonally separated squares as adjacent.)
2240 For example, it follows that no square can contain a zero, and that
2241 two adjacent squares can not both contain a one. No region has an
2242 area greater than 9 (because then its area would not be a single
2245 Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-fillomino}.
2247 Filling was contributed to this collection by Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker.
2249 \B{nikoli-fillomino}
2250 \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino/}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino/}
2252 \H{filling-controls} \I{controls, for Filling}Filling controls
2254 To play Filling, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2255 type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. By dragging the
2256 mouse, you can select multiple squares to fill with a single keypress.
2257 If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and
2258 press 0, Space, Backspace or Enter to clear it again (or use the Undo
2261 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
2263 \H{filling-parameters} \I{parameters, for Filling}Filling parameters
2265 Filling allows you to configure the number of rows and columns of the
2266 grid, through the \q{Type} menu.
2270 \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
2272 This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2008 Simon Tatham.
2274 Portions copyright Richard Boulton, James Harvey, Mike Pinna and
2275 Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker.
2277 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
2278 obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
2279 (the \q{Software}), to deal in the Software without restriction,
2280 including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
2281 publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
2282 and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
2283 subject to the following conditions:
2285 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
2286 included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
2288 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \q{AS IS}, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
2289 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
2290 MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
2291 NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
2292 BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
2293 ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
2294 CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
2297 \IM{command-line}{command line} command line
2299 \IM{default parameters, specifying} default parameters, specifying
2300 \IM{default parameters, specifying} preferences, specifying default
2305 \IM{generating game IDs} generating game IDs
2306 \IM{generating game IDs} game ID, generating
2308 \IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option
2309 \IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option
2311 \IM{game ID} game ID
2312 \IM{game ID} ID, game
2313 \IM{ID format} ID format
2314 \IM{ID format} format, ID
2315 \IM{ID format} game ID, format
2318 \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard)
2320 \IM{initial state} initial state
2321 \IM{initial state} state, initial
2323 \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence
2324 \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT