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1 | \title Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection | ||
2 | |||
3 | \cfg{winhelp-filename}{puzzles.hlp} | ||
4 | \cfg{winhelp-contents-titlepage}{Contents} | ||
5 | |||
6 | \cfg{text-filename}{puzzles.txt} | ||
7 | |||
8 | \cfg{html-contents-filename}{index.html} | ||
9 | \cfg{html-template-filename}{%k.html} | ||
10 | \cfg{html-index-filename}{docindex.html} | ||
11 | \cfg{html-leaf-level}{1} | ||
12 | \cfg{html-contents-depth-0}{1} | ||
13 | \cfg{html-contents-depth-1}{2} | ||
14 | \cfg{html-leaf-contains-contents}{true} | ||
15 | |||
16 | \cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info} | ||
17 | |||
18 | \cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps} | ||
19 | \cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf} | ||
20 | |||
21 | \define{by} \u00D7{x} | ||
22 | |||
23 | \define{dash} \u2013{-} | ||
24 | |||
25 | \define{times} \u00D7{*} | ||
26 | |||
27 | \define{divide} \u00F7{/} | ||
28 | |||
29 | \define{minus} \u2212{-} | ||
30 | |||
31 | This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games. | ||
32 | |||
33 | \copyright This manual is copyright 2004-2014 Simon Tatham. All rights | ||
34 | reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence. | ||
35 | See \k{licence} for the licence text in full. | ||
36 | |||
37 | \cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">} | ||
38 | |||
39 | \C{intro} Introduction | ||
40 | |||
41 | I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small | ||
42 | desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and | ||
43 | play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever | ||
44 | else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found | ||
45 | a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I | ||
46 | was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged | ||
47 | that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on | ||
48 | both, and have more recently done a port to \i{Mac OS X} as well. When I | ||
49 | find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll | ||
50 | be added to this collection and will immediately be available on | ||
51 | both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front | ||
52 | ends \dash PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be \dash | ||
53 | then all the games in this framework will immediately become | ||
54 | available on another platform as well. | ||
55 | |||
56 | The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; they | ||
57 | are re-implementations of existing game concepts within my portable | ||
58 | puzzle framework. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing the | ||
59 | rules of any of these puzzles. (I don't even claim authorship of all | ||
60 | the code; some of the puzzles have been submitted by other authors.) | ||
61 | |||
62 | This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see | ||
63 | \k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like | ||
64 | with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them | ||
65 | yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong. | ||
66 | |||
67 | The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at | ||
68 | \I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}. | ||
69 | |||
70 | Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to | ||
71 | \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}. | ||
72 | You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug: | ||
73 | |||
74 | \W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html} | ||
75 | |||
76 | \ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end | ||
77 | (to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game. | ||
78 | |||
79 | |||
80 | \C{common} \ii{Common features} | ||
81 | |||
82 | This chapter describes features that are common to all the games. | ||
83 | |||
84 | \H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions | ||
85 | |||
86 | These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu | ||
87 | and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific | ||
88 | actions. | ||
89 | |||
90 | (On \i{Mac OS X}, to conform with local user interface standards, these | ||
91 | actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit | ||
92 | menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.) | ||
93 | |||
94 | \dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N}) | ||
95 | |||
96 | \dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state. | ||
97 | |||
98 | \dt \ii\e{Restart game} | ||
99 | |||
100 | \dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.) | ||
101 | |||
102 | \dt \ii\e{Load} | ||
103 | |||
104 | \dd Loads a saved game from a file on disk. | ||
105 | |||
106 | \dt \ii\e{Save} | ||
107 | |||
108 | \dd Saves the current state of your game to a file on disk. | ||
109 | |||
110 | \lcont{ | ||
111 | |||
112 | The Load and Save operations preserve your entire game | ||
113 | history (so you can save, reload, and still Undo and Redo things you | ||
114 | had done before saving). | ||
115 | |||
116 | } | ||
117 | |||
118 | \dt \I{printing, on Windows}\e{Print} | ||
119 | |||
120 | \dd Where supported (currently only on Windows), brings up a dialog | ||
121 | allowing you to print an arbitrary number of puzzles randomly | ||
122 | generated from the current parameters, optionally including the | ||
123 | current puzzle. (Only for puzzles which make sense to print, of | ||
124 | course \dash it's hard to think of a sensible printable representation | ||
125 | of Fifteen!) | ||
126 | |||
127 | \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_}) | ||
128 | |||
129 | \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the | ||
130 | session.) | ||
131 | |||
132 | \dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R}) | ||
133 | |||
134 | \dd Redoes a previously undone move. | ||
135 | |||
136 | \dt \ii\e{Copy} | ||
137 | |||
138 | \dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text | ||
139 | format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a | ||
140 | web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else. | ||
141 | (Not all games support this feature.) | ||
142 | |||
143 | \dt \ii\e{Solve} | ||
144 | |||
145 | \dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some | ||
146 | games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of | ||
147 | no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved | ||
148 | state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a | ||
149 | solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a | ||
150 | mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution | ||
151 | tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does | ||
152 | provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment | ||
153 | with set-piece moves and transformations. | ||
154 | |||
155 | \lcont{ | ||
156 | |||
157 | Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have | ||
158 | typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot | ||
159 | solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did | ||
160 | invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still | ||
161 | other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only | ||
162 | if they aren't too difficult. | ||
163 | |||
164 | The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo | ||
165 | chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to | ||
166 | solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo. | ||
167 | |||
168 | } | ||
169 | |||
170 | \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q}) | ||
171 | |||
172 | \dd Closes the application entirely. | ||
173 | |||
174 | \H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID} | ||
175 | |||
176 | There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and | ||
177 | recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the | ||
178 | same puzzle. | ||
179 | |||
180 | The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the | ||
181 | \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on \i{Mac OS X}) each | ||
182 | show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to | ||
183 | reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date. | ||
184 | |||
185 | You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program | ||
186 | (via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a | ||
187 | later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use | ||
188 | either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see | ||
189 | \k{common-cmdline} for more detail. | ||
190 | |||
191 | The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID | ||
192 | is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game, | ||
193 | whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was | ||
194 | provided as input to the random number generator used to create the | ||
195 | puzzle. This means that: | ||
196 | |||
197 | \b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although | ||
198 | some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions). | ||
199 | So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle | ||
200 | you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can | ||
201 | play the same one as you. | ||
202 | |||
203 | \b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically | ||
204 | generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you | ||
205 | can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid | ||
206 | puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or | ||
207 | more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a | ||
208 | random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody | ||
209 | has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before | ||
210 | anybody else. | ||
211 | |||
212 | \b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such | ||
213 | as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive | ||
214 | game IDs suitable for use with these programs. | ||
215 | |||
216 | \b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you | ||
217 | use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This | ||
218 | is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or | ||
219 | modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a | ||
220 | different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use | ||
221 | a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the | ||
222 | same version of the program as yours. | ||
223 | |||
224 | \lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number | ||
225 | of the program. Programs with the same version number running on | ||
226 | different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)} | ||
227 | |||
228 | \I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which | ||
229 | encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid | ||
230 | size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of | ||
231 | the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string | ||
232 | of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by | ||
233 | arbitrary data. | ||
234 | |||
235 | If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to | ||
236 | show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't | ||
237 | generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed, | ||
238 | however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game | ||
239 | ID derived from that random seed. | ||
240 | |||
241 | Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical | ||
242 | between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data | ||
243 | provided with the random seed which is not included in the | ||
244 | descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is | ||
245 | only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important | ||
246 | when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo | ||
247 | (\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID. | ||
248 | |||
249 | These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type | ||
250 | in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced} | ||
251 | difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a | ||
252 | \q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying | ||
253 | \q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will | ||
254 | generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having | ||
255 | trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask | ||
256 | for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced} | ||
257 | difficulty which it was previously set on. | ||
258 | |||
259 | \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu | ||
260 | |||
261 | The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of | ||
262 | \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new | ||
263 | random game with the parameters specified. | ||
264 | |||
265 | The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which | ||
266 | allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters | ||
267 | available are specific to each game and are described in the | ||
268 | following sections. | ||
269 | |||
270 | \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line} | ||
271 | |||
272 | (This section does not apply to the \i{Mac OS X} version.) | ||
273 | |||
274 | The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save | ||
275 | information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score | ||
276 | tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least | ||
277 | some people to play them at work, and those people will probably | ||
278 | appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!) | ||
279 | |||
280 | However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to | ||
281 | \I{default parameters, specifying}default to a particular set of | ||
282 | parameters, you can specify them on the command line. | ||
283 | |||
284 | The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want | ||
285 | using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select | ||
286 | \q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see | ||
287 | \k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of | ||
288 | two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents | ||
289 | the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and | ||
290 | anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu). | ||
291 | |||
292 | If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command | ||
293 | line, it will start up with the settings you specified. | ||
294 | |||
295 | For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron} | ||
296 | from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you | ||
297 | will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only | ||
298 | the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text | ||
299 | on the command line: \cq{PREFIX-cube o2x2}. | ||
300 | |||
301 | If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game | ||
302 | will start up in the specific game that was described. This is | ||
303 | occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID | ||
304 | than by pasting it into the game ID selection box. | ||
305 | |||
306 | (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the | ||
307 | \q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do | ||
308 | then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be | ||
309 | missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.) | ||
310 | |||
311 | \H{common-unix-cmdline} \i{Unix} \i{command-line} options | ||
312 | |||
313 | (This section only applies to the Unix port.) | ||
314 | |||
315 | In addition to being able to specify game parameters on the command | ||
316 | line (see \k{common-cmdline}), there are various other options: | ||
317 | |||
318 | \dt \cw{--game} | ||
319 | |||
320 | \dt \cw{--load} | ||
321 | |||
322 | \dd These options respectively determine whether the command-line | ||
323 | argument is treated as specifying game parameters or a \i{save} file | ||
324 | to \i{load}. Only one should be specified. If neither of these options | ||
325 | is specified, a guess is made based on the format of the argument. | ||
326 | |||
327 | \dt \cw{--generate }\e{n} | ||
328 | |||
329 | \dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being displayed, | ||
330 | a number of descriptive game IDs will be \I{generating game IDs}invented | ||
331 | and printed on standard output. This is useful for gaining access to | ||
332 | the game generation algorithms without necessarily using the frontend. | ||
333 | |||
334 | \lcont{ | ||
335 | |||
336 | If game parameters are specified on the command-line, they will be | ||
337 | used to generate the game IDs; otherwise a default set of parameters | ||
338 | will be used. | ||
339 | |||
340 | The most common use of this option is in conjunction with \c{--print}, | ||
341 | in which case its behaviour is slightly different; see below. | ||
342 | |||
343 | } | ||
344 | |||
345 | \dt \I{printing, on Unix}\cw{--print }\e{w}\cw{x}\e{h} | ||
346 | |||
347 | \dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being displayed, | ||
348 | a printed representation of one or more unsolved puzzles is sent to | ||
349 | standard output, in \i{PostScript} format. | ||
350 | |||
351 | \lcont{ | ||
352 | |||
353 | On each page of puzzles, there will be \e{w} across and \e{h} down. If | ||
354 | there are more puzzles than \e{w}\by\e{h}, more than one page will be | ||
355 | printed. | ||
356 | |||
357 | If \c{--generate} has also been specified, the invented game IDs will | ||
358 | be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise, a list of game IDs | ||
359 | is expected on standard input (which can be descriptive or random | ||
360 | seeds; see \k{common-id}), in the same format produced by | ||
361 | \c{--generate}. | ||
362 | |||
363 | For example: | ||
364 | |||
365 | \c PREFIX-net --generate 12 --print 2x3 7x7w | lpr | ||
366 | |||
367 | will generate two pages of printed Net puzzles (each of which will | ||
368 | have a 7\by\.7 wrapping grid), and pipe the output to the \c{lpr} | ||
369 | command, which on many systems will send them to an actual printer. | ||
370 | |||
371 | There are various other options which affect printing; see below. | ||
372 | |||
373 | } | ||
374 | |||
375 | \dt \cw{--save }\e{file-prefix} [ \cw{--save-suffix }\e{file-suffix} ] | ||
376 | |||
377 | \dd If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being | ||
378 | displayed, saved-game files for one or more unsolved puzzles are | ||
379 | written to files constructed from the supplied prefix and/or suffix. | ||
380 | |||
381 | \lcont{ | ||
382 | |||
383 | If \c{--generate} has also been specified, the invented game IDs will | ||
384 | be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise, a list of game IDs | ||
385 | is expected on standard input (which can be descriptive or random | ||
386 | seeds; see \k{common-id}), in the same format produced by | ||
387 | \c{--generate}. | ||
388 | |||
389 | For example: | ||
390 | |||
391 | \c PREFIX-net --generate 12 --save game --save-suffix .sav | ||
392 | |||
393 | will generate twelve Net saved-game files with the names | ||
394 | \cw{game0.sav} to \cw{game11.sav}. | ||
395 | |||
396 | } | ||
397 | |||
398 | \dt \cw{--version} | ||
399 | |||
400 | \dd Prints version information about the game, and then quits. | ||
401 | |||
402 | The following options are only meaningful if \c{--print} is also | ||
403 | specified: | ||
404 | |||
405 | \dt \cw{--with-solutions} | ||
406 | |||
407 | \dd The set of pages filled with unsolved puzzles will be followed by | ||
408 | the solutions to those puzzles. | ||
409 | |||
410 | \dt \cw{--scale }\e{n} | ||
411 | |||
412 | \dd Adjusts how big each puzzle is when printed. Larger numbers make | ||
413 | puzzles bigger; the default is 1.0. | ||
414 | |||
415 | \dt \cw{--colour} | ||
416 | |||
417 | \dd Puzzles will be printed in colour, rather than in black and white | ||
418 | (if supported by the puzzle). | ||
419 | |||
420 | |||
421 | \C{net} \i{Net} | ||
422 | |||
423 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net} | ||
424 | |||
425 | (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called | ||
426 | \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.) | ||
427 | |||
428 | I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet} | ||
429 | \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other | ||
430 | implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a | ||
431 | network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then | ||
432 | shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to | ||
433 | rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an | ||
434 | entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter | ||
435 | clause means that there are no closed paths within the network. | ||
436 | Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid, | ||
437 | all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are | ||
438 | highlighted. | ||
439 | |||
440 | \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm} | ||
441 | |||
442 | \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls} | ||
443 | |||
444 | \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net | ||
445 | \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net | ||
446 | \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net | ||
447 | |||
448 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The | ||
449 | controls are: | ||
450 | |||
451 | \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys | ||
452 | |||
453 | \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key | ||
454 | |||
455 | \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key | ||
456 | |||
457 | \dt \e{Rotate tile by 180 degrees}: \q{F} key | ||
458 | |||
459 | \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key | ||
460 | |||
461 | \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can | ||
462 | also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally | ||
463 | turn it. | ||
464 | |||
465 | The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may | ||
466 | be useful: | ||
467 | |||
468 | \dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys | ||
469 | |||
470 | \dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that | ||
471 | tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together. | ||
472 | |||
473 | \dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys | ||
474 | |||
475 | \dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting. | ||
476 | (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will | ||
477 | be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be | ||
478 | helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.) | ||
479 | |||
480 | \dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key | ||
481 | |||
482 | \dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random | ||
483 | orientations. | ||
484 | |||
485 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
486 | |||
487 | \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters | ||
488 | |||
489 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
490 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
491 | |||
492 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
493 | |||
494 | \dd Size of grid in tiles. | ||
495 | |||
496 | \dt \e{Walls wrap around} | ||
497 | |||
498 | \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge, | ||
499 | and from top to bottom, and vice versa. | ||
500 | |||
501 | \dt \e{Barrier probability} | ||
502 | |||
503 | \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable | ||
504 | barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a | ||
505 | higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they | ||
506 | act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints). | ||
507 | |||
508 | \lcont{ | ||
509 | |||
510 | The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the | ||
511 | barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if | ||
512 | you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle | ||
513 | (see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter, | ||
514 | and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the | ||
515 | same starting grid, with the only change being the number of | ||
516 | barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint, | ||
517 | you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same | ||
518 | parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed | ||
519 | from the original Net window. | ||
520 | |||
521 | } | ||
522 | |||
523 | \dt \e{Ensure unique solution} | ||
524 | |||
525 | \dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have | ||
526 | only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more | ||
527 | difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this | ||
528 | feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all} | ||
529 | the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an | ||
530 | advanced player.) | ||
531 | |||
532 | |||
533 | \C{cube} \i{Cube} | ||
534 | |||
535 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube} | ||
536 | |||
537 | This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a | ||
538 | Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16 | ||
539 | squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move | ||
540 | is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that | ||
541 | it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue | ||
542 | square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you | ||
543 | roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is | ||
544 | put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces | ||
545 | that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue | ||
546 | squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your | ||
547 | moves and try to do it in as few as possible. | ||
548 | |||
549 | Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature: | ||
550 | once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid, | ||
551 | you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an | ||
552 | octahedron or an icosahedron. | ||
553 | |||
554 | \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm} | ||
555 | |||
556 | \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls} | ||
557 | |||
558 | \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube | ||
559 | \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube | ||
560 | \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube | ||
561 | |||
562 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. | ||
563 | |||
564 | Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other | ||
565 | solid) towards the mouse pointer. | ||
566 | |||
567 | The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in | ||
568 | the four cardinal directions. | ||
569 | On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is | ||
570 | more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't | ||
571 | make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric | ||
572 | keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement. | ||
573 | |||
574 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
575 | |||
576 | \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters | ||
577 | |||
578 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
579 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
580 | |||
581 | \dt \e{Type of solid} | ||
582 | |||
583 | \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid): | ||
584 | tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron. | ||
585 | |||
586 | \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom} | ||
587 | |||
588 | \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a | ||
589 | triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows | ||
590 | respectively. | ||
591 | |||
592 | |||
593 | \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen} | ||
594 | |||
595 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen} | ||
596 | |||
597 | The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}} | ||
598 | with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares | ||
599 | contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to | ||
600 | choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space. | ||
601 | The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the | ||
602 | space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the | ||
603 | bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}). | ||
604 | |||
605 | \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls} | ||
606 | |||
607 | \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen | ||
608 | \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen | ||
609 | \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen | ||
610 | |||
611 | This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard. | ||
612 | |||
613 | A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty | ||
614 | space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the | ||
615 | mouse pointer. | ||
616 | |||
617 | The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction | ||
618 | indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction). | ||
619 | |||
620 | Pressing \q{h} will make a suggested move. Pressing \q{h} enough | ||
621 | times will solve the game, but it may scramble your progress while | ||
622 | doing so. | ||
623 | |||
624 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
625 | |||
626 | \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters | ||
627 | |||
628 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} | ||
629 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once | ||
630 | you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!) | ||
631 | |||
632 | |||
633 | \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen} | ||
634 | |||
635 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen} | ||
636 | |||
637 | Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see | ||
638 | \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no | ||
639 | hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move | ||
640 | is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up | ||
641 | or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid | ||
642 | re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just | ||
643 | vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on | ||
644 | the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try | ||
645 | playing on different sizes of grid. | ||
646 | |||
647 | I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if | ||
648 | so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I | ||
649 | thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling | ||
650 | that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle | ||
651 | rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one | ||
652 | thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part | ||
653 | rather than just engineering. | ||
654 | |||
655 | \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls | ||
656 | |||
657 | Left-clicking on an arrow will move the appropriate row or column in | ||
658 | the direction indicated. Right-clicking will move it in the opposite | ||
659 | direction. | ||
660 | |||
661 | Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the position indicator | ||
662 | around the edge of the grid, and use the return key to move the | ||
663 | row/column in the direction indicated. | ||
664 | |||
665 | You can also move the tiles directly. Move the cursor onto a tile, | ||
666 | hold Control and press an arrow key to move the tile under the | ||
667 | cursor and move the cursor along with the tile. Or, hold Shift to | ||
668 | move only the tile. Pressing Enter simulates holding down Control | ||
669 | (press Enter again to release), while pressing Space simulates | ||
670 | holding down shift. | ||
671 | |||
672 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
673 | |||
674 | \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters | ||
675 | |||
676 | The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
677 | \q{Type} menu are: | ||
678 | |||
679 | \b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. | ||
680 | |||
681 | \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on | ||
682 | the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way | ||
683 | that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can | ||
684 | override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to | ||
685 | be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise | ||
686 | set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer | ||
687 | (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the | ||
688 | more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter | ||
689 | than the target length will turn out to be possible. | ||
690 | |||
691 | |||
692 | \C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle} | ||
693 | |||
694 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle} | ||
695 | |||
696 | Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen | ||
697 | (see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each | ||
698 | containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into | ||
699 | ascending order. | ||
700 | |||
701 | In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four | ||
702 | tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in | ||
703 | the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced | ||
704 | settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles. | ||
705 | |||
706 | I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid | ||
707 | Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle | ||
708 | you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I | ||
709 | developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle. | ||
710 | |||
711 | \H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls | ||
712 | |||
713 | To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group | ||
714 | you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square, | ||
715 | which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles | ||
716 | meet. | ||
717 | |||
718 | In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at | ||
719 | a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in | ||
720 | the centre tile of the square you want to rotate. | ||
721 | |||
722 | Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise. | ||
723 | Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise. | ||
724 | |||
725 | You can also move an outline square around the grid with the cursor | ||
726 | keys; the square is the size above (2\by\.2 by default, or larger). | ||
727 | Pressing the return key or space bar will rotate the current square | ||
728 | anticlockwise or clockwise respectively. | ||
729 | |||
730 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
731 | |||
732 | \H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters | ||
733 | |||
734 | Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom} | ||
735 | option on the \q{Type} menu: | ||
736 | |||
737 | \b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid. | ||
738 | |||
739 | \b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time. | ||
740 | |||
741 | \b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable | ||
742 | (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there | ||
743 | are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim | ||
744 | is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into | ||
745 | the second row, and so on. | ||
746 | |||
747 | \b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If | ||
748 | you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle | ||
749 | drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete | ||
750 | the puzzle. | ||
751 | |||
752 | \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on | ||
753 | the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any | ||
754 | arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this | ||
755 | by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed. | ||
756 | Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling | ||
757 | moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move | ||
758 | shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask | ||
759 | for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target | ||
760 | length will turn out to be possible. | ||
761 | |||
762 | |||
763 | \C{rect} \i{Rectangles} | ||
764 | |||
765 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles} | ||
766 | |||
767 | You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all) | ||
768 | of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of | ||
769 | various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one | ||
770 | numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the | ||
771 | number written in its numbered square. | ||
772 | |||
773 | Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli} | ||
774 | \k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle | ||
775 | Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's | ||
776 | implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of | ||
777 | any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not | ||
778 | quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side | ||
779 | you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own | ||
780 | specification. | ||
781 | |||
782 | \B{nikoli-rect} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/shikaku.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/shikaku.html} | ||
783 | (beware of Flash) | ||
784 | |||
785 | \B{puzzle-palace-rect} \W{https://web.archive.org/web/20041024001459/http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}\cw{https://web.archive.org/web/20041024001459/http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en} | ||
786 | |||
787 | \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls | ||
788 | |||
789 | This game is played with the mouse or cursor keys. | ||
790 | |||
791 | Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or left-click and drag to draw | ||
792 | an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any existing | ||
793 | edges within that rectangle). Right-clicking and dragging will allow you | ||
794 | to erase the contents of a rectangle without affecting its edges. | ||
795 | |||
796 | Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the position indicator | ||
797 | around the board. Pressing the return key then allows you to use the | ||
798 | cursor keys to drag a rectangle out from that position, and pressing | ||
799 | the return key again completes the rectangle. Using the space bar | ||
800 | instead of the return key allows you to erase the contents of a | ||
801 | rectangle without affecting its edges, as above. Pressing escape | ||
802 | cancels a drag. | ||
803 | |||
804 | When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded. | ||
805 | |||
806 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
807 | |||
808 | \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters | ||
809 | |||
810 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
811 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
812 | |||
813 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
814 | |||
815 | \dd Size of grid, in squares. | ||
816 | |||
817 | \dt \e{Expansion factor} | ||
818 | |||
819 | \dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by | ||
820 | the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large | ||
821 | rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask | ||
822 | Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size | ||
823 | you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns. | ||
824 | |||
825 | \lcont{ | ||
826 | |||
827 | The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will | ||
828 | simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing | ||
829 | further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that | ||
830 | each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big | ||
831 | after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the | ||
832 | size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size | ||
833 | without adding any more rectangles. | ||
834 | |||
835 | Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game | ||
836 | more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive | ||
837 | and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high, | ||
838 | though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles | ||
839 | to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial. | ||
840 | |||
841 | } | ||
842 | |||
843 | \dt \e{Ensure unique solution} | ||
844 | |||
845 | \dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents | ||
846 | have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more | ||
847 | difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this | ||
848 | feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the | ||
849 | possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced | ||
850 | player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation. | ||
851 | |||
852 | |||
853 | \C{netslide} \i{Netslide} | ||
854 | |||
855 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide} | ||
856 | |||
857 | This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the | ||
858 | movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but | ||
859 | instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them | ||
860 | into place by moving a whole row at a time. | ||
861 | |||
862 | As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse or | ||
863 | cursor keys. See \k{sixteen-controls}. | ||
864 | |||
865 | \I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar | ||
866 | meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see | ||
867 | \k{sixteen-params}). | ||
868 | |||
869 | Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton. | ||
870 | |||
871 | |||
872 | \C{pattern} \i{Pattern} | ||
873 | |||
874 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern} | ||
875 | |||
876 | You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black | ||
877 | or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the | ||
878 | runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the | ||
879 | lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to | ||
880 | fill in the entire grid black or white. | ||
881 | |||
882 | I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name | ||
883 | \q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under | ||
884 | different names. | ||
885 | |||
886 | Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture | ||
887 | of something once you've solved them. However, since this version | ||
888 | generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random | ||
889 | groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually | ||
890 | a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of | ||
891 | squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.) | ||
892 | The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them. | ||
893 | |||
894 | \H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls | ||
895 | |||
896 | This game is played with the mouse. | ||
897 | |||
898 | Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it | ||
899 | white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down | ||
900 | Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the | ||
901 | default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again. | ||
902 | |||
903 | You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour | ||
904 | a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time | ||
905 | (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or | ||
906 | with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares | ||
907 | grey. | ||
908 | |||
909 | You can also move around the grid with the cursor keys. Pressing the | ||
910 | return key will cycle the current cell through empty, then black, then | ||
911 | white, then empty, and the space bar does the same cycle in reverse. | ||
912 | |||
913 | Moving the cursor while holding Control will colour the moved-over | ||
914 | squares black. Holding Shift will colour the moved-over squares | ||
915 | white, and holding both will colour them grey. | ||
916 | |||
917 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
918 | |||
919 | \H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters | ||
920 | |||
921 | The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} | ||
922 | menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. | ||
923 | |||
924 | |||
925 | \C{solo} \i{Solo} | ||
926 | |||
927 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo} | ||
928 | |||
929 | You have a square grid, which is divided into as many equally sized | ||
930 | sub-blocks as the grid has rows. Each square must be filled in with | ||
931 | a digit from 1 to the size of the grid, in such a way that | ||
932 | |||
933 | \b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit | ||
934 | |||
935 | \b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit | ||
936 | |||
937 | \b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit. | ||
938 | |||
939 | \b (optionally, by default off) each of the square's two main | ||
940 | diagonals contains only one occurrence of each digit. | ||
941 | |||
942 | You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the | ||
943 | rest of the numbers correctly. | ||
944 | |||
945 | Under the default settings, the sub-blocks are square or | ||
946 | rectangular. The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual | ||
947 | grid, divided into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes | ||
948 | with rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a | ||
949 | 6\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks). Alternatively, you | ||
950 | can select \q{jigsaw} mode, in which the sub-blocks are arbitrary | ||
951 | shapes which differ between individual puzzles. | ||
952 | |||
953 | Another available mode is \q{killer}. In this mode, clues are not | ||
954 | given in the form of filled-in squares; instead, the grid is divided | ||
955 | into \q{cages} by coloured lines, and for each cage the game tells | ||
956 | you what the sum of all the digits in that cage should be. Also, no | ||
957 | digit may appear more than once within a cage, even if the cage | ||
958 | crosses the boundaries of existing regions. | ||
959 | |||
960 | If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the | ||
961 | additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if | ||
962 | you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1 | ||
963 | to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}. This cannot be selected for | ||
964 | killer puzzles. | ||
965 | |||
966 | I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's | ||
967 | also been popularised by various newspapers under the name | ||
968 | \q{Sudoku} or \q{Su Doku}. Howard Garns is considered the inventor | ||
969 | of the modern form of the puzzle, and it was first published in | ||
970 | \e{Dell Pencil Puzzles and Word Games}. A more elaborate treatment | ||
971 | of the history of the puzzle can be found on Wikipedia | ||
972 | \k{wikipedia-solo}. | ||
973 | |||
974 | \B{nikoli-solo} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/sudoku.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/sudoku.html} | ||
975 | (beware of Flash) | ||
976 | |||
977 | \B{wikipedia-solo} \W{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku}\cw{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku} | ||
978 | |||
979 | \H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls | ||
980 | |||
981 | To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then | ||
982 | type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you | ||
983 | make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press | ||
984 | Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature). | ||
985 | |||
986 | If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that | ||
987 | number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can | ||
988 | have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares | ||
989 | containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks. | ||
990 | |||
991 | The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use | ||
992 | them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a | ||
993 | particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a | ||
994 | particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible | ||
995 | numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like. | ||
996 | |||
997 | To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type | ||
998 | the same number again. | ||
999 | |||
1000 | All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type | ||
1001 | a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and | ||
1002 | pressing space will also erase pencil marks. | ||
1003 | |||
1004 | Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the mark around the grid. | ||
1005 | Pressing the return key toggles the mark (from a normal mark to a | ||
1006 | pencil mark), and typing a number in is entered in the square in the | ||
1007 | appropriate way; typing in a 0 or using the space bar will clear a | ||
1008 | filled square. | ||
1009 | |||
1010 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1011 | |||
1012 | \H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters | ||
1013 | |||
1014 | Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle | ||
1015 | grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of | ||
1016 | rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is | ||
1017 | the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows, | ||
1018 | each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.) | ||
1019 | |||
1020 | If you tick the \q{X} checkbox, Solo will apply the optional extra | ||
1021 | constraint that the two main diagonals of the grid also contain one | ||
1022 | of every digit. (This is sometimes known as \q{Sudoku-X} in | ||
1023 | newspapers.) In this mode, the squares on the two main diagonals | ||
1024 | will be shaded slightly so that you know it's enabled. | ||
1025 | |||
1026 | If you tick the \q{Jigsaw} checkbox, Solo will generate randomly | ||
1027 | shaped sub-blocks. In this mode, the actual grid size will be taken | ||
1028 | to be the product of the numbers entered in the \q{Columns} and | ||
1029 | \q{Rows} boxes. There is no reason why you have to enter a number | ||
1030 | greater than 1 in both boxes; Jigsaw mode has no constraint on the | ||
1031 | grid size, and it can even be a prime number if you feel like it. | ||
1032 | |||
1033 | If you tick the \q{Killer} checkbox, Solo will generate a set of | ||
1034 | of cages, which are randomly shaped and drawn in an outline of a | ||
1035 | different colour. Each of these regions contains a smaller clue | ||
1036 | which shows the digit sum of all the squares in this region. | ||
1037 | |||
1038 | You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated | ||
1039 | puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also | ||
1040 | make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more | ||
1041 | clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles | ||
1042 | have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible. | ||
1043 | |||
1044 | Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles. | ||
1045 | Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of | ||
1046 | deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode | ||
1047 | of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In | ||
1048 | particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there | ||
1049 | will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times, | ||
1050 | whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make | ||
1051 | partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in | ||
1052 | (or the set of numbers that could be in a square). | ||
1053 | \#{Advanced, Extreme?} | ||
1054 | At \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will | ||
1055 | eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out | ||
1056 | to be wrong. | ||
1057 | |||
1058 | Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select one | ||
1059 | of the higher difficulty levels, Solo may have to make many attempts | ||
1060 | at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough for you. Be | ||
1061 | prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured a large | ||
1062 | puzzle size. | ||
1063 | |||
1064 | |||
1065 | \C{mines} \i{Mines} | ||
1066 | |||
1067 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines} | ||
1068 | |||
1069 | You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but | ||
1070 | you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does | ||
1071 | \e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine, | ||
1072 | you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you | ||
1073 | are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding | ||
1074 | squares. | ||
1075 | |||
1076 | This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is | ||
1077 | perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence. | ||
1078 | |||
1079 | This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will | ||
1080 | generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you | ||
1081 | never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to | ||
1082 | deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other | ||
1083 | versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are | ||
1084 | two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they | ||
1085 | are. | ||
1086 | |||
1087 | \H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls | ||
1088 | |||
1089 | This game is played with the mouse. | ||
1090 | |||
1091 | If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered. | ||
1092 | |||
1093 | If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which | ||
1094 | indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in | ||
1095 | a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click | ||
1096 | again to remove a mark placed in error. | ||
1097 | |||
1098 | If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear | ||
1099 | around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many | ||
1100 | flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered | ||
1101 | squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So | ||
1102 | once you think you know the location of all the mines around a | ||
1103 | square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to | ||
1104 | click on each of the remaining squares one by one. | ||
1105 | |||
1106 | If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding | ||
1107 | eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in | ||
1108 | turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This | ||
1109 | will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a | ||
1110 | square, a whole new area will open up to be explored. | ||
1111 | |||
1112 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the minefield. | ||
1113 | Pressing the return key in a covered square uncovers it, and in an | ||
1114 | uncovered square will clear around it (so it acts as the left button), | ||
1115 | pressing the space bar in a covered square will place a flag | ||
1116 | (similarly, it acts as the right button). | ||
1117 | |||
1118 | All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available. | ||
1119 | |||
1120 | Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to | ||
1121 | use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine | ||
1122 | in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of | ||
1123 | them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you | ||
1124 | like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo | ||
1125 | will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the | ||
1126 | game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors. | ||
1127 | |||
1128 | (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other | ||
1129 | implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the | ||
1130 | Solve menu option.) | ||
1131 | |||
1132 | \H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters | ||
1133 | |||
1134 | The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type} | ||
1135 | menu are: | ||
1136 | |||
1137 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1138 | |||
1139 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
1140 | |||
1141 | \dt \e{Mines} | ||
1142 | |||
1143 | \dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute | ||
1144 | mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in | ||
1145 | which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares | ||
1146 | in the grid to be mines. | ||
1147 | |||
1148 | \lcont{ | ||
1149 | |||
1150 | Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities, | ||
1151 | the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid. | ||
1152 | |||
1153 | } | ||
1154 | |||
1155 | \dt \e{Ensure solubility} | ||
1156 | |||
1157 | \dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will | ||
1158 | ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the | ||
1159 | initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by | ||
1160 | other implementations, you can switch off this option. | ||
1161 | |||
1162 | |||
1163 | \C{samegame} \i{Same Game} | ||
1164 | |||
1165 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame} | ||
1166 | |||
1167 | You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by | ||
1168 | highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square; | ||
1169 | the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and | ||
1170 | the faster you clear the arena). | ||
1171 | |||
1172 | If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but | ||
1173 | single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you | ||
1174 | lose. | ||
1175 | |||
1176 | Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up: | ||
1177 | blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty | ||
1178 | columns are filled from the right. | ||
1179 | |||
1180 | Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
1181 | |||
1182 | \H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls} | ||
1183 | |||
1184 | \IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game | ||
1185 | \IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game | ||
1186 | \IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game | ||
1187 | |||
1188 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. | ||
1189 | |||
1190 | If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly | ||
1191 | clearing the current selection). | ||
1192 | |||
1193 | If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the | ||
1194 | rest of the grid shuffled immediately). | ||
1195 | |||
1196 | If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected. | ||
1197 | |||
1198 | The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or | ||
1199 | Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it; | ||
1200 | pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above. | ||
1201 | |||
1202 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1203 | |||
1204 | \H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters | ||
1205 | |||
1206 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1207 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1208 | |||
1209 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1210 | |||
1211 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
1212 | |||
1213 | \dt \e{No. of colours} | ||
1214 | |||
1215 | \dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours, | ||
1216 | the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to | ||
1217 | successfully clear the grid. | ||
1218 | |||
1219 | \dt \e{Scoring system} | ||
1220 | |||
1221 | \dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default | ||
1222 | system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score | ||
1223 | any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of | ||
1224 | two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively | ||
1225 | more points. | ||
1226 | |||
1227 | \dt \e{Ensure solubility} | ||
1228 | |||
1229 | \dd If this option is ticked (the default state), generated grids | ||
1230 | will be guaranteed to have at least one solution. | ||
1231 | |||
1232 | \lcont{ | ||
1233 | |||
1234 | If you turn it off, the game generator will not try to guarantee | ||
1235 | soluble grids; it will, however, still ensure that there are at | ||
1236 | least 2 squares of each colour on the grid at the start (since a | ||
1237 | grid with exactly one square of a given colour is \e{definitely} | ||
1238 | insoluble). Grids generated with this option disabled may contain | ||
1239 | more large areas of contiguous colour, leading to opportunities for | ||
1240 | higher scores; they can also take less time to generate. | ||
1241 | |||
1242 | } | ||
1243 | |||
1244 | |||
1245 | \C{flip} \i{Flip} | ||
1246 | |||
1247 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip} | ||
1248 | |||
1249 | You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to | ||
1250 | light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square | ||
1251 | and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you | ||
1252 | do so, other squares around it change state as well. | ||
1253 | |||
1254 | Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares | ||
1255 | change when you flip it. | ||
1256 | |||
1257 | \H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls} | ||
1258 | |||
1259 | \IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip | ||
1260 | \IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip | ||
1261 | \IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip | ||
1262 | |||
1263 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. | ||
1264 | |||
1265 | Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or | ||
1266 | use the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter | ||
1267 | key to flip. | ||
1268 | |||
1269 | If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will mark some of | ||
1270 | the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red | ||
1271 | mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square | ||
1272 | \e{without} a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate | ||
1273 | that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.) | ||
1274 | |||
1275 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1276 | |||
1277 | \H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters | ||
1278 | |||
1279 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1280 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1281 | |||
1282 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1283 | |||
1284 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
1285 | |||
1286 | \dt \e{Shape type} | ||
1287 | |||
1288 | \dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped | ||
1289 | by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses}, | ||
1290 | causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours | ||
1291 | (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting, | ||
1292 | \q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so | ||
1293 | the game is different every time. | ||
1294 | |||
1295 | |||
1296 | \C{guess} \i{Guess} | ||
1297 | |||
1298 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.guess} | ||
1299 | |||
1300 | You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a | ||
1301 | predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a | ||
1302 | certain number of guesses. | ||
1303 | |||
1304 | Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs | ||
1305 | in the correct places (in black), and also the number of | ||
1306 | correctly-coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white). | ||
1307 | |||
1308 | This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as | ||
1309 | a board game \q{\i{Mastermind}}, with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row, | ||
1310 | and 10 guesses. However, this version allows custom settings of number | ||
1311 | of colours (up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses. | ||
1312 | |||
1313 | Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
1314 | |||
1315 | \H{guess-controls} \i{Guess controls} | ||
1316 | |||
1317 | \IM{Guess controls} controls, for Guess | ||
1318 | \IM{Guess controls} keys, for Guess | ||
1319 | \IM{Guess controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Guess | ||
1320 | |||
1321 | This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. | ||
1322 | |||
1323 | With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand | ||
1324 | side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also be | ||
1325 | dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To | ||
1326 | remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid. | ||
1327 | |||
1328 | Right-clicking in the current guess adds a \q{hold} marker; pegs | ||
1329 | that have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess | ||
1330 | after marking. | ||
1331 | |||
1332 | Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can be | ||
1333 | used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a | ||
1334 | peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the | ||
1335 | selected colour in the chosen position. \q{D} or Backspace removes a | ||
1336 | peg, and Space adds a hold marker. | ||
1337 | |||
1338 | Pressing \q{h} or \q{?} will fill the current guess with a suggested | ||
1339 | guess. Using this is not recommended for 10 or more pegs as it is | ||
1340 | slow. | ||
1341 | |||
1342 | When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be highlighted; | ||
1343 | clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them with the arrow keys | ||
1344 | and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will mark the current guess, | ||
1345 | copy any held pegs to the next guess, and move the \q{current guess} | ||
1346 | marker. | ||
1347 | |||
1348 | If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be displayed | ||
1349 | below; if you run out of guesses (or select \q{Solve...}) the solution | ||
1350 | will also be revealed. | ||
1351 | |||
1352 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1353 | |||
1354 | \H{guess-parameters} \I{parameters, for Guess}Guess parameters | ||
1355 | |||
1356 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1357 | \q{Type} menu. The default game matches the parameters for the | ||
1358 | board game \q{Mastermind}. | ||
1359 | |||
1360 | \dt \e{Colours} | ||
1361 | |||
1362 | \dd Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10 | ||
1363 | (more is harder). | ||
1364 | |||
1365 | \dt \e{Pegs per guess} | ||
1366 | |||
1367 | \dd Number of pegs per guess (more is harder). | ||
1368 | |||
1369 | \dt \e{Guesses} | ||
1370 | |||
1371 | \dd Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is harder). | ||
1372 | |||
1373 | \dt \e{Allow blanks} | ||
1374 | |||
1375 | \dd Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it easier, because | ||
1376 | you know that those will never be counted as part of the solution). This | ||
1377 | is turned off by default. | ||
1378 | |||
1379 | \lcont{ | ||
1380 | |||
1381 | Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you really wanted | ||
1382 | that, use one extra colour. | ||
1383 | |||
1384 | } | ||
1385 | |||
1386 | \dt \e{Allow duplicates} | ||
1387 | |||
1388 | \dd Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more than once; | ||
1389 | this increases the search space (making things harder), and is turned on by | ||
1390 | default. | ||
1391 | |||
1392 | |||
1393 | \C{pegs} \i{Pegs} | ||
1394 | |||
1395 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pegs} | ||
1396 | |||
1397 | A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a | ||
1398 | peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically) | ||
1399 | to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but one | ||
1400 | of the pegs initially present. | ||
1401 | |||
1402 | This game, best known as \I{Solitaire, Peg}\q{Peg Solitaire}, is | ||
1403 | possibly one of the oldest puzzle games still commonly known. | ||
1404 | |||
1405 | \H{pegs-controls} \i{Pegs controls} | ||
1406 | |||
1407 | \IM{Pegs controls} controls, for Pegs | ||
1408 | |||
1409 | To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to | ||
1410 | its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away | ||
1411 | from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and | ||
1412 | there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted | ||
1413 | and the intervening peg will be removed. | ||
1414 | |||
1415 | Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A | ||
1416 | space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it | ||
1417 | is an obstacle which you must work around. | ||
1418 | |||
1419 | You can also use the cursor keys to move a position indicator around | ||
1420 | the board. Pressing the return key while over a peg, followed by a | ||
1421 | cursor key, will jump the peg in that direction (if that is a legal | ||
1422 | move). | ||
1423 | |||
1424 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1425 | |||
1426 | \H{pegs-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pegs}Pegs parameters | ||
1427 | |||
1428 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1429 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1430 | |||
1431 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1432 | |||
1433 | \dd Size of grid in holes. | ||
1434 | |||
1435 | \dt \e{Board type} | ||
1436 | |||
1437 | \dd Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or a | ||
1438 | randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently | ||
1439 | supported are \q{Cross} and \q{Octagon} (also commonly known as the | ||
1440 | English and European traditional board layouts respectively). | ||
1441 | Selecting \q{Random} will give you a different board shape every | ||
1442 | time (but always one that is known to have a solution). | ||
1443 | |||
1444 | |||
1445 | \C{dominosa} \i{Dominosa} | ||
1446 | |||
1447 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.dominosa} | ||
1448 | |||
1449 | A normal set of dominoes \dash that is, one instance of every | ||
1450 | (unordered) pair of numbers from 0 to 6 \dash has been arranged | ||
1451 | irregularly into a rectangle; then the number in each square has | ||
1452 | been written down and the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is | ||
1453 | to reconstruct the pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match | ||
1454 | the provided array of numbers. | ||
1455 | |||
1456 | This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its | ||
1457 | name from those initials. | ||
1458 | |||
1459 | \H{dominosa-controls} \i{Dominosa controls} | ||
1460 | |||
1461 | \IM{Dominosa controls} controls, for Dominosa | ||
1462 | |||
1463 | Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino | ||
1464 | covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to | ||
1465 | place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones | ||
1466 | it overlaps. | ||
1467 | |||
1468 | Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between | ||
1469 | them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two | ||
1470 | numbers are \e{not} covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again | ||
1471 | removes the line. | ||
1472 | |||
1473 | You can also use the cursor keys to move a cursor around the grid. | ||
1474 | When the cursor is half way between two adjacent numbers, pressing | ||
1475 | the return key will place a domino covering those numbers, or | ||
1476 | pressing the space bar will lay a line between the two squares. | ||
1477 | Repeating either action removes the domino or line. | ||
1478 | |||
1479 | Pressing a number key will highlight all occurrences of that | ||
1480 | number. Pressing that number again will clear the highlighting. Up to two | ||
1481 | different numbers can be highlighted at any given time. | ||
1482 | |||
1483 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1484 | |||
1485 | \H{dominosa-parameters} \I{parameters, for Dominosa}Dominosa parameters | ||
1486 | |||
1487 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1488 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1489 | |||
1490 | \dt \e{Maximum number on dominoes} | ||
1491 | |||
1492 | \dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the | ||
1493 | set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going up to N | ||
1494 | will give rise to an (N+2) \by (N+1) rectangle; so, in particular, | ||
1495 | the default value of 6 gives an 8\by\.7 grid. | ||
1496 | |||
1497 | \dt \e{Ensure unique solution} | ||
1498 | |||
1499 | \dd Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents | ||
1500 | have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more | ||
1501 | difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you can turn off | ||
1502 | this feature. Also, finding \e{all} the possible solutions can be an | ||
1503 | additional challenge for an advanced player. Turning off this option | ||
1504 | can also speed up puzzle generation. | ||
1505 | |||
1506 | |||
1507 | \C{untangle} \i{Untangle} | ||
1508 | |||
1509 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.untangle} | ||
1510 | |||
1511 | You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn | ||
1512 | between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is | ||
1513 | to position the points so that no line crosses another. | ||
1514 | |||
1515 | I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{Planarity} | ||
1516 | \k{Planarity}, written by John Tantalo. | ||
1517 | |||
1518 | \B{Planarity} \W{http://planarity.net}\cw{http://planarity.net} | ||
1519 | |||
1520 | \H{untangle-controls} \i{Untangle controls} | ||
1521 | |||
1522 | \IM{Untangle controls} controls, for Untangle | ||
1523 | |||
1524 | To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it | ||
1525 | into a new position. | ||
1526 | |||
1527 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1528 | |||
1529 | \H{untangle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Untangle}Untangle parameters | ||
1530 | |||
1531 | There is only one parameter available from the \q{Custom...} option | ||
1532 | on the \q{Type} menu: | ||
1533 | |||
1534 | \dt \e{Number of points} | ||
1535 | |||
1536 | \dd Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of | ||
1537 | points in the generated graph. | ||
1538 | |||
1539 | |||
1540 | \C{blackbox} \i{Black Box} | ||
1541 | |||
1542 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.blackbox} | ||
1543 | |||
1544 | A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to | ||
1545 | deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers positioned at | ||
1546 | the edges of the arena and observing how their beams are deflected. | ||
1547 | |||
1548 | Beams will travel straight from their origin until they hit the | ||
1549 | opposite side of the arena (at which point they emerge), unless | ||
1550 | affected by balls in one of the following ways: | ||
1551 | |||
1552 | \b A beam that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never | ||
1553 | re-emerge. This includes beams that meet a ball on the first rank | ||
1554 | of the arena. | ||
1555 | |||
1556 | \b A beam with a ball in its front-left square and no ball ahead of it | ||
1557 | gets deflected 90 degrees to the right. | ||
1558 | |||
1559 | \b A beam with a ball in its front-right square and no ball ahead of | ||
1560 | it gets similarly deflected to the left. | ||
1561 | |||
1562 | \b A beam that would re-emerge from its entry location is considered to be | ||
1563 | \q{reflected}. | ||
1564 | |||
1565 | \b A beam which would get deflected before entering the arena by a | ||
1566 | ball to the front-left or front-right of its entry point is also | ||
1567 | considered to be \q{reflected}. | ||
1568 | |||
1569 | Beams that are reflected appear as a \q{R}; beams that hit balls | ||
1570 | head-on appear as \q{H}. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing | ||
1571 | point and the location where the beam emerges (this number is unique | ||
1572 | to that shot). | ||
1573 | |||
1574 | You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the | ||
1575 | entry and exit patterns of the beams; once you have placed enough | ||
1576 | balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked. | ||
1577 | |||
1578 | Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each | ||
1579 | of the beam behaviours shown above: | ||
1580 | |||
1581 | \c 1RHR---- | ||
1582 | \c |..O.O...| | ||
1583 | \c 2........3 | ||
1584 | \c |........| | ||
1585 | \c |........| | ||
1586 | \c 3........| | ||
1587 | \c |......O.| | ||
1588 | \c H........| | ||
1589 | \c |.....O..| | ||
1590 | \c 12-RR--- | ||
1591 | |||
1592 | As shown, it is possible for a beam to receive multiple reflections | ||
1593 | before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a beam may be reflected | ||
1594 | (possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the \q{H} on the | ||
1595 | left side of the example). | ||
1596 | |||
1597 | Note that any layout with more than 4 balls may have a non-unique | ||
1598 | solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the | ||
1599 | board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the fifth | ||
1600 | ball is (possible positions marked with an \cw{x}): | ||
1601 | |||
1602 | \c -------- | ||
1603 | \c |........| | ||
1604 | \c |........| | ||
1605 | \c |..O..O..| | ||
1606 | \c |...xx...| | ||
1607 | \c |...xx...| | ||
1608 | \c |..O..O..| | ||
1609 | \c |........| | ||
1610 | \c |........| | ||
1611 | \c -------- | ||
1612 | |||
1613 | For this reason, when you have your guesses checked, the game will | ||
1614 | check that your solution \e{produces the same results} as the | ||
1615 | computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the | ||
1616 | computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at | ||
1617 | \e{any} of the locations marked with an \cw{x}, and you would still | ||
1618 | win. | ||
1619 | |||
1620 | Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
1621 | |||
1622 | \H{blackbox-controls} \i{Black Box controls} | ||
1623 | |||
1624 | \IM{Black Box controls} controls, for Black Box | ||
1625 | \IM{Black Box controls} keys, for Black Box | ||
1626 | \IM{Black Box controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Black Box | ||
1627 | |||
1628 | To fire a laser beam, left-click in a square around the edge of the | ||
1629 | arena. The results will be displayed immediately. Clicking or holding | ||
1630 | the left button on one of these squares will highlight the current go | ||
1631 | (or a previous go) to confirm the exit point for that laser, if | ||
1632 | applicable. | ||
1633 | |||
1634 | To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a | ||
1635 | black circle will appear marking the guess; click again to remove the | ||
1636 | guessed ball. | ||
1637 | |||
1638 | Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by | ||
1639 | right-clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by | ||
1640 | right-clicking in the laser square above/below that column, or to the | ||
1641 | left/right of that row. | ||
1642 | |||
1643 | The cursor keys may also be used to move around the grid. Pressing the | ||
1644 | Enter key will fire a laser or add a new ball-location guess, and | ||
1645 | pressing Space will lock a cell, row, or column. | ||
1646 | |||
1647 | When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed, a button will | ||
1648 | appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that (with mouse | ||
1649 | or cursor) will check your guesses. | ||
1650 | |||
1651 | If you click the \q{check} button and your guesses are not correct, | ||
1652 | the game will show you the minimum information necessary to | ||
1653 | demonstrate this to you, so you can try again. If your ball | ||
1654 | positions are not consistent with the beam paths you already know | ||
1655 | about, one beam path will be circled to indicate that it proves you | ||
1656 | wrong. If your positions match all the existing beam paths but are | ||
1657 | still wrong, one new beam path will be revealed (written in red) | ||
1658 | which is not consistent with your current guesses. | ||
1659 | |||
1660 | If you decide to give up completely, you can select Solve to reveal | ||
1661 | the actual ball positions. At this point, correctly-placed balls | ||
1662 | will be displayed as filled black circles, incorrectly-placed balls | ||
1663 | as filled black circles with red crosses, and missing balls as filled | ||
1664 | red circles. In addition, a red circle marks any laser you had already | ||
1665 | fired which is not consistent with your ball layout (just as when you | ||
1666 | press the \q{check} button), and red text marks any laser you | ||
1667 | \e{could} have fired in order to distinguish your ball layout from the | ||
1668 | correct one. | ||
1669 | |||
1670 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1671 | |||
1672 | \H{blackbox-parameters} \I{parameters, for Black Box}Black Box parameters | ||
1673 | |||
1674 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1675 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1676 | |||
1677 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1678 | |||
1679 | \dd Size of grid in squares. There are 2 \by \e{Width} \by \e{Height} lasers | ||
1680 | per grid, two per row and two per column. | ||
1681 | |||
1682 | \dt \e{No. of balls} | ||
1683 | |||
1684 | \dd Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single number, | ||
1685 | or a range (separated with a hyphen, like \q{2-6}), and determines the | ||
1686 | number of balls to place on the grid. The \q{reveal} button is only | ||
1687 | enabled if you have guessed an appropriate number of balls; a guess | ||
1688 | using a different number to the original solution is still acceptable, | ||
1689 | if all the beam inputs and outputs match. | ||
1690 | |||
1691 | |||
1692 | \C{slant} \i{Slant} | ||
1693 | |||
1694 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.slant} | ||
1695 | |||
1696 | You have a grid of squares. Your aim is to draw a diagonal line | ||
1697 | through each square, and choose which way each line slants so that | ||
1698 | the following conditions are met: | ||
1699 | |||
1700 | \b The diagonal lines never form a loop. | ||
1701 | |||
1702 | \b Any point with a circled number has precisely that many lines | ||
1703 | meeting at it. (Thus, a 4 is the centre of a cross shape, whereas a | ||
1704 | zero is the centre of a diamond shape \dash or rather, a partial | ||
1705 | diamond shape, because a zero can never appear in the middle of the | ||
1706 | grid because that would immediately cause a loop.) | ||
1707 | |||
1708 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-slant}. | ||
1709 | |||
1710 | \B{nikoli-slant} | ||
1711 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/ja/puzzles/gokigen_naname}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/ja/puzzles/gokigen_naname} | ||
1712 | (in Japanese) | ||
1713 | |||
1714 | \H{slant-controls} \i{Slant controls} | ||
1715 | |||
1716 | \IM{Slant controls} controls, for Slant | ||
1717 | |||
1718 | Left-clicking in a blank square will place a \cw{\\} in it (a line | ||
1719 | leaning to the left, i.e. running from the top left of the square to | ||
1720 | the bottom right). Right-clicking in a blank square will place a | ||
1721 | \cw{/} in it (leaning to the right, running from top right to bottom | ||
1722 | left). | ||
1723 | |||
1724 | Continuing to click either button will cycle between the three | ||
1725 | possible square contents. Thus, if you left-click repeatedly in a | ||
1726 | blank square it will change from blank to \cw{\\} to \cw{/} back to | ||
1727 | blank, and if you right-click repeatedly the square will change from | ||
1728 | blank to \cw{/} to \cw{\\} back to blank. (Therefore, you can play | ||
1729 | the game entirely with one button if you need to.) | ||
1730 | |||
1731 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing the | ||
1732 | return or space keys will place a \cw{\\} or a \cw{/}, respectively, | ||
1733 | and will then cycle them as above. You can also press \cw{/} or | ||
1734 | \cw{\\} to place a \cw{/} or \cw{\\}, respectively, independent of | ||
1735 | what is already in the cursor square. Backspace removes any line from | ||
1736 | the cursor square. | ||
1737 | |||
1738 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1739 | |||
1740 | \H{slant-parameters} \I{parameters, for Slant}Slant parameters | ||
1741 | |||
1742 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1743 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1744 | |||
1745 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1746 | |||
1747 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
1748 | |||
1749 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
1750 | |||
1751 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Hard level, | ||
1752 | you are required to do deductions based on knowledge of | ||
1753 | \e{relationships} between squares rather than always being able to | ||
1754 | deduce the exact contents of one square at a time. (For example, you | ||
1755 | might know that two squares slant in the same direction, even if you | ||
1756 | don't yet know what that direction is, and this might enable you to | ||
1757 | deduce something about still other squares.) Even at Hard level, | ||
1758 | guesswork and backtracking should never be necessary. | ||
1759 | |||
1760 | |||
1761 | \C{lightup} \i{Light Up} | ||
1762 | |||
1763 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.lightup} | ||
1764 | |||
1765 | You have a grid of squares. Some are filled in black; some of the | ||
1766 | black squares are numbered. Your aim is to \q{light up} all the | ||
1767 | empty squares by placing light bulbs in some of them. | ||
1768 | |||
1769 | Each light bulb illuminates the square it is on, plus all squares in | ||
1770 | line with it horizontally or vertically unless a black square is | ||
1771 | blocking the way. | ||
1772 | |||
1773 | To win the game, you must satisfy the following conditions: | ||
1774 | |||
1775 | \b All non-black squares are lit. | ||
1776 | |||
1777 | \b No light is lit by another light. | ||
1778 | |||
1779 | \b All numbered black squares have exactly that number of lights adjacent to | ||
1780 | them (in the four squares above, below, and to the side). | ||
1781 | |||
1782 | Non-numbered black squares may have any number of lights adjacent to them. | ||
1783 | |||
1784 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-lightup}. | ||
1785 | |||
1786 | Light Up was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
1787 | |||
1788 | \B{nikoli-lightup} | ||
1789 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/akari.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/akari.html} | ||
1790 | (beware of Flash) | ||
1791 | |||
1792 | \H{lightup-controls} \i{Light Up controls} | ||
1793 | |||
1794 | \IM{Light Up controls} controls, for Light Up | ||
1795 | |||
1796 | Left-clicking in a non-black square will toggle the presence of a light | ||
1797 | in that square. Right-clicking in a non-black square toggles a mark there to aid | ||
1798 | solving; it can be used to highlight squares that cannot be lit, for example. | ||
1799 | |||
1800 | You may not place a light in a marked square, nor place a mark in a lit square. | ||
1801 | |||
1802 | The game will highlight obvious errors in red. Lights lit by other | ||
1803 | lights are highlighted in this way, as are numbered squares which | ||
1804 | do not (or cannot) have the right number of lights next to them. | ||
1805 | |||
1806 | Thus, the grid is solved when all non-black squares have yellow | ||
1807 | highlights and there are no red lights. | ||
1808 | |||
1809 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1810 | |||
1811 | \H{lightup-parameters} \I{parameters, for Light Up}Light Up parameters | ||
1812 | |||
1813 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1814 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1815 | |||
1816 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1817 | |||
1818 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
1819 | |||
1820 | \dt \e{%age of black squares} | ||
1821 | |||
1822 | \dd Rough percentage of black squares in the grid. | ||
1823 | |||
1824 | \lcont{ | ||
1825 | |||
1826 | This is a hint rather than an instruction. If the grid generator is | ||
1827 | unable to generate a puzzle to this precise specification, it will | ||
1828 | increase the proportion of black squares until it can. | ||
1829 | |||
1830 | } | ||
1831 | |||
1832 | \dt \e{Symmetry} | ||
1833 | |||
1834 | \dd Allows you to specify the required symmetry of the black squares | ||
1835 | in the grid. (This does not affect the difficulty of the puzzles | ||
1836 | noticeably.) | ||
1837 | |||
1838 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
1839 | |||
1840 | \dd \q{Easy} means that the puzzles should be soluble without | ||
1841 | backtracking or guessing, \q{Hard} means that some guesses will | ||
1842 | probably be necessary. | ||
1843 | |||
1844 | |||
1845 | \C{map} \i{Map} | ||
1846 | |||
1847 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.map} | ||
1848 | |||
1849 | You are given a map consisting of a number of regions. Your task is | ||
1850 | to colour each region with one of four colours, in such a way that | ||
1851 | no two regions sharing a boundary have the same colour. You are | ||
1852 | provided with some regions already coloured, sufficient to make the | ||
1853 | remainder of the solution unique. | ||
1854 | |||
1855 | Only regions which share a length of border are required to be | ||
1856 | different colours. Two regions which meet at only one \e{point} | ||
1857 | (i.e. are diagonally separated) may be the same colour. | ||
1858 | |||
1859 | I believe this puzzle is original; I've never seen an implementation | ||
1860 | of it anywhere else. The concept of a \i{four-colouring} puzzle was | ||
1861 | suggested by Owen Dunn; credit must also go to Nikoli and to Verity | ||
1862 | Allan for inspiring the train of thought that led to me realising | ||
1863 | Owen's suggestion was a viable puzzle. Thanks also to Gareth Taylor | ||
1864 | for many detailed suggestions. | ||
1865 | |||
1866 | \H{map-controls} \i{Map controls} | ||
1867 | |||
1868 | \IM{Map controls} controls, for Map | ||
1869 | |||
1870 | To colour a region, click the left mouse button on an existing | ||
1871 | region of the desired colour and drag that colour into the new | ||
1872 | region. | ||
1873 | |||
1874 | (The program will always ensure the starting puzzle has at least one | ||
1875 | region of each colour, so that this is always possible!) | ||
1876 | |||
1877 | If you need to clear a region, you can drag from an empty region, or | ||
1878 | from the puzzle boundary if there are no empty regions left. | ||
1879 | |||
1880 | Dragging a colour using the \e{right} mouse button will stipple the | ||
1881 | region in that colour, which you can use as a note to yourself that | ||
1882 | you think the region \e{might} be that colour. A region can contain | ||
1883 | stipples in multiple colours at once. (This is often useful at the | ||
1884 | harder difficulty levels.) | ||
1885 | |||
1886 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the map: the colour of | ||
1887 | the cursor indicates the position of the colour you would drag (which | ||
1888 | is not obvious if you're on a region's boundary, since it depends on the | ||
1889 | direction from which you approached the boundary). Pressing the return | ||
1890 | key starts a drag of that colour, as above, which you control with the | ||
1891 | cursor keys; pressing the return key again finishes the drag. The | ||
1892 | space bar can be used similarly to create a stippled region. | ||
1893 | Double-pressing the return key (without moving the cursor) will clear | ||
1894 | the region, as a drag from an empty region does: this is useful with | ||
1895 | the cursor mode if you have filled the entire map in but need to | ||
1896 | correct the layout. | ||
1897 | |||
1898 | If you press L during play, the game will toggle display of a number | ||
1899 | in each region of the map. This is useful if you want to discuss a | ||
1900 | particular puzzle instance with a friend \dash having an unambiguous | ||
1901 | name for each region is much easier than trying to refer to them all | ||
1902 | by names such as \q{the one down and right of the brown one on the | ||
1903 | top border}. | ||
1904 | |||
1905 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1906 | |||
1907 | \H{map-parameters} \I{parameters, for Map}Map parameters | ||
1908 | |||
1909 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1910 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1911 | |||
1912 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1913 | |||
1914 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
1915 | |||
1916 | \dt \e{Regions} | ||
1917 | |||
1918 | \dd Number of regions in the generated map. | ||
1919 | |||
1920 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
1921 | |||
1922 | \dd In \q{Easy} mode, there should always be at least one region | ||
1923 | whose colour can be determined trivially. In \q{Normal} and \q{Hard} | ||
1924 | modes, you will have to use increasingly complex logic to deduce the | ||
1925 | colour of some regions. However, it will always be possible without | ||
1926 | having to guess or backtrack. | ||
1927 | |||
1928 | \lcont{ | ||
1929 | |||
1930 | In \q{Unreasonable} mode, the program will feel free to generate | ||
1931 | puzzles which are as hard as it can possibly make them: the only | ||
1932 | constraint is that they should still have a unique solution. Solving | ||
1933 | Unreasonable puzzles may require guessing and backtracking. | ||
1934 | |||
1935 | } | ||
1936 | |||
1937 | |||
1938 | \C{loopy} \i{Loopy} | ||
1939 | |||
1940 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.loopy} | ||
1941 | |||
1942 | You are given a grid of dots, marked with yellow lines to indicate | ||
1943 | which dots you are allowed to connect directly together. Your aim is | ||
1944 | to use some subset of those yellow lines to draw a single unbroken | ||
1945 | loop from dot to dot within the grid. | ||
1946 | |||
1947 | Some of the spaces between the lines contain numbers. These numbers | ||
1948 | indicate how many of the lines around that space form part of the | ||
1949 | loop. The loop you draw must correctly satisfy all of these clues to | ||
1950 | be considered a correct solution. | ||
1951 | |||
1952 | In the default mode, the dots are arranged in a grid of squares; | ||
1953 | however, you can also play on triangular or hexagonal grids, or even | ||
1954 | more exotic ones. | ||
1955 | |||
1956 | Credit for the basic puzzle idea goes to \i{Nikoli} | ||
1957 | \k{nikoli-loopy}. | ||
1958 | |||
1959 | Loopy was originally contributed to this collection by Mike Pinna, | ||
1960 | and subsequently enhanced to handle various types of non-square grid | ||
1961 | by Lambros Lambrou. | ||
1962 | |||
1963 | \B{nikoli-loopy} | ||
1964 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/slitherlink.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/slitherlink.html} | ||
1965 | (beware of Flash) | ||
1966 | |||
1967 | \H{loopy-controls} \i{Loopy controls} | ||
1968 | |||
1969 | \IM{Loopy controls} controls, for Loopy | ||
1970 | |||
1971 | Click the left mouse button on a yellow line to turn it black, | ||
1972 | indicating that you think it is part of the loop. Click again to | ||
1973 | turn the line yellow again (meaning you aren't sure yet). | ||
1974 | |||
1975 | If you are sure that a particular line segment is \e{not} part of | ||
1976 | the loop, you can click the right mouse button to remove it | ||
1977 | completely. Again, clicking a second time will turn the line back to | ||
1978 | yellow. | ||
1979 | |||
1980 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
1981 | |||
1982 | \H{loopy-parameters} \I{parameters, for Loopy}Loopy parameters | ||
1983 | |||
1984 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
1985 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
1986 | |||
1987 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
1988 | |||
1989 | \dd Size of grid, measured in number of regions across and down. For | ||
1990 | square grids, it's clear how this is counted; for other types of | ||
1991 | grid you may have to think a bit to see how the dimensions are | ||
1992 | measured. | ||
1993 | |||
1994 | \dt \e{Grid type} | ||
1995 | |||
1996 | \dd Allows you to choose between a selection of types of tiling. | ||
1997 | Some have all the faces the same but may have multiple different | ||
1998 | types of vertex (e.g. the \e{Cairo} or \e{Kites} mode); others have | ||
1999 | all the vertices the same but may have different types of face (e.g. | ||
2000 | the \e{Great Hexagonal}). The square, triangular and honeycomb grids | ||
2001 | are fully regular, and have all their vertices \e{and} faces the | ||
2002 | same; this makes them the least confusing to play. | ||
2003 | |||
2004 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2005 | |||
2006 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. | ||
2007 | \#{FIXME: what distinguishes Easy, Medium, and Hard? In particular, | ||
2008 | when are backtracking/guesswork required, if ever?} | ||
2009 | |||
2010 | |||
2011 | \C{inertia} \i{Inertia} | ||
2012 | |||
2013 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.inertia} | ||
2014 | |||
2015 | You are a small green ball sitting in a grid full of obstacles. Your | ||
2016 | aim is to collect all the gems without running into any mines. | ||
2017 | |||
2018 | You can move the ball in any orthogonal \e{or diagonal} direction. | ||
2019 | Once the ball starts moving, it will continue until something stops | ||
2020 | it. A wall directly in its path will stop it (but if it is moving | ||
2021 | diagonally, it will move through a diagonal gap between two other | ||
2022 | walls without stopping). Also, some of the squares are \q{stops}; | ||
2023 | when the ball moves on to a stop, it will stop moving no matter what | ||
2024 | direction it was going in. Gems do \e{not} stop the ball; it picks | ||
2025 | them up and keeps on going. | ||
2026 | |||
2027 | Running into a mine is fatal. Even if you picked up the last gem in | ||
2028 | the same move which then hit a mine, the game will count you as dead | ||
2029 | rather than victorious. | ||
2030 | |||
2031 | This game was originally implemented for Windows by Ben Olmstead | ||
2032 | \k{bem}, who was kind enough to release his source code on request | ||
2033 | so that it could be re-implemented for this collection. | ||
2034 | |||
2035 | \B{bem} \W{http://xn13.com/}\cw{http://xn13.com/} | ||
2036 | |||
2037 | \H{inertia-controls} \i{Inertia controls} | ||
2038 | |||
2039 | \IM{Inertia controls} controls, for Inertia | ||
2040 | \IM{Inertia controls} keys, for Inertia | ||
2041 | \IM{Inertia controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Inertia | ||
2042 | |||
2043 | You can move the ball in any of the eight directions using the | ||
2044 | numeric keypad. Alternatively, if you click the left mouse button on | ||
2045 | the grid, the ball will begin a move in the general direction of | ||
2046 | where you clicked. | ||
2047 | |||
2048 | If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, the program will | ||
2049 | compute a path through the grid which collects all the remaining | ||
2050 | gems and returns to the current position. A hint arrow will appear | ||
2051 | on the ball indicating the direction in which you should move to | ||
2052 | begin on this path. If you then move in that direction, the arrow | ||
2053 | will update to indicate the next direction on the path. You can also | ||
2054 | press Space to automatically move in the direction of the hint | ||
2055 | arrow. If you move in a different direction from the one shown by | ||
2056 | the arrow, arrows will be shown only if the puzzle is still solvable. | ||
2057 | |||
2058 | All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available. | ||
2059 | In particular, if you do run into a mine and die, you can use the | ||
2060 | Undo function and resume playing from before the fatal move. The | ||
2061 | game will keep track of the number of times you have done this. | ||
2062 | |||
2063 | \H{inertia-parameters} \I{parameters, for Inertia}Inertia parameters | ||
2064 | |||
2065 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2066 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2067 | |||
2068 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2069 | |||
2070 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2071 | |||
2072 | |||
2073 | \C{tents} \i{Tents} | ||
2074 | |||
2075 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.tents} | ||
2076 | |||
2077 | You have a grid of squares, some of which contain trees. Your aim is | ||
2078 | to place tents in some of the remaining squares, in such a way that | ||
2079 | the following conditions are met: | ||
2080 | |||
2081 | \b There are exactly as many tents as trees. | ||
2082 | |||
2083 | \b The tents and trees can be matched up in such a way that each | ||
2084 | tent is directly adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not | ||
2085 | diagonally) to its own tree. However, a tent may be adjacent to | ||
2086 | other trees as well as its own. | ||
2087 | |||
2088 | \b No two tents are adjacent horizontally, vertically \e{or | ||
2089 | diagonally}. | ||
2090 | |||
2091 | \b The number of tents in each row, and in each column, matches the | ||
2092 | numbers given round the sides of the grid. | ||
2093 | |||
2094 | This puzzle can be found in several places on the Internet, and was | ||
2095 | brought to my attention by e-mail. I don't know who I should credit | ||
2096 | for inventing it. | ||
2097 | |||
2098 | \H{tents-controls} \i{Tents controls} | ||
2099 | |||
2100 | \IM{Tents controls} controls, for Tents | ||
2101 | |||
2102 | Left-clicking in a blank square will place a tent in it. | ||
2103 | Right-clicking in a blank square will colour it green, indicating | ||
2104 | that you are sure it \e{isn't} a tent. Clicking either button in an | ||
2105 | occupied square will clear it. | ||
2106 | |||
2107 | If you \e{drag} with the right button along a row or column, every | ||
2108 | blank square in the region you cover will be turned green, and no | ||
2109 | other squares will be affected. (This is useful for clearing the | ||
2110 | remainder of a row once you have placed all its tents.) | ||
2111 | |||
2112 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing the | ||
2113 | return key over an empty square will place a tent, and pressing the | ||
2114 | space bar over an empty square will colour it green; either key will | ||
2115 | clear an occupied square. Holding Shift and pressing the cursor keys | ||
2116 | will colour empty squares green. Holding Control and pressing the | ||
2117 | cursor keys will colour green both empty squares and squares with tents. | ||
2118 | |||
2119 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2120 | |||
2121 | \H{tents-parameters} \I{parameters, for Tents}Tents parameters | ||
2122 | |||
2123 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2124 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2125 | |||
2126 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2127 | |||
2128 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2129 | |||
2130 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2131 | |||
2132 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult | ||
2133 | puzzles require more complex deductions, but at present none of the | ||
2134 | available difficulty levels requires guesswork or backtracking. | ||
2135 | |||
2136 | |||
2137 | \C{bridges} \i{Bridges} | ||
2138 | |||
2139 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.bridges} | ||
2140 | |||
2141 | You have a set of islands distributed across the playing area. Each | ||
2142 | island contains a number. Your aim is to connect the islands | ||
2143 | together with bridges, in such a way that: | ||
2144 | |||
2145 | \b Bridges run horizontally or vertically. | ||
2146 | |||
2147 | \b The number of bridges terminating at any island is equal to the | ||
2148 | number written in that island. | ||
2149 | |||
2150 | \b Two bridges may run in parallel between the same two islands, but | ||
2151 | no more than two may do so. | ||
2152 | |||
2153 | \b No bridge crosses another bridge. | ||
2154 | |||
2155 | \b All the islands are connected together. | ||
2156 | |||
2157 | There are some configurable alternative modes, which involve | ||
2158 | changing the parallel-bridge limit to something other than 2, and | ||
2159 | introducing the additional constraint that no sequence of bridges | ||
2160 | may form a loop from one island back to the same island. The rules | ||
2161 | stated above are the default ones. | ||
2162 | |||
2163 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-bridges}. | ||
2164 | |||
2165 | Bridges was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
2166 | |||
2167 | \B{nikoli-bridges} | ||
2168 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/hashiwokakero.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/hashiwokakero.html} | ||
2169 | (beware of Flash) | ||
2170 | |||
2171 | \H{bridges-controls} \i{Bridges controls} | ||
2172 | |||
2173 | \IM{Bridges controls} controls, for Bridges | ||
2174 | |||
2175 | To place a bridge between two islands, click the mouse down on one | ||
2176 | island and drag it towards the other. You do not need to drag all | ||
2177 | the way to the other island; you only need to move the mouse far | ||
2178 | enough for the intended bridge direction to be unambiguous. (So you | ||
2179 | can keep the mouse near the starting island and conveniently throw | ||
2180 | bridges out from it in many directions.) | ||
2181 | |||
2182 | Doing this again when a bridge is already present will add another | ||
2183 | parallel bridge. If there are already as many bridges between the | ||
2184 | two islands as permitted by the current game rules (i.e. two by | ||
2185 | default), the same dragging action will remove all of them. | ||
2186 | |||
2187 | If you want to remind yourself that two islands definitely \e{do | ||
2188 | not} have a bridge between them, you can right-drag between them in | ||
2189 | the same way to draw a \q{non-bridge} marker. | ||
2190 | |||
2191 | If you think you have finished with an island (i.e. you have placed | ||
2192 | all its bridges and are confident that they are in the right | ||
2193 | places), you can mark the island as finished by left-clicking on it. | ||
2194 | This will highlight it and all the bridges connected to it, and you | ||
2195 | will be prevented from accidentally modifying any of those bridges | ||
2196 | in future. Left-clicking again on a highlighted island will unmark | ||
2197 | it and restore your ability to modify it. | ||
2198 | |||
2199 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid: if possible | ||
2200 | the cursor will always move orthogonally, otherwise it will move | ||
2201 | towards the nearest island to the indicated direction. Holding Control | ||
2202 | and pressing a cursor key will lay a bridge in that direction (if | ||
2203 | available); Shift and a cursor key will lay a \q{non-bridge} marker. | ||
2204 | Pressing the return key followed by a cursor key will also lay a | ||
2205 | bridge in that direction. | ||
2206 | |||
2207 | You can mark an island as finished by pressing the space bar or by | ||
2208 | pressing the return key twice. | ||
2209 | |||
2210 | By pressing a number key, you can jump to the nearest island with that | ||
2211 | number. Letters \q{a}, ..., \q{f} count as 10, ..., 15 and \q{0} as | ||
2212 | 16. | ||
2213 | |||
2214 | Violations of the puzzle rules will be marked in red: | ||
2215 | |||
2216 | \b An island with too many bridges will be highlighted in red. | ||
2217 | |||
2218 | \b An island with too few bridges will be highlighted in red if it | ||
2219 | is definitely an error (as opposed to merely not being finished | ||
2220 | yet): if adding enough bridges would involve having to cross another | ||
2221 | bridge or remove a non-bridge marker, or if the island has been | ||
2222 | highlighted as complete. | ||
2223 | |||
2224 | \b A group of islands and bridges may be highlighted in red if it is | ||
2225 | a closed subset of the puzzle with no way to connect it to the rest | ||
2226 | of the islands. For example, if you directly connect two 1s together | ||
2227 | with a bridge and they are not the only two islands on the grid, | ||
2228 | they will light up red to indicate that such a group cannot be | ||
2229 | contained in any valid solution. | ||
2230 | |||
2231 | \b If you have selected the (non-default) option to disallow loops | ||
2232 | in the solution, a group of bridges which forms a loop will be | ||
2233 | highlighted. | ||
2234 | |||
2235 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2236 | |||
2237 | \H{bridges-parameters} \I{parameters, for Bridges}Bridges parameters | ||
2238 | |||
2239 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2240 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2241 | |||
2242 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2243 | |||
2244 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2245 | |||
2246 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2247 | |||
2248 | \dd Difficulty level of puzzle. | ||
2249 | |||
2250 | \dt \e{Allow loops} | ||
2251 | |||
2252 | \dd This is set by default. If cleared, puzzles will be generated in | ||
2253 | such a way that they are always soluble without creating a loop, and | ||
2254 | solutions which do involve a loop will be disallowed. | ||
2255 | |||
2256 | \dt \e{Max. bridges per direction} | ||
2257 | |||
2258 | \dd Maximum number of bridges in any particular direction. The | ||
2259 | default is 2, but you can change it to 1, 3 or 4. In general, fewer | ||
2260 | is easier. | ||
2261 | |||
2262 | \dt \e{%age of island squares} | ||
2263 | |||
2264 | \dd Gives a rough percentage of islands the generator will try and | ||
2265 | lay before finishing the puzzle. Certain layouts will not manage to | ||
2266 | lay enough islands; this is an upper bound. | ||
2267 | |||
2268 | \dt \e{Expansion factor (%age)} | ||
2269 | |||
2270 | \dd The grid generator works by picking an existing island at random | ||
2271 | (after first creating an initial island somewhere). It then decides | ||
2272 | on a direction (at random), and then works out how far it could | ||
2273 | extend before creating another island. This parameter determines how | ||
2274 | likely it is to extend as far as it can, rather than choosing | ||
2275 | somewhere closer. | ||
2276 | |||
2277 | \lcont{ | ||
2278 | |||
2279 | High expansion factors usually mean easier puzzles with fewer | ||
2280 | possible islands; low expansion factors can create lots of | ||
2281 | tightly-packed islands. | ||
2282 | |||
2283 | } | ||
2284 | |||
2285 | |||
2286 | \C{unequal} \i{Unequal} | ||
2287 | |||
2288 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.unequal} | ||
2289 | |||
2290 | You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to | ||
2291 | the size of the grid, and some squares have clue signs between | ||
2292 | them. Your aim is to fully populate the grid with numbers such that: | ||
2293 | |||
2294 | \b Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit | ||
2295 | |||
2296 | \b Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit | ||
2297 | |||
2298 | \b All the clue signs are satisfied. | ||
2299 | |||
2300 | There are two modes for this game, \q{Unequal} and \q{Adjacent}. | ||
2301 | |||
2302 | In \q{Unequal} mode, the clue signs are greater-than symbols indicating one | ||
2303 | square's value is greater than its neighbour's. In this mode not all clues | ||
2304 | may be visible, particularly at higher difficulty levels. | ||
2305 | |||
2306 | In \q{Adjacent} mode, the clue signs are bars indicating | ||
2307 | one square's value is numerically adjacent (i.e. one higher or one lower) | ||
2308 | than its neighbour. In this mode all clues are always visible: absence of | ||
2309 | a bar thus means that a square's value is definitely not numerically adjacent | ||
2310 | to that neighbour's. | ||
2311 | |||
2312 | In \q{Trivial} difficulty level (available via the \q{Custom} game type | ||
2313 | selector), there are no greater-than signs in \q{Unequal} mode; the puzzle is | ||
2314 | to solve the \i{Latin square} only. | ||
2315 | |||
2316 | At the time of writing, the \q{Unequal} mode of this puzzle is appearing in the | ||
2317 | Guardian weekly under the name \q{\i{Futoshiki}}. | ||
2318 | |||
2319 | Unequal was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
2320 | |||
2321 | \H{unequal-controls} \i{Unequal controls} | ||
2322 | |||
2323 | \IM{Unequal controls} controls, for Unequal | ||
2324 | |||
2325 | Unequal shares much of its control system with Solo. | ||
2326 | |||
2327 | To play Unequal, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then | ||
2328 | type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you | ||
2329 | make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press | ||
2330 | Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature). | ||
2331 | |||
2332 | If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that | ||
2333 | number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can | ||
2334 | have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares | ||
2335 | containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks. | ||
2336 | |||
2337 | The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use | ||
2338 | them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a | ||
2339 | particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a | ||
2340 | particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible | ||
2341 | numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like. | ||
2342 | |||
2343 | To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type | ||
2344 | the same number again. | ||
2345 | |||
2346 | All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type | ||
2347 | a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and | ||
2348 | pressing space will also erase pencil marks. | ||
2349 | |||
2350 | As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the digit | ||
2351 | keys to set numbers or pencil marks. You can also use the \q{M} key to | ||
2352 | auto-fill every numeric hint, ready for removal as required, or the \q{H} | ||
2353 | key to do the same but also to remove all obvious hints. | ||
2354 | |||
2355 | Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the mark around the grid. | ||
2356 | Pressing the return key toggles the mark (from a normal mark to a | ||
2357 | pencil mark), and typing a number in is entered in the square in the | ||
2358 | appropriate way; typing in a 0 or using the space bar will clear a | ||
2359 | filled square. | ||
2360 | |||
2361 | Left-clicking a clue will mark it as done (grey it out), or unmark it | ||
2362 | if it is already marked. Holding Control or Shift and pressing an | ||
2363 | arrow key likewise marks any clue adjacent to the cursor in the given | ||
2364 | direction. | ||
2365 | |||
2366 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2367 | |||
2368 | \H{unequal-parameters} \I{parameters, for Unequal}Unequal parameters | ||
2369 | |||
2370 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2371 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2372 | |||
2373 | \dt \e{Mode} | ||
2374 | |||
2375 | \dd Mode of the puzzle (\q{Unequal} or \q{Adjacent}) | ||
2376 | |||
2377 | \dt \e{Size (s*s)} | ||
2378 | |||
2379 | \dd Size of grid. | ||
2380 | |||
2381 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2382 | |||
2383 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Trivial | ||
2384 | level, there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve the | ||
2385 | Latin square only. At Recursive level (only available via the | ||
2386 | \q{Custom} game type selector) backtracking will be required, but | ||
2387 | the solution should still be unique. The levels in between require | ||
2388 | increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to backtrack. | ||
2389 | |||
2390 | |||
2391 | |||
2392 | \C{galaxies} \i{Galaxies} | ||
2393 | |||
2394 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.galaxies} | ||
2395 | |||
2396 | You have a rectangular grid containing a number of dots. Your aim is | ||
2397 | to draw edges along the grid lines which divide the rectangle into | ||
2398 | regions in such a way that every region is 180\u00b0{-degree} | ||
2399 | rotationally symmetric, and contains exactly one dot which is | ||
2400 | located at its centre of symmetry. | ||
2401 | |||
2402 | This puzzle was invented by \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-galaxies}, under | ||
2403 | the name \q{Tentai Show}; its name is commonly translated into | ||
2404 | English as \q{Spiral Galaxies}. | ||
2405 | |||
2406 | Galaxies was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
2407 | |||
2408 | \B{nikoli-galaxies} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show.html} | ||
2409 | |||
2410 | \H{galaxies-controls} \i{Galaxies controls} | ||
2411 | |||
2412 | \IM{Galaxies controls} controls, for Galaxies | ||
2413 | |||
2414 | Left-click on any grid line to draw an edge if there isn't one | ||
2415 | already, or to remove one if there is. When you create a valid | ||
2416 | region (one which is closed, contains exactly one dot, is | ||
2417 | 180\u00b0{-degree} symmetric about that dot, and contains no | ||
2418 | extraneous edges inside it) it will be highlighted automatically; so | ||
2419 | your aim is to have the whole grid highlighted in that way. | ||
2420 | |||
2421 | During solving, you might know that a particular grid square belongs | ||
2422 | to a specific dot, but not be sure of where the edges go and which | ||
2423 | other squares are connected to the dot. In order to mark this so you | ||
2424 | don't forget, you can right-click on the dot and drag, which will | ||
2425 | create an arrow marker pointing at the dot. Drop that in a square of | ||
2426 | your choice and it will remind you which dot it's associated with. | ||
2427 | You can also right-click on existing arrows to pick them up and move | ||
2428 | them, or destroy them by dropping them off the edge of the grid. | ||
2429 | (Also, if you're not sure which dot an arrow is pointing at, you can | ||
2430 | pick it up and move it around to make it clearer. It will swivel | ||
2431 | constantly as you drag it, to stay pointed at its parent dot.) | ||
2432 | |||
2433 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares and | ||
2434 | lines. Pressing the return key when over a grid line will draw or | ||
2435 | clear its edge, as above. Pressing the return key when over a dot will | ||
2436 | pick up an arrow, to be dropped the next time the return key is | ||
2437 | pressed; this can also be used to move existing arrows around, removing | ||
2438 | them by dropping them on a dot or another arrow. | ||
2439 | |||
2440 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2441 | |||
2442 | \H{galaxies-parameters} \I{parameters, for Galaxies}Galaxies parameters | ||
2443 | |||
2444 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2445 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2446 | |||
2447 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2448 | |||
2449 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2450 | |||
2451 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2452 | |||
2453 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult | ||
2454 | puzzles require more complex deductions, and the \q{Unreasonable} | ||
2455 | difficulty level may require backtracking. | ||
2456 | |||
2457 | |||
2458 | |||
2459 | \C{filling} \i{Filling} | ||
2460 | |||
2461 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.filling} | ||
2462 | |||
2463 | You have a grid of squares, some of which contain digits, and the | ||
2464 | rest of which are empty. Your job is to fill in digits in the empty | ||
2465 | squares, in such a way that each connected region of squares all | ||
2466 | containing the same digit has an area equal to that digit. | ||
2467 | |||
2468 | (\q{Connected region}, for the purposes of this game, does not count | ||
2469 | diagonally separated squares as adjacent.) | ||
2470 | |||
2471 | For example, it follows that no square can contain a zero, and that | ||
2472 | two adjacent squares can not both contain a one. No region has an | ||
2473 | area greater than 9 (because then its area would not be a single | ||
2474 | digit). | ||
2475 | |||
2476 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-fillomino}. | ||
2477 | |||
2478 | Filling was contributed to this collection by Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker. | ||
2479 | |||
2480 | \B{nikoli-fillomino} | ||
2481 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino.html} | ||
2482 | |||
2483 | \H{filling-controls} \I{controls, for Filling}Filling controls | ||
2484 | |||
2485 | To play Filling, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then | ||
2486 | type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. By dragging the | ||
2487 | mouse, you can select multiple squares to fill with a single keypress. | ||
2488 | If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and | ||
2489 | press 0, Space, Backspace or Enter to clear it again (or use the Undo | ||
2490 | feature). | ||
2491 | |||
2492 | You can also move around the grid with the cursor keys; typing a digit will | ||
2493 | fill the square containing the cursor with that number; typing 0 will clear | ||
2494 | it. You can also select multiple squares for numbering or clearing with the | ||
2495 | return and arrow keys, before typing a digit to fill or clear the highlighted | ||
2496 | squares (as above). The space bar adds and removes single squares to and from | ||
2497 | the selection. Backspace and escape remove all squares from the selection. | ||
2498 | |||
2499 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2500 | |||
2501 | \H{filling-parameters} \I{parameters, for Filling}Filling parameters | ||
2502 | |||
2503 | Filling allows you to configure the number of rows and columns of the | ||
2504 | grid, through the \q{Type} menu. | ||
2505 | |||
2506 | |||
2507 | \C{keen} \i{Keen} | ||
2508 | |||
2509 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.keen} | ||
2510 | |||
2511 | You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to | ||
2512 | the size of the grid. The grid is divided into blocks of varying | ||
2513 | shape and size, with arithmetic clues written in them. Your aim is | ||
2514 | to fully populate the grid with digits such that: | ||
2515 | |||
2516 | \b Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit | ||
2517 | |||
2518 | \b Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit | ||
2519 | |||
2520 | \b The digits in each block can be combined to form the number | ||
2521 | stated in the clue, using the arithmetic operation given in the | ||
2522 | clue. That is: | ||
2523 | |||
2524 | \lcont{ | ||
2525 | |||
2526 | \b An addition clue means that the sum of the digits in the block | ||
2527 | must be the given number. For example, \q{15+} means the contents of | ||
2528 | the block adds up to fifteen. | ||
2529 | |||
2530 | \b A multiplication clue (e.g. \q{60\times}), similarly, means that | ||
2531 | the product of the digits in the block must be the given number. | ||
2532 | |||
2533 | \b A subtraction clue will always be written in a block of size two, | ||
2534 | and it means that one of the digits in the block is greater than the | ||
2535 | other by the given amount. For example, \q{2\minus} means that one | ||
2536 | of the digits in the block is 2 more than the other, or equivalently | ||
2537 | that one digit minus the other one is 2. The two digits could be | ||
2538 | either way round, though. | ||
2539 | |||
2540 | \b A division clue (e.g. \q{3\divide}), similarly, is always in a | ||
2541 | block of size two and means that one digit divided by the other is | ||
2542 | equal to the given amount. | ||
2543 | |||
2544 | Note that a block may contain the same digit more than once | ||
2545 | (provided the identical ones are not in the same row and column). | ||
2546 | This rule is precisely the opposite of the rule in Solo's \q{Killer} | ||
2547 | mode (see \k{solo}). | ||
2548 | |||
2549 | } | ||
2550 | |||
2551 | This puzzle appears in the Times under the name \q{\i{KenKen}}. | ||
2552 | |||
2553 | |||
2554 | \H{keen-controls} \i{Keen controls} | ||
2555 | |||
2556 | \IM{Keen controls} controls, for Keen | ||
2557 | |||
2558 | Keen shares much of its control system with Solo (and Unequal). | ||
2559 | |||
2560 | To play Keen, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then | ||
2561 | type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. If you make a | ||
2562 | mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press Space to | ||
2563 | clear it again (or use the Undo feature). | ||
2564 | |||
2565 | If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that | ||
2566 | number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can | ||
2567 | have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares | ||
2568 | containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks. | ||
2569 | |||
2570 | The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use | ||
2571 | them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a | ||
2572 | particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a | ||
2573 | particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible | ||
2574 | numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like. | ||
2575 | |||
2576 | To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type | ||
2577 | the same number again. | ||
2578 | |||
2579 | All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type | ||
2580 | a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and | ||
2581 | pressing space will also erase pencil marks. | ||
2582 | |||
2583 | As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the | ||
2584 | digit keys to set numbers or pencil marks. Use the cursor keys to | ||
2585 | move a highlight around the grid, and type a digit to enter it in | ||
2586 | the highlighted square. Pressing return toggles the highlight into a | ||
2587 | mode in which you can enter or remove pencil marks. | ||
2588 | |||
2589 | Pressing M will fill in a full set of pencil marks in every square | ||
2590 | that does not have a main digit in it. | ||
2591 | |||
2592 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2593 | |||
2594 | \H{keen-parameters} \I{parameters, for Keen}Keen parameters | ||
2595 | |||
2596 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2597 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2598 | |||
2599 | \dt \e{Grid size} | ||
2600 | |||
2601 | \dd Specifies the size of the grid. Lower limit is 3; upper limit is | ||
2602 | 9 (because the user interface would become more difficult with | ||
2603 | \q{digits} bigger than 9!). | ||
2604 | |||
2605 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2606 | |||
2607 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Unreasonable | ||
2608 | level, some backtracking will be required, but the solution should | ||
2609 | still be unique. The remaining levels require increasingly complex | ||
2610 | reasoning to avoid having to backtrack. | ||
2611 | |||
2612 | \dt \e{Multiplication only} | ||
2613 | |||
2614 | \dd If this is enabled, all boxes will be multiplication boxes. | ||
2615 | With this rule, the puzzle is known as \q{Inshi No Heya}. | ||
2616 | |||
2617 | \C{towers} \i{Towers} | ||
2618 | |||
2619 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.towers} | ||
2620 | |||
2621 | You have a square grid. On each square of the grid you can build a | ||
2622 | tower, with its height ranging from 1 to the size of the grid. | ||
2623 | Around the edge of the grid are some numeric clues. | ||
2624 | |||
2625 | Your task is to build a tower on every square, in such a way that: | ||
2626 | |||
2627 | \b Each row contains every possible height of tower once | ||
2628 | |||
2629 | \b Each column contains every possible height of tower once | ||
2630 | |||
2631 | \b Each numeric clue describes the number of towers that can be seen | ||
2632 | if you look into the square from that direction, assuming that | ||
2633 | shorter towers are hidden behind taller ones. For example, in a | ||
2634 | 5\by\.5 grid, a clue marked \q{5} indicates that the five tower | ||
2635 | heights must appear in increasing order (otherwise you would not be | ||
2636 | able to see all five towers), whereas a clue marked \q{1} indicates | ||
2637 | that the tallest tower (the one marked 5) must come first. | ||
2638 | |||
2639 | In harder or larger puzzles, some towers will be specified for you | ||
2640 | as well as the clues round the edge, and some edge clues may be | ||
2641 | missing. | ||
2642 | |||
2643 | This puzzle appears on the web under various names, particularly | ||
2644 | \q{\i{Skyscrapers}}, but I don't know who first invented it. | ||
2645 | |||
2646 | |||
2647 | \H{towers-controls} \i{Towers controls} | ||
2648 | |||
2649 | \IM{Towers controls} controls, for Towers | ||
2650 | |||
2651 | Towers shares much of its control system with Solo, Unequal and Keen. | ||
2652 | |||
2653 | To play Towers, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then | ||
2654 | type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square with a tower of the | ||
2655 | given height. If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the | ||
2656 | incorrect square and press Space to clear it again (or use the Undo | ||
2657 | feature). | ||
2658 | |||
2659 | If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that | ||
2660 | number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can | ||
2661 | have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. A square | ||
2662 | containing a tower cannot also contain pencil marks. | ||
2663 | |||
2664 | The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use | ||
2665 | them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a | ||
2666 | particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a | ||
2667 | particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible | ||
2668 | numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like. | ||
2669 | |||
2670 | To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type | ||
2671 | the same number again. | ||
2672 | |||
2673 | All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type | ||
2674 | a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and | ||
2675 | pressing space will also erase pencil marks. | ||
2676 | |||
2677 | As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the | ||
2678 | digit keys to set numbers or pencil marks. Use the cursor keys to | ||
2679 | move a highlight around the grid, and type a digit to enter it in | ||
2680 | the highlighted square. Pressing return toggles the highlight into a | ||
2681 | mode in which you can enter or remove pencil marks. | ||
2682 | |||
2683 | Pressing M will fill in a full set of pencil marks in every square | ||
2684 | that does not have a main digit in it. | ||
2685 | |||
2686 | Left-clicking a clue will mark it as done (grey it out), or unmark it | ||
2687 | if it is already marked. Holding Control or Shift and pressing an | ||
2688 | arrow key likewise marks any clue in the given direction. | ||
2689 | |||
2690 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2691 | |||
2692 | \H{towers-parameters} \I{parameters, for Towers}Towers parameters | ||
2693 | |||
2694 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2695 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2696 | |||
2697 | \dt \e{Grid size} | ||
2698 | |||
2699 | \dd Specifies the size of the grid. Lower limit is 3; upper limit is | ||
2700 | 9 (because the user interface would become more difficult with | ||
2701 | \q{digits} bigger than 9!). | ||
2702 | |||
2703 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2704 | |||
2705 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Unreasonable | ||
2706 | level, some backtracking will be required, but the solution should | ||
2707 | still be unique. The remaining levels require increasingly complex | ||
2708 | reasoning to avoid having to backtrack. | ||
2709 | |||
2710 | |||
2711 | \C{singles} \i{Singles} | ||
2712 | |||
2713 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.singles} | ||
2714 | |||
2715 | You have a grid of white squares, all of which contain numbers. Your task | ||
2716 | is to colour some of the squares black (removing the number) so as to satisfy | ||
2717 | all of the following conditions: | ||
2718 | |||
2719 | \b No number occurs more than once in any row or column. | ||
2720 | |||
2721 | \b No black square is horizontally or vertically adjacent to any other black | ||
2722 | square. | ||
2723 | |||
2724 | \b The remaining white squares must all form one contiguous region | ||
2725 | (connected by edges, not just touching at corners). | ||
2726 | |||
2727 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-hitori} who call it | ||
2728 | \i{Hitori}. | ||
2729 | |||
2730 | Singles was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
2731 | |||
2732 | \B{nikoli-hitori} | ||
2733 | \W{http://www.nikoli.com/en/puzzles/hitori.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.com/en/puzzles/hitori.html} | ||
2734 | (beware of Flash) | ||
2735 | |||
2736 | \H{singles-controls} \i{Singles controls} | ||
2737 | |||
2738 | \IM{Singles controls} controls, for Singles | ||
2739 | |||
2740 | Left-clicking on an empty square will colour it black; left-clicking again | ||
2741 | will restore the number. Right-clicking will add a circle (useful for | ||
2742 | indicating that a cell is definitely not black). | ||
2743 | |||
2744 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing the | ||
2745 | return or space keys will turn a square black or add a circle respectively, | ||
2746 | and pressing the key again will restore the number or remove the circle. | ||
2747 | |||
2748 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2749 | |||
2750 | \H{singles-parameters} \I{parameters, for Singles}Singles parameters | ||
2751 | |||
2752 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2753 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2754 | |||
2755 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2756 | |||
2757 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2758 | |||
2759 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2760 | |||
2761 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. | ||
2762 | |||
2763 | |||
2764 | \C{magnets} \i{Magnets} | ||
2765 | |||
2766 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.magnets} | ||
2767 | |||
2768 | A rectangular grid has been filled with a mixture of magnets (that is, | ||
2769 | dominoes with one positive end and one negative end) and blank dominoes | ||
2770 | (that is, dominoes with two neutral poles). | ||
2771 | These dominoes are initially only seen in silhouette. Around the grid | ||
2772 | are placed a number of clues indicating the number of positive and | ||
2773 | negative poles contained in certain columns and rows. | ||
2774 | |||
2775 | Your aim is to correctly place the magnets and blank dominoes such that | ||
2776 | all the clues are satisfied, with the additional constraint that no two | ||
2777 | similar magnetic poles may be orthogonally adjacent (since they repel). | ||
2778 | Neutral poles do not repel, and can be adjacent to any other pole. | ||
2779 | |||
2780 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Janko} \k{janko-magnets}. | ||
2781 | |||
2782 | Magnets was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
2783 | |||
2784 | \B{janko-magnets} | ||
2785 | \W{http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Magnete/index.htm}\cw{http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Magnete/index.htm} | ||
2786 | |||
2787 | \H{magnets-controls} \i{Magnets controls} | ||
2788 | |||
2789 | \IM{Magnets controls} controls, for Magnets | ||
2790 | |||
2791 | Left-clicking on an empty square places a magnet at that position with | ||
2792 | the positive pole on the square and the negative pole on the other half | ||
2793 | of the magnet; left-clicking again reverses the polarity, and a third | ||
2794 | click removes the magnet. | ||
2795 | |||
2796 | Right-clicking on an empty square places a blank domino there. | ||
2797 | Right-clicking again places two question marks on the domino, signifying | ||
2798 | \q{this cannot be blank} (which can be useful to note deductions while | ||
2799 | solving), and right-clicking again empties the domino. | ||
2800 | |||
2801 | Left-clicking a clue will mark it as done (grey it out), or unmark it if | ||
2802 | it is already marked. | ||
2803 | |||
2804 | You can also use the cursor keys to move a cursor around the grid. | ||
2805 | Pressing the return key will lay a domino with a positive pole at that | ||
2806 | position; pressing again reverses the polarity and then removes the | ||
2807 | domino, as with left-clicking. Using the space bar allows placement | ||
2808 | of blank dominoes and cannot-be-blank hints, as for right-clicking. | ||
2809 | |||
2810 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2811 | |||
2812 | \H{magnets-parameters} \I{parameters, for Magnets}Magnets parameters | ||
2813 | |||
2814 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2815 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2816 | |||
2817 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2818 | |||
2819 | \dd Size of grid in squares. There will be half \e{Width} \by \e{Height} | ||
2820 | dominoes in the grid: if this number is odd then one square will be blank. | ||
2821 | |||
2822 | \lcont{ | ||
2823 | |||
2824 | (Grids with at least one odd dimension tend to be easier to solve.) | ||
2825 | |||
2826 | } | ||
2827 | |||
2828 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
2829 | |||
2830 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Tricky level, | ||
2831 | you are required to make more deductions about empty dominoes and | ||
2832 | row/column counts. | ||
2833 | |||
2834 | \dt \e{Strip clues} | ||
2835 | |||
2836 | \dd If true, some of the clues around the grid are removed at generation | ||
2837 | time, making the puzzle more difficult. | ||
2838 | |||
2839 | |||
2840 | \C{signpost} \i{Signpost} | ||
2841 | |||
2842 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.signpost} | ||
2843 | |||
2844 | You have a grid of squares; each square (except the last one) | ||
2845 | contains an arrow, and some squares also contain numbers. Your job | ||
2846 | is to connect the squares to form a continuous list of numbers | ||
2847 | starting at 1 and linked in the direction of the arrows \dash so the | ||
2848 | arrow inside the square with the number 1 will point to the square | ||
2849 | containing the number 2, which will point to the square containing | ||
2850 | the number 3, etc. Each square can be any distance away from the | ||
2851 | previous one, as long as it is somewhere in the direction of the | ||
2852 | arrow. | ||
2853 | |||
2854 | By convention the first and last numbers are shown; one or more | ||
2855 | interim numbers may also appear at the beginning. | ||
2856 | |||
2857 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Janko} \k{janko-arrowpath}, who call it | ||
2858 | \q{Pfeilpfad} (\q{arrow path}). | ||
2859 | |||
2860 | Signpost was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
2861 | |||
2862 | \B{janko-arrowpath} | ||
2863 | \W{http://janko.at/Raetsel/Pfeilpfad/index.htm}\cw{http://janko.at/Raetsel/Pfeilpfad/index.htm} | ||
2864 | |||
2865 | \H{signpost-controls} \I{controls, for Signpost}Signpost controls | ||
2866 | |||
2867 | To play Signpost, you connect squares together by dragging from one | ||
2868 | square to another, indicating that they are adjacent in the | ||
2869 | sequence. Drag with the left button from a square to its successor, | ||
2870 | or with the right button from a square to its predecessor. | ||
2871 | |||
2872 | If you connect together two squares in this way and one of them has | ||
2873 | a number in it, the appropriate number will appear in the other | ||
2874 | square. If you connect two non-numbered squares, they will be | ||
2875 | assigned temporary algebraic labels: on the first occasion, they | ||
2876 | will be labelled \cq{a} and \cq{a+1}, and then \cq{b} and \cq{b+1}, | ||
2877 | and so on. Connecting more squares on to the ends of such a chain | ||
2878 | will cause them all to be labelled with the same letter. | ||
2879 | |||
2880 | When you left-click or right-click in a square, the legal squares to | ||
2881 | connect it to will be shown. | ||
2882 | |||
2883 | The arrow in each square starts off black, and goes grey once you | ||
2884 | connect the square to its successor. Also, each square which needs a | ||
2885 | predecessor has a small dot in the bottom left corner, which | ||
2886 | vanishes once you link a square to it. So your aim is always to | ||
2887 | connect a square with a black arrow to a square with a dot. | ||
2888 | |||
2889 | To remove any links for a particular square (both incoming and | ||
2890 | outgoing), left-drag it off the grid. To remove a whole chain, | ||
2891 | right-drag any square in the chain off the grid. | ||
2892 | |||
2893 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares and | ||
2894 | lines. Pressing the return key when over a square starts a link | ||
2895 | operation, and pressing the return key again over a square will | ||
2896 | finish the link, if allowable. Pressing the space bar over a square | ||
2897 | will show the other squares pointing to it, and allow you to form a | ||
2898 | backward link, and pressing the space bar again cancels this. | ||
2899 | |||
2900 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2901 | |||
2902 | \H{signpost-parameters} \I{parameters, for Signpost}Signpost parameters | ||
2903 | |||
2904 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2905 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2906 | |||
2907 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2908 | |||
2909 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2910 | |||
2911 | \dt \e{Force start/end to corners} | ||
2912 | |||
2913 | \dd If true, the start and end squares are always placed in opposite corners | ||
2914 | (the start at the top left, and the end at the bottom right). If false the start | ||
2915 | and end squares are placed randomly (although always both shown). | ||
2916 | |||
2917 | \C{range} \i{Range} | ||
2918 | |||
2919 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.range} | ||
2920 | |||
2921 | You have a grid of squares; some squares contain numbers. Your job is | ||
2922 | to colour some of the squares black, such that several criteria are | ||
2923 | satisfied: | ||
2924 | |||
2925 | \b no square with a number is coloured black. | ||
2926 | |||
2927 | \b no two black squares are adjacent (horizontally or vertically). | ||
2928 | |||
2929 | \b for any two white squares, there is a path between them using only | ||
2930 | white squares. | ||
2931 | |||
2932 | \b for each square with a number, that number denotes the total number | ||
2933 | of white squares reachable from that square going in a straight line | ||
2934 | in any horizontal or vertical direction until hitting a wall or a | ||
2935 | black square; the square with the number is included in the total | ||
2936 | (once). | ||
2937 | |||
2938 | For instance, a square containing the number one must have four black | ||
2939 | squares as its neighbours by the last criterion; but then it's | ||
2940 | impossible for it to be connected to any outside white square, which | ||
2941 | violates the second to last criterion. So no square will contain the | ||
2942 | number one. | ||
2943 | |||
2944 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli}, who have variously called | ||
2945 | it \q{Kurodoko}, \q{Kuromasu} or \q{Where is Black Cells}. | ||
2946 | \k{nikoli-range}. | ||
2947 | |||
2948 | Range was contributed to this collection by Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker. | ||
2949 | |||
2950 | \B{nikoli-range} | ||
2951 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/where_is_black_cells.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/where_is_black_cells.html} | ||
2952 | |||
2953 | \H{range-controls} \I{controls, for Range}Range controls | ||
2954 | |||
2955 | Click with the left button to paint a square black, or with the right | ||
2956 | button to mark a square with a dot to indicate that you are sure it | ||
2957 | should \e{not} be painted black. Repeated clicking with either button | ||
2958 | will cycle the square through the three possible states (filled, | ||
2959 | dotted or empty) in opposite directions. | ||
2960 | |||
2961 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares. | ||
2962 | Pressing Return does the same as clicking with the left button, while | ||
2963 | pressing Space does the same as a right button click. Moving with the | ||
2964 | cursor keys while holding Shift will place dots in all squares that | ||
2965 | are moved through. | ||
2966 | |||
2967 | |||
2968 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
2969 | |||
2970 | \H{range-parameters} \I{parameters, for Range}Range parameters | ||
2971 | |||
2972 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
2973 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
2974 | |||
2975 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
2976 | |||
2977 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
2978 | |||
2979 | \C{pearl} \i{Pearl} | ||
2980 | |||
2981 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pearl} | ||
2982 | |||
2983 | You have a grid of squares. Your job is to draw lines between the | ||
2984 | centres of horizontally or vertically adjacent squares, so that the | ||
2985 | lines form a single closed loop. In the resulting grid, some of the | ||
2986 | squares that the loop passes through will contain corners, and some | ||
2987 | will be straight horizontal or vertical lines. (And some squares can | ||
2988 | be completely empty \dash the loop doesn't have to pass through every | ||
2989 | square.) | ||
2990 | |||
2991 | Some of the squares contain black and white circles, which are clues | ||
2992 | that the loop must satisfy. | ||
2993 | |||
2994 | A black circle in a square indicates that that square is a corner, but | ||
2995 | neither of the squares adjacent to it in the loop is also a corner. | ||
2996 | |||
2997 | A white circle indicates that the square is a straight edge, but \e{at | ||
2998 | least one} of the squares adjacent to it in the loop is a corner. | ||
2999 | |||
3000 | (In both cases, the clue only constrains the two squares adjacent | ||
3001 | \e{in the loop}, that is, the squares that the loop passes into after | ||
3002 | leaving the clue square. The squares that are only adjacent \e{in the | ||
3003 | grid} are not constrained.) | ||
3004 | |||
3005 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli}, who call it \q{Masyu}. | ||
3006 | \k{nikoli-pearl} | ||
3007 | |||
3008 | Thanks to James Harvey for assistance with the implementation. | ||
3009 | |||
3010 | \B{nikoli-pearl} | ||
3011 | \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/masyu.html}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/masyu.html} | ||
3012 | (beware of Flash) | ||
3013 | |||
3014 | \H{pearl-controls} \I{controls, for Pearl}Pearl controls | ||
3015 | |||
3016 | Click with the left button on a grid edge to draw a segment of the | ||
3017 | loop through that edge, or to remove a segment once it is drawn. | ||
3018 | |||
3019 | Drag with the left button through a series of squares to draw more | ||
3020 | than one segment of the loop in one go. Alternatively, drag over an | ||
3021 | existing part of the loop to undraw it, or to undraw part of it and | ||
3022 | then go in a different direction. | ||
3023 | |||
3024 | Click with the right button on a grid edge to mark it with a cross, | ||
3025 | indicating that you are sure the loop does not go through that edge. | ||
3026 | (For instance, if you have decided which of the squares adjacent to a | ||
3027 | white clue has to be a corner, but don't yet know which way the corner | ||
3028 | turns, you might mark the one way it \e{can't} go with a cross.) | ||
3029 | |||
3030 | Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the cursor. Use the Enter | ||
3031 | key to begin and end keyboard \q{drag} operations. Use the Space, | ||
3032 | Escape or Backspace keys to cancel the drag. Or, hold Control while | ||
3033 | dragging with the cursor keys to toggle segments as you move between | ||
3034 | squares. | ||
3035 | |||
3036 | Pressing Control-Shift-arrowkey or Shift-arrowkey simulates a left or | ||
3037 | right click, respectively, on the edge in the direction of the key. | ||
3038 | |||
3039 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
3040 | |||
3041 | \H{pearl-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pearl}Pearl parameters | ||
3042 | |||
3043 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
3044 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
3045 | |||
3046 | \C{undead} \i{Undead} | ||
3047 | |||
3048 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.undead} | ||
3049 | |||
3050 | You are given a grid of squares, some of which contain diagonal | ||
3051 | mirrors. Every square which is not a mirror must be filled with one of | ||
3052 | three types of undead monster: a ghost, a vampire, or a zombie. | ||
3053 | |||
3054 | Vampires can be seen directly, but are invisible when reflected in | ||
3055 | mirrors. Ghosts are the opposite way round: they can be seen in | ||
3056 | mirrors, but are invisible when looked at directly. Zombies are | ||
3057 | visible by any means. | ||
3058 | |||
3059 | You are also told the total number of each type of monster in the | ||
3060 | grid. Also around the edge of the grid are written numbers, which | ||
3061 | indicate how many monsters can be seen if you look into the grid along | ||
3062 | a row or column starting from that position. (The diagonal mirrors are | ||
3063 | reflective on both sides. If your reflected line of sight crosses the | ||
3064 | same monster more than once, the number will count it each time it is | ||
3065 | visible, not just once.) | ||
3066 | |||
3067 | This puzzle type was invented by David Millar, under the name | ||
3068 | \q{Haunted Mirror Maze}. See \k{janko-undead} for more details. | ||
3069 | |||
3070 | Undead was contributed to this collection by Steffen Bauer. | ||
3071 | |||
3072 | \B{janko-undead} | ||
3073 | \W{http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Spukschloss/index.htm}\cw{http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Spukschloss/index.htm} | ||
3074 | |||
3075 | \H{undead-controls} \I{controls, for Undead}Undead controls | ||
3076 | |||
3077 | Undead has a similar control system to Solo, Unequal and Keen. | ||
3078 | |||
3079 | To play Undead, click the mouse in any empty square and then type a | ||
3080 | letter on the keyboard indicating the type of monster: \q{G} for a | ||
3081 | ghost, \q{V} for a vampire, or \q{Z} for a zombie. If you make a | ||
3082 | mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press Space to | ||
3083 | clear it again (or use the Undo feature). | ||
3084 | |||
3085 | If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a letter, the | ||
3086 | corresponding monster will be shown in reduced size in that square, as | ||
3087 | a \q{pencil mark}. You can have pencil marks for multiple monsters in | ||
3088 | the same square. A square containing a full-size monster cannot also | ||
3089 | contain pencil marks. | ||
3090 | |||
3091 | The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use | ||
3092 | them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a particular | ||
3093 | square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a particular | ||
3094 | monster, or you can use them as lists of the possible monster in a | ||
3095 | given square, or anything else you feel like. | ||
3096 | |||
3097 | To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type | ||
3098 | the same letter again. | ||
3099 | |||
3100 | All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type a | ||
3101 | monster letter, or when you left-click and press Space. Right-clicking | ||
3102 | and pressing space will also erase pencil marks. | ||
3103 | |||
3104 | As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the letter | ||
3105 | keys to place monsters or pencil marks. Use the cursor keys to move a | ||
3106 | highlight around the grid, and type a monster letter to enter it in | ||
3107 | the highlighted square. Pressing return toggles the highlight into a | ||
3108 | mode in which you can enter or remove pencil marks. | ||
3109 | |||
3110 | If you prefer plain letters of the alphabet to cute monster pictures, | ||
3111 | you can press \q{A} to toggle between showing the monsters as monsters or | ||
3112 | showing them as letters. | ||
3113 | |||
3114 | Left-clicking a clue will mark it as done (grey it out), or unmark it | ||
3115 | if it is already marked. | ||
3116 | |||
3117 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
3118 | |||
3119 | \H{undead-parameters} \I{parameters, for Undead}Undead parameters | ||
3120 | |||
3121 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
3122 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
3123 | |||
3124 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
3125 | |||
3126 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
3127 | |||
3128 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
3129 | |||
3130 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. | ||
3131 | |||
3132 | \C{unruly} \i{Unruly} | ||
3133 | |||
3134 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.unruly} | ||
3135 | |||
3136 | You are given a grid of squares, which you must colour either black or | ||
3137 | white. Some squares are provided as clues; the rest are left for you | ||
3138 | to fill in. Each row and column must contain the same number of black | ||
3139 | and white squares, and no row or column may contain three consecutive | ||
3140 | squares of the same colour. | ||
3141 | |||
3142 | This puzzle type was invented by Adolfo Zanellati, under the name | ||
3143 | \q{Tohu wa Vohu}. See \k{janko-unruly} for more details. | ||
3144 | |||
3145 | Unruly was contributed to this collection by Lennard Sprong. | ||
3146 | |||
3147 | \B{janko-unruly} | ||
3148 | \W{http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Tohu-Wa-Vohu/index.htm}\cw{http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Tohu-Wa-Vohu/index.htm} | ||
3149 | |||
3150 | \H{unruly-controls} \I{controls, for Unruly}Unruly controls | ||
3151 | |||
3152 | To play Unruly, click the mouse in a square to change its colour. | ||
3153 | Left-clicking an empty square will turn it black, and right-clicking | ||
3154 | will turn it white. Keep clicking the same button to cycle through the | ||
3155 | three possible states for the square. If you middle-click in a square | ||
3156 | it will be reset to empty. | ||
3157 | |||
3158 | You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing the | ||
3159 | return or space keys will turn an empty square black or white | ||
3160 | respectively (and then cycle the colours in the same way as the mouse | ||
3161 | buttons), and pressing Backspace will reset a square to empty. | ||
3162 | |||
3163 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
3164 | |||
3165 | \H{unruly-parameters} \I{parameters, for Unruly}Unruly parameters | ||
3166 | |||
3167 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
3168 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
3169 | |||
3170 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
3171 | |||
3172 | \dd Size of grid in squares. (Note that the rules of the game require | ||
3173 | both the width and height to be even numbers.) | ||
3174 | |||
3175 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
3176 | |||
3177 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. | ||
3178 | |||
3179 | \dt \e{Unique rows and columns} | ||
3180 | |||
3181 | \dd If enabled, no two rows are permitted to have exactly the same | ||
3182 | pattern, and likewise columns. (A row and a column can match, though.) | ||
3183 | |||
3184 | \C{flood} \i{Flood} | ||
3185 | |||
3186 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flood} | ||
3187 | |||
3188 | You are given a grid of squares, coloured at random in multiple | ||
3189 | colours. In each move, you can flood-fill the top left square in a | ||
3190 | colour of your choice (i.e. every square reachable from the starting | ||
3191 | square by an orthogonally connected path of squares all the same | ||
3192 | colour will be filled in the new colour). As you do this, more and | ||
3193 | more of the grid becomes connected to the starting square. | ||
3194 | |||
3195 | Your aim is to make the whole grid the same colour, in as few moves as | ||
3196 | possible. The game will set a limit on the number of moves, based on | ||
3197 | running its own internal solver. You win if you can make the whole | ||
3198 | grid the same colour in that many moves or fewer. | ||
3199 | |||
3200 | I saw this game (with a fixed grid size, fixed number of colours, and | ||
3201 | fixed move limit) at http://floodit.appspot.com (no longer accessible). | ||
3202 | |||
3203 | \H{flood-controls} \I{controls, for Flood}Flood controls | ||
3204 | |||
3205 | To play Flood, click the mouse in a square. The top left corner and | ||
3206 | everything connected to it will be flood-filled with the colour of the | ||
3207 | square you clicked. Clicking a square the same colour as the top left | ||
3208 | corner has no effect, and therefore does not count as a move. | ||
3209 | |||
3210 | You can also use the cursor keys to move a cursor (outline black | ||
3211 | square) around the grid. Pressing the return key will fill the top | ||
3212 | left corner in the colour of the square under the cursor. | ||
3213 | |||
3214 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
3215 | |||
3216 | \H{flood-parameters} \I{parameters, for Flood}Flood parameters | ||
3217 | |||
3218 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
3219 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
3220 | |||
3221 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
3222 | |||
3223 | \dd Size of the grid, in squares. | ||
3224 | |||
3225 | \dt \e{Colours} | ||
3226 | |||
3227 | \dd Number of colours used to fill the grid. Must be at least 3 (with | ||
3228 | two colours there would only be one legal move at any stage, hence no | ||
3229 | choice to make at all), and at most 10. | ||
3230 | |||
3231 | \dt \e{Extra moves permitted} | ||
3232 | |||
3233 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the puzzle, by increasing the move | ||
3234 | limit. In each new grid, Flood will run an internal solver to generate | ||
3235 | its own solution, and then the value in this field will be added to | ||
3236 | the length of Flood's solution to generate the game's move limit. So a | ||
3237 | value of 0 requires you to be just as efficient as Flood's automated | ||
3238 | solver, and a larger value makes it easier. | ||
3239 | |||
3240 | \lcont{ | ||
3241 | |||
3242 | (Note that Flood's internal solver will not necessarily find the | ||
3243 | shortest possible solution, though I believe it's pretty close. For a | ||
3244 | real challenge, set this value to 0 and then try to solve a grid in | ||
3245 | \e{strictly fewer} moves than the limit you're given!) | ||
3246 | |||
3247 | } | ||
3248 | |||
3249 | \C{tracks} \i{Tracks} | ||
3250 | |||
3251 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.tracks} | ||
3252 | |||
3253 | You are given a grid of squares, some of which are filled with train | ||
3254 | tracks. You need to complete the track from A to B so that the rows and | ||
3255 | columns contain the same number of track segments as are indicated in the | ||
3256 | clues to the top and right of the grid. | ||
3257 | |||
3258 | There are only straight and 90 degree curved rails, and the track may not | ||
3259 | cross itself. | ||
3260 | |||
3261 | Tracks was contributed to this collection by James Harvey. | ||
3262 | |||
3263 | \H{tracks-controls} \I{controls, for Tracks}Tracks controls | ||
3264 | |||
3265 | Left-clicking on an edge between two squares adds a track segment between | ||
3266 | the two squares. Right-clicking on an edge adds a cross on the edge, | ||
3267 | indicating no track is possible there. | ||
3268 | |||
3269 | Left-clicking in a square adds a colour indicator showing that you know the | ||
3270 | square must contain a track, even if you don't know which edges it crosses | ||
3271 | yet. Right-clicking in a square adds a cross indicating it contains no | ||
3272 | track segment. | ||
3273 | |||
3274 | Left- or right-dragging between squares allows you to lay a straight line | ||
3275 | of is-track or is-not-track indicators, useful for filling in rows or | ||
3276 | columns to match the clue. | ||
3277 | |||
3278 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
3279 | |||
3280 | \H{tracks-parameters} \I{parameters, for Tracks}Tracks parameters | ||
3281 | |||
3282 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
3283 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
3284 | |||
3285 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
3286 | |||
3287 | \dd Size of the grid, in squares. | ||
3288 | |||
3289 | \dt \e{Difficulty} | ||
3290 | |||
3291 | \dd Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle: at Tricky level, | ||
3292 | you are required to make more deductions regarding disregarding moves | ||
3293 | that would lead to impossible crossings later. | ||
3294 | |||
3295 | \dt \e{Disallow consecutive 1 clues} | ||
3296 | |||
3297 | \dd Controls whether the Tracks game generation permits two adjacent | ||
3298 | rows or columns to have a 1 clue, or permits the row or column of the | ||
3299 | track's endpoint to have a 1 clue. By default this is not permitted, | ||
3300 | to avoid long straight boring segments of track and make the games | ||
3301 | more twiddly and interesting. If you want to restore the possibility, | ||
3302 | turn this option off. | ||
3303 | |||
3304 | |||
3305 | \C{palisade} \i{Palisade} | ||
3306 | |||
3307 | \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.palisade} | ||
3308 | |||
3309 | You're given a grid of squares, some of which contain numbers. Your | ||
3310 | goal is to subdivide the grid into contiguous regions, all of the same | ||
3311 | (given) size, such that each square containing a number is adjacent to | ||
3312 | exactly that many edges (including those between the inside and the | ||
3313 | outside of the grid). | ||
3314 | |||
3315 | Credit for this puzzle goes to \i{Nikoli}, who call it \q{Five Cells}. | ||
3316 | \k{nikoli-palisade}. | ||
3317 | |||
3318 | Palisade was contributed to this collection by Jonas K\u00F6{oe}lker. | ||
3319 | |||
3320 | \B{nikoli-palisade} | ||
3321 | \W{http://nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/five_cells.html}\cw{http://nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/five_cells.html} | ||
3322 | |||
3323 | \H{palisade-controls} \I{controls, for Palisade}Palisade controls | ||
3324 | |||
3325 | Left-click to place an edge. Right-click to indicate \q{no edge}. | ||
3326 | Alternatively, the arrow keys will move a keyboard cursor. Holding | ||
3327 | Control while pressing an arrow key will place an edge. Press | ||
3328 | Shift-arrowkey to switch off an edge. Repeat an action to perform | ||
3329 | its inverse. | ||
3330 | |||
3331 | (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.) | ||
3332 | |||
3333 | \H{Palisade-parameters} \I{parameters, for Palisade}Palisade parameters | ||
3334 | |||
3335 | These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the | ||
3336 | \q{Type} menu. | ||
3337 | |||
3338 | \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height} | ||
3339 | |||
3340 | \dd Size of grid in squares. | ||
3341 | |||
3342 | \dt \e{Region size} | ||
3343 | |||
3344 | \dd The size of the regions into which the grid must be subdivided. | ||
3345 | |||
3346 | \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence} | ||
3347 | |||
3348 | This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2014 Simon Tatham. | ||
3349 | |||
3350 | Portions copyright Richard Boulton, James Harvey, Mike Pinna, Jonas | ||
3351 | K\u00F6{oe}lker, Dariusz Olszewski, Michael Schierl, Lambros Lambrou, | ||
3352 | Bernd Schmidt, Steffen Bauer, Lennard Sprong and Rogier Goossens. | ||
3353 | |||
3354 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person | ||
3355 | obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files | ||
3356 | (the \q{Software}), to deal in the Software without restriction, | ||
3357 | including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, | ||
3358 | publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, | ||
3359 | and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, | ||
3360 | subject to the following conditions: | ||
3361 | |||
3362 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be | ||
3363 | included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. | ||
3364 | |||
3365 | THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \q{AS IS}, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, | ||
3366 | EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF | ||
3367 | MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND | ||
3368 | NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS | ||
3369 | BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN | ||
3370 | ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN | ||
3371 | CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE | ||
3372 | SOFTWARE. | ||
3373 | |||
3374 | \IM{command-line}{command line} command line | ||
3375 | |||
3376 | \IM{default parameters, specifying} default parameters, specifying | ||
3377 | \IM{default parameters, specifying} preferences, specifying default | ||
3378 | |||
3379 | \IM{Unix} Unix | ||
3380 | \IM{Unix} Linux | ||
3381 | |||
3382 | \IM{generating game IDs} generating game IDs | ||
3383 | \IM{generating game IDs} game ID, generating | ||
3384 | |||
3385 | \IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option | ||
3386 | \IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option | ||
3387 | |||
3388 | \IM{game ID} game ID | ||
3389 | \IM{game ID} ID, game | ||
3390 | \IM{ID format} ID format | ||
3391 | \IM{ID format} format, ID | ||
3392 | \IM{ID format} game ID, format | ||
3393 | |||
3394 | \IM{keys} keys | ||
3395 | \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard) | ||
3396 | |||
3397 | \IM{initial state} initial state | ||
3398 | \IM{initial state} state, initial | ||
3399 | |||
3400 | \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence | ||
3401 | \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT | ||