1 \title Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
3 \cfg{winhelp-filename}{puzzles.hlp}
4 \cfg{winhelp-contents-titlepage}{Contents}
6 \cfg{text-filename}{puzzles.txt}
8 \cfg{html-contents-filename}{index.html}
9 \cfg{html-template-filename}{%k.html}
10 \cfg{html-index-filename}{docindex.html}
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12 \cfg{html-contents-depth-0}{1}
13 \cfg{html-contents-depth-1}{2}
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16 \cfg{info-filename}{puzzles.info}
18 \cfg{ps-filename}{puzzles.ps}
19 \cfg{pdf-filename}{puzzles.pdf}
23 This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games.
25 \copyright This manual is copyright 2004 Simon Tatham. All rights
26 reserved. You may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence.
27 See \k{licence} for the licence text in full.
29 \cfg{html-local-head}{<meta name="AppleTitle" content="Puzzles Help">}
33 \C{intro} Introduction
35 I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small
36 desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and
37 play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever
38 else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found
39 a good game on (say) \i{Unix}, it wasn't available the next time I
40 was sitting at a \i{Windows} machine, or vice versa; so I arranged
41 that everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on
42 both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I
43 find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll
44 be added to this collection and will immediately be available on
45 both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front
46 ends - PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be - then all
47 the games in this framework will immediately become available on
48 another platform as well.
50 The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention; I
51 saw them elsewhere, and rewrote them in a form that was more
52 convenient for me. I do not claim credit, in general, for inventing
53 the rules of any of these puzzles; all I claim is authorship of the
54 code (or at least those parts of the code that weren't contributed
57 This collection is distributed under the \i{MIT licence} (see
58 \k{licence}). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like
59 with the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them
60 yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong.
62 The most recent versions, and \i{source code}, can be found at
63 \I{website}\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/}.
65 Please report \I{feedback}\i{bugs} to
66 \W{mailto:anakin@pobox.com}\cw{anakin@pobox.com}.
67 You might find it helpful to read this article before reporting a bug:
69 \W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}\cw{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html}
71 \ii{Patches} are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end
72 (to make all these games run on another platform), or a new game.
75 \C{common} \ii{Common features}
77 This chapter describes features that are common to all the games.
79 \H{common-actions} \I{controls}Common actions
81 These actions are all available from the \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu
82 and via \I{keys}keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific
85 (On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these
86 actions are situated on the \I{File menu}\q{File} and \I{Edit
87 menu}\q{Edit} menus instead.)
89 \dt \ii\e{New game} (\q{N}, Ctrl+\q{N})
91 \dd Starts a new game, with a random initial state.
93 \dt \ii\e{Restart game}
95 \dd Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be undone.)
97 \dt \ii\e{Undo} (\q{U}, Ctrl+\q{Z}, Ctrl+\q{_})
99 \dd Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of the
102 \dt \ii\e{Redo} (\q{R}, Ctrl+\q{R})
104 \dd Redoes a previously undone move.
108 \dd Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
109 format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or a
110 web message board if you're discussing the game with someone else.
111 (Not all games support this feature.)
115 \dd Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
116 games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is of
117 no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the solved
118 state can be used to give you information, if you can't see how a
119 solution can exist at all or you want to know where you made a
120 mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen), automatic solution
121 tells you nothing about how to \e{get} to the solution, but it does
122 provide a useful way to get there quickly so that you can experiment
123 with set-piece moves and transformations.
127 Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you have
128 typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles) cannot
129 solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when they did
130 invent the game ID they know what the solution is already. Still
131 other games (Pattern) can solve \e{some} external game IDs, but only
132 if they aren't too difficult.
134 The \q{Solve} command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
135 chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
136 solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press Undo.
140 \dt \I{exit}\ii\e{Quit} (\q{Q}, Ctrl+\q{Q})
142 \dd Closes the application entirely.
144 \H{common-id} Specifying games with the \ii{game ID}
146 There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
147 recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
150 The \q{\i{Specific}} and \q{\i{Random Seed}} options from the
151 \I{Game menu}\q{Game} menu (or the \q{File} menu, on Mac OS X) each
152 show a piece of text (a \q{game ID}) which is sufficient to
153 reconstruct precisely the same game at a later date.
155 You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
156 (via the same \q{Specific} or \q{Random Seed} menu options) at a
157 later point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use
158 either one as a \i{command line} argument (on Windows or Unix); see
159 \k{common-cmdline} for more detail.
161 The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
162 is a literal \e{description} of the \i{initial state} of the game,
163 whereas a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was
164 provided as input to the random number generator used to create the
165 puzzle. This means that:
167 \b Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles (although
168 some, such as Cube (\k{cube}), only need very short descriptions).
169 So a random seed is often a \e{quicker} way to note down the puzzle
170 you're currently playing, or to tell it to somebody else so they can
171 play the same one as you.
173 \b Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
174 generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do; you
175 can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and a valid
176 puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way for two or
177 more people to race to complete the same puzzle: you think of a
178 random seed, then everybody types it in at the same time, and nobody
179 has an advantage due to having seen the generated puzzle before
182 \b It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
183 as \q{nonograms} or \q{sudoku} from newspapers) into descriptive
184 game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
186 \b Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result if you
187 use them with a different \i\e{version} of the puzzle program. This
188 is because the generation algorithm might have been improved or
189 modified in later versions of the code, and will therefore produce a
190 different result when given the same sequence of random numbers. Use
191 a descriptive game ID if you aren't sure that it will be used on the
192 same version of the program as yours.
194 \lcont{(Use the \q{About} menu option to find out the version number
195 of the program. Programs with the same version number running on
196 different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)}
198 \I{ID format}A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which
199 encodes the \i\e{parameters} of the current game (such as grid
200 size). Then there is a colon, and after that is the description of
201 the game's initial state. A random seed starts with a similar string
202 of parameters, but then it contains a hash sign followed by
205 If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able to
206 show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
207 generated \e{from} a random seed. If you \e{enter} a random seed,
208 however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
209 ID derived from that random seed.
211 Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
212 between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter data
213 provided with the random seed which is not included in the
214 descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
215 only relevant when \e{generating} puzzle grids, and is not important
216 when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
217 (\k{solo}) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
219 These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
220 in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to \q{Advanced}
221 difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a
222 \q{Trivial} puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying
223 \q{Trivial} difficulty, and you type it in. The program will
224 generate you the same \q{Trivial} grid which your friend was having
225 trouble with, but once you have finished playing it, when you ask
226 for a new game it will automatically go back to the \q{Advanced}
227 difficulty which it was previously set on.
229 \H{common-type} The \q{Type} menu
231 The \I{Type menu}\q{Type} menu, if present, may contain a list of
232 \i{preset} game settings. Selecting one of these will start a new
233 random game with the parameters specified.
235 The \q{Type} menu may also contain a \q{\i{Custom}} option which
236 allows you to fine-tune game \i{parameters}. The parameters
237 available are specific to each game and are described in the
240 \H{common-cmdline} Specifying game parameters on the \i{command line}
242 (This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.)
244 The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
245 information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
246 tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
247 some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
248 appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
250 However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default
251 to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the
254 The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
255 using the \q{Type} menu (see \k{common-type}), and then to select
256 \q{Random Seed} from the \q{Game} or \q{File} menu (see
257 \k{common-id}). The text in the \q{Game ID} box will be composed of
258 two parts, separated by a hash. The first of these parts represents
259 the game parameters (the size of the playing area, for example, and
260 anything else you set using the \q{Type} menu).
262 If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
263 line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
265 For example: if you run Cube (see \k{cube}), select \q{Octahedron}
266 from the \q{Type} menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
267 will see a string of the form \cq{o2x2#338686542711620}. Take only
268 the part before the hash (\cq{o2x2}), and start Cube with that text
269 on the command line: \cq{cube o2x2}.
271 If you copy the \e{entire} game ID on to the command line, the game
272 will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
273 occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
274 than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
276 (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
277 \q{Specific} menu option instead of \q{Random Seed}, but if you do
278 then some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be
279 missing. See \k{common-id} for more details on this.)
283 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.net}
285 (\e{Note:} the \i{Windows} version of this game is called
286 \i\cw{NETGAME.EXE} to avoid clashing with Windows's own \cw{NET.EXE}.)
288 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called \i{FreeNet}
289 \k{FreeNet}, written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other
290 implementations under the name \i{NetWalk}. The computer prepares a
291 network by connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then
292 shuffles the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to
293 rotate it all back into place. The successful solution will be an
294 entirely connected network, with no closed loops. \#{The latter
295 clause means that there are no closed paths within the network.
296 Could this be clearer? "No closed paths"?} As a visual aid,
297 all tiles which are connected to the one in the middle are
300 \B{FreeNet} \W{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}\cw{http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm}
302 \H{net-controls} \i{Net controls}
304 \IM{Net controls} controls, for Net
305 \IM{Net controls} keys, for Net
306 \IM{Net controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Net
308 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
311 \dt \e{Select tile}: mouse pointer, arrow keys
313 \dt \e{Rotate tile anticlockwise}: left mouse button, \q{A} key
315 \dt \e{Rotate tile clockwise}: right mouse button, \q{D} key
317 \dt \e{Lock (or unlock) tile}: middle mouse button, shift-click, \q{S} key
319 \dd You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You can
320 also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't accidentally
323 The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but may
326 \dt \e{Shift grid}: Shift + arrow keys
328 \dd On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so that
329 tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen together.
331 \dt \e{Move centre}: Ctrl + arrow keys
333 \dd You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
334 (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile will
335 be connected to every other tile in a correct solution, but it may be
336 helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the puzzle.)
338 \dt \e{Jumble tiles}: \q{J} key
340 \dd This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
343 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
345 \H{net-params} \I{parameters, for Net}Net parameters
347 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
350 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
352 \dd Size of grid in tiles.
354 \dt \e{Walls wrap around}
356 \dd If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
357 and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
359 \dt \e{Barrier probability}
361 \dd A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
362 barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between them (a
363 higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers are immovable, they
364 act as constraints on the solution (i.e., hints).
368 The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that the
369 barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This means that if
370 you note down the random seed used to generate the current puzzle
371 (see \k{common-id}), change the \e{Barrier probability} parameter,
372 and then re-enter the same random seed, you should see exactly the
373 same starting grid, with the only change being the number of
374 barriers. So if you're stuck on a particular grid and need a hint,
375 you could start up another instance of Net, set up the same
376 parameters but a higher barrier probability, and enter the game seed
377 from the original Net window.
381 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
383 \dd Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
384 only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
385 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
386 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding \e{all}
387 the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
392 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.cube}
394 This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
395 Java game \k{cube-java-game}, by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16
396 squares, six of which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move
397 is to use the arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that
398 it moves to an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue
399 square, the blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you
400 roll a blue face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is
401 put down again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces
402 that come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
403 squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
404 moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
406 Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
407 once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
408 you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron, an
409 octahedron or an icosahedron.
411 \B{cube-java-game} \W{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}\cw{http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm}
413 \H{cube-controls} \i{Cube controls}
415 \IM{Cube controls} controls, for Cube
416 \IM{Cube controls} keys, for Cube
417 \IM{Cube controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Cube
419 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
421 Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
422 solid) towards the mouse pointer.
424 The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
425 the four cardinal directions.
426 On the triangular grids, the mapping of arrow keys to directions is
427 more approximate. Vertical movement is disallowed where it doesn't
428 make sense. The four keys surrounding the arrow keys on the numeric
429 keypad (\q{7}, \q{9}, \q{1}, \q{3}) can be used for diagonal movement.
431 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
433 \H{cube-params} \I{parameters, for Cube}Cube parameters
435 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
438 \dt \e{Type of solid}
440 \dd Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
441 tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
443 \dt \e{Width / top}, \e{Height / bottom}
445 \dd On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
446 triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom rows
450 \C{fifteen} \i{Fifteen}
452 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.fifteen}
454 The old ones are the best: this is the good old \q{\i{15-puzzle}}
455 with sliding tiles. You have a 4\by\.4 square grid; 15 squares
456 contain numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to
457 choose a tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space.
458 The aim is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the
459 space in the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the
460 bottom row reads 13,14,15,\e{space}).
462 \H{fifteen-controls} \i{Fifteen controls}
464 \IM{Fifteen controls} controls, for Fifteen
465 \IM{Fifteen controls} keys, for Fifteen
466 \IM{Fifteen controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Fifteen
468 This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
470 A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the empty
471 space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space to the
474 The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the direction
475 indicated (moving the space in the \e{opposite} direction).
477 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
479 \H{fifteen-params} \I{parameters, for Fifteen}Fifteen parameters
481 The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
482 menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory. (Once
483 you've changed these, it's not a \q{15-puzzle} any more, of course!)
486 \C{sixteen} \i{Sixteen}
488 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.sixteen}
490 Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
491 \k{fifteen}) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
492 hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
493 is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column up
494 or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
495 re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
496 vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
497 the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
498 playing on different sizes of grid.
500 I \e{might} have invented this game myself, though only by accident if
501 so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
502 thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
503 that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
504 rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
505 thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
506 rather than just engineering.
508 \H{sixteen-controls} \I{controls, for Sixteen}Sixteen controls
510 This game is played with the mouse. Left-clicking on an arrow will
511 move the appropriate row or column in the direction indicated.
512 Right-clicking will move it in the opposite direction.
514 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
516 \H{sixteen-params} \I{parameters, for Sixteen}Sixteen parameters
518 The parameters available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
521 \b \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
523 \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
524 the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a way
525 that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
526 override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to
527 be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the precise
528 set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer
529 (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the
530 more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter
531 than the target length will turn out to be possible.
534 \C{twiddle} \i{Twiddle}
536 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.twiddle}
538 Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
539 (see \k{sixteen}): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
540 containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
543 In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
544 tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant in
545 the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
546 settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
548 I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game \q{Metroid
549 Prime 2}. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
550 you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
551 developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
553 \H{twiddle-controls} \I{controls, for Twiddle}Twiddle controls
555 To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
556 you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2\by\.2 square,
557 which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
560 In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3\by\.3 or even more at
561 a time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in
562 the centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
564 Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
565 Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
567 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
569 \H{twiddle-parameters} \I{parameters, for Twiddle}Twiddle parameters
571 Twiddle provides several configuration options via the \q{Custom}
572 option on the \q{Type} menu:
574 \b You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
576 \b You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a time.
578 \b You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
579 (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which there
580 are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle your aim
581 is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all the 2s into
582 the second row, and so on.
584 \b You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
585 you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
586 drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to complete
589 \b You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
590 the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much that any
591 arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can override this
592 by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves to be performed.
593 Typically your aim is then to determine the precise set of shuffling
594 moves and invert them exactly, so that you answer (say) a four-move
595 shuffle with a four-move solution. Note that the more moves you ask
596 for, the more likely it is that solutions shorter than the target
597 length will turn out to be possible.
600 \C{rectangles} \i{Rectangles}
602 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.rectangles}
604 You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but not all)
605 of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into rectangles of
606 various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains exactly one
607 numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is equal to the
608 number written in its numbered square.
610 Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine \i{Nikoli}
611 \k{nikoli-rect}; I've also seen a Palm implementation at \i{Puzzle
612 Palace} \k{puzzle-palace-rect}. Unlike Puzzle Palace's
613 implementation, my version automatically generates random grids of
614 any size you like. The quality of puzzle design is therefore not
615 quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would be, but on the plus side
616 you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles tailored to your own
619 \B{nikoli-rect} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm}
621 \B{puzzle-palace-rect} \W{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}\cw{http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en}
623 \H{rectangles-controls} \I{controls, for Rectangles}Rectangles controls
625 This game is played with the mouse.
627 Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or click and drag to draw
628 an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go (removing any
629 existing edges within that rectangle).
631 When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be shaded.
633 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
635 \H{rectangles-params} \I{parameters, for Rectangles}Rectangles parameters
637 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
640 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
642 \dd Size of grid, in squares.
644 \dt \e{Expansion factor}
646 \dd This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
647 the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
648 rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
649 Rectangles to essentially generate a \e{smaller} grid than the size
650 you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and columns.
654 The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
655 simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
656 further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means that
657 each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again as big
658 after generation. In other words, the initial grid will be 2/3 the
659 size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its full size
660 without adding any more rectangles.
662 Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the game
663 more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a less deductive
664 and more intuitive playing style. If you set it \e{too} high,
665 though, the game simply cannot generate more than a few rectangles
666 to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes trivial.
670 \dt \e{Ensure unique solution}
672 \dd Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
673 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
674 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
675 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding \e{all} the
676 possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced
677 player. Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
680 \C{netslide} \i{Netslide}
682 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.netslide}
684 This game combines the grid generation of Net (see \k{net}) with the
685 movement of Sixteen (see \k{sixteen}): you have a Net grid, but
686 instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
687 into place by moving a whole row at a time.
689 As in Sixteen, \I{controls, for Netslide}control is with the mouse.
690 See \k{sixteen-controls}.
692 \I{parameters, for Netslide}The available game parameters have similar
693 meanings to those in Net (see \k{net-params}) and Sixteen (see
696 Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
698 \C{pattern} \i{Pattern}
700 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.pattern}
702 You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
703 or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
704 runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
705 lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
706 fill in the entire grid black or white.
708 I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
709 \q{\i{nonograms}}. I've seen it in various places since then, under
712 Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
713 of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
714 generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
715 groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
716 a \e{good} thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
717 squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
718 The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
720 \H{pattern-controls} \I{controls, for Pattern}Pattern controls
722 This game is played with the mouse.
724 Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
725 white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
726 Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
727 default grey (meaning \q{undecided}) again.
729 You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
730 a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
731 (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
732 with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
735 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
737 \H{pattern-parameters} \I{parameters, for Pattern}Pattern parameters
739 The only options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
740 menu are \e{Width} and \e{Height}, which are self-explanatory.
745 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.solo}
747 You have a square grid, which is divided into square or rectangular
748 blocks. Each square must be filled in with a digit from 1 to the
749 size of the grid, in such a way that
751 \b every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
753 \b every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
755 \b every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
757 You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
758 rest of the numbers correctly.
760 The default puzzle size is 3\by\.3 (a 9\by\.9 actual grid, divided
761 into nine 3\by\.3 blocks). You can also select sizes with
762 rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2\by\.3 (a
763 6\by\.6 grid divided into six 3\by\.2 blocks).
765 If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
766 additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
767 you select 3\by\.4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1
768 to 9, plus \cq{a}, \cq{b} and \cq{c}.
770 I first saw this puzzle in \i{Nikoli} \k{nikoli-solo}, although it's also
771 been popularised by various newspapers under the name \q{Sudoku} or
774 \B{nikoli-solo} \W{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm}\cw{http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm}
776 \H{solo-controls} \I{controls, for Solo}Solo controls
778 To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
779 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
780 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
781 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
783 If you \e{right}-click in a square and then type a number, that
784 number will be entered in the square as a \q{pencil mark}. You can
785 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square.
787 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you use
788 them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
789 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about a
790 particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
791 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
793 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
794 the same number again.
796 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
797 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
798 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
800 (All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.)
802 \H{solo-parameters} \I{parameters, for Solo}Solo parameters
804 Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
805 grid on the \q{Type} menu: the number of columns, and the number of
806 rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
807 the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3 rows,
808 each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
810 You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
811 puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
812 make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
813 clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
814 have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
816 Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
817 Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques of
818 deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a mode
819 of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
820 particular, on difficulty levels \q{Trivial} and \q{Basic} there
821 will be a square you can fill in with a single number at all times,
822 whereas at \q{Intermediate} level and beyond you will have to make
823 partial deductions about the \e{set} of squares a number could be in
824 (or the set of numbers that could be in a square). At
825 \q{Unreasonable} level, even this is not enough, and you will
826 eventually have to make a guess, and then backtrack if it turns out
829 Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select
830 \q{Intermediate} or \q{Advanced} difficulty, Solo may have to make
831 many attempts at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough
832 for you. Be prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured
838 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.mines}
840 You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
841 you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
842 \e{not} contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine,
843 you lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
844 are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
847 This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
848 perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
850 This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
851 generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
852 never need to \e{guess} where a mine is: you will always be able to
853 deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
854 versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
855 two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
858 \H{mines-controls} \I{controls, for Mines}Mines controls
860 This game is played with the mouse.
862 If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
864 If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
865 indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
866 a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
867 again to remove a mark placed in error.
869 If you left-click in an \e{uncovered} square, it will \q{clear
870 around} the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many
871 flags surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered
872 squares next to it which are \e{not} flagged will be uncovered. So
873 once you think you know the location of all the mines around a
874 square, you can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to
875 click on each of the remaining squares one by one.
877 If you uncover a square which has \e{no} mines in the surrounding
878 eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
879 turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
880 will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
881 square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
883 All the actions described in \k{common-actions} are also available.
885 Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
886 use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
887 in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
888 them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
889 like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
890 will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
891 game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
893 (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
894 implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
897 \H{mines-parameters} \I{parameters, for Mines}Mines parameters
899 The options available from the \q{Custom...} option on the \q{Type}
902 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
904 \dd Size of grid in squares.
908 \dd Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
909 mine count, or alternatively you can put a \cw{%} sign on the end in
910 which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the squares
911 in the grid to be mines.
915 Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high densities,
916 the program may spend forever searching for a solvable grid.
920 \dt \e{Ensure solubility}
922 \dd When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
923 ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting from the
924 initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids generated by
925 other implementations, you can switch off this option.
928 \C{samegame} \i{Same Game}
930 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.samegame}
932 You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
933 highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
934 the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
935 the faster you clear the arena).
937 If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but
938 single squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you
941 Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up:
942 blocks that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty
943 columns are filled from the right.
945 The game generator does not try to guarantee soluble grids;
946 it will, however, ensure that there are at least 2 squares of each
947 colour on the grid at the start (and will forbid custom grids for which
948 that would be impossible).
950 Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
952 \H{samegame-controls} \i{Same Game controls}
954 \IM{Same Game controls} controls, for Same Game
955 \IM{Same Game controls} keys, for Same Game
956 \IM{Same Game controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Same Game
958 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
960 If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected (possibly
961 clearing the current selection).
963 If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
964 rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
966 If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
968 The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
969 Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
970 pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
972 \H{samegame-parameters} \I{parameters, for Same Game}Same Game parameters
974 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
977 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
979 \dd Size of grid in squares.
981 \dt \e{No. of colours}
983 \dd Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more colours,
984 the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more difficult it is to
985 successfully clear the grid.
987 \dt \e{Scoring system}
989 \dd Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the default
990 system, \q{(n-2)^2}, only regions of three squares or more will score
991 any points at all. With the alternative \q{(n-1)^2} system, regions of
992 two squares score a point each, and larger regions score relatively
998 \cfg{winhelp-topic}{games.flip}
1000 You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1001 light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1002 and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1003 do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1005 Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1006 change when you flip it.
1008 \H{flip-controls} \i{Flip controls}
1010 \IM{Flip controls} controls, for Flip
1011 \IM{Flip controls} keys, for Flip
1012 \IM{Flip controls} shortcuts (keyboard), for Flip
1014 Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares.
1016 If you use the \q{Solve} function on this game, it will mark some of
1017 the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1018 mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square
1019 \e{without} a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate
1020 that you will need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
1022 \H{flip-parameters} \I{parameters, for flip}Flip parameters
1024 These parameters are available from the \q{Custom...} option on the
1027 \dt \e{Width}, \e{Height}
1029 \dd Size of grid in squares.
1033 \dd This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1034 by clicking in any given square. The default setting, \q{Crosses},
1035 causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate neighbours
1036 (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The other setting,
1037 \q{Random}, causes a random shape to be chosen for every square, so
1038 the game is different every time.
1041 \A{licence} \I{MIT licence}\ii{Licence}
1043 This software is \i{copyright} 2004-2005 Simon Tatham.
1045 Portions copyright Richard Boulton and James Harvey.
1047 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
1048 obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
1049 (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
1050 including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
1051 publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
1052 and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
1053 subject to the following conditions:
1055 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
1056 included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
1058 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
1059 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
1060 MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
1061 NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
1062 BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
1063 ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
1064 CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
1067 \IM{specific} \q{Specific}, menu option
1068 \IM{custom} \q{Custom}, menu option
1070 \IM{game ID} game ID
1071 \IM{game ID} ID, game
1072 \IM{ID format} ID format
1073 \IM{ID format} format, ID
1074 \IM{ID format} game ID, format
1077 \IM{keys} shortcuts (keyboard)
1079 \IM{initial state} initial state
1080 \IM{initial state} state, initial
1082 \IM{MIT licence} MIT licence
1083 \IM{MIT licence} licence, MIT