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Chapter 42: Mosaic

You are given a grid of squares, which you must colour either black or white.

Some squares contain clue numbers. Each clue tells you the number of black squares in the 3×3 region surrounding the clue – including the clue square itself.

This game is variously known in other locations as: ArtMosaico, Count and Darken, Cuenta Y Sombrea, Fill-a-Pix, Fill-In, Komsu Karala, Magipic, Majipiku, Mosaico, Mosaik, Mozaiek, Nampre Puzzle, Nurie-Puzzle, Oekaki-Pix, Voisimage.

Mosaic was contributed to this collection by Didi Kohen. Colour design by Michal Shomer. The implementation is loosely based on github.com/mordechaim/Mosaic.

42.1 Mosaic controls

To play Mosaic, click the mouse in a square to change its colour. Left-clicking an empty square will turn it black, and right-clicking will turn it white. Keep clicking the same button to cycle through the three possible states for the square.

If you hold down the mouse button and drag, you can colour multiple cells in a single action.

You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing the return or space keys will turn an empty square black or white respectively (and then cycle the colours in the same way as the mouse buttons), and pressing Backspace will reset a square to empty.

42.2 Mosaic parameters

These parameters are available from the ‘Custom...’ option on the ‘Type’ menu.

Width, Height

Size of grid in squares.

Aggressive generation

With this option set, the game generator will try harder to eliminate unnecessary clues on the board. This slows down generation, so it's not recommended for boards larger than, say, 30×30.