1 Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection
2 =========================================
4 This is a collection of small one-player puzzle games.
6 This manual is copyright 2004-2012 Simon Tatham. All rights reserved. You
7 may distribute this documentation under the MIT licence. See appendix A for
8 the licence text in full.
10 Chapter 1: Introduction
11 -----------------------
13 I wrote this collection because I thought there should be more small
14 desktop toys available: little games you can pop up in a window and
15 play for two or three minutes while you take a break from whatever
16 else you were doing. And I was also annoyed that every time I found
17 a good game on (say) Unix, it wasn't available the next time I was
18 sitting at a Windows machine, or vice versa; so I arranged that
19 everything in my personal puzzle collection will happily run on
20 both, and have more recently done a port to Mac OS X as well. When I
21 find (or perhaps invent) further puzzle games that I like, they'll
22 be added to this collection and will immediately be available on
23 both platforms. And if anyone feels like writing any other front
24 ends - PocketPC, Mac OS pre-10, or whatever it might be - then all
25 the games in this framework will immediately become available on
26 another platform as well.
28 The actual games in this collection were mostly not my invention;
29 they are re-implementations of existing game concepts within my
30 portable puzzle framework. I do not claim credit, in general, for
31 inventing the rules of any of these puzzles. (I don't even claim
32 authorship of all the code; some of the puzzles have been submitted
35 This collection is distributed under the MIT licence (see appendix
36 A). This means that you can do pretty much anything you like with
37 the game binaries or the code, except pretending you wrote them
38 yourself, or suing me if anything goes wrong.
40 The most recent versions, and source code, can be found at
41 http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/puzzles/.
43 Please report bugs to anakin@pobox.com. You might find it helpful to
44 read this article before reporting a bug:
46 http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html
48 Patches are welcome. Especially if they provide a new front end (to
49 make all these games run on another platform), or a new game.
51 Chapter 2: Common features
52 --------------------------
54 This chapter describes features that are common to all the games.
58 These actions are all available from the `Game' menu and via
59 keyboard shortcuts, in addition to any game-specific actions.
61 (On Mac OS X, to conform with local user interface standards, these
62 actions are situated on the `File' and `Edit' menus instead.)
64 _New game_ (`N', Ctrl+`N')
66 Starts a new game, with a random initial state.
70 Resets the current game to its initial state. (This can be
75 Loads a saved game from a file on disk.
79 Saves the current state of your game to a file on disk.
81 The Load and Save operations preserve your entire game history
82 (so you can save, reload, and still Undo and Redo things you had
87 Where supported (currently only on Windows), brings up a dialog
88 allowing you to print an arbitrary number of puzzles randomly
89 generated from the current parameters, optionally including
90 the current puzzle. (Only for puzzles which make sense to
91 print, of course - it's hard to think of a sensible printable
92 representation of Fifteen!)
94 _Undo_ (`U', Ctrl+`Z', Ctrl+`_')
96 Undoes a single move. (You can undo moves back to the start of
99 _Redo_ (`R', Ctrl+`R')
101 Redoes a previously undone move.
105 Copies the current state of your game to the clipboard in text
106 format, so that you can paste it into (say) an e-mail client or
107 a web message board if you're discussing the game with someone
108 else. (Not all games support this feature.)
112 Transforms the puzzle instantly into its solved state. For some
113 games (Cube) this feature is not supported at all because it is
114 of no particular use. For other games (such as Pattern), the
115 solved state can be used to give you information, if you can't
116 see how a solution can exist at all or you want to know where
117 you made a mistake. For still other games (such as Sixteen),
118 automatic solution tells you nothing about how to _get_ to
119 the solution, but it does provide a useful way to get there
120 quickly so that you can experiment with set-piece moves and
123 Some games (such as Solo) are capable of solving a game ID you
124 have typed in from elsewhere. Other games (such as Rectangles)
125 cannot solve a game ID they didn't invent themself, but when
126 they did invent the game ID they know what the solution is
127 already. Still other games (Pattern) can solve _some_ external
128 game IDs, but only if they aren't too difficult.
130 The `Solve' command adds the solved state to the end of the undo
131 chain for the puzzle. In other words, if you want to go back to
132 solving it yourself after seeing the answer, you can just press
135 _Quit_ (`Q', Ctrl+`Q')
137 Closes the application entirely.
139 2.2 Specifying games with the game ID
141 There are two ways to save a game specification out of a puzzle and
142 recreate it later, or recreate it in somebody else's copy of the
145 The `Specific' and `Random Seed' options from the `Game' menu (or
146 the `File' menu, on Mac OS X) each show a piece of text (a `game
147 ID') which is sufficient to reconstruct precisely the same game at a
150 You can enter either of these pieces of text back into the program
151 (via the same `Specific' or `Random Seed' menu options) at a later
152 point, and it will recreate the same game. You can also use either
153 one as a command line argument (on Windows or Unix); see section 2.4
156 The difference between the two forms is that a descriptive game ID
157 is a literal _description_ of the initial state of the game, whereas
158 a random seed is just a piece of arbitrary text which was provided
159 as input to the random number generator used to create the puzzle.
162 - Descriptive game IDs tend to be longer in many puzzles
163 (although some, such as Cube (chapter 4), only need very short
164 descriptions). So a random seed is often a _quicker_ way to
165 note down the puzzle you're currently playing, or to tell it to
166 somebody else so they can play the same one as you.
168 - Any text at all is a valid random seed. The automatically
169 generated ones are fifteen-digit numbers, but anything will do;
170 you can type in your full name, or a word you just made up, and
171 a valid puzzle will be generated from it. This provides a way
172 for two or more people to race to complete the same puzzle:
173 you think of a random seed, then everybody types it in at the
174 same time, and nobody has an advantage due to having seen the
175 generated puzzle before anybody else.
177 - It is often possible to convert puzzles from other sources (such
178 as `nonograms' or `sudoku' from newspapers) into descriptive
179 game IDs suitable for use with these programs.
181 - Random seeds are not guaranteed to produce the same result
182 if you use them with a different _version_ of the puzzle
183 program. This is because the generation algorithm might have
184 been improved or modified in later versions of the code, and
185 will therefore produce a different result when given the same
186 sequence of random numbers. Use a descriptive game ID if you
187 aren't sure that it will be used on the same version of the
190 (Use the `About' menu option to find out the version number of
191 the program. Programs with the same version number running on
192 different platforms should still be random-seed compatible.)
194 A descriptive game ID starts with a piece of text which encodes the
195 _parameters_ of the current game (such as grid size). Then there is
196 a colon, and after that is the description of the game's initial
197 state. A random seed starts with a similar string of parameters, but
198 then it contains a hash sign followed by arbitrary data.
200 If you enter a descriptive game ID, the program will not be able
201 to show you the random seed which generated it, since it wasn't
202 generated _from_ a random seed. If you _enter_ a random seed,
203 however, the program will be able to show you the descriptive game
204 ID derived from that random seed.
206 Note that the game parameter strings are not always identical
207 between the two forms. For some games, there will be parameter
208 data provided with the random seed which is not included in the
209 descriptive game ID. This is because that parameter information is
210 only relevant when _generating_ puzzle grids, and is not important
211 when playing them. Thus, for example, the difficulty level in Solo
212 (chapter 11) is not mentioned in the descriptive game ID.
214 These additional parameters are also not set permanently if you type
215 in a game ID. For example, suppose you have Solo set to `Advanced'
216 difficulty level, and then a friend wants your help with a `Trivial'
217 puzzle; so the friend reads out a random seed specifying `Trivial'
218 difficulty, and you type it in. The program will generate you the
219 same `Trivial' grid which your friend was having trouble with, but
220 once you have finished playing it, when you ask for a new game it
221 will automatically go back to the `Advanced' difficulty which it was
226 The `Type' menu, if present, may contain a list of preset game
227 settings. Selecting one of these will start a new random game with
228 the parameters specified.
230 The `Type' menu may also contain a `Custom' option which allows you
231 to fine-tune game parameters. The parameters available are specific
232 to each game and are described in the following sections.
234 2.4 Specifying game parameters on the command line
236 (This section does not apply to the Mac OS X version.)
238 The games in this collection deliberately do not ever save
239 information on to the computer they run on: they have no high score
240 tables and no saved preferences. (This is because I expect at least
241 some people to play them at work, and those people will probably
242 appreciate leaving as little evidence as possible!)
244 However, if you do want to arrange for one of these games to default
245 to a particular set of parameters, you can specify them on the
248 The easiest way to do this is to set up the parameters you want
249 using the `Type' menu (see section 2.3), and then to select `Random
250 Seed' from the `Game' or `File' menu (see section 2.2). The text
251 in the `Game ID' box will be composed of two parts, separated by a
252 hash. The first of these parts represents the game parameters (the
253 size of the playing area, for example, and anything else you set
254 using the `Type' menu).
256 If you run the game with just that parameter text on the command
257 line, it will start up with the settings you specified.
259 For example: if you run Cube (see chapter 4), select `Octahedron'
260 from the `Type' menu, and then go to the game ID selection, you
261 will see a string of the form `o2x2#338686542711620'. Take only the
262 part before the hash (`o2x2'), and start Cube with that text on the
263 command line: `cube o2x2'.
265 If you copy the _entire_ game ID on to the command line, the game
266 will start up in the specific game that was described. This is
267 occasionally a more convenient way to start a particular game ID
268 than by pasting it into the game ID selection box.
270 (You could also retrieve the encoded game parameters using the
271 `Specific' menu option instead of `Random Seed', but if you do then
272 some options, such as the difficulty level in Solo, will be missing.
273 See section 2.2 for more details on this.)
275 2.5 Unix command-line options
277 (This section only applies to the Unix port.)
279 In addition to being able to specify game parameters on the command
280 line (see section 2.4), there are various other options:
286 These options respectively determine whether the command-line
287 argument is treated as specifying game parameters or a save
288 file to load. Only one should be specified. If neither of these
289 options is specified, a guess is made based on the format of the
294 If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being
295 displayed, a number of descriptive game IDs will be invented and
296 printed on standard output. This is useful for gaining access
297 to the game generation algorithms without necessarily using the
300 If game parameters are specified on the command-line, they will
301 be used to generate the game IDs; otherwise a default set of
302 parameters will be used.
304 The most common use of this option is in conjunction with `--
305 print', in which case its behaviour is slightly different; see
310 If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being
311 displayed, a printed representation of one or more unsolved
312 puzzles is sent to standard output, in PostScript format.
314 On each page of puzzles, there will be _w_ across and _h_ down.
315 If there are more puzzles than _w_x_h_, more than one page will
318 If `--generate' has also been specified, the invented game
319 IDs will be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise,
320 a list of game IDs is expected on standard input (which can
321 be descriptive or random seeds; see section 2.2), in the same
322 format produced by `--generate'.
326 net --generate 12 --print 2x3 7x7w | lpr
328 will generate two pages of printed Net puzzles (each of which
329 will have a 7x7 wrapping grid), and pipe the output to the `lpr'
330 command, which on many systems will send them to an actual
333 There are various other options which affect printing; see
336 --save _file-prefix_ [ --save-suffix _file-suffix_ ]
338 If this option is specified, instead of a puzzle being
339 displayed, saved-game files for one or more unsolved puzzles are
340 written to files constructed from the supplied prefix and/or
343 If `--generate' has also been specified, the invented game
344 IDs will be used to generate the printed output. Otherwise,
345 a list of game IDs is expected on standard input (which can
346 be descriptive or random seeds; see section 2.2), in the same
347 format produced by `--generate'.
351 net --generate 12 --save game --save-suffix .sav
353 will generate twelve Net saved-game files with the names
354 game0.sav to game11.sav.
358 Prints version information about the game, and then quits.
360 The following options are only meaningful if `--print' is also
365 The set of pages filled with unsolved puzzles will be followed
366 by the solutions to those puzzles.
370 Adjusts how big each puzzle is when printed. Larger numbers make
371 puzzles bigger; the default is 1.0.
375 Puzzles will be printed in colour, rather than in black and
376 white (if supported by the puzzle).
381 (_Note:_ the Windows version of this game is called NETGAME.EXE to
382 avoid clashing with Windows's own NET.EXE.)
384 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called FreeNet [1]
385 , written by Pavils Jurjans; there are several other implementations
386 under the name NetWalk. The computer prepares a network by
387 connecting up the centres of squares in a grid, and then shuffles
388 the network by rotating every tile randomly. Your job is to rotate
389 it all back into place. The successful solution will be an entirely
390 connected network, with no closed loops. As a visual aid, all tiles
391 which are connected to the one in the middle are highlighted.
393 [1] http://www.jurjans.lv/stuff/net/FreeNet.htm
397 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse. The
400 _Select tile_: mouse pointer, arrow keys
402 _Rotate tile anticlockwise_: left mouse button, `A' key
404 _Rotate tile clockwise_: right mouse button, `D' key
406 _Rotate tile by 180 degrees_: `F' key
408 _Lock (or unlock) tile_: middle mouse button, shift-click, `S' key
410 You can lock a tile once you're sure of its orientation. You
411 can also unlock it again, but while it's locked you can't
412 accidentally turn it.
414 The following controls are not necessary to complete the game, but
417 _Shift grid_: Shift + arrow keys
419 On grids that wrap, you can move the origin of the grid, so
420 that tiles that were on opposite sides of the grid can be seen
423 _Move centre_: Ctrl + arrow keys
425 You can change which tile is used as the source of highlighting.
426 (It doesn't ultimately matter which tile this is, as every tile
427 will be connected to every other tile in a correct solution,
428 but it may be helpful in the intermediate stages of solving the
431 _Jumble tiles_: `J' key
433 This key turns all tiles that are not locked to random
436 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
440 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
445 Size of grid in tiles.
449 If checked, flow can pass from the left edge to the right edge,
450 and from top to bottom, and vice versa.
452 _Barrier probability_
454 A number between 0.0 and 1.0 controlling whether an immovable
455 barrier is placed between two tiles to prevent flow between
456 them (a higher number gives more barriers). Since barriers
457 are immovable, they act as constraints on the solution (i.e.,
460 The grid generation in Net has been carefully arranged so that
461 the barriers are independent of the rest of the grid. This
462 means that if you note down the random seed used to generate
463 the current puzzle (see section 2.2), change the _Barrier
464 probability_ parameter, and then re-enter the same random seed,
465 you should see exactly the same starting grid, with the only
466 change being the number of barriers. So if you're stuck on a
467 particular grid and need a hint, you could start up another
468 instance of Net, set up the same parameters but a higher barrier
469 probability, and enter the game seed from the original Net
472 _Ensure unique solution_
474 Normally, Net will make sure that the puzzles it presents have
475 only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be more
476 difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off this
477 feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. (Also, finding _all_
478 the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for an
484 This is another one I originally saw as a web game. This one was a
485 Java game [2], by Paul Scott. You have a grid of 16 squares, six of
486 which are blue; on one square rests a cube. Your move is to use the
487 arrow keys to roll the cube through 90 degrees so that it moves to
488 an adjacent square. If you roll the cube on to a blue square, the
489 blue square is picked up on one face of the cube; if you roll a blue
490 face of the cube on to a non-blue square, the blueness is put down
491 again. (In general, whenever you roll the cube, the two faces that
492 come into contact swap colours.) Your job is to get all six blue
493 squares on to the six faces of the cube at the same time. Count your
494 moves and try to do it in as few as possible.
496 Unlike the original Java game, my version has an additional feature:
497 once you've mastered the game with a cube rolling on a square grid,
498 you can change to a triangular grid and roll any of a tetrahedron,
499 an octahedron or an icosahedron.
501 [2] http://www3.sympatico.ca/paulscott/cube/cube.htm
505 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
507 Left-clicking anywhere on the window will move the cube (or other
508 solid) towards the mouse pointer.
510 The arrow keys can also used to roll the cube on its square grid in
511 the four cardinal directions. On the triangular grids, the mapping
512 of arrow keys to directions is more approximate. Vertical movement
513 is disallowed where it doesn't make sense. The four keys surrounding
514 the arrow keys on the numeric keypad (`7', `9', `1', `3') can be
515 used for diagonal movement.
517 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
521 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
526 Selects the solid to roll (and hence the shape of the grid):
527 tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, or icosahedron.
529 _Width / top_, _Height / bottom_
531 On a square grid, horizontal and vertical dimensions. On a
532 triangular grid, the number of triangles on the top and bottom
538 The old ones are the best: this is the good old `15-puzzle' with
539 sliding tiles. You have a 4x4 square grid; 15 squares contain
540 numbered tiles, and the sixteenth is empty. Your move is to choose a
541 tile next to the empty space, and slide it into the space. The aim
542 is to end up with the tiles in numerical order, with the space in
543 the bottom right (so that the top row reads 1,2,3,4 and the bottom
544 row reads 13,14,15,_space_).
548 This game can be controlled with the mouse or the keyboard.
550 A left-click with the mouse in the row or column containing the
551 empty space will move as many tiles as necessary to move the space
552 to the mouse pointer.
554 The arrow keys will move a tile adjacent to the space in the
555 direction indicated (moving the space in the _opposite_ direction).
557 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
559 5.2 Fifteen parameters
561 The only options available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type'
562 menu are _Width_ and _Height_, which are self-explanatory. (Once
563 you've changed these, it's not a `15-puzzle' any more, of course!)
568 Another sliding tile puzzle, visually similar to Fifteen (see
569 chapter 5) but with a different type of move. This time, there is no
570 hole: all 16 squares on the grid contain numbered squares. Your move
571 is to shift an entire row left or right, or shift an entire column
572 up or down; every time you do that, the tile you shift off the grid
573 re-appears at the other end of the same row, in the space you just
574 vacated. To win, arrange the tiles into numerical order (1,2,3,4 on
575 the top row, 13,14,15,16 on the bottom). When you've done that, try
576 playing on different sizes of grid.
578 I _might_ have invented this game myself, though only by accident
579 if so (and I'm sure other people have independently invented it). I
580 thought I was imitating a screensaver I'd seen, but I have a feeling
581 that the screensaver might actually have been a Fifteen-type puzzle
582 rather than this slightly different kind. So this might be the one
583 thing in my puzzle collection which represents creativity on my part
584 rather than just engineering.
588 Left-clicking on an arrow will move the appropriate row or column in
589 the direction indicated. Right-clicking will move it in the opposite
592 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the position indicator
593 around the edge of the grid, and use the return key to move the
594 row/column in the direction indicated.
596 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
598 6.2 Sixteen parameters
600 The parameters available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type'
603 - _Width_ and _Height_, which are self-explanatory.
605 - You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed on
606 the grid. By default, Sixteen will shuffle the grid in such a
607 way that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You
608 can override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling
609 moves to be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine
610 the precise set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly,
611 so that you answer (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move
612 solution. Note that the more moves you ask for, the more likely
613 it is that solutions shorter than the target length will turn
619 Twiddle is a tile-rearrangement puzzle, visually similar to Sixteen
620 (see chapter 6): you are given a grid of square tiles, each
621 containing a number, and your aim is to arrange the numbers into
624 In basic Twiddle, your move is to rotate a square group of four
625 tiles about their common centre. (Orientation is not significant
626 in the basic puzzle, although you can select it.) On more advanced
627 settings, you can rotate a larger square group of tiles.
629 I first saw this type of puzzle in the GameCube game `Metroid
630 Prime 2'. In the Main Gyro Chamber in that game, there is a puzzle
631 you solve to unlock a door, which is a special case of Twiddle. I
632 developed this game as a generalisation of that puzzle.
636 To play Twiddle, click the mouse in the centre of the square group
637 you wish to rotate. In the basic mode, you rotate a 2x2 square,
638 which means you have to click at a corner point where four tiles
641 In more advanced modes you might be rotating 3x3 or even more at a
642 time; if the size of the square is odd then you simply click in the
643 centre tile of the square you want to rotate.
645 Clicking with the left mouse button rotates the group anticlockwise.
646 Clicking with the right button rotates it clockwise.
648 You can also move an outline square around the grid with the cursor
649 keys; the square is the size above (2x2 by default, or larger).
650 Pressing the return key or space bar will rotate the current square
651 anticlockwise or clockwise respectively.
653 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
655 7.2 Twiddle parameters
657 Twiddle provides several configuration options via the `Custom'
658 option on the `Type' menu:
660 - You can configure the width and height of the puzzle grid.
662 - You can configure the size of square block that rotates at a
665 - You can ask for every square in the grid to be distinguishable
666 (the default), or you can ask for a simplified puzzle in which
667 there are groups of identical numbers. In the simplified puzzle
668 your aim is just to arrange all the 1s into the first row, all
669 the 2s into the second row, and so on.
671 - You can configure whether the orientation of tiles matters. If
672 you ask for an orientable puzzle, each tile will have a triangle
673 drawn in it. All the triangles must be pointing upwards to
676 - You can ask for a limited shuffling operation to be performed
677 on the grid. By default, Twiddle will shuffle the grid so much
678 that any arrangement is about as probable as any other. You can
679 override this by requesting a precise number of shuffling moves
680 to be performed. Typically your aim is then to determine the
681 precise set of shuffling moves and invert them exactly, so that
682 you answer (say) a four-move shuffle with a four-move solution.
683 Note that the more moves you ask for, the more likely it is that
684 solutions shorter than the target length will turn out to be
687 Chapter 8: Rectangles
688 ---------------------
690 You have a grid of squares, with numbers written in some (but
691 not all) of the squares. Your task is to subdivide the grid into
692 rectangles of various sizes, such that (a) every rectangle contains
693 exactly one numbered square, and (b) the area of each rectangle is
694 equal to the number written in its numbered square.
696 Credit for this game goes to the Japanese puzzle magazine Nikoli
697 [3]; I've also seen a Palm implementation at Puzzle Palace [4]
698 . Unlike Puzzle Palace's implementation, my version automatically
699 generates random grids of any size you like. The quality of puzzle
700 design is therefore not quite as good as hand-crafted puzzles would
701 be, but on the plus side you get an inexhaustible supply of puzzles
702 tailored to your own specification.
704 [3] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/7/index_text-e.htm
706 [4] http://www.puzzle.gr.jp/puzzle/sikaku/palm/index.html.en
708 8.1 Rectangles controls
710 This game is played with the mouse or cursor keys.
712 Left-click any edge to toggle it on or off, or left-click and
713 drag to draw an entire rectangle (or line) on the grid in one go
714 (removing any existing edges within that rectangle). Right-clicking
715 and dragging will allow you to erase the contents of a rectangle
716 without affecting its edges.
718 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the position indicator
719 around the board. Pressing the return key then allows you to use the
720 cursor keys to drag a rectangle out from that position, and pressing
721 the return key again completes the rectangle. Using the space bar
722 instead of the return key allows you to erase the contents of a
723 rectangle without affecting its edges, as above.
725 When a rectangle of the correct size is completed, it will be
728 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
730 8.2 Rectangles parameters
732 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
737 Size of grid, in squares.
741 This is a mechanism for changing the type of grids generated by
742 the program. Some people prefer a grid containing a few large
743 rectangles to one containing many small ones. So you can ask
744 Rectangles to essentially generate a _smaller_ grid than the
745 size you specified, and then to expand it by adding rows and
748 The default expansion factor of zero means that Rectangles will
749 simply generate a grid of the size you ask for, and do nothing
750 further. If you set an expansion factor of (say) 0.5, it means
751 that each dimension of the grid will be expanded to half again
752 as big after generation. In other words, the initial grid will
753 be 2/3 the size in each dimension, and will be expanded to its
754 full size without adding any more rectangles.
756 Setting an expansion factor of around 0.5 tends to make the
757 game more difficult, and also (in my experience) rewards a
758 less deductive and more intuitive playing style. If you set it
759 _too_ high, though, the game simply cannot generate more than a
760 few rectangles to cover the entire grid, and the game becomes
763 _Ensure unique solution_
765 Normally, Rectangles will make sure that the puzzles it presents
766 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be
767 more difficult and more subtle, so if you like you can turn off
768 this feature and risk having ambiguous puzzles. Also, finding
769 _all_ the possible solutions can be an additional challenge for
770 an advanced player. Turning off this option can also speed up
776 This game combines the grid generation of Net (see chapter 3) with
777 the movement of Sixteen (see chapter 6): you have a Net grid, but
778 instead of rotating tiles back into place you have to slide them
779 into place by moving a whole row at a time.
781 As in Sixteen, control is with the mouse or cursor keys. See section
784 The available game parameters have similar meanings to those in Net
785 (see section 3.2) and Sixteen (see section 6.2).
787 Netslide was contributed to this collection by Richard Boulton.
792 You have a grid of squares, which must all be filled in either black
793 or white. Beside each row of the grid are listed the lengths of the
794 runs of black squares on that row; above each column are listed the
795 lengths of the runs of black squares in that column. Your aim is to
796 fill in the entire grid black or white.
798 I first saw this puzzle form around 1995, under the name
799 `nonograms'. I've seen it in various places since then, under
802 Normally, puzzles of this type turn out to be a meaningful picture
803 of something once you've solved them. However, since this version
804 generates the puzzles automatically, they will just look like random
805 groupings of squares. (One user has suggested that this is actually
806 a _good_ thing, since it prevents you from guessing the colour of
807 squares based on the picture, and forces you to use logic instead.)
808 The advantage, though, is that you never run out of them.
810 10.1 Pattern controls
812 This game is played with the mouse.
814 Left-click in a square to colour it black. Right-click to colour it
815 white. If you make a mistake, you can middle-click, or hold down
816 Shift while clicking with any button, to colour the square in the
817 default grey (meaning `undecided') again.
819 You can click and drag with the left or right mouse button to colour
820 a vertical or horizontal line of squares black or white at a time
821 (respectively). If you click and drag with the middle button, or
822 with Shift held down, you can colour a whole rectangle of squares
825 You can also move around the grid with the cursor keys. Pressing the
826 return key will cycle the current cell through empty, then black,
827 then white, then empty, and the space bar does the same cycle in
830 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
832 10.2 Pattern parameters
834 The only options available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type'
835 menu are _Width_ and _Height_, which are self-explanatory.
840 You have a square grid, which is divided into as many equally sized
841 sub-blocks as the grid has rows. Each square must be filled in with
842 a digit from 1 to the size of the grid, in such a way that
844 - every row contains only one occurrence of each digit
846 - every column contains only one occurrence of each digit
848 - every block contains only one occurrence of each digit.
850 - (optionally, by default off) each of the square's two main
851 diagonals contains only one occurrence of each digit.
853 You are given some of the numbers as clues; your aim is to place the
854 rest of the numbers correctly.
856 Under the default settings, the sub-blocks are square or
857 rectangular. The default puzzle size is 3x3 (a 9x9 actual grid,
858 divided into nine 3x3 blocks). You can also select sizes with
859 rectangular blocks instead of square ones, such as 2x3 (a 6x6 grid
860 divided into six 3x2 blocks). Alternatively, you can select `jigsaw'
861 mode, in which the sub-blocks are arbitrary shapes which differ
862 between individual puzzles.
864 Another available mode is `killer'. In this mode, clues are not
865 given in the form of filled-in squares; instead, the grid is divided
866 into `cages' by coloured lines, and for each cage the game tells
867 you what the sum of all the digits in that cage should be. Also,
868 no digit may appear more than once within a cage, even if the cage
869 crosses the boundaries of existing regions.
871 If you select a puzzle size which requires more than 9 digits, the
872 additional digits will be letters of the alphabet. For example, if
873 you select 3x4 then the digits which go in your grid will be 1 to 9,
874 plus `a', `b' and `c'. This cannot be selected for killer puzzles.
876 I first saw this puzzle in Nikoli [5], although it's also been
877 popularised by various newspapers under the name `Sudoku' or `Su
878 Doku'. Howard Garns is considered the inventor of the modern form of
879 the puzzle, and it was first published in _Dell Pencil Puzzles and
880 Word Games_. A more elaborate treatment of the history of the puzzle
881 can be found on Wikipedia [6].
883 [5] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/1/index_text-e.htm
885 [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku
889 To play Solo, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
890 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
891 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
892 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
894 If you _right_-click in a square and then type a number, that
895 number will be entered in the square as a `pencil mark'. You can
896 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares
897 containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks.
899 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you
900 use them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
901 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about
902 a particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
903 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
905 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
906 the same number again.
908 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
909 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
910 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
912 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the mark around the grid.
913 Pressing the return key toggles the mark (from a normal mark to a
914 pencil mark), and typing a number in is entered in the square in the
915 appropriate way; typing in a 0 or using the space bar will clear a
918 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
922 Solo allows you to configure two separate dimensions of the puzzle
923 grid on the `Type' menu: the number of columns, and the number of
924 rows, into which the main grid is divided. (The size of a block is
925 the inverse of this: for example, if you select 2 columns and 3
926 rows, each actual block will have 3 columns and 2 rows.)
928 If you tick the `X' checkbox, Solo will apply the optional extra
929 constraint that the two main diagonals of the grid also contain
930 one of every digit. (This is sometimes known as `Sudoku-X' in
931 newspapers.) In this mode, the squares on the two main diagonals
932 will be shaded slightly so that you know it's enabled.
934 If you tick the `Jigsaw' checkbox, Solo will generate randomly
935 shaped sub-blocks. In this mode, the actual grid size will be taken
936 to be the product of the numbers entered in the `Columns' and `Rows'
937 boxes. There is no reason why you have to enter a number greater
938 than 1 in both boxes; Jigsaw mode has no constraint on the grid
939 size, and it can even be a prime number if you feel like it.
941 If you tick the `Killer' checkbox, Solo will generate a set of
942 of cages, which are randomly shaped and drawn in an outline of a
943 different colour. Each of these regions contains a smaller clue
944 which shows the digit sum of all the squares in this region.
946 You can also configure the type of symmetry shown in the generated
947 puzzles. More symmetry makes the puzzles look prettier but may also
948 make them easier, since the symmetry constraints can force more
949 clues than necessary to be present. Completely asymmetric puzzles
950 have the freedom to contain as few clues as possible.
952 Finally, you can configure the difficulty of the generated puzzles.
953 Difficulty levels are judged by the complexity of the techniques
954 of deduction required to solve the puzzle: each level requires a
955 mode of reasoning which was not necessary in the previous one. In
956 particular, on difficulty levels `Trivial' and `Basic' there will be
957 a square you can fill in with a single number at all times, whereas
958 at `Intermediate' level and beyond you will have to make partial
959 deductions about the _set_ of squares a number could be in (or the
960 set of numbers that could be in a square). At `Unreasonable' level,
961 even this is not enough, and you will eventually have to make a
962 guess, and then backtrack if it turns out to be wrong.
964 Generating difficult puzzles is itself difficult: if you select one
965 of the higher difficulty levels, Solo may have to make many attempts
966 at generating a puzzle before it finds one hard enough for you. Be
967 prepared to wait, especially if you have also configured a large
973 You have a grid of covered squares, some of which contain mines, but
974 you don't know which. Your job is to uncover every square which does
975 _not_ contain a mine. If you uncover a square containing a mine, you
976 lose. If you uncover a square which does not contain a mine, you
977 are told how many mines are contained within the eight surrounding
980 This game needs no introduction; popularised by Windows, it is
981 perhaps the single best known desktop puzzle game in existence.
983 This version of it has an unusual property. By default, it will
984 generate its mine positions in such a way as to ensure that you
985 never need to _guess_ where a mine is: you will always be able
986 to deduce it somehow. So you will never, as can happen in other
987 versions, get to the last four squares and discover that there are
988 two mines left but you have no way of knowing for sure where they
993 This game is played with the mouse.
995 If you left-click in a covered square, it will be uncovered.
997 If you right-click in a covered square, it will place a flag which
998 indicates that the square is believed to be a mine. Left-clicking in
999 a marked square will not uncover it, for safety. You can right-click
1000 again to remove a mark placed in error.
1002 If you left-click in an _uncovered_ square, it will `clear around'
1003 the square. This means: if the square has exactly as many flags
1004 surrounding it as it should have mines, then all the covered squares
1005 next to it which are _not_ flagged will be uncovered. So once you
1006 think you know the location of all the mines around a square, you
1007 can use this function as a shortcut to avoid having to click on each
1008 of the remaining squares one by one.
1010 If you uncover a square which has _no_ mines in the surrounding
1011 eight squares, then it is obviously safe to uncover those squares in
1012 turn, and so on if any of them also has no surrounding mines. This
1013 will be done for you automatically; so sometimes when you uncover a
1014 square, a whole new area will open up to be explored.
1016 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the minefield.
1017 Pressing the return key in a covered square uncovers it, and in
1018 an uncovered square will clear around it (so it acts as the left
1019 button), pressing the space bar in a covered square will place a
1020 flag (similarly, it acts as the right button).
1022 All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.
1024 Even Undo is available, although you might consider it cheating to
1025 use it. If you step on a mine, the program will only reveal the mine
1026 in question (unlike most other implementations, which reveal all of
1027 them). You can then Undo your fatal move and continue playing if you
1028 like. The program will track the number of times you died (and Undo
1029 will not reduce that counter), so when you get to the end of the
1030 game you know whether or not you did it without making any errors.
1032 (If you really want to know the full layout of the grid, which other
1033 implementations will show you after you die, you can always use the
1036 12.2 Mines parameters
1038 The options available from the `Custom...' option on the `Type' menu
1043 Size of grid in squares.
1047 Number of mines in the grid. You can enter this as an absolute
1048 mine count, or alternatively you can put a % sign on the end
1049 in which case the game will arrange for that proportion of the
1050 squares in the grid to be mines.
1052 Beware of setting the mine count too high. At very high
1053 densities, the program may spend forever searching for a
1058 When this option is enabled (as it is by default), Mines will
1059 ensure that the entire grid can be fully deduced starting
1060 from the initial open space. If you prefer the riskier grids
1061 generated by other implementations, you can switch off this
1064 Chapter 13: Same Game
1065 ---------------------
1067 You have a grid of coloured squares, which you have to clear by
1068 highlighting contiguous regions of more than one coloured square;
1069 the larger the region you highlight, the more points you get (and
1070 the faster you clear the arena).
1072 If you clear the grid you win. If you end up with nothing but single
1073 squares (i.e., there are no more clickable regions left) you lose.
1075 Removing a region causes the rest of the grid to shuffle up: blocks
1076 that are suspended will fall down (first), and then empty columns
1077 are filled from the right.
1079 Same Game was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1081 13.1 Same Game controls
1083 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1085 If you left-click an unselected region, it becomes selected
1086 (possibly clearing the current selection).
1088 If you left-click the selected region, it will be removed (and the
1089 rest of the grid shuffled immediately).
1091 If you right-click the selected region, it will be unselected.
1093 The cursor keys move a cursor around the grid. Pressing the Space or
1094 Enter keys while the cursor is in an unselected region selects it;
1095 pressing Space or Enter again removes it as above.
1097 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1099 13.2 Same Game parameters
1101 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1106 Size of grid in squares.
1110 Number of different colours used to fill the grid; the more
1111 colours, the fewer large regions of colour and thus the more
1112 difficult it is to successfully clear the grid.
1116 Controls the precise mechanism used for scoring. With the
1117 default system, `(n-2)^2', only regions of three squares or more
1118 will score any points at all. With the alternative `(n-1)^2'
1119 system, regions of two squares score a point each, and larger
1120 regions score relatively more points.
1124 If this option is ticked (the default state), generated grids
1125 will be guaranteed to have at least one solution.
1127 If you turn it off, the game generator will not try to guarantee
1128 soluble grids; it will, however, still ensure that there are at
1129 least 2 squares of each colour on the grid at the start (since a
1130 grid with exactly one square of a given colour is _definitely_
1131 insoluble). Grids generated with this option disabled may
1132 contain more large areas of contiguous colour, leading to
1133 opportunities for higher scores; they can also take less time to
1139 You have a grid of squares, some light and some dark. Your aim is to
1140 light all the squares up at the same time. You can choose any square
1141 and flip its state from light to dark or dark to light, but when you
1142 do so, other squares around it change state as well.
1144 Each square contains a small diagram showing which other squares
1145 change when you flip it.
1149 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1151 Left-click in a square to flip it and its associated squares, or use
1152 the cursor keys to choose a square and the space bar or Enter key to
1155 If you use the `Solve' function on this game, it will mark some of
1156 the squares in red. If you click once in every square with a red
1157 mark, the game should be solved. (If you click in a square _without_
1158 a red mark, a red mark will appear in it to indicate that you will
1159 need to reverse that operation to reach the solution.)
1161 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1163 14.2 Flip parameters
1165 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1170 Size of grid in squares.
1174 This control determines the shape of the region which is flipped
1175 by clicking in any given square. The default setting, `Crosses',
1176 causes every square to flip itself and its four immediate
1177 neighbours (or three or two if it's at an edge or corner). The
1178 other setting, `Random', causes a random shape to be chosen for
1179 every square, so the game is different every time.
1184 You have a set of coloured pegs, and have to reproduce a
1185 predetermined sequence of them (chosen by the computer) within a
1186 certain number of guesses.
1188 Each guess gets marked with the number of correctly-coloured pegs
1189 in the correct places (in black), and also the number of correctly-
1190 coloured pegs in the wrong places (in white).
1192 This game is also known (and marketed, by Hasbro, mainly) as a board
1193 game `Mastermind', with 6 colours, 4 pegs per row, and 10 guesses.
1194 However, this version allows custom settings of number of colours
1195 (up to 10), number of pegs per row, and number of guesses.
1197 Guess was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1201 This game can be played with either the keyboard or the mouse.
1203 With the mouse, drag a coloured peg from the tray on the left-hand
1204 side to its required position in the current guess; pegs may also
1205 be dragged from current and past guesses to copy them elsewhere. To
1206 remove a peg, drag it off its current position to somewhere invalid.
1208 Right-clicking in the current guess adds a `hold' marker; pegs that
1209 have hold markers will be automatically added to the next guess
1212 Alternatively, with the keyboard, the up and down cursor keys can
1213 be used to select a peg colour, the left and right keys to select a
1214 peg position, and the space bar or Enter key to place a peg of the
1215 selected colour in the chosen position. `D' or Backspace removes a
1216 peg, and `H' adds a hold marker.
1218 When the guess is complete, the smaller feedback pegs will be
1219 highlighted; clicking on these (or moving the peg cursor to them
1220 with the arrow keys and pressing the space bar or Enter key) will
1221 mark the current guess, copy any held pegs to the next guess, and
1222 move the `current guess' marker.
1224 If you correctly position all the pegs the solution will be
1225 displayed below; if you run out of guesses (or select `Solve...')
1226 the solution will also be revealed.
1228 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1230 15.2 Guess parameters
1232 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1233 `Type' menu. The default game matches the parameters for the board
1238 Number of colours the solution is chosen from; from 2 to 10
1243 Number of pegs per guess (more is harder).
1247 Number of guesses you have to find the solution in (fewer is
1252 Allows blank pegs to be given as part of a guess (makes it
1253 easier, because you know that those will never be counted as
1254 part of the solution). This is turned off by default.
1256 Note that this doesn't allow blank pegs in the solution; if you
1257 really wanted that, use one extra colour.
1261 Allows the solution (and the guesses) to contain colours more
1262 than once; this increases the search space (making things
1263 harder), and is turned on by default.
1268 A number of pegs are placed in holes on a board. You can remove a
1269 peg by jumping an adjacent peg over it (horizontally or vertically)
1270 to a vacant hole on the other side. Your aim is to remove all but
1271 one of the pegs initially present.
1273 This game, best known as `Peg Solitaire', is possibly one of the
1274 oldest puzzle games still commonly known.
1278 To move a peg, drag it with the mouse from its current position to
1279 its final position. If the final position is exactly two holes away
1280 from the initial position, is currently unoccupied by a peg, and
1281 there is a peg in the intervening square, the move will be permitted
1282 and the intervening peg will be removed.
1284 Vacant spaces which you can move a peg into are marked with holes. A
1285 space with no peg and no hole is not available for moving at all: it
1286 is an obstacle which you must work around.
1288 You can also use the cursor keys to move a position indicator around
1289 the board. Pressing the return key while over a peg, followed by a
1290 cursor key, will jump the peg in that direction (if that is a legal
1293 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1295 16.2 Pegs parameters
1297 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1302 Size of grid in holes.
1306 Controls whether you are given a board of a standard shape or
1307 a randomly generated shape. The two standard shapes currently
1308 supported are `Cross' and `Octagon' (also commonly known as the
1309 English and European traditional board layouts respectively).
1310 Selecting `Random' will give you a different board shape every
1311 time (but always one that is known to have a solution).
1313 Chapter 17: Dominosa
1314 --------------------
1316 A normal set of dominoes - that is, one instance of every
1317 (unordered) pair of numbers from 0 to 6 - has been arranged
1318 irregularly into a rectangle; then the number in each square has
1319 been written down and the dominoes themselves removed. Your task is
1320 to reconstruct the pattern by arranging the set of dominoes to match
1321 the provided array of numbers.
1323 This puzzle is widely credited to O. S. Adler, and takes part of its
1324 name from those initials.
1326 17.1 Dominosa controls
1328 Left-clicking between any two adjacent numbers places a domino
1329 covering them, or removes one if it is already present. Trying to
1330 place a domino which overlaps existing dominoes will remove the ones
1333 Right-clicking between two adjacent numbers draws a line between
1334 them, which you can use to remind yourself that you know those two
1335 numbers are _not_ covered by a single domino. Right-clicking again
1338 You can also use the cursor keys to move a cursor around the grid.
1339 When the cursor is half way between two adjacent numbers, pressing
1340 the return key will place a domino covering those numbers, or
1341 pressing the space bar will lay a line between the two squares.
1342 Repeating either action removes the domino or line.
1344 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1346 17.2 Dominosa parameters
1348 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1351 _Maximum number on dominoes_
1353 Controls the size of the puzzle, by controlling the size of the
1354 set of dominoes used to make it. Dominoes with numbers going
1355 up to N will give rise to an (N+2) x (N+1) rectangle; so, in
1356 particular, the default value of 6 gives an 8x7 grid.
1358 _Ensure unique solution_
1360 Normally, Dominosa will make sure that the puzzles it presents
1361 have only one solution. Puzzles with ambiguous sections can be
1362 more difficult and sometimes more subtle, so if you like you
1363 can turn off this feature. Also, finding _all_ the possible
1364 solutions can be an additional challenge for an advanced player.
1365 Turning off this option can also speed up puzzle generation.
1367 Chapter 18: Untangle
1368 --------------------
1370 You are given a number of points, some of which have lines drawn
1371 between them. You can move the points about arbitrarily; your aim is
1372 to position the points so that no line crosses another.
1374 I originally saw this in the form of a Flash game called Planarity
1375 [7], written by John Tantalo.
1377 [7] http://home.cwru.edu/~jnt5/Planarity
1379 18.1 Untangle controls
1381 To move a point, click on it with the left mouse button and drag it
1382 into a new position.
1384 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1386 18.2 Untangle parameters
1388 There is only one parameter available from the `Custom...' option on
1393 Controls the size of the puzzle, by specifying the number of
1394 points in the generated graph.
1396 Chapter 19: Black Box
1397 ---------------------
1399 A number of balls are hidden in a rectangular arena. You have to
1400 deduce the positions of the balls by firing lasers positioned at the
1401 edges of the arena and observing how their beams are deflected.
1403 Beams will travel straight from their origin until they hit the
1404 opposite side of the arena (at which point they emerge), unless
1405 affected by balls in one of the following ways:
1407 - A beam that hits a ball head-on is absorbed and will never re-
1408 emerge. This includes beams that meet a ball on the first rank
1411 - A beam with a ball to its front-left square gets deflected 90
1412 degrees to the right.
1414 - A beam with a ball to its front-right square gets similarly
1415 deflected to the left.
1417 - A beam that would re-emerge from its entry location is
1418 considered to be `reflected'.
1420 - A beam which would get deflected before entering the arena by a
1421 ball to the front-left or front-right of its entry point is also
1422 considered to be `reflected'.
1424 Beams that are reflected appear as a `R'; beams that hit balls head-
1425 on appear as `H'. Otherwise, a number appears at the firing point
1426 and the location where the beam emerges (this number is unique to
1429 You can place guesses as to the location of the balls, based on the
1430 entry and exit patterns of the beams; once you have placed enough
1431 balls a button appears enabling you to have your guesses checked.
1433 Here is a diagram showing how the positions of balls can create each
1434 of the beam behaviours shown above:
1447 As shown, it is possible for a beam to receive multiple reflections
1448 before re-emerging (see turn 3). Similarly, a beam may be reflected
1449 (possibly more than once) before receiving a hit (the `H' on the
1450 left side of the example).
1452 Note that any layout with more than 4 balls may have a non-unique
1453 solution. The following diagram illustrates this; if you know the
1454 board contains 5 balls, it is impossible to determine where the
1455 fifth ball is (possible positions marked with an x):
1468 For this reason, when you have your guesses checked, the game
1469 will check that your solution _produces the same results_ as the
1470 computer's, rather than that your solution is identical to the
1471 computer's. So in the above example, you could put the fifth ball at
1472 _any_ of the locations marked with an x, and you would still win.
1474 Black Box was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1476 19.1 Black Box controls
1478 To fire a laser beam, left-click in a square around the edge of
1479 the arena. The results will be displayed immediately. Clicking or
1480 holding the left button on one of these squares will highlight the
1481 current go (or a previous go) to confirm the exit point for that
1482 laser, if applicable.
1484 To guess the location of a ball, left-click within the arena and a
1485 black circle will appear marking the guess; click again to remove
1488 Locations in the arena may be locked against modification by right-
1489 clicking; whole rows and columns may be similarly locked by right-
1490 clicking in the laser square above/below that column, or to the
1491 left/right of that row.
1493 The cursor keys may also be used to move around the grid. Pressing
1494 the Enter key will fire a laser or add a new ball-location guess,
1495 and pressing Space will lock a cell, row, or column.
1497 When an appropriate number of balls have been guessed, a button will
1498 appear at the top-left corner of the grid; clicking that (with mouse
1499 or cursor) will check your guesses.
1501 If you click the `check' button and your guesses are not correct,
1502 the game will show you the minimum information necessary to
1503 demonstrate this to you, so you can try again. If your ball
1504 positions are not consistent with the beam paths you already know
1505 about, one beam path will be circled to indicate that it proves you
1506 wrong. If your positions match all the existing beam paths but are
1507 still wrong, one new beam path will be revealed (written in red)
1508 which is not consistent with your current guesses.
1510 If you decide to give up completely, you can select Solve to reveal
1511 the actual ball positions. At this point, correctly-placed balls
1512 will be displayed as filled black circles, incorrectly-placed balls
1513 as filled black circles with red crosses, and missing balls as
1514 filled red circles. In addition, a red circle marks any laser you
1515 had already fired which is not consistent with your ball layout
1516 (just as when you press the `check' button), and red text marks
1517 any laser you _could_ have fired in order to distinguish your ball
1518 layout from the correct one.
1520 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1522 19.2 Black Box parameters
1524 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1529 Size of grid in squares. There are 2 x _Width_ x _Height_ lasers
1530 per grid, two per row and two per column.
1534 Number of balls to place in the grid. This can be a single
1535 number, or a range (separated with a hyphen, like `2-6'),
1536 and determines the number of balls to place on the grid.
1537 The `reveal' button is only enabled if you have guessed an
1538 appropriate number of balls; a guess using a different number
1539 to the original solution is still acceptable, if all the beam
1540 inputs and outputs match.
1545 You have a grid of squares. Your aim is to draw a diagonal line
1546 through each square, and choose which way each line slants so that
1547 the following conditions are met:
1549 - The diagonal lines never form a loop.
1551 - Any point with a circled number has precisely that many lines
1552 meeting at it. (Thus, a 4 is the centre of a cross shape,
1553 whereas a zero is the centre of a diamond shape - or rather, a
1554 partial diamond shape, because a zero can never appear in the
1555 middle of the grid because that would immediately cause a loop.)
1557 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [8].
1559 [8] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/39/index.htm (in Japanese)
1563 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a \ in it (a line leaning
1564 to the left, i.e. running from the top left of the square to the
1565 bottom right). Right-clicking in a blank square will place a / in it
1566 (leaning to the right, running from top right to bottom left).
1568 Continuing to click either button will cycle between the three
1569 possible square contents. Thus, if you left-click repeatedly in a
1570 blank square it will change from blank to \ to / back to blank, and
1571 if you right-click repeatedly the square will change from blank to /
1572 to \ back to blank. (Therefore, you can play the game entirely with
1573 one button if you need to.)
1575 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing
1576 the return or space keys will place a \ or a /, respectively, and
1577 will then cycle them as above.
1579 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1581 20.2 Slant parameters
1583 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1588 Size of grid in squares.
1592 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Hard
1593 level, you are required to do deductions based on knowledge of
1594 _relationships_ between squares rather than always being able to
1595 deduce the exact contents of one square at a time. (For example,
1596 you might know that two squares slant in the same direction,
1597 even if you don't yet know what that direction is, and this
1598 might enable you to deduce something about still other squares.)
1599 Even at Hard level, guesswork and backtracking should never be
1602 Chapter 21: Light Up
1603 --------------------
1605 You have a grid of squares. Some are filled in black; some of the
1606 black squares are numbered. Your aim is to `light up' all the empty
1607 squares by placing light bulbs in some of them.
1609 Each light bulb illuminates the square it is on, plus all squares
1610 in line with it horizontally or vertically unless a black square is
1613 To win the game, you must satisfy the following conditions:
1615 - All non-black squares are lit.
1617 - No light is lit by another light.
1619 - All numbered black squares have exactly that number of lights
1620 adjacent to them (in the four squares above, below, and to the
1623 Non-numbered black squares may have any number of lights adjacent to
1626 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [9].
1628 Light Up was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1630 [9] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/32/index-e.htm (beware of Flash)
1632 21.1 Light Up controls
1634 Left-clicking in a non-black square will toggle the presence of a
1635 light in that square. Right-clicking in a non-black square toggles a
1636 mark there to aid solving; it can be used to highlight squares that
1637 cannot be lit, for example.
1639 You may not place a light in a marked square, nor place a mark in a
1642 The game will highlight obvious errors in red. Lights lit by other
1643 lights are highlighted in this way, as are numbered squares which do
1644 not (or cannot) have the right number of lights next to them.
1646 Thus, the grid is solved when all non-black squares have yellow
1647 highlights and there are no red lights.
1649 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1651 21.2 Light Up parameters
1653 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1658 Size of grid in squares.
1660 _%age of black squares_
1662 Rough percentage of black squares in the grid.
1664 This is a hint rather than an instruction. If the grid generator
1665 is unable to generate a puzzle to this precise specification, it
1666 will increase the proportion of black squares until it can.
1670 Allows you to specify the required symmetry of the black squares
1671 in the grid. (This does not affect the difficulty of the puzzles
1676 `Easy' means that the puzzles should be soluble without
1677 backtracking or guessing, `Hard' means that some guesses will
1678 probably be necessary.
1683 You are given a map consisting of a number of regions. Your task is
1684 to colour each region with one of four colours, in such a way that
1685 no two regions sharing a boundary have the same colour. You are
1686 provided with some regions already coloured, sufficient to make the
1687 remainder of the solution unique.
1689 Only regions which share a length of border are required to be
1690 different colours. Two regions which meet at only one _point_ (i.e.
1691 are diagonally separated) may be the same colour.
1693 I believe this puzzle is original; I've never seen an implementation
1694 of it anywhere else. The concept of a four-colouring puzzle was
1695 suggested by Owen Dunn; credit must also go to Nikoli and to Verity
1696 Allan for inspiring the train of thought that led to me realising
1697 Owen's suggestion was a viable puzzle. Thanks also to Gareth Taylor
1698 for many detailed suggestions.
1702 To colour a region, click the left mouse button on an existing
1703 region of the desired colour and drag that colour into the new
1706 (The program will always ensure the starting puzzle has at least one
1707 region of each colour, so that this is always possible!)
1709 If you need to clear a region, you can drag from an empty region, or
1710 from the puzzle boundary if there are no empty regions left.
1712 Dragging a colour using the _right_ mouse button will stipple the
1713 region in that colour, which you can use as a note to yourself that
1714 you think the region _might_ be that colour. A region can contain
1715 stipples in multiple colours at once. (This is often useful at the
1716 harder difficulty levels.)
1718 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the map: the colour
1719 of the cursor indicates the position of the colour you would drag
1720 (which is not obvious if you're on a region's boundary, since it
1721 depends on the direction from which you approached the boundary).
1722 Pressing the return key starts a drag of that colour, as above,
1723 which you control with the cursor keys; pressing the return key
1724 again finishes the drag. The space bar can be used similarly to
1725 create a stippled region. Double-pressing the return key (without
1726 moving the cursor) will clear the region, as a drag from an empty
1727 region does: this is useful with the cursor mode if you have filled
1728 the entire map in but need to correct the layout.
1730 If you press L during play, the game will toggle display of a number
1731 in each region of the map. This is useful if you want to discuss a
1732 particular puzzle instance with a friend - having an unambiguous
1733 name for each region is much easier than trying to refer to them all
1734 by names such as `the one down and right of the brown one on the top
1737 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1741 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1746 Size of grid in squares.
1750 Number of regions in the generated map.
1754 In `Easy' mode, there should always be at least one region whose
1755 colour can be determined trivially. In `Normal' and `Hard'
1756 modes, you will have to use increasingly complex logic to deduce
1757 the colour of some regions. However, it will always be possible
1758 without having to guess or backtrack.
1760 In `Unreasonable' mode, the program will feel free to generate
1761 puzzles which are as hard as it can possibly make them: the
1762 only constraint is that they should still have a unique
1763 solution. Solving Unreasonable puzzles may require guessing and
1769 You are given a grid of dots, marked with yellow lines to indicate
1770 which dots you are allowed to connect directly together. Your aim is
1771 to use some subset of those yellow lines to draw a single unbroken
1772 loop from dot to dot within the grid.
1774 Some of the spaces between the lines contain numbers. These numbers
1775 indicate how many of the lines around that space form part of the
1776 loop. The loop you draw must correctly satisfy all of these clues to
1777 be considered a correct solution.
1779 In the default mode, the dots are arranged in a grid of squares;
1780 however, you can also play on triangular or hexagonal grids, or even
1783 Credit for the basic puzzle idea goes to Nikoli [10].
1785 Loopy was originally contributed to this collection by Mike Pinna,
1786 and subsequently enhanced to handle various types of non-square grid
1789 [10] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/3/index-e.htm (beware of Flash)
1793 Click the left mouse button on a yellow line to turn it black,
1794 indicating that you think it is part of the loop. Click again to
1795 turn the line yellow again (meaning you aren't sure yet).
1797 If you are sure that a particular line segment is _not_ part of the
1798 loop, you can click the right mouse button to remove it completely.
1799 Again, clicking a second time will turn the line back to yellow.
1801 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1803 23.2 Loopy parameters
1805 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1810 Size of grid, measured in number of regions across and down. For
1811 square grids, it's clear how this is counted; for other types of
1812 grid you may have to think a bit to see how the dimensions are
1817 Allows you to choose between a selection of types of tiling.
1818 Some have all the faces the same but may have multiple different
1819 types of vertex (e.g. the _Cairo_ or _Kites_ mode); others
1820 have all the vertices the same but may have different types of
1821 face (e.g. the _Great Hexagonal_). The square, triangular and
1822 honeycomb grids are fully regular, and have all their vertices
1823 _and_ faces the same; this makes them the least confusing to
1828 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle.
1833 You are a small green ball sitting in a grid full of obstacles. Your
1834 aim is to collect all the gems without running into any mines.
1836 You can move the ball in any orthogonal _or diagonal_ direction.
1837 Once the ball starts moving, it will continue until something stops
1838 it. A wall directly in its path will stop it (but if it is moving
1839 diagonally, it will move through a diagonal gap between two other
1840 walls without stopping). Also, some of the squares are `stops'; when
1841 the ball moves on to a stop, it will stop moving no matter what
1842 direction it was going in. Gems do _not_ stop the ball; it picks
1843 them up and keeps on going.
1845 Running into a mine is fatal. Even if you picked up the last gem in
1846 the same move which then hit a mine, the game will count you as dead
1847 rather than victorious.
1849 This game was originally implemented for Windows by Ben Olmstead
1850 [11], who was kind enough to release his source code on request so
1851 that it could be re-implemented for this collection.
1853 [11] http://xn13.com/
1855 24.1 Inertia controls
1857 You can move the ball in any of the eight directions using the
1858 numeric keypad. Alternatively, if you click the left mouse button
1859 on the grid, the ball will begin a move in the general direction of
1862 If you use the `Solve' function on this game, the program will
1863 compute a path through the grid which collects all the remaining
1864 gems and returns to the current position. A hint arrow will appear
1865 on the ball indicating the direction in which you should move to
1866 begin on this path. If you then move in that direction, the arrow
1867 will update to indicate the next direction on the path. You can
1868 also press Space to automatically move in the direction of the hint
1869 arrow. If you move in a different direction from the one shown by
1870 the arrow, the hint arrows will stop appearing because you have
1871 strayed from the provided path; you can then use `Solve' again to
1872 generate a new path if you want to.
1874 All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available. In
1875 particular, if you do run into a mine and die, you can use the Undo
1876 function and resume playing from before the fatal move. The game
1877 will keep track of the number of times you have done this.
1879 24.2 Inertia parameters
1881 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1886 Size of grid in squares.
1891 You have a grid of squares, some of which contain trees. Your aim is
1892 to place tents in some of the remaining squares, in such a way that
1893 the following conditions are met:
1895 - There are exactly as many tents as trees.
1897 - The tents and trees can be matched up in such a way that each
1898 tent is directly adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not
1899 diagonally) to its own tree. However, a tent may be adjacent to
1900 other trees as well as its own.
1902 - No two tents are adjacent horizontally, vertically _or
1905 - The number of tents in each row, and in each column, matches the
1906 numbers given round the sides of the grid.
1908 This puzzle can be found in several places on the Internet, and was
1909 brought to my attention by e-mail. I don't know who I should credit
1914 Left-clicking in a blank square will place a tent in it. Right-
1915 clicking in a blank square will colour it green, indicating that you
1916 are sure it _isn't_ a tent. Clicking either button in an occupied
1917 square will clear it.
1919 If you _drag_ with the right button along a row or column, every
1920 blank square in the region you cover will be turned green, and no
1921 other squares will be affected. (This is useful for clearing the
1922 remainder of a row once you have placed all its tents.)
1924 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing
1925 the return key over an empty square will place a tent, and pressing
1926 the space bar over an empty square will colour it green; either key
1927 will clear an occupied square.
1929 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
1931 25.2 Tents parameters
1933 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
1938 Size of grid in squares.
1942 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
1943 puzzles require more complex deductions, but at present none
1944 of the available difficulty levels requires guesswork or
1950 You have a set of islands distributed across the playing area.
1951 Each island contains a number. Your aim is to connect the islands
1952 together with bridges, in such a way that:
1954 - Bridges run horizontally or vertically.
1956 - The number of bridges terminating at any island is equal to the
1957 number written in that island.
1959 - Two bridges may run in parallel between the same two islands,
1960 but no more than two may do so.
1962 - No bridge crosses another bridge.
1964 - All the islands are connected together.
1966 There are some configurable alternative modes, which involve
1967 changing the parallel-bridge limit to something other than 2, and
1968 introducing the additional constraint that no sequence of bridges
1969 may form a loop from one island back to the same island. The rules
1970 stated above are the default ones.
1972 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [12].
1974 Bridges was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
1976 [12] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/puzzles/14/index-e.htm
1978 26.1 Bridges controls
1980 To place a bridge between two islands, click the mouse down on one
1981 island and drag it towards the other. You do not need to drag all
1982 the way to the other island; you only need to move the mouse far
1983 enough for the intended bridge direction to be unambiguous. (So you
1984 can keep the mouse near the starting island and conveniently throw
1985 bridges out from it in many directions.)
1987 Doing this again when a bridge is already present will add another
1988 parallel bridge. If there are already as many bridges between the
1989 two islands as permitted by the current game rules (i.e. two by
1990 default), the same dragging action will remove all of them.
1992 If you want to remind yourself that two islands definitely _do not_
1993 have a bridge between them, you can right-drag between them in the
1994 same way to draw a `non-bridge' marker.
1996 If you think you have finished with an island (i.e. you have placed
1997 all its bridges and are confident that they are in the right
1998 places), you can mark the island as finished by left-clicking on it.
1999 This will highlight it and all the bridges connected to it, and you
2000 will be prevented from accidentally modifying any of those bridges
2001 in future. Left-clicking again on a highlighted island will unmark
2002 it and restore your ability to modify it.
2004 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid: if
2005 possible the cursor will always move orthogonally, otherwise it will
2006 move towards the nearest island to the indicated direction. Pressing
2007 the return key followed by a cursor key will lay a bridge in that
2008 direction (if available); pressing the space bar followed by a
2009 cursor key will lay a `non-bridge' marker.
2011 You can mark an island as finished by pressing the return key twice.
2013 Violations of the puzzle rules will be marked in red:
2015 - An island with too many bridges will be highlighted in red.
2017 - An island with too few bridges will be highlighted in red if it
2018 is definitely an error (as opposed to merely not being finished
2019 yet): if adding enough bridges would involve having to cross
2020 another bridge or remove a non-bridge marker, or if the island
2021 has been highlighted as complete.
2023 - A group of islands and bridges may be highlighted in red if it
2024 is a closed subset of the puzzle with no way to connect it to
2025 the rest of the islands. For example, if you directly connect
2026 two 1s together with a bridge and they are not the only two
2027 islands on the grid, they will light up red to indicate that
2028 such a group cannot be contained in any valid solution.
2030 - If you have selected the (non-default) option to disallow loops
2031 in the solution, a group of bridges which forms a loop will be
2034 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2036 26.2 Bridges parameters
2038 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2043 Size of grid in squares.
2047 Difficulty level of puzzle.
2051 This is set by default. If cleared, puzzles will be generated in
2052 such a way that they are always soluble without creating a loop,
2053 and solutions which do involve a loop will be disallowed.
2055 _Max. bridges per direction_
2057 Maximum number of bridges in any particular direction. The
2058 default is 2, but you can change it to 1, 3 or 4. In general,
2061 _%age of island squares_
2063 Gives a rough percentage of islands the generator will try and
2064 lay before finishing the puzzle. Certain layouts will not manage
2065 to lay enough islands; this is an upper bound.
2067 _Expansion factor (%age)_
2069 The grid generator works by picking an existing island at random
2070 (after first creating an initial island somewhere). It then
2071 decides on a direction (at random), and then works out how far
2072 it could extend before creating another island. This parameter
2073 determines how likely it is to extend as far as it can, rather
2074 than choosing somewhere closer.
2076 High expansion factors usually mean easier puzzles with fewer
2077 possible islands; low expansion factors can create lots of tightly-
2083 You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to
2084 the size of the grid, and some squares have clue signs between them.
2085 Your aim is to fully populate the grid with numbers such that:
2087 - Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit
2089 - Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit
2091 - All the clue signs are satisfied.
2093 There are two modes for this game, `Unequal' and `Adjacent'.
2095 In `Unequal' mode, the clue signs are greater-than symbols
2096 indicating one square's value is greater than its neighbour's. In
2097 this mode not all clues may be visible, particularly at higher
2100 In `Adjacent' mode, the clue signs are bars indicating one square's
2101 value is numerically adjacent (i.e. one higher or one lower) than
2102 its neighbour. In this mode all clues are always visible: absence of
2103 a bar thus means that a square's value is definitely not numerically
2104 adjacent to that neighbour's.
2106 In `Trivial' difficulty level (available via the `Custom' game type
2107 selector), there are no greater-than signs in `Unequal' mode; the
2108 puzzle is to solve the Latin square only.
2110 At the time of writing, the `Unequal' mode of this puzzle is
2111 appearing in the Guardian weekly under the name `Futoshiki'.
2113 Unequal was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2115 27.1 Unequal controls
2117 Unequal shares much of its control system with Solo.
2119 To play Unequal, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2120 type a digit or letter on the keyboard to fill that square. If you
2121 make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press
2122 Space to clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
2124 If you _right_-click in a square and then type a number, that
2125 number will be entered in the square as a `pencil mark'. You can
2126 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares
2127 containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks.
2129 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you
2130 use them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
2131 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about
2132 a particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
2133 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
2135 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
2136 the same number again.
2138 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
2139 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
2140 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
2142 As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the
2143 digit keys to set numbers or pencil marks. You can also use the 'M'
2144 key to auto-fill every numeric hint, ready for removal as required,
2145 or the 'H' key to do the same but also to remove all obvious hints.
2147 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the mark around the grid.
2148 Pressing the return key toggles the mark (from a normal mark to a
2149 pencil mark), and typing a number in is entered in the square in the
2150 appropriate way; typing in a 0 or using the space bar will clear a
2153 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2155 27.2 Unequal parameters
2157 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2162 Mode of the puzzle (`Unequal' or `Adjacent')
2170 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Trivial
2171 level, there are no greater-than signs; the puzzle is to solve
2172 the Latin square only. At Recursive level (only available via
2173 the `Custom' game type selector) backtracking will be required,
2174 but the solution should still be unique. The levels in between
2175 require increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to
2178 Chapter 28: Galaxies
2179 --------------------
2181 You have a rectangular grid containing a number of dots. Your aim is
2182 to draw edges along the grid lines which divide the rectangle into
2183 regions in such a way that every region is 180-degree rotationally
2184 symmetric, and contains exactly one dot which is located at its
2187 This puzzle was invented by Nikoli [13], under the name `Tentai
2188 Show'; its name is commonly translated into English as `Spiral
2191 Galaxies was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2193 [13] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/astronomical_show/
2195 28.1 Galaxies controls
2197 Left-click on any grid line to draw an edge if there isn't one
2198 already, or to remove one if there is. When you create a valid
2199 region (one which is closed, contains exactly one dot, is 180-degree
2200 symmetric about that dot, and contains no extraneous edges inside
2201 it) it will be highlighted automatically; so your aim is to have the
2202 whole grid highlighted in that way.
2204 During solving, you might know that a particular grid square belongs
2205 to a specific dot, but not be sure of where the edges go and which
2206 other squares are connected to the dot. In order to mark this so you
2207 don't forget, you can right-click on the dot and drag, which will
2208 create an arrow marker pointing at the dot. Drop that in a square of
2209 your choice and it will remind you which dot it's associated with.
2210 You can also right-click on existing arrows to pick them up and move
2211 them, or destroy them by dropping them off the edge of the grid.
2212 (Also, if you're not sure which dot an arrow is pointing at, you can
2213 pick it up and move it around to make it clearer. It will swivel
2214 constantly as you drag it, to stay pointed at its parent dot.)
2216 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares and
2217 lines. Pressing the return key when over a grid line will draw or
2218 clear its edge, as above. Pressing the return key when over a dot
2219 will pick up an arrow, to be dropped the next time the return key
2220 is pressed; this can also be used to move existing arrows around,
2221 removing them by dropping them on a dot or another arrow.
2223 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2225 28.2 Galaxies parameters
2227 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2232 Size of grid in squares.
2236 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. More difficult
2237 puzzles require more complex deductions, and the `Unreasonable'
2238 difficulty level may require backtracking.
2243 You have a grid of squares, some of which contain digits, and the
2244 rest of which are empty. Your job is to fill in digits in the empty
2245 squares, in such a way that each connected region of squares all
2246 containing the same digit has an area equal to that digit.
2248 (`Connected region', for the purposes of this game, does not count
2249 diagonally separated squares as adjacent.)
2251 For example, it follows that no square can contain a zero, and that
2252 two adjacent squares can not both contain a one. No region has an
2253 area greater than 9 (because then its area would not be a single
2256 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [14].
2258 Filling was contributed to this collection by Jonas Koelker.
2260 [14] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/fillomino/
2262 29.1 Filling controls
2264 To play Filling, simply click the mouse in any empty square and
2265 then type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. By dragging
2266 the mouse, you can select multiple squares to fill with a single
2267 keypress. If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect
2268 square and press 0, Space, Backspace or Enter to clear it again (or
2269 use the Undo feature).
2271 You can also move around the grid with the cursor keys; typing a
2272 digit will fill the square containing the cursor with that number,
2273 or typing 0, Space, or Enter will clear it. You can also select
2274 multiple squares for numbering or clearing by using the return key,
2275 before typing a digit to fill in the highlighted squares (as above).
2277 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2279 29.2 Filling parameters
2281 Filling allows you to configure the number of rows and columns of
2282 the grid, through the `Type' menu.
2287 You have a square grid; each square may contain a digit from 1 to
2288 the size of the grid. The grid is divided into blocks of varying
2289 shape and size, with arithmetic clues written in them. Your aim is
2290 to fully populate the grid with digits such that:
2292 - Each row contains only one occurrence of each digit
2294 - Each column contains only one occurrence of each digit
2296 - The digits in each block can be combined to form the number
2297 stated in the clue, using the arithmetic operation given in the
2300 - An addition clue means that the sum of the digits in the
2301 block must be the given number. For example, `15+' means the
2302 contents of the block adds up to fifteen.
2304 - A multiplication clue (e.g. `60*'), similarly, means that
2305 the product of the digits in the block must be the given
2308 - A subtraction clue will always be written in a block of
2309 size two, and it means that one of the digits in the block
2310 is greater than the other by the given amount. For example,
2311 `2-' means that one of the digits in the block is 2 more
2312 than the other, or equivalently that one digit minus the
2313 other one is 2. The two digits could be either way round,
2316 - A division clue (e.g. `3/'), similarly, is always in a block
2317 of size two and means that one digit divided by the other is
2318 equal to the given amount.
2320 Note that a block may contain the same digit more than once
2321 (provided the identical ones are not in the same row and
2322 column). This rule is precisely the opposite of the rule in
2323 Solo's `Killer' mode (see chapter 11).
2325 This puzzle appears in the Times under the name `KenKen'.
2329 Keen shares much of its control system with Solo (and Unequal).
2331 To play Keen, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2332 type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square. If you make a
2333 mistake, click the mouse in the incorrect square and press Space to
2334 clear it again (or use the Undo feature).
2336 If you _right_-click in a square and then type a number, that
2337 number will be entered in the square as a `pencil mark'. You can
2338 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. Squares
2339 containing filled-in numbers cannot also contain pencil marks.
2341 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you
2342 use them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
2343 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about
2344 a particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
2345 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
2347 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
2348 the same number again.
2350 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
2351 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
2352 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
2354 As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the
2355 digit keys to set numbers or pencil marks. Use the cursor keys to
2356 move a highlight around the grid, and type a digit to enter it in
2357 the highlighted square. Pressing return toggles the highlight into a
2358 mode in which you can enter or remove pencil marks.
2360 Pressing M will fill in a full set of pencil marks in every square
2361 that does not have a main digit in it.
2363 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2365 30.2 Keen parameters
2367 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2372 Specifies the size of the grid. Lower limit is 3; upper limit is
2373 9 (because the user interface would become more difficult with
2374 `digits' bigger than 9!).
2378 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Unreasonable
2379 level, some backtracking will be required, but the solution
2380 should still be unique. The remaining levels require
2381 increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to backtrack.
2386 You have a square grid. On each square of the grid you can build
2387 a tower, with its height ranging from 1 to the size of the grid.
2388 Around the edge of the grid are some numeric clues.
2390 Your task is to build a tower on every square, in such a way that:
2392 - Each row contains every possible height of tower once
2394 - Each column contains every possible height of tower once
2396 - Each numeric clue describes the number of towers that can be
2397 seen if you look into the square from that direction, assuming
2398 that shorter towers are hidden behind taller ones. For example,
2399 in a 5x5 grid, a clue marked `5' indicates that the five tower
2400 heights must appear in increasing order (otherwise you would
2401 not be able to see all five towers), whereas a clue marked `1'
2402 indicates that the tallest tower (the one marked 5) must come
2405 In harder or larger puzzles, some towers will be specified for you
2406 as well as the clues round the edge, and some edge clues may be
2409 This puzzle appears on the web under various names, particularly
2410 `Skyscrapers', but I don't know who first invented it.
2412 31.1 Towers controls
2414 Towers shares much of its control system with Solo, Unequal and
2417 To play Towers, simply click the mouse in any empty square and then
2418 type a digit on the keyboard to fill that square with a tower of
2419 the given height. If you make a mistake, click the mouse in the
2420 incorrect square and press Space to clear it again (or use the Undo
2423 If you _right_-click in a square and then type a number, that
2424 number will be entered in the square as a `pencil mark'. You can
2425 have pencil marks for multiple numbers in the same square. A square
2426 containing a tower cannot also contain pencil marks.
2428 The game pays no attention to pencil marks, so exactly what you
2429 use them for is up to you: you can use them as reminders that a
2430 particular square needs to be re-examined once you know more about
2431 a particular number, or you can use them as lists of the possible
2432 numbers in a given square, or anything else you feel like.
2434 To erase a single pencil mark, right-click in the square and type
2435 the same number again.
2437 All pencil marks in a square are erased when you left-click and type
2438 a number, or when you left-click and press space. Right-clicking and
2439 pressing space will also erase pencil marks.
2441 As for Solo, the cursor keys can be used in conjunction with the
2442 digit keys to set numbers or pencil marks. Use the cursor keys to
2443 move a highlight around the grid, and type a digit to enter it in
2444 the highlighted square. Pressing return toggles the highlight into a
2445 mode in which you can enter or remove pencil marks.
2447 Pressing M will fill in a full set of pencil marks in every square
2448 that does not have a main digit in it.
2450 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2452 31.2 Towers parameters
2454 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2459 Specifies the size of the grid. Lower limit is 3; upper limit is
2460 9 (because the user interface would become more difficult with
2461 `digits' bigger than 9!).
2465 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Unreasonable
2466 level, some backtracking will be required, but the solution
2467 should still be unique. The remaining levels require
2468 increasingly complex reasoning to avoid having to backtrack.
2473 You have a grid of white squares, all of which contain numbers. Your
2474 task is to colour some of the squares black (removing the number) so
2475 as to satisfy all of the following conditions:
2477 - No number occurs more than once in any row or column.
2479 - No black square is horizontally or vertically adjacent to any
2482 - The remaining white squares must all form one contiguous region
2483 (connected by edges, not just touching at corners).
2485 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli [15] who call it Hitori.
2487 Singles was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2489 [15] http://www.nikoli.com/en/puzzles/hitori/index.html (beware of
2492 32.1 Singles controls
2494 Left-clicking on an empty square will colour it black; left-clicking
2495 again will restore the number. Right-clicking will add a circle
2496 (useful for indicating that a cell is definitely not black).
2498 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid. Pressing
2499 the return or space keys will turn a square black or add a circle
2500 respectively, and pressing the key again will restore the number or
2503 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2505 32.2 Singles parameters
2507 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2512 Size of grid in squares.
2516 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle.
2521 A rectangular grid has been filled with a mixture of magnets (that
2522 is, dominoes with one positive end and one negative end) and blank
2523 dominoes (that is, dominoes with two neutral poles). These dominoes
2524 are initially only seen in silhouette. Around the grid are placed a
2525 number of clues indicating the number of positive and negative poles
2526 contained in certain columns and rows.
2528 Your aim is to correctly place the magnets and blank dominoes such
2529 that all the clues are satisfied, with the additional constraint
2530 that no two similar magnetic poles may be orthogonally adjacent
2531 (since they repel). Neutral poles do not repel, and can be adjacent
2534 Credit for this puzzle goes to Janko [16].
2536 Magnets was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2538 [16] http://www.janko.at/Raetsel/Magnete/index.htm
2540 33.1 Magnets controls
2542 Left-clicking on an empty square places a magnet at that position
2543 with the positive pole on the square and the negative pole on the
2544 other half of the magnet; left-clicking again reverses the polarity,
2545 and a third click removes the magnet.
2547 Right-clicking on an empty square places a blank domino there.
2548 Right-clicking again places two question marks on the domino,
2549 signifying `this cannot be blank' (which can be useful to note
2550 deductions while solving), and right-clicking again empties the
2553 You can also use the cursor keys to move a cursor around the grid.
2554 Pressing the return key will lay a domino with a positive pole at
2555 that position; pressing again reverses the polarity and then removes
2556 the domino, as with left-clicking. Using the space bar allows
2557 placement of blank dominoes and cannot-be-blank hints, as for right-
2560 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2562 33.2 Magnets parameters
2564 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2569 Size of grid in squares. There will be half _Width_ x _Height_
2570 dominoes in the grid: if this number is odd then one square will
2573 (Grids with at least one odd dimension tend to be easier to solve.)
2577 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle. At Tricky
2578 level, you are required to make more deductions about empty
2579 dominoes and row/column counts.
2583 If true, some of the clues around the grid are removed at
2584 generation time, making the puzzle more difficult.
2586 Chapter 34: Signpost
2587 --------------------
2589 You have a grid of squares; each square (except the last one)
2590 contains an arrow, and some squares also contain numbers. Your job
2591 is to connect the squares to form a continuous list of numbers
2592 starting at 1 and linked in the direction of the arrows - so the
2593 arrow inside the square with the number 1 will point to the square
2594 containing the number 2, which will point to the square containing
2595 the number 3, etc. Each square can be any distance away from the
2596 previous one, as long as it is somewhere in the direction of the
2599 By convention the first and last numbers are shown; one or more
2600 interim numbers may also appear at the beginning.
2602 Credit for this puzzle goes to Janko [17], who call it `Pfeilpfad'
2605 Signpost was contributed to this collection by James Harvey.
2607 [17] http://janko.at/Raetsel/Pfeilpfad/index.htm
2609 34.1 Signpost controls
2611 To play Signpost, you connect squares together by dragging from
2612 one square to another, indicating that they are adjacent in the
2613 sequence. Drag with the left button from a square to its successor,
2614 or with the right button from a square to its predecessor.
2616 If you connect together two squares in this way and one of them has
2617 a number in it, the appropriate number will appear in the other
2618 square. If you connect two non-numbered squares, they will be
2619 assigned temporary algebraic labels: on the first occasion, they
2620 will be labelled `a' and `a+1', and then `b' and `b+1', and so on.
2621 Connecting more squares on to the ends of such a chain will cause
2622 them all to be labelled with the same letter.
2624 When you left-click or right-click in a square, the legal squares to
2625 connect it to will be shown.
2627 The arrow in each square starts off black, and goes grey once you
2628 connect the square to its successor. Also, each square which needs
2629 a predecessor has a small dot in the bottom left corner, which
2630 vanishes once you link a square to it. So your aim is always to
2631 connect a square with a black arrow to a square with a dot.
2633 To remove any links for a particular square (both incoming and
2634 outgoing), left-drag it off the grid. To remove a whole chain,
2635 right-drag any square in the chain off the grid.
2637 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares
2638 and lines. Pressing the return key when over a square starts a link
2639 operation, and pressing the return key again over a square will
2640 finish the link, if allowable. Pressing the space bar over a square
2641 will show the other squares pointing to it, and allow you to form a
2642 backward link, and pressing the space bar again cancels this.
2644 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2646 34.2 Signpost parameters
2648 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2653 Size of grid in squares.
2655 _Force start/end to corners_
2657 If true, the start and end squares are always placed in opposite
2658 corners (the start at the top left, and the end at the bottom
2659 right). If false the start and end squares are placed randomly
2660 (although always both shown).
2665 You have a grid of squares; some squares contain numbers. Your job
2666 is to colour some of the squares black, such that several criteria
2669 - no square with a number is coloured black.
2671 - no two black squares are adjacent (horizontally or vertically).
2673 - for any two white squares, there is a path between them using
2676 - for each square with a number, that number denotes the number of
2677 squares reachable from that square going in each direction until
2678 hitting a wall or a black square.
2680 For instance, a square containing the number one must have four
2681 black squares as its neighbours by the last criterion; but then it's
2682 impossible for it to be connected to any outside white square, which
2683 violates the second to last criterion. So no square will contain the
2686 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli, who have variously called it
2687 `Kurodoko', `Kuromasu' or `Where is Black Cells'. [18].
2689 Range was contributed to this collection by Jonas Koelker.
2691 [18] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/where_is_black_cells/
2695 Click with the left button to paint a square black, or with the
2696 right button to mark a square with a dot to indicate that you are
2697 sure it should _not_ be painted black. Repeated clicking with either
2698 button will cycle the square through the three possible states
2699 (filled, dotted or empty) in opposite directions.
2701 You can also use the cursor keys to move around the grid squares.
2702 Pressing Return does the same as clicking with the left button,
2703 while pressing Space does the same as a right button click.
2705 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2707 35.2 Range parameters
2709 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2714 Size of grid in squares.
2719 You have a grid of squares. Your job is to draw lines between the
2720 centres of horizontally or vertically adjacent squares, so that the
2721 lines form a single closed loop. In the resulting grid, some of the
2722 squares that the loop passes through will contain corners, and some
2723 will be straight horizontal or vertical lines. (And some squares can
2724 be completely empty - the loop doesn't have to pass through every
2727 Some of the squares contain black and white circles, which are clues
2728 that the loop must satisfy.
2730 A black circle in a square indicates that that square is a corner,
2731 but neither of the squares adjacent to it in the loop is also a
2734 A while circle indicates that the square is a straight edge, but _at
2735 least one_ of the squares adjacent to it in the loop is a corner.
2737 (In both cases, the clue only constrains the two squares adjacent
2738 _in the loop_, that is, the squares that the loop passes into after
2739 leaving the clue square. The squares that are only adjacent _in the
2740 grid_ are not constrained.)
2742 Credit for this puzzle goes to Nikoli, who call it `Masyu'. [19].
2744 Thanks to James Harvey for assistance with the implementation.
2746 [19] http://www.nikoli.co.jp/en/puzzles/masyu/
2750 Click with the left button on a grid edge to draw a segment of the
2751 loop through that edge, or to remove a segment once it is drawn.
2753 Drag with the left button through a series of squares to draw more
2754 than one segment of the loop in one go. Alternatively, drag over an
2755 existing part of the loop to undraw it, or to undraw part of it and
2756 then go in a different direction.
2758 Click with the right button on a grid edge to mark it with a cross,
2759 indicating that you are sure the loop does not go through that edge.
2760 (For instance, if you have decided which of the squares adjacent
2761 to a white clue has to be a corner, but don't yet know which way
2762 the corner turns, you might mark the one way it _can't_ go with a
2765 Alternatively, use the cursor keys to move the cursor. Use the Enter
2766 key to begin and end keyboard `drag' operations. Use the Space key
2767 to cancel the drag. Use Ctrl-arrowkey and Shift-arrowkey to simulate
2768 a left or right click, respectively, on the edge in the given
2769 direction relative to the cursor, i.e. to draw a segment or a cross.
2771 (All the actions described in section 2.1 are also available.)
2773 36.2 Pearl parameters
2775 These parameters are available from the `Custom...' option on the
2780 Size of grid in squares.
2784 Controls the difficulty of the generated puzzle.
2789 This software is copyright 2004-2012 Simon Tatham.
2791 Portions copyright Richard Boulton, James Harvey, Mike Pinna, Jonas
2792 Koelker, Dariusz Olszewski, Michael Schierl, Lambros Lambrou and
2795 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
2796 obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files
2797 (the `Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction,
2798 including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge,
2799 publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
2800 and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
2801 subject to the following conditions:
2803 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
2804 included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
2806 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED `AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
2807 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
2808 OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
2809 NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
2810 BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN
2811 ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
2812 CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
2815 [$Id: puzzles.but 9411 2012-02-19 10:15:59Z simon $]