The Goal of the Game.

The goal of this logic puzzle game for a single player is to gain maximum amount of scores in the process of clearing out the abatis of chips.

Game board.

The game is played on the square board 8x8 squares. Two lines of squares adjoin every outer side of the board. These lines are occupied by the chips of various coloring. The central part of the playing board is partly occupied by the chips which form the abatis.

Move.

To make a move you should choose the chip, adjoining the board.

The chip moves to the opposite side of the board, until it meets the obstacle of chips on the playing board. As a result of the move, the chosen chip goes onto the board. Vacant place at the edge of the board gets occupied by the chip that stood after it, and its place is occupied by a chip from a stack. On the chip there appears a pointer which shows the direction of the move.

If as a result of your move, on the board groups of three and more similar chips adjoining each other appear (blocks, as we can call them), they are eliminated and you gain scores. After the block’s elimination some vacant space appears on the board. The chips with pointers continue their way in the given direction until they meet a new barrier on their way or go outside the board. When the chip leaves the board, it removes the chips, which are next to its way, for one position and occupies the vacant place (the last chip will be expelled into the stack). When all the chips have made their moves, new blocks may appear on the board and they will be eliminated as well etc., until all the chips on the board get some stable position.

You get scores for all eliminated blocks, and this depends on the size of the block. You
get one point for the three-piece block. The block of four chips will make 2 points. The block of five chips – 4 points, six – 7 points, the block of seven chips will give you 11 points … etc.

After this the move is supposed to be completed.

Going over to the next level and the end of the game.

The game consists of the levels that differ by chips' coloring and the way they are situated on the board when you begin a new level. You proceed to the next level if:

1 — you manage to eliminate 64 blocks or more,

2 — the game board has no chips left on its surface.

If you've cleared out the space of the board completely you get a bonus — 32 additional points. The game is over if the player cannot make a move any more, or he has interrupted the game going over to some other one.

If at the end of the game the player has set the best result out of eight primarily set parameters, it is registered in the High Score table.

Game types and its parameters.

There are three types of the game: Classic, Knockout and Mixed, which differ by the way the move is made.

In "Knockout" variant when the chip meets the obstacle, it doesn't stop but proceeds on its move for one square together with the whole line of chips that are in front of it. The chips with pointers before which a vacant place appears continue their way in the given direction.

In “Mixed” variant we can move both possible ways. For a classic move you have to choose the chip adjoining the board, and for “Knockout” – the chip behind it (in the latter case anyway the chip adjoining the board will move).

It should be mentioned, that every game requires some definite kind of your strategic and tactic skills. Though the games may seem very much alike, their essence is completely different.

Game parameters are the following: the range of chips' coloring (their minimum and maximum number), from 4 to 10, and the quantity of levels which you’ll have to pass before the number of colors increases by one.

When you start the game for the first time, your parameters are the following: the range of chips' coloring from 5 to 8 with their increasing after every 5 levels. You may change these parameters when you start playing a new game. The first level requires the min. number of chips' coloring. The initial arrangement of the chips on the board depends on the levels passed with this number of chips' coloring. The higher the level the larger number of chips on the board has at the beginning of the level.

When you pass the set quantity of levels, the number of colors increases by one from the min. number of patterns to the max. one.

When all the levels are passed with the max. number of colors you come back to the min. number and its repeated in a circle. But the game gets complicated at every circle as the number of the chips on the board increases at the beginning of every level.

You may change the parameters in many ways, as there are 70 game scenarios. It gives the opportunity to organize the game according to your wish. Every scenario has its own High Score table.

Interface.

Game interface is represented by a main form, at which the play board is situated. The
move is fulfilled when you choose a chip outside the play board. The board itself does not occupy all the four corners of the computer's screen.

In the upper left corner there is the logotype of the game. If you click it there will appear a form "About".

In the upper right corner you see the informational field, which includes your current achievements. The score, the level number and the number of eliminated blocks at the current level are represented here from top to bottom. If you click the field, you'll see more detailed statistics of the current game.

In the lower right corner there are the records of the first three chips from the stack which replace the spaces that become vacant after the last moves. When you click this area, your last move at this level will be reverted.

Control panel consisting of four buttons is situated in the lower left corner.

Upper left button stops the current game, shows the results of it and gives the possibility to go over to a new game. If it's necessary, you may also change the game type and its parameters. This form will appear automatically as well when the game is over.

Upper right button of the control panel gives the possibility to set the game preferences.

The lower left button of the mentioned area gives the possibility to get a High Score table according to the current parameters of the game.

Lower right button will show the form with the rules of the game, that you're reading now.

You may get to these functions using the program menu.

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Thank you for showing interest in logic games. We hope that our product will soon become your favorite game. Have a good time!