Game: Escher 8 Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, September 2001 Pattern creation: pure fun. Click a tile at the left border. Zillions will create a pattern which uses copies of 2x2 arrangements of this tile. The nummbers at the bottom left show how this 2x2 assembly is constructed: A number 1 means that the tile is unchanged. A number 2 means it is rotated 90 degrees. A number 3 means it is rotated 180 degrees. A number 4 means it is rotated 270 degrees. A minus sign means that the image was mirrored horizontally before it was rotated. Click a number or a sign to change it. The pattern will be recreated automatically. You can also click any tile of the finished pattern to rotate the tile individually. Finally, there is an option 'Iterate On/Off'. When this option is switched on, the desired rotations will be first individually executed for each tile (as in the 'Iterate Off' case), then for the 2x2 packs, then again for 4x4 packs. This function creates very complicated patterns. Variant 2 creates randomized patterns with the eight tiles. Enjoy! I don't think the famous woodcutter Wolfram Escher needs any introduction. Many books and webpages have been dedicated to his work. This game uses his idea of repeatedly rotating a simple image while stamping a pattern with it. The 'stamps' in this game are my own design. The numbering of the rotations in this game follows Escher's convention. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Escher 8 Now!
Game: Extraction Invented and implemented by Robert A. Kraus, December 2002. This puzzle consists of four sets of pieces, each set being represented by squares of a different color. They move orthogonally only, on the 8 by 8 square board. The pieces cannot be moved individually, but each color-set can be moved simultaneously in a synchronized manner. You play the puzzle by moving one of the squares, thereby moving all pieces of the same color. However, if any square on the board to which a piece of that color-set is moving is occupied, none of the pieces of that color-set will move. You win when all of the 4 corner squares are occupied. Updated 01/04/03 arrow movement removed Download Extraction Now!
Game: First Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001 Object in variants 1 and 2: Arrange all Marbles in a horizontal or vertical row such that no Marble touches the border. (21 randomized variants) Click the board to drop a random set of 4 Marbles. Click the border to the North, South, East or West of a Marble. The nearest Marble in the row (or column) will be shifted away from where you clicked. It will shift as far as there are positions vacant. If it cannot move away, then it will be attracted to the border position you clicked. The walls block the Marble movement and cannot be shifted. You win if you arrange all Marbles in one consecutive line without spaces in between. Furthermore, none of these Marbles in a row of four may touch the square outer wallframe. Variants 3, 4: Here the four Marbles have to be arranged in a 2x2 square. Again no Marble may touch the border. Variants 5, 6: Played with four Marbles. They have to be arranged in a diagonal. The Marbles may touch the border in these variants. Variants 7, 8: Like variants 5, 6, but played with five Marbles. Variants 9, 10: Like variants 5, 6, but played with six Marbles. Variant 11: Like variant 6, but played with seven Marbles. Variants 12, 13: Played with four Marbles. They have to be arranged such that each one is orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to the center. Variants 14, 15: Like variants 9, 10, but played with five Marbles. Variants 16, 17: Like variants 9, 10, but played with six Marbles. Variants 18, 19: Like variants 9, 10, but played with seven Marbles. Variants 20, 21: Like variants 9, 10, but played with eight Marbles. Not all setups may be solvable (however, I have not found an unsolvable example). The name of the game reminds of the fact that you can only move the first Marble in any row or column. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download First Now!
Game: First II Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001 Object: Cover all target positions with some of your Marbles. (26 randomized variants) Click the board to drop a random set of 5 Marbles. Click the border to the North, South, East or West of a Marble. The nearest Marble in the row (or column) will be shifted away from where you clicked. It will shift as far as there are positions vacant. If it cannot move away, then it will be attracted to the border position you clicked. The walls block the Marble movement and cannot be shifted. You win if you manage to place Marbles on all target positions. There are more Marbles than target positions. The target positions are marked by a blue dot. In the default variant these are the four positions to the North, South, East and West of the center. The other Variants have other targets and/or a different number of given Marbles and/or different walls. Not all setups may be solvable (however, I have not found an unsolvable example). The name of the game reminds of the fact that you can only move the first Marble in any row or column. It seems that this type of move has never been used before in any published game or puzzle. Please feel free to devise a few board games (and more puzzles) based on this move type. Also, if you find some nice and/or difficult variations of the games First and First II you can email them to me ([email protected]) and I will publish them in a future problem collection 'First nn'. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download First II Now!
Game: First Exchange Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001 Object: Swap the blue Marble and orange Marbles. (32 variants) Click the border to the North, South, East or West of a Marble. The nearest Marble in the row (or column) will be shifted away from where you clicked. It will shift as far as there are positions vacant. If it cannot move away, then it will be attracted to the border position you clicked. The walls block the Marble movement and cannot be shifted. You win if the blue Marbles have swapped places with the orange Marbles. 'First Exchange' is another jewel of the 'First' game series. See also 'First' and 'First II'. The name 'First' reminds of the fact that only the first Marble in any row or column can be moved. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download First Exchange Now!
Game: Flamingos Invented (in 1996) and implemented by Karl Scherer, January 2001. Object: Write FLAMINGOS with letters framed blue, then in yellow etc. (13 variants) The game consists of a 3x3 board on which nine cubes are positioned. The cubes show the letters F-L-A-M-I-N-G-O-S with red frames. How to play: Click a HAND to push three cubes along a row or column. The last cube will fall off the board, turn 90 degrees and join again at the start of the row or column. You can also click a cube. This will show a fold-out diagram of the clicked cube on the right side of the board. Goal (Beginners): Try to make all nine cubes show blue frames. Then try to make all cubes show their yellow side. Do so with all six colours. Goal (Experts): Write F-L-A-M-I-N-G-O-S in blue (then in yellow and so on). Each letter has to be positioned the right way. In the default variant you may play freely. The other variants give you a WIN - message for the various tasks of the beginners level and expert level. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 04/19/03 improved graphics Download Flamingos Now!
Game: Fourcube Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001 Object: Fill the cube with 16 tetracubes. The selection screen offers you a choice of Fourcube games. Select a polycube picture to start the corresponding game. You have to fill a 4x4x4 cube with 16 tetracubes. (But mirror images are allowed). Each tetracube is represented by 4 monochrome tokens. The system will automatically change the colour of the tokens after you have put down 4 tokens. You win if you manage to fill the cube. Please note the special challenges associated with options 1, 2 and 5; see game description texts. In options 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 you have to use at least one of each given polycube type. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 09/29/01 corrected file reference Download Fourcube Now!
Game: FreeCell FreeCell invented by Paul Alfille, Baker's Game invented by C.L. Baker. Implemented by Jeff Roy, July 2000. The object of this game is to move all of the cards from the tableau onto build piles. The playing area consists of four build piles (marked BUILD), four free cells (to the left of the build piles), and the tableau (unmarked spaces). Only the bottom card of each column, as well as cards on free cells, can be moved. Cards can be moved as follows: Onto a build pile by suit, ascending from ace to king; Onto a free cell; Onto the top of an empty column in the tableau; and At the bottom of a column in descending order, alternating color (for example, a red three on a black four). Tips on manipulating cards: To start the game, click on the Deal icon. Click the center of a card to move it. Clicking the bottom of a column will move the next card in sequence onto it. Clicking on the center of a build pile will move the next card in sequence onto it. With best play, Freecell can be won over 99% of the time! Baker's Game was invented by the mathematician C.L. Baker and described by Martin Gardner in the June, 1968 issue of Scientific American. The closely related game FreeCell was invented by Paul Alfille. For more information about FreeCell and its variants, see www.freecell.org. The miniature versions are Jeff Roy's invention and were inspired by the small size of an airplane tray table during a long flight. Please note: Freecell now requires Zillions of Games version 2.0 (or higher)! Updated 05/03/03 much improved graphics Download FreeCell Now!
Game: Fruit Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, April 2001. Object: Swap fruit until you have only one type in your basket. (3 random variants, 5 fixed variants; the object varies from variant to variant). Click anywhere on the board to allow Zilions to randomize the setup. The bottom row shows your fruit basket on the way to the market. You may have apples (red), plums, cherries or raspberries. At the market you can swap certain fruit for certain other fruit. The ten entries with an equality sign '=' show what you may swap for what. You may click either side of the equality sign. Always click the leftmost fruit in a set. You win if you have only one type of fruit in your basket. In the randomized variants the goal might not always be achievable. In this case try to get as many fruit of the same type as possible. You can switch the piece set by clicking menu item 'View/Switch Piece Set'. You also can setup your own problems: Use a fixed variant and change the setup by rightclicking the mouse. Fruit graphics: from click-art collection 'Imagine It'. More related freeware as well as real puzzles and games see my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Fruit Now!
Game: Fruit II Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, April 2001. Object: Swap fruit until you have only one type in your basket. (1 random variant, 1 fixed variant). In contrast to the game 'Fruit', here the sequence of fruit is important. Click anywhere on the board to allow Zilions to randomize the setup. The bottom row shows your fruit basket on the way to the market. You may have apples, plums, cherries or raspberries. At the market you can swap certain fruit for certain other fruit. The ten entries with an equality sign '=' show what you may swap for what. Click the place in your basket where you want to apply a swap, then click one of the swap entries. You may click either side of the equality sign. (Always click the leftmost fruit in a set.) You win if you have only one type of fruit in your basket. In the randomized variants the goal might not always be achievable. In this case try to get as many fruit of the same type as possible. You can switch the piece set by clicking menu item 'View/Switch Piece Set'. You also can setup your own problems: Use a fixed variant and change the setup by rightclicking the mouse. Fruit II graphics: from click-art collection 'Imagine It'. More related freeware as well as real puzzles and games see my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Fruit II Now!
Game: Fruitbasket Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, October 2002. Graphics partially by Keith Carter. Object: Swap fruit until you have only one type in your basket. Click anywhere on the board to allow Zillions to randomize the setup. The lower part of the board shows your fruit basket on the way to the market, arranged in a 4x4 manner. You may have apples (red), plums, cherries or raspberries. At the market you can swap certain fruit for certain other fruit. The ten entries at the top (with an equality sign '=') show what you may swap for what. You may click either side of the equality sign, activating either way of swapping. Always click the leftmost fruit of a set. The swap will affect the line or row that is indicated by a bubble. The swap will always the first set in a row or column that is found, the search being started at the bubble. You can move the bubble by clicking next to another row or column. You win if you have only one type of fruit in your basket. Once you have achieved this, try to swap the fruit to get all of another type. Keep on doing so until you have achieved this with all fruit types. (This may not be always possible, however). You can switch the piece set by clicking menu item 'View/Switch Piece Set'. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Fruitbasket Now!
Game: First Do it Yourself Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, September 2002 Object: Create your own puzzle of the 'First' type. (The folowing text assumes that the reader is familiar with the other 'First' games.) To create your own board setup: Click a board position once to place a wall. Click a board position twice to place a blue target position. Click again to empty the position. To drop marbles: Click the top left corner. The target icon will turn into a marble icon. Now click a board position once to place a Marble. Click again to delete a Marble. It can be useful to have more Marbles than target positions. To play: Click the top left corner. The Marble icon will turn into a wall icon. Click the border to the North, South, East or West of a Marble. The nearest Marble in the row (or column) will be shifted away from where you clicked. It will shift as far as there are positions vacant. If it cannot move away, it will be attracted to the border position you clicked. The walls block the Marble movement and cannot be shifted. You win if you manage to place Marbles on all target positions. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 10/05/02 better game description; slight code change Download First Do it Yourself Now!
Game: G-Backtrack Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, December 2001 Object: Automatically fill any user-defined playing area with the given G-hexomino. Watch the operation of a backtracking program in action and enjoy the solutions it comes up with! (26 variants, customizable) To start, click the grey playing area. Zillions will AUTOMATICALLY tile the area without gaps or overlaps using copies of the polysquare shown in the top left corner. Given a shape and a tile to fill it with, it is in general not known whether such a tiling problem has a solution. This game gives you the answers (if Zillions does not run out of memory) and lets you watch as the computer plays with the tiles. YOU CAN GIVE THE COMPUTER ANY SHAPE MADE FROM SQUARES. (You can REDESIGN the fill-area very quickly and easily, either by deleting or adding new positions via selecting 'empty' or 'T0' with your right mouse button or by changing the board setup in the rules file.) THE PROGRAM WILL DO EVERYTHING ELSE FULLY AUTOMATICALLY! The system will stop (win) when it has found a tiling, and also stop (lose) if there is no tiling for the given shape. This game presents a collection of - all 18 G-primes which fit onto a 32x32 board - all 8 G-primes which fit onto a 50x50 board These are all prime rectangles for the G-hexomino! No others exist. Please note that there are six alternative piece sets available. Version 1.2: 50% faster, 30% less moves necessary per solution. See also Zillions games Ypento, Y-Primes, G-Primes and Reptiles, Reptiles II, Backtrack and Y-Backtrack for similar puzzles. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 12/14/02 can run longer now; solves larger puzzles Download G-Backtrack Now!
Game: G-Primes Implemented by Karl Scherer, December 2001 Object: Fill the 9x12 playing area with G-hexominoes. (26 variants, customizable) If a shape tiles a rectangle, then this rectangle is called a 'prime rectangle' or a 'prime' for short, if it is minimal in the sense that it cannot be cut into smaller rectangles which also can be tiled by the given shape. Hence for each shape that is 'rectifiable' (i.e. which can tile a rectangle), it is an interesting task to find all prime rectangles ('primes') for this tile. For any given tile there can only be a finite number of such rectangles. For the G-hexomino we present here all known prime rectangles small enough to fit onto our board of size 32x32. The G-hexomino is represented by six square tokens. The system will automatically change the colour of the tokens after you have put down a tile. The system helps you to place a tile: Place two squares side by side, then a third orthogonally next to the second. The system will drop the remaining two squares automatically. You can DELETE a placed hexomino by simply clicking the three squares which you placed on the board when you created the tile. You win if you manage to fill the given rectangle. This game presents the COMPLETE COLLECTION of all existing G-primes: 18 of those fit on the 32x32 board and 8 of those fit on the 52x50 board. Please note that there are six alternative piece sets available. Sources: Torsten Sillke, Michael Reid. See also the Zillions games 'Y-Primes', 'Pento', 'Ypento', 'Reptiles' and 'Reptiles II' for related puzzles. Background design : fractal T011001l by Karl Scherer. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 08/09/03 made solution available via Help/Show Solution Download G-Primes Now!
Game: Globetrotter Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, October 2001 A globe-trotter wants to travel from Amsterdam (A) to Berlin (B), then to Copenhagen (C), then to Delft (D), then to Edinburgh (E), then to Frankfurt (F), then back to Amsterdam. However, the poor guy gets lost in the traffic chaos in Europe, which consists of one big heap of one-way streets and blocked roads. Can you help him? First click Amsterdam (A) to place your Man. Then find your way to 'B', ...,'F' and back to 'A'. The orange dots symbolize the towns and villages which you may visit on the way. The connections between the towns are painted half red and half blue. You can traverse any connection only from the blue end towards the red end, but not the other way round. You have to visit your destinations in the correct order. E.g. you cannot go to Copenhagen (C) before you have been to Berlin (B). Also you can enter each destination A,...,F only once. You might have to unselect the 'View/Search Progress' option if you have problems to fit the Globetrotter board on a 800x600 screen. Sometimes it is possible to make a puzzle design 'complete' in a mathematical sense. The Globetrotter Maze is such a puzzle. It uses all 163 ways to connect 4 given towns with one-way streets or blocked roads. One example of such a four-point connection is given at the right border of the board. Together with six destinations the 163 square tiles fill a 13x13 board. A one-way street is symbolized by a connection which is half blue and half red because colours are easier to see than tiny arrows. The blocked roads are represented by the missing links between the towns. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Globetrotter Now!
Game: Goodknight Invented, solved and implemented by Karl Scherer, July 2000. Object: Move the Goodknight as often as possible. You win if you found the maximum number of moves. This is a solitaire game. The Goodknight moves like an `L`, three steps horizontally or vertically, then one step at right angle, e.g. a1-(d1)-d2. At the start click on any square to drop the Knight, from then on click on the destination square. You are not allowed to move to a square that you have visited before. Maximum number of moves to achieve (= maximum number of tokens to create) Variant Board # moves 1 5x5 11 2 6x6 17 3 7x7 23 4 8x8 31 5 9x9 39 More freeware as well as real puzzles and games under http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 11/11/00 fixed board problem with Zillions 1.2.1 Download Goodknight Now!
Game: Goodknight II Invented, solved and implemented by Karl Scherer, October 2000. Object: Drop the Goodknight and visit all empty squares. This is a solitaire game with 20 variants. The Goodknight jumps a series of moves of given lengths, e.g. 1-3-1-3-.... This sequence may be different in different variants. E.g. 'Jumps 1-3' means that the Goodknight moves 1 square into one of the four orthogonal directions, then 3 squares, then 1 square again and so on. In contrast to the original game, the Goodknight does not have to turn 90 degrees. At the start click on any square to drop the Knight, from then on click on the destination square. You are not allowed to move to a square that you have visited before. A bubble will pop up where you have been. In one variant the maximum number of possible moves including the Knight drop (this is also the maximum number of pieces on the board, Bubbles plus Knight) is not known. This variant has the comment 'Max?' in its title. Create your personal record and email it to me ([email protected]) with your zsg file attached (especially if you manage to fill the whole board in these variants)! I might include your record in the next version of Goodknight II. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Updated 11/11/00 fixed board problem with Zillions 1.2.1. Download Goodknight II Now!
Game: Goodknight III Invented, solved and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001. Object: Drop the Goodknight and visit all empty squares. (12 variants). The Goodknight jumps a series of moves of given lengths, e.g. 1-2-3-.... This sequence may be different in different variants. E.g. 'Jumps 1-2-3' means that the Goodknight moves 1 square into any (!) direction, then 2 squares, then 3 squares, then 1 square again and so on. The Goodknight can keep moving into the same direction. At the start click on any square to drop the Knight, from then on click on the destination square. You are not allowed to move to a square that you have visited before. A bubble will pop up where you have been. You win when you have visited every square. I have personally solved all problems up to board size 7x7. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Goodknight III Now!
Game: Goodknight 4 Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, November 2002. Object: Drop the Goodknight and eliminate all tokens. (solitaire game, 5 variants) The Goodknight jumps a series of double-moves of given lengths, namely either 1-2 or 2-1. The double-move '1-2' means that the Goodknight moves 1 square into one of the four orthogonal directions, then turns 90 degrees and jumps 2 squares. The Goodknight has to move towards an occupied square in each move. At the start click on any square to drop the Goodknight, from then on click on the destination square. You win if you have captured all tokens. If you have managed this, the next time start from a different square. Note that there is an alternative piece set available (rabbit and carrots). More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Goodknight 4 Now!
Game: Hangover Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, November 2000. Object: Restore the original 'HANGOVER!' position. Click the button at the lower right corner to scramble the board. Twenty random moves will be executed. Now restore the original 'HANGOVER!' position using the little hands to shift the rows and columns. Clicking a hand shifts one row or column at a time. The last piece is shifted to the first place and changes its colour. More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz. Download Hangover Now!
