Gameplay

From the first move of this ancient puzzle game your deepest powers of strategy and concentration will be called upon as you match 72 stones on a board of 96 squares.

Stones & Game Board

A stoneset consists of 72 stones. Every stone has two attributes: a color and a symbol. There are 6 colours and 6 symbols in each stoneset, thus creating 36 unique stones. Each stone comes in a pair, hence 72 stones in each stoneset. The Game Board is 8 squares high by 12 squares wide. The "Beyond" is the dark squares around the outer edges of the board, and the "Within" consists of the light interior squares. Only stones placed in the Within score points. Stones placed in the Beyond do not score points, but are strategically valuable. The Touchstone displays the next stone to be played (the upper right corner). The Scoreboard (under the Table) shows the number of points scored, the number of 4-Way matches achieved, the number of jokers, and the highest score, which you reached since the loading of the game. The Pouch (under the Touchstone) shows a representation of the number of stones remaining to be played. The game begins with the unique opening tableau of six stones on the board and a pouch of randomly ordered stones. The opening tableau consists of stones placed at each of the four corners and at two centre squares. Each of the 6 symbols and 6 colours are represented. The basic objective of the game is to empty the pouch of stones, placing them all on the board. Certain rules must be followed, and the more "4-Way Matches" that are achieved, the better the game. The game ends when a stone cannot be placed legally or the entire pouch of 72 stones has been emptied.

Rules

Stones are placed on the board, one at a time, after first being displayed on the Touchstone. The stone is placed from the Touchstone to the board by pointing the cursor at the square where the stone is to be placed and then pressing the fire button. Each stone must be placed adjacent (above, below, to the left or right - not diagonal) to another stone. A stone can only be placed beside another stone when the two stones have at least one of the two attributes in common. If a stone is placed such that its sides are adjacent to two other stones (2-Way match), it must match a different attribute in each of those two stones (symbol of one, colour of the other). The same attribute cannot be used to match both adjoining stones. A 3-Way match requires each of the two attributes to be present. A 4-Way match, when a stone is placed in the centre of four other stones, requires matching two of the stones with one attribute and matching the other two with the second attribute. 4-Way matches are rare, and it takes practice to learn how to create them. Yet, they are desirable and a primary goal of the game.

Scoring

Scoring for a legal match is determined by the number of sides the stone touches other stones (above, below, left, right) as it is played: 1 point for a 1-Way match, 2 points for a 2-Way match, 4 points for a 3-Way match, and 8 points for a 4-Way match. When a 4-Way is made, a bonus is paid and the points made for subsequent matches are thereafter doubled. 4-Way bonuses in sequence: 25p., 50p.,...,50.000p. There is a bonus given at the end of the game when there are fewer than three stones left in the pouch: 100 points with 2 stones left, 500 points with 1 stone left, 1000 points if the pouch is emptied.

Game Modes

There is a single player solitaire mode, where you can request help five times during the game. Dalgon, the monk can help you place the stones, undo the last step, and show or remix the pouch. You can also play with the computer, in the cooperative mode. In this case, you and Dalgon place one stone alternately and you cannot ask for help from Dalgon.

Loading

LOAD"" (ENTER)
On Spectrum 128K models, use Tape Loader.

Game Controls

The game can be controlled by multiple key combinations (move keys, fire key and main, help menu keys : QAOP+Sp+MH, QAOP+M+SpH, IJKL+A+MH). It can also be controlled by Joystick interfaces (Kempston, Sinclair, Cursor), in which case the main and help menus can be accessed with the M and H keys. Finally, Kempston Mouse can be used for control, in which case the left button is the fire, the right button is the help menu, and the middle button is the main menu. The main menu is also accessible by pressing the M key. And.... in main menu: M+Z+X... Try it!

Published by FanZiX in 2020
Written by M/ZX
Music by David Willis (zxtunes.com)
Inlay photo by Life of Wu (pexels.com)
ZX7 data compressor by Einar Saukas
Programs used: Crimson Editor, PASMO, ZX-Paintbrush, SevenUP, Vortex Tracker II, Spectaculator, SpecEmu, Unreal Speccy, Jspeccy and many emulators, Tapir, ZX-Blockeditor...

The original game is released 1989 on Macintosh by Publishing International. Original design by Michael Feinberg.