I S H I D O 
                                  ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 
                                        by 
 
                                  Martijn Dekker 
 
 
   1. Introduction 
   ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 
 
 I have no idea where the game comes from, but I played the first time I 
saw it was on a Lynx. I played it and liked it a lot. As I do not have a 
Lunx myself I started writing a version myself. This version is not 
completely the same as the Lynx version. Besides the obvious different 
graphics, my version counts the score in a very naive way. I did this 
because I couldn't remember the 'right' counting, as is used in the Lynx 
version. 
 The game is played using a board consisting of 12 x 8 square fields, and 
a pouch containing pieces. 
A piece is nothing but a piece of wood with a certain color 
and carrying a certain symbol. There are 6 different colors and 6 different 
symbols, so in total 36 different pieces. Two of every kind are in the pouch 
so there are 72 pieces in the pouch. At the beginning of the game, 6 pieces 
are picked out of the pouch and placed on the board (one in every corner 
and 2 in the center of the board). This is done by the computer.  
The game now begins by picking a piece out of the pouch (again, this is 
done by the computer and the piece is shown in the right corner of the 
screen). Your goal is to place the piece on the board. You are not allowed 
to place the piece just everywhere on the board (see section 'The rules'). 
For example you may only place a piece immediately next to at least 
another piece. Just use the mouse to place the piece on the board. Another 
piece is picked for you to place on the board etc. If you can not place 
the piece, the program will tell you so, and you can start a new game. 
You win if you can place all 72 pieces on the board. Remember that there 
are only 12 x 8 = 96 squares on the board, so there is not much room for the 
72 pieces.... 
 
 
   2. The rules 
   ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 
 
 You may only place a piece on a certain square under the following 
conditions (by neighbouring squares of a square we mean only the squares 
directly above, beneath, to the right or to the left of the square, so a 
square has at most 4 neighbouring squares): 
 
o the square should have at least one neighbouring square with a piece 
  on it, 
 
o when the square has exactly 1 neighbouring square with a piece on it, 
  you may place the current piece on it if it has the same color as the  
  neighbouring piece and/or it carries the same symbol. 
 
o when the square has exacty two neighbouring squares with a piece on it, 
  you may place the current piece on it only if has the same color as  
  one of the neighbouring pieces and it carries the same symbol as the 
  other neighbouring piece, 
 
o when the square has exactly three neighbouring squares with a piece on it, 
  you may place the current piece on it only if it has the same color as 
  two neighbouring pieces and if it carries the same symbol as the third, 
  OR it carries the same symbol as two neighbouring pieces and has the same 
  color as the third, 
 
o when the square has exactly four neighbouring squares with a piece on it, 
  you may place the current piece on it if has the same color as two 
  neighbouring pieces and it carries the same symbol as the other two. 
  In addition the two neighbouring pieces having the same color as the 
  current piece should be touching eachother (so should have a corner of 
  a square in common). It follows that the two neighbouring pieces which 
  carry the same symbol as the current piece also touch eachother. 
 
These rules may look a bit complex but after some playing/experimenting 
you should have no problems with them.  
 
 
   3. The score 
   ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 
 
 You receive one point for every piece you can place on the board, except 
for the pieces you place in a square having less than 4 neighbouring squares. 
You receive more points if you can place a piece on a square having 
more than one occupied neighbouring square. In fact, placing a piece on 
a square with 4 occupied squares gives you a lot of points and the number 
of such configurations is counted seperately. Of course the main point 
of the game is emptying the pouch, not to get a lot of points. But as there 
are only 96 squares on the board and 72 pieces in the pouch, you should 
try to place the pieces as tight together as you can. 
 
 
   4. Help option 
   ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 
 
 The game has a 'help' button. When you press it, the program asks if you 
are sure you need help. If you say 'yes', the program will indicate the 
square on which you may place your piece. Of course there can be other 
squares you may place your piece on, but the program will always show the 
square which will give you the most points. 
 
   Enjoy! 
  
   this version was written by: 
  
          Martijn Dekker 
          Prof. Jordanlaan 72 
          3571 KB    UTRECHT 
          the Netherlands 
 
          email: mdekker@fwi.uva.nl