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MASAGO

In Masago you attempt to convert a
slate of tiles from one color to
another.  One of four rules may be
applied.  Each rule adds different
complications to the task.

 Flipping the tiles

Flip the tiles by clicking on them
with the mouse.  Use the on-screen
controls to select the type of rule
which will be applied to flip tiles.
(The selected tile will always be
flipped.)

 Rinzai's Rule

  Using Rinzai's Rule, all tiles
  horizontally and vertically from the
  selected tile out to the edges will
  be flipped.  This rule isn't too
  hard to master.

 Moore's Rule

  Using Moore's Rule, all the eight
  "nearest neighbor" tiles to the
  selected tile will be flipped.  This
  is harder than than Rinzai's Rule,
  although there's a four-move
  solution.

 Moore's Toroid

  Same as Moore's Rule, but the
  flipping "wraps around" the board to
  flip tiles on the opposite side when
  you select a tile near the edge of
  the board.  This is harder than
  either of the preceding two rules.

 VonNeumann's Rule

  Using VonNeumann's Rule, the four
  "nearest neighbor" (up, down, left,
  and right) tiles will be flipped.
  This is the hardest of the four
  rules. A solution exists;  John
  Conway (of "Conway's Game of Life"
  fame) is claimed to have solved this
  in about two hours during the
  1980's.

 Graphics Options

  You can choose to have the tiles
  rotate to change colors (animation
  on) or instantly (animation off).

 Sound Options

  You can choose to have the tiles
  click into place, or change
  silently.

 Tile and screen colors

  You can change the up and down face
  colors of the tiles and the screen
  background to suit your particular
  sense of aesthetics.  Masago will
  save any changes you make to a small
  disk file, and reload the colors any
  time you start the puzzle.
