Puzzles Game

[Gervie]

Game: Domina Max

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, July 2002


Object: Find the longest chain reactions. (8 variants)

Like in the game 'Domina 5', a clicked domino turns, then slides and makes another domino do the same if it bumps into one.
Here we present the longest chain reactions that this rule creates. The best solutions found by the author are given, all you have to do is to click the correct domino once.

You are invited to create your own setups (use the right mouse key) and try to find longer chain reactions. Especially for more than 9 dominoes the maximum length of a chain reaction is not known.
Domina Max offers several buttons to make the board setup easy and fast: Click the SETUP button. Clicking the board then deletes a piece and places a domino either horizontally or vertically, depending on another switch that you can set. When you are finished with the setup, click the PLAY button. You can switch from one mode to the other at any time.

Another unsolved problem in this context is the following: With the right (finite) number of dominoes - and maybe a bigger board - can there be a chain reaction that lasts forever?

Variant 1 : 4 dominoes have longest chain reaction of 5 moves.
Variant 2 : 5 dominoes have longest chain reaction of 7 moves.
Variant 3 : 6 dominoes have longest chain reaction of 8 moves.
Variant 4 : 7 dominoes have longest chain reaction of 10 moves.
Variant 5 : 8 dominoes have longest chain reaction of 12 moves.
Variant 6 : 9 dominoes have longest chain reaction of 14 moves.
Variant 7 : empty 9x9 board for setup trials
Variant 8 : empty 18x18 board for setup trials


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Download Domina Max Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Domino Puzzles

Implemented by Karl Scherer, May 2003.
Puzzles 1 - 7 invented by the author, Puzzles 8 - 14 classic domino puzzles.


Rearrange the given dominoes so that they obey the domino rule. (15 variants)

You are given domino tiles covering a certain area. The area the dominoes cover at the start is also the area they have to cover at the end, after rearranging the dominoes.
You have to make the dominoes 'fit' according to the standard Domino rule: Where two domino tiles touch, their numbers have to match.

The given area is painted on the board, so you do not have to remember it.
You win when you manage to rearrange the dominoes according to the rules.

The default variant is very easy and only meant as a warm-up for the other variants, which use the full set of 28 dominoes.

Variants 2-7 : Six challenges on the 8x10 board; solutions attached.
Variants 8-11 : Four challenges on the 10x10 board.
Variants 12-14 : Three challenges on the 9x9 board.
Variant 15 : Freeplay; no area given. Here you can create your own puzzles.


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Please note: Domino Puzzles requires Zillions of Games version 2.0 (or higher)!

Updated 08/09/03
made solutions available via Help/Show Solution

Download Domino Puzzles Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Doors

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, October 2001


Object: Visit all positions on the board, i.e. delete all green dots. (4 variants, one of them randomized)

The board contains many circular pivotal centers of revolving doors which have up to four doors attached to each of them.

To start, click the board to drop your Man.
He slides to the North, South, East of West as far as empty spaces are available, and always has to go the whole way until he faces a door or the border. You can either move your Man by clicking the target position, or by clicking one of the arrows at the border.

If the Man bumps into a door, all doors attached to the pivot will rotate by 90 degrees, either clockwise or anticlockwise, depending how it is pushed. Thereby the board setup is continually redesigned with each move.

Whereever your Man goes, the tiny green dots on his position will disappear.
You win if you have captured all green dots on the board.
You lose if you are stalemated.

Variant 4: Click the board to create a randomized arrangement of doors. Not all such randomized setups may be solvable.


This is my 200th game in Zillions format.
If you do not like any of my board designs or piece designs of my games you are welcome to send me your improved designs and I might incorporate them into my games.

Feel free to use any of my zrf files as templates and create your own game variations with them.
I feel that even with 500 Zillions games now available we might have only just scratched the surface of what is possible with this excellent product...

More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Download Doors Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Doors II

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, October 2001


Object: Visit all positions on the board, i.e. delete all green dots. (4 variants, one of them randomized)

The board contains many circular pivotal centers of revolving doors which have up to four doors attached to each of them.

To start, click the board to drop your Man.
He slides to the North, South, East of West as far as empty spaces are available, and always has to go the whole way until he faces a door or the border. You can either move your Man by clicking the target position, or by clicking one of the arrows at the border.

If the Man bumps into a door, all doors attached to the pivot will rotate by 90 degrees, either clockwise or anticlockwise, depending how it is pushed. Thereby the board setup is continually redesigned with each move.

The white doors are made out of glass. If the Man bumps into a glass door, it shatters. The missing door can make his roaming more difficult.

Whereever your Man goes, the tiny green dots on his position will disappear.
You win if you have captured all green dots on the board.
You lose if you are stalemated.

Variant 4: Click the board to create a randomized arrangement of doors. Not all such randomized setups may be solvable.


Watch out that you do not get stuck in the hallways at the border.
In some cases it is important where you place your Man in the first move.
Leave the glass doors intact as long as possible. Sometimes braking a glass door at the wrong time makes solving the puzzle impossible.

More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Download Doors II Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Doors III

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, November 2001


Object: Eliminate all doors. (8 variants, two of them randomized)

The board contains many circular pivotal centers of revolving doors which have up to four doors attached to each of them.

First click the board to drop your Man.
He slides to the North, South, East of West as far as empty spaces are available, and always has to go the whole way until he faces a door or the border. You move your Man by clicking the target position or by clicking one of the arrows to the North, East, West or South of your man.

If a Man bumps into a door, all doors attached to the pivot will rotate by 90 degrees, either clockwise or anticlockwise, depending how it is pushed. Thereby the board setup is continually redesigned with each move.

Each door the Man bumps into will disappear.
You win if you have managed to eliminate all doors.

Variant 4: Click the board to create a randomized setup of doors.
Variants 5 to 8 : like variants 1 to 4, but the doors do not revolve.
Some of the random setups might not be solvable.


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Updated 02/09/02
game text corrected

Download Doors III Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Doughnuts

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, January 2001.


Object: Remove all doughnuts from the board. (2 variants)

Always click one of the doughnuts at the bottom layer to pull it out from underneath! If you pick any other doughnut, you lose.

This game is most fun when played à tempo.


Background design: Fractal Mo99121k by Morgan Owens and Karl Scherer.


For more freeware as well as real puzzles and games see my home page http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Download Doughnuts Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Draw

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, November 2001


Object: Creative drawing tool.

At the right border you can select a colour, brush type and stencil. The brush types determine whether you paint DOTS, STENCIL, SPRAYCAN, LINE-FILLS, AREA FILL, LINES (orthogonal or diagonal), DOTTED LINES, POLYLINES or SQUARES.

Four different LINE-FILLS paint a line as far as the underlying colour extends.

There is also an area FILL mode, fully functional with DRAW V3.1 !

To use a STENCIL, click one of the nine stencils shown at the lower right.

The SPRAY CAN is new (the spray is not quite random, however).

To paint a LINE, click the positions of the beginning and the end of the line.
To paint a POLYLINES you start the same way as with a line, then you keep on clicking the target positions of the following polyline sections.
For lines and polylines only orthogonal and diagonal sections are possible. To finish the polyline, click the target position again.

To paint a SQUARE or a RECTANGLE, first click the position for the square's top left corner, then the position for the bottom right corner. Squares and rectangles can be of any size.

You can delete areas by painting them with white colour.


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Please note: Draw now requires Zillions of Games version 2.0 (or higher)!

Updated 03/22/03
area fill now fully functional

Download Draw Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Duck Solo

Created by W. D. Troyka, May 2001.


Object: Get all your ducks in a row -- horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. The row must pass through the center.
Ducks move horizontally or vertically and must move the maximum number of spaces available.

In the variant, you must get your ducks in a row in exactly eleven moves, the minimum number possible.

If you enjoy puzzles of this type, check out Entropy Puzzle and Entropy Cross.
If you like ducks, try Duck Pond or Ugly Duck.

Download Duck Solo Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Easy Cubes

Designed and implemented by Karl Scherer, September 2002


Object: Recreate the original setup of the 3x3x3 cube. (4 variants)

The setup shows a coloured 3x3x3 cube from the front and from the back. Click anywhere on the board to allow Zillions to randomize the cube.
Then move one of the circular stickers on the cube or click any of the arrows to rotate a slice of the cube.
You win if you manage to recreate the original setup.

Variants : other simple colorings.
Note that variant 2 is identical with variant 1 of my Zillions game 'Karl's Cubes'. All other setups are new.

The original, six-colored cube was invented by Professor Rubic in 1986, and implemented by me as the Zillions game 'Rubic's Cube' in August 2002.


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Download Easy Cubes Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Ecosystem

Invented and implemented by Robert Gauss, March 2002.

The objective is to absorb all the pieces, by "eating" them, until only one remains.

There are three basic types of pieces: Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral. The general rule is:

Animal eats Vegetable.
Vegetable absorbs Mineral.
Mineral buries Animal.

There are special types of each Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral, based on what they'll eat.

Animals:
Herbivore (Sheep) eats only Vegetables
Carnivore (Panther) eats only Animals
Omnivore (Bear) eats Animals and Vegetables
Vegetables:
Flower (Yellow Daisy) absorbs only Minerals
Moss (Hanging Moss) absorbs only Vegetables
Weed (Pink Clover) absorbs Vegetables and Minerals
Minerals:
Rock (Boulder) buries only Animals
Rust (Rusty Chain) corrodes only Minerals
Dirt (Dirt Mound) buries Minerals and Animals

Click on pieces to move. Pieces can move one space to any adjacent hex where they can "eat" what's on it. There are twelve variants total. The more complicated pieces get added in the later variants.

Board requires a minimum of 800x600 screen resolution to play. Mini-Ecosystem is included with a 300x300 board with smaller graphics to play on lower resolution screens.

Download Ecosystem Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Entropy Cross

Invented by Tadao Kitazawa, 2000;
implemented by Johan De Bock, October 2000.


Object: Move 4 Rooks into the 4 corner squares and the 5th one in the middle to win.

A Rook must be orthogonally adjacent to another Rook in order to move. It can move like a rook.

Entropy Cross is a variant on the Entropy Puzzle: a cross on a 5x5 field.
The Entropy Puzzle was designed by Tadao Kitazawa of Japan in 2000.

Solvable in 11 moves (let Zillions do it for you if you give it up)

Download Entropy Cross Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Entropy II

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 2001


Move 4 Rooks into the 4 corner squares and the 5th piece in the middle to win.

A piece must be orthogonally adjacent to another piece in order to move. Pieces move like in Chess.

Variant 2: Four Rooks and a Bishop.
Variant 3: Four Knights and a Rook.
Variant 4: Four Bishops and a Rook. In this variant the Rook has to end up on its original square c2, NOT in the center.



For similar games see the Zillions games 'Entropy Cross' and 'Entropy Puzzle'.

More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Download Entropy II Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Entropy Puzzle

Invented by Tadao Kitazawa, 2000;
implemented by Bob Kraus, August 2000.


A Ball must be orthogonally adjacent to another Ball in order to move. It can move horizontally or vertically any number of empty squares.
Move the 4 Balls into the 4 corner squares to win.

Download Entropy Puzzle Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

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 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.

Updated 09/01/01
added tile indicator; added variant; bug fixes

Download Esher Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher II

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

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 numbering of the rotations in this game follows Escher's convention.

There are technical reasons (error message 'too many moves generated') why the game 'Escher II' is not coded as a variant of the game 'Escher'.


More freeware as well as real puzzles and games at my homepage http://karl.kiwi.gen.nz.

Updated 09/01/01
added tile indicator; added variant; bug fixes

Download Esher II Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher III

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

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 Esher III Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher 4

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

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 Esher 4 Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher 5

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

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 Esher 5 Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher 6

Invented and implemented by Karl Scherer, August 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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

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 Esher 6 Now!

 

[Gervie]

Game: Esher 7

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. Each tile in these packs will be additionally rotated as given in the matrix.
This function creates interesting self-similar patterns which are related to fractals.

Variant 2 creates randomized patterns with the eight tiles.

You can create even better effects when you copy the patterns into a paint program and then colour separate connection-elements (like the pieces of a chain) with different colours. Send me your best results and I will put them into a special 'Zillions-Gallery' on my web-pages.

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 Esher 7 Now!