╔N THE WORLD OF STRATEGY GAMES THE BALANCE BETWEEN TRYING TO ACHIEVE YOUR OWN OBJECTS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PREVENTING YOUR OPPONENT FROM DOING THE SAME IS PARAMOUNT. ╘AKEN LITERALLY EACH MOVE YOU MAKE SHOULD ATTEMPT TO DICTATE YOUR OPPONENT'S RESPONSE. ╔N "╘RIPLES!" THIS CONCEPT IS VERY LITERAL, SINCE YOU ACTUALLY DETERMINE THE MOVES YOUR OPPONENT CAN MAKE, AND HE/SHE YOURS!
"╘RIPLES!" ╟AMEPLAY
"╘RIPLES!" IS A UNIQUE STRATEGY GAME FOR THE ╟┼╧╙ ENVIRONMENT. ╔T IS PLAYED ON AN 8-BY-8 BOARD ON WHICH SIT 56 DIRECTIONAL TILES, TWO PLAYER STARTING TILES, TWO PLAYER GOAL TILES, AND FOUR BLANK TILES. ┼ACH OF THE 56 DIRECTIONAL TILES CONSISTS OF A DIFFERENT COMBINATION OF THREE POINTED ARROWS THAT DETERMINE PLAYER MOVEMENT. ╘HERE ARE EIGHT POSSIBLE MOVEMENT DIRECTIONS IN "╘RIPLES!": UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, AND THE FOUR DIAGONALS. ┼ACH PLAYER STARTS AT THEIR RESPECTIVE STARTING LOCATIONS IN THE BOTTOM CORNERS OF THE BOARD AND IS TASKED WITH REACHING THEIR GOAL TILES IN THE OPPOSITE CORNERS. ┬ARRING THE WAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOARD ARE THE FOUR BLANK TILES, THROUGH WHICH NO MOVEMENT IS ALLOWED.
╨LAY BEGINS WITH PLAYER 1 SELECTING ANY ADJACENT TILE TO MOVE TO. ╨LAYER 2 CAN THEN MOVE TO ONLY THOSE ADJACENT TILES TO HIS/HER CURRENT LOCATION THAT ARE POINTED TO BY ONE OF THE THREE DIRECTIONAL ARROWS ON THE TILE WHERE PLAYER 1 IS CURRENTLY LOCATED. ╔T IS POSSIBLE THAT ONE, TWO, OR ALL THREE OF THE POSSIBLE DIRECTIONS INDICATED ARE NOT POSSIBLE, EITHER DUE TO THE EDGE OF THE BOARD OR THE FOUR BLANK TILES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BOARD, AND A PLAYER MAY ONLY SELECT FROM THE LEGAL MOVES INDICATED. ╔T IS ALSO NOT ALLOWED FOR BOTH PLAYERS TO OCCUPY THE SAME TILE AT THE SAME TIME! ╔F NO LEGAL MOVE IS POSSIBLE, THAT PLAYER'S TURN IS SKIPPED. ╘HE FIRST PLAYER TO REACH HIS/HER GOAL TILE IS THE WINNER!
"╘RIPLES!" AND ╟┼╧╙
"╘RIPLES!" IS VERY EASY TO PLAY UNDER ╟┼╧╙. ╧NCE EXECUTED THE INITIAL BOARD IS DRAWN WITH THE 56 DIRECTIONAL TILES PLACED RANDOMLY. ┴ DIALOG BOX IS THEN PRESENTED TO SELECT THE TWO PLAYERS. ╘HE DEFAULT IS FOR BOTH PLAYERS TO BE HUMAN, WHICH IS INDICATED BY ╥┼─ (PLAYER 1) AND ╟╥┼┼╬ (PLAYER 2). ┴NY COMBINATION OF HUMAN AND COMPUTER PLAYERS MAY BE SELECTED FROM THIS DIALOG BOX BY SIMPLY CLICKING ON THE APPROPRIATE ICON TO TOGGLE THAT PLAYER SELECTION BETWEEN ╥┼─/╟╥┼┼╬ AND ├╧═╨╒╘┼╥. ┴FTER YOUR SELECTIONS HAVE BEEN MAKE CLICK ON ╧╦ TO START THE GAME OR ├┴╬├┼╠ TO RETURN TO THE DESKTOP.
┼ACH OF THE DIRECTIONAL TILES IS COLORED BLUE WHILE THE CURRENT LOCATIONS OF THE TWO PLAYERS IS INDICATED BY THE CURRENT LOCATION DIRECTIONAL TILE BEING COLORED EITHER RED OR GREEN FOR THAT PLAYER. ╘HE PLAYER WHOSE TURN IT IS TO MOVE IS INDICATED BY THE CORRESPONDING COLOR DISPLAYED IN THE BORDER OF THE SCREEN. ┴ MOVE IS SELECTED BY CLICKING ON THE DESIRED ADJACENT TILE, AND IF THE MOVE IS LEGAL IT IS SO INDICATED AND PLAY PROCEEDS WITH THE PLAYER. ╔F THE PLAY IS NOT LEGAL A TONE WILL SOUND AND ANOTHER SELECTION MUST BE MADE. ╔F A PLAY IS NOT POSSIBLE CLICK ON THE "╬O ╨LAY" ICON AND PLAY WILL PROCEED TO THE NEXT PLAYER IF YOU ARE CORRECT, OTHERWISE A TONE WILL SOUND TO TELL YOU THAT YOU DO HAVE A LEGAL PLAY. ╔F YOU'D LIKE A HINT JUST CLICK ON THE "╚INT" ICON AND THE SUGGESTED TILE WILL BE COLORED IN WHITE. ├LICK ANYWHERE AGAIN TO REMOVE THE SUGGESTED TILES DISPLAY AND CONTINUE THE GAME. ╔F NO LEGAL MOVE IS POSSIBLE AND "╚INT" IS SELECTED PLAY WILL AUTOMATICALLY PROCEED TO THE NEXT PLAYER. ═OVEMENT IS NOT ALLOWED INTO ANY OF THE FOUR CENTRAL BLANK SQUARES, NOR TO EITHER OF THE STARTING TILE LOCATIONS. ═OVEMENT INTO YOUR OPPONENT'S GOAL TILE IS ALSO NOT ALLOWED.
╔F YOU SELECT TWO COMPUTER PLAYERS IT IS POSSIBLE FOR THE GAME TO "GET STUCK" WHEN EACH COMPUTER PLAYER SHUFFLES BETWEEN TWO TILES FOREVER. ╘O GET OUT OF THIS SITUATION JUST MOVE THE MOUSE POINTER OVER THE QUIT ICON IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE SCREEN, BUT DON'T CLICK. ┴T THE START OF THE NEXT COMPUTER PLAYER'S TURN YOUR DESIRE TO QUIT BACK TO THE DESKTOP WILL BE RECOGNIZED.
