Guide No. 200000 Dr. Seuss FIX-UP THE MIX-UP PUZZLER No. 2699 FOR COLECO VISION(R) & ADAM(TM) FAMILY COMPUTER SYSTEM COLECO THAT'S PUZZLING! What's better than a jigsaw puzzle? An electronic jigsaw puzzle. What's better than that? An electronic jigsaw puzzle that features favorite characters from the wacky world of Dr. Seuss! DR. SEUSS FIX-UP THE MIX-UP(TM) PUZZLER is a zany combination of learning and fun. Designed for children ages 4-10, the game provides hours of unduplicated play while promoting problem-solving strategies, logic, pattern recognition, memory, and a variety of other early learning skills. Players can choose from five levels, ranging in difficulty from the very simple to the very complex. The object of the game is to reassemble a scrambled picture of three Seuss characters. In Level One, children can mix and match the characters' heads, torsos, and feet, often creating their own silly versions of the puzzle picture. In other levels, the characters must be assembled correctly and in their original left-to-right order. The higher the skill level, the harder it is to put the characters back together again. Not only are there more puzzle pieces, but some of them are upside down. Quite a mix-up, indeed! GETTING READY TO PLAY MAKE SURE THE COLECOVISION(R) OR ADAM(TM) IS OFF BEFORE INSERTING OR REMOVING A CARTRIDGE. Plug the Controller into Port 1. Press the Reset Button. The Title Screen for DR. SEUSS FIX-UP THE MIX-UP(TM) PUZZLER appears on your TV. After a few moments, the Title Screen is replaced by the Skill Selection Screen. It contains a list of five different skill levels. Each level is represented by a corresponding number of dots on a playing die. These dots also appear on the keyboard overlay provided. Level One is the easiest, suitabloe for play by very young children. Level Five is the hardest, recommended for older children. All five difficulty levels are explained in greater detail, beginning on page 7 of this guide. To select a skill level, press the corresponding button on your controller keypad. HERE'S HOW IT WORKS The instructions that follow provide a general overview of game play. For more specific instructions on playing at each skill level and tips on using the game with your child, refer to the section called, "Guiding Your Child's Discovery," beginning on page 6 of this guide. Ready? Fix-Up the Mix-Up! After you choose a Skill Level, the following message appears on your screen: "PRESS KEYPAD BUTTON '*' TO SCRAMBLE PICTURE." A few seconds later, that message is replaced by the Game Screen. [Drawing of sample screen, with PUZZLE AREA and SPACE HOLDER labeled] UNSCRAMBLED PUZZLE [Drawing of sample screen, with PUZZLE AREA, WHITE BOX and SPACE HOLDER labeled] SCRAMBLED PUZZLE When the Game Screen first appears, the Space Holder (on the right-hand side of the screen) is empty and three fully-assembled Seuss characters appear in the Puzzle Area (large portion of screen). For each puzzle, the computer randomly selects three characters from a possible six, including The Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, The Star-Bellied Sneech, The Doorman, The Woset, and Clark. To scramble the picture, you must press keypad button "*". In Skill Levels 1 and 2, you can reassemble the characters in any order you choose. In Skill Levels 3, 4, and 5, however, you must put them back together in their original, left-to-right order. Before you can rearrange puzzle pieces, you must create an empty space in the Puzzle Area. Notice the white box surrounding the piece in the upper left-hand corner. You'll use this box to select the puzzle pieces you want to move. How to Move Puzzle Pieces 1. Use the control stick or the four arrow keys on your hand controller to move the white box over to the first piece you want to move. (Pushing the control stick up, down, left, or right makes the white box slide to the next puzzle piece in that direction. The four arrow keys have the same effect.) 2. With the white box surrounding the selected piece, press either side button. The piece moves to the Space Holder, leaving an empty space behind. 3. To move a new piece into the empty space, first use the white box to select the piece you want to move. 4. Press either side button to make the new piece move into the empty space. 5. Continue moving puzzle pieces in this manner until you've rearranged all but the last piece. 6. In order to end the game, you must take the last piece out of the Space Holder and move it into the Puzzle Area. There are two ways to do this. First, you can use the control stick to surround the Space Holder with the white box, then press either side button. The piece in the Space Holder will move into the empty space in the Puzzle Area. Or, you can surround the empty space with the white box, then press the side button. This way, the piece in the Space Holder automatically moves into the empty space. Note: In some Skill Levels, selected puzzle pieces are upside down. To rotate a puzzle piece so it is right-side up, press the ROTATE key (#5) on your controller keypad. To try another puzzle at the same skill level, press keypad button "*" at the end of the game. To return to the Skill Selection Screen at any time after you've scrambled the puzzle, press keypad button "#". GUIDING YOUR CHILD'S DISCOVERY DR. SEUSS FIX-UP THE MIX-UP(TM) PUZZLER is a natural for promoting the kind of cooperative playtime that's so important to good parent/child relationships. It also gives kids a chance to practice and explore a wide range of concepts such as sequencing, logic, problem solving, object recognition, memory, and part/whole relationships. And, because the game features five different skill levels, it provides a variety of challenges that grow with your child's age and abilities. On the next few pages, you'll find detailed information on each Skill Level with tips on how you can help your child get the most out of each. LEVEL ONE This level, designed for very young children, provides a delightful open-play environment that functions as an introduction to higher skill levels. When the picture is scrambled, the Seuss characters are divided into nine, equal-sized puzzle pieces, each containing a recognizable body part. Because the puzzle does not have to be assembled in any particular manner, children can explore this level in a variety of ways. Before your child attempts to rearrange the puzzle, however, you'll need to explain how the Space Holder works. If you've played with the game yourself, you know that in order to rearrange puzzle pieces, you must use the Space Holder to create an empty space in the Puzzle Area first. This can be a very difficult concept for most children to grasp, so you might want to remove the first piece yourself and put it in the Space Holder. Most children first approach the scrambled puzzle by exchanging the characters' heads, torsos and feet, thereby creating their own zany versions of the puzzle picture. This kind of playful experimentation not only provides a good occasion for silliness, it also introduces children to the way the game works. While exploring this level, children may discover that certain body parts animate when correctly matched. If that happens, you may want to encourage your chlid to look for other matches in the puzzle and, if he or she seems ready, to shift the characters into their original positions. Of course, you'll have to memorize the order before scrambling the picture so you can tell when the child gets its right. Don't worry if your child has difficulty moving puzzle pieces to make correct matches. Most preschool children haven't developed all of the logical thinking skills an activity like this requires. As a general rule, it's best to let your child experiment in this level until he or she is ready to move on. LEVEL TWO This level adds a new "twist" to the game. As in Level One, the puzzle is divided into nine, equal-sized pieces, each containing a recognizable body part - but this time, some of the pieces are upside down. Also unlike in Level One, players must correctly assemble each character to end the game. However, the characters still do not have to be assembled in their original, left-to-right order. When your child is ready for this level, explain how to use the ROTATE key (#5) on the Controller Keypad to turn the upside-down pieces right-side up. Demonstrate this a few times for your child, then have him or her try it on a "practice puzzle." Most kids enjoy using this "magic button" to rotate puzzle pieces, so don't be surprised if your child wants to play with it for a while before moving on. Different children are apt to try different strategies when playing at this level. In general, it's easier and move efficient to invert the pieces first. If your child is having difficulty, you might want to suggest this plan of attack. It requires a good eye to identify upside-down puzzle pieces, so don't be disturbed if it takes several tries before your child is able to complete a game. You might want to help by turning all the upside-down pieces right side up first. You'll notice that when all of the characters have been assembled, they animate and a score of 450 points appears in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. This score is not cumulative. Each time you begin a new game, the score resets to zero. Children may want to keep track of their scores on paper to see how they measure up to friends and family members. LEVEL THREE In this level, the puzzle is divided into sixteen equal-sized pieces, all of which are right-side-up. The smaller pieces make the game much more difficult because the characters' body parts are no longer recognizable. To end the game, players must correctly assemble the characters in their original, left-to-right order. Level Three also features a time limit, represented by a colored border surrounding the Puzzle Area. If the puzzle is completed before the timer runs out, the player earns bonus points in addition to 800 points for completing the game. Because the puzzle pieces are smaller and the characters' body parts less distinguishable, this level provides a good introduction to part/whole relationships and requires abstract thinking to complete. If your child is stumped, encourage him or her to use color and position clues to match pieces, as in a tradtional jigsaw puzzle. For example, see if the child can find all the blue background pieces first. Some children start building characters in the middle or bottom portion of the screen, only to find that they run out of room when it's time to add torsos and feet. When this happens, you might want to point out that heads always go in the top portion of the screen, torsos in the middle, and feet at the bottom. You also might suggest that the child start out by moving all the head pieces to the top of the screen. In Level Three, children quickly discover that the puzzle simply doesn't look right unless the characters are reassembled in their original left-to-right order. Finding the fix-up for this kind of mix-up presents a more difficult logic problem. Most kids will need plenty of time to experiment with different strategies as they attempt to shift correctly assembled characters from left to right or right to left. LEVEL FOUR Talk about a mix-up! In this level, the puzzle is divided into sixteen pieces, some of which are upside down. As in Level Three, the game is over when all three characters are correctly assembled in their original order. Players score 1250 points for completing the puzzle and additional bonus points for finishiing before the timer runs out. This level provides quite a challenge for most children. As in Level Three, the smaller pieces make it more difficult to identify body parts. In addition, it's harder to tell which ones are upside down and which are right side up. It's a good idea to introduce this level by having your child help out as you reassemble the puzzle. Encourage him or her to look at each piece carefully, deciding first whether it's upside down or right-side up, and then where it belongs in the puzzle picture. Kids not only practice finding visual clues this way, they also get a chance to test guesses and develop problem-solving skills. When your child is feeling more comfortable with the smaller pieces, you can let him or her be the one to actually rearrange the puzzle. As another practice activity, try reassembling the puzzle yourself, but place the characters in an incorrect order from left to right. Then have your child figure out a strategy for getting the characters bback into their original positions. LEVEL FIVE This level is recommended for older children who are already comfortable with the game in Level Four. The puzzle is divided into twenty-five pieces, some of which are upside down. Because the pieces are smaller than they were in Level Four, it requires a better eye to match the characters' body parts and to identify those puzzle pieces that are upside down. As in previous levels, the game is over when all the characters are reassembled in their original order. Players earn 1250 points for completing the puzzle correctly and bonus points for finishing before the timer runs out. Of course, the game does not end when the timer runs out. In fact, few children will be able to complete the puzzle within the alotted time limit. If this level proves too difficult for your child, try going back to Level Four and work on the larger puzzle together. You may find that after a few more practice sessions, he or she is ready for Level Five. SUMMARY OF CONTROLS [Drawing shows a picture of a Coleco controller and an overlay. Labeled are the CONTROL STICK, SIDE BUTTONS, OVERLAY and KEYPAD. An internal caption reads INSERT OVERLAY INTO CONTROLLER] 1. Control Stick: When the game begins, a white box surrounds the puzzle piece in the upper left-hand corner of the Puzzle Area. You'll use this box to select the puzzle pieces you want to move. Pushing the control stick up, down, left, or right moves the white box in the selected direction. You also can move the white box using the four arrow keys on your controller keypad. (Younger children may find this method easier.) For more specific instructions, refer to the section labeled "Keypad Buttons" below. 2. Side Buttons: With the white box surrounding a puzzle piece, press either side button to make the piece move into the empty space in the Puzzle Area or in the Space Holder. Pressing either side button when the white box is surrounding an empty puzzle space automatically makes the piece in the Space Holder move into that empty space in the Puzzle Area. 3. Keypad Buttons: Each keypad button has a specific function. A symobl for each function appears on the keypad overlay. A description of each symbol follows: [Die showing 1] Selects Skill Level 1 [Die showing 2] Selects Skill Level 2 [Die showing 3] Selects Skill Level 3 [Die showing 4] Selects Skill Level 4 [Die showing 5] Selects Skill Level 5 [Drawn up arrow] Moves the white box up [Drawn left arrow] Moves the white box left [Drawn right arrow] Moves the white box right [Drawn down arrow] Moves the white box down [Drawn arrow pointing down, but curving to do so] Turns the selected puzzle piece right-side up or upside down [Drawn asterix] Scrambles the puzzle picture at the start of a game and allows you to play again at the same Skill Level at the end of a game. [Drawn pound sign] Returns you to the Skill Selection Screen. THE FUN OF DISCOVERY This instruction booklet will provide the basic information you need to get started playing DR. SEUSS FIX-UP THE MIX-UP(TM) PUZZLER, but it is only the beginning! You'll find that this cartridge is full of special features to make the game exciting every time you play. Experiment with different techniques - and enjoy the game! 90-DAY LIMITED WARRANTY [information deleted] COLECO ADAM(TM) is a trademark of Coleco Industries, Inc. ColecoVision(R) is a registered trademark of Coleco Industries, Inc. DR. SEUSS FIX-UP THE MIX-UP(TM) PUZZLER(C) 1984 Dr. Seuss. All Rights Reserved. Package, Program and Audiovisual(C) 1984 Coleco Industries, Inc. Amsterdam, NY 12010. All Rights Reserved. (C) 1984 Coleco Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.