Rummy Drop - Help

Contents

1. Overview
2. Stacking Cards
3. Swapping Cards
4. Levels
5. Scoring
6. High Scores
7. Game Options
8. Controls
9. FAQ

Overview

The instructions for Rummy Drop are quite simple:

• Use the arrow keys to maneuver your card above the stacks.
• Use the space bar to swap your current card for another one.
• Score points by stacking 3 cards of the same rank (e.g. three Jacks)
• Or by stacking 3 or more cards in a straight flush (e.g. 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Clubs).
• The game is over when there's no room for the next card to appear.

But of course, the cards don't always appear in the order you'd like them to!  The challenge lies in stacking the cards that you get so as best to handle the cards that you're going to get.  A judicious use of the space bar can really help!

Stacking Cards

Unlike Klondike and other forms of Solitaire, in Rummy Drop you can stack cards of all suits and ranks on top of each other.  You do not need to alternate colors, go in ascending order, or stick to a single suit.  However, the only way cards will collapse is if you stack 3 of the same rank (e.g. three Kings) on top of each other, or if you stack 3 or more cards in a run of the same suit (e.g. Ace, King, Queen, and Jack of Diamonds).  It just so happens that these are the same two kinds of meld you can make in the popular card game "Rummy", and that's where Rummy Drop gets its name.

Both stacks will collapse

Furthermore, as long as they're consecutive, cards can be stacked in any order and still collapse.  That is, you can stack the 4, 5, and 6 of Clubs in ascending order -- or you can stack them mixed up as 6, 4, and 5 -- and either way, the three cards will collapse.  For example, all three of these stacks will collapse:

All three stacks will collapse

Swapping Cards

A crucial, strategic aspect of Rummy Drop is the ability to swap your card for another one.  By pressing the space bar, you can exchange the card that's currently falling for another one from the deck.  The Game Options dialog offers several different modes of swapping, each lending a different flavor to the game.  For instance, if you're a Solitaire purist, you can disable swapping entirely.  In this case, you have to play the cards exactly as they're dealt to you -- and you usually lose quickly! 

For a more traditional approach, you can swap your card for the next one in the deck.   Each time you hit the space bar, the next card in the "3-card cycle" appears in place of your card.  Using this scheme, if you hit the space bar 3 times, you end up right back where you started.  And no matter how many times you hit the space bar, you'll keep seeing the same 3 cards until you finally drop one of them onto a stack.  At that point, one more card is added from the deck to the "3-card cycle" and play continues.  This method of swapping is sort of like the "preview" mode in many Tetris games.

For trigger-happy, quick-twitching, fast-thinking player, you can instead swap your card for a randomly selected one.  Every time you hit the space bar, you get an entirely different card, and there's no limit on the number of times you can swap.   That may sound like a perfect cheat, but remember there's no guarantee that you'll ever see your original card again.  And there's no guarantee that the future cards will be any better than the past ones!  Many's the time that I've gotten stuck with a card I hated because I kept swapping up until the very end...

And finally, for the "Pyramid" Solitaire enthusiasts, you can swap your card for the "13-minus" companion card of the same suit.  That is, you can swap it for a card of the same suit that, when added to your original card, totals 13.   Sounds weird, but the great thing about this scheme is that you always know what your alternate card is as soon as you see the original.  Refer to the table below for further study.

"13-minus" Companion Cards

Note that only one of the swapping modes described above can be in effect for a given game (i.e. you can't change them in the middle of a game).  Changing one of the modes will simply cause a new game to begin automatically.

Levels

When you begin a game of Rummy Drop, your card drops at a rate of one step per second.  However, the more you play, the faster it drops.  After every 52 cards, you reach a new "level" and the rate of dropping increases.  If you're still learning the game (or you just can't take the pressure!) you can use the Game Options dialog to keep things at a leisurely pace by un-checking the box labeled "Drop cards faster as level gets higher".

Scoring

Rummy Drop scores one measly little point for every card you drop onto a stack.   But that's not where the action is.  The way you really score points is by collapsing cards.  You get 5, 10, or 15 points per card that you collapse, depending on what type of card it is.  Single-digit cards score 5 points (i.e. the two through nine), while face cards and the Ten score 10 points (i.e. King, Queen, Jack, Ten).   Aces score either 5 or 15 points, depending on how they are used.  If an Ace is used as a member of an Ace-Two-Three combination, it only scores 5 points.  But if an Ace is used in an Ace-Ace-Ace or Ace-King-Queen combination, it scores as 15 points.  

And to top it all off, once all the cards have been added up, your score is doubled for each additional card beyond the required 3 that you collapse.  So if you collapse 4 cards, you double your score.  If you collapse 5 cards, quadruple your score.  And so on.  The table below gives a few examples of the Rummy Drop scoring mechanism.

Examples of scoring in Rummy Drop

You can also lose points in Rummy Drop.  If you're playing with the ClearStacks option turned on (e.g. you've checked the box labeled "Clear stacks at the beginning of each level" in the Game Options dialog), then Rummy Drop will subtract points for every card that is currently on the board when you reach the next level.  Single-digit cards cost you 5 points, face cards cost you 10 points, and Aces cost you 15.  Ouch!  

High Scores

To help you gauge your progress, Rummy Drop keeps track of the top 10 high scores it has encountered.  You can see the current top ten by selecting High Scores... from the Game menu.  If you have registered your version of Rummy Drop, your own scores will be added to the list whenever your score exceeds one of those already on the top ten.  For the unregistered version, you will be notified whenever your score would have made it into the top ten; however, you won't be able to add your own great name and comment.   :-)

Game Options

There are many different ways to play Rummy Drop, and you can use the Game Options dialog (shown below) to control the way you'd like to play.  We've already discussed the various Swap Modes in the Swapping Cards section.   Of equal importance are the Rules, which combine with Swap Modes to determine the characteristics of game you play.  Four of the most interesting combinations of Swap Modes and Rules are provided for you by the buttons on the right-hand side of the dialog.  Try clicking on them to see the different types of games you can play.

The Game Options dialog

The One Deck combination uses a single deck of 52 cards.  Once you've dropped all the cards in the deck, the game is over.   However, every time you collapse a stack, the collapsed cards are recycled and returned back to the deck.  So if you're good, you can keep on playing well beyond the original shuffle of 52 cards!  In One Deck, hitting the space bar will cycle through the first 3 cards in the deck

In The Purist combination, you're really limited.  You start with a shuffled deck of 52 cards.  You are never allowed to swap your card for another one, and any cards that you collapse are removed from play until you've finished the entire deck.  It's tough!  And it's similar to many of the traditional Solitaire games out there, in that you can only win if the shuffle is lucky and you play your cards right .

The Easy Going combination is a stress-free way to play.  In this game, the speed never increases so you never have to panic.  And to make it even easier, once you've gone through a deck of 52 cards, the entire screen is cleared so you can start over with a clean slate.  Be careful though -- you'll lose points for every card that's still on the screen when it gets cleared!   This combination is a good way to get started with Rummy Drop, or to try out different strategies.

Finally, the Infinity combination lets you play with an "infinite" deck of cards.  Instead of shuffling a standard deck of 52 cards, it acts as if you've shuffled together an infinite number of decks, so the very same card may appear again and again.  You'll find that this requires a different strategy than the combinations that use a single deck.  Infinity is also intriguing because it uses the "13 minus" swap mode, in which every card has a "companion" that it can be swapped with.

But these aren't the only combinations!  You can start with them, then click on the various items in the Game Options dialog to specify your own set of rules for the game you like best!

Controls

The controls for Rummy Drop are even simpler than the rules.  And they're very similar to most of the Tetris games out there.  You can either use the arrow keys and space bar to manipulate your card or, if your keyboard has a numeric keypad, you can use it to move and swap the card.  Check out the table below for a list of each key and its function.

Keyboard Controls for Rummy Drop

FAQ

Q:  Sometimes pressing the space bar doesn't swap my current card.  Why?
A: If you are using one deck and there's only one card left in the deck, it is simply not possible to swap your card for another one.  There aren't any left!   Similarly, if you're trying to swap for the "13-minus" companion card, and that card has already been played (e.g. it's not in the deck), it is also impossible to do a swap.  In this case Rummy Drop just leaves you with your current card. 

Q:  When I run Rummy Drop, I get an error message about CARDS32.DLL.  What's up?
A: The file CARDS32.DLL contains the images of all 52 playing cards.  Clearly, Rummy Drop needs this file in order to play a game, but if you're getting an error message, chances are that Rummy Drop simply cannot find it.  CARDS32.DLL should have been included in your download of Rummy Drop, and should have been installed when you extracted the rest of the Rummy Drop files from RUMZIP.EXE.   So the first thing you should do is check to be sure it is located in the same folder as your RUMDROP.EXE file.  If it's not, try downloading and installing Rummy Drop again.  However, if CARDS32.DLL and RUMDROP.EXE are in the same directory, but Rummy Drop still doesn't work, try copying CARDS32.DLL to your Windows System directory (e.g. C:\Windows\System).   This works for most people.  But if it still doesn't, send email.

Q:  Why should I register my copy of Rummy Drop?
A: Because it's the right thing to do!
A: Because it helps to support this site!
A: Because it helps us improve the game and write others like it!
A: Because it gives you a chance to offer feedback and suggestions for the game!
A: Because it gets rid of the download timer and enables the high score list!
A: Because it supports the shareware game industry, which brings you low-cost, high-quality, non-corporate games like this!
A: Because it's so darn cheap!

Copyright � 1998-2000 Susan Brooks.  All rights reserved.