|Bษอออออออออออออออหออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออหอออออออออออออออป |Bบ |6Fun and Games|B บ ^1 Mu Torere|B บ |6Fun and Games|B บ |Bศอออออออออออออออสออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออออสอออออออออออออออผ ^Cby ^CJohn Besnard ^1INTRODUCTION Mu Torere is a mind-bending puzzle from New Zealand. The object of the game is for each player to move his game pieces in such a way as to make future moves impossible for his opponent. Find the strategy that allows you to beat the computer -- to prevent its "blocking" move. ^1MU TORERE GAME BOARD There are nine spots on the game board. Player 1 has the light pieces which initially occupy spots 1, 2, 3 and 4. Player 2 has the dark pieces which initially occupy spots 5, 6, 7 and 8. Spot 0, in the center, is initially open. ^1LEGAL MOVES A player is allowed to move his game piece if it is adjacent to the spot on the board that is currently open. However, there is one restriction. A player may NOT move a game piece to the CENTER SPOT unless this game piece is bordered on one or both sides by his opponent's pieces. ^1PLAYING THE GAME To help you keep track of these rules, a prompt will appear that displays which of your pieces may be legally moved on the current turn. Press the number key (from 0 to 8) corresponding to the piece you wish to move, and this piece will reappear in the empty spot. ^1WINNING If your opponent cannot make any legal moves on his turn, then YOU WIN! ^1STRATEGY After playing a few times, you will recognize the advantage of occupying the center spot. A player with a piece in the center spot CANNOT lose. Get to the center and stay there as long as you can! ^1IMPORTANT KEYS F1 = RULES - Displays a short set of the rules. F2 = PLAYERS - Activates a drop down menu that lets you adjust the opponents in the game. Move the cursor ("") using the arrow keys to your choice and press . Press to leave without making a selection. As you increase the computer skill level, the image of the computer will be shown with more "teeth." Just think of them as wisdom teeth! F3 = SOUND - Toggles the sound on and off. F4 = RESTART - Allows you to restart the game at any time. F5 = OOPS - Allows you to take back a move. NOTE: If you take back a computer's move, it will try to move again instantly. To take back two moves in a row, if you are playing against a computer, press twice rapidly. ESC = QUIT - Allows you to end the game, but asks if you really want to quit. ^1ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE This game uses some elements of the early research into artificial intelligence. The computer selects its move by first generating each possible move from its current position and evaluating its effectiveness. It randomly selects from the best moves, so each game is different. If you are clever, you can play the computer against itself and determine how it "thinks." Use this knowledge to your advantage, but you will notice that the computer does not make many mistakes. New Zealand hypnotists have also found that playing the computer against itself is an effective way to induce a trance! ^COutside BBD To run this program outside ^1Big Blue Disk^0, type: ^1MU^0. DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES: ^FMU.EXE