Fish 'n' More 2/fishmore-publicdomainlibraryvol.ii1991xetec.iso/fish/prog_demos/pokerdemo/accordion rules

Text File | 1990-11-17 | 11KB | 205 lines

Accordion is (C) 1989 UnSane Creations. The demo version of
Accordion is freely distributable, provided the demo program, the
icon, and this text file are included, and none are modified.


Introduction
    Last week you engineered the takeover of several
multinational conglomerates.  This week you're rounding out your
personal fortune with the purchase of a major league baseball
team.  Isn't it time you took a break?  Play Accordion, the
mindless game for people with minds.  Solitaire like you always
wished it could be.
    This is a demo of Accordion.  It's a working version of
Accordion that only plays two different games.  Try it out, give
it to your friends, this demo is freely distributable.  If you
like it, send your address and $29.95 to UnSane Creations and
we'll rush you Accordion.
    This readme file is provided to supplement the online help.
It contains a detailed description of the standard rules and
their variations.  Also included is a section of hints for
beginning Accordion players called The Advice Column.  And of
course, what readme file wouldn't be complete without the current
UnSane Creations rumors.

Standard Rules
    For those of you experienced at playing different solitaire
games, here is a quick summary of the rules:  The object of the
game is to condense all the cards into one pile.  The cards are
dealt face up from left to right one at a time.  Piles are built
by moving a card or pile from the left onto a card or pile to the
right.  Piles move as their top card, which can be moved one or
two cards to the left provided one of two conditions is met:
one, the card to the left is of the same suit or two, the card to
the left is the same number.  For a more detailed explanation,
read on.
    The playing field is divided into two areas.  The top, where
the cards are dealt face up from left to right, and the bottom,
where the undealt cards are kept.  The undealt cards are kept out
of the way at the bottom of the screen so you can concentrate on
the cards showing.  You are free to deal or undeal them as you
wish.
    A game begins with four dealt cards.  Let's assume that
those four cards are from left to right, the queen of spades, the
seven of diamonds, the ace of hearts, and the nine of diamonds.
There are two things we can do at this point, take the one move
possible or deal another card.
    Let's assume that you wanted to take the move.  Since cards
can be moved one or two cards to the left onto a card of the same
suit, you place the nine of diamonds onto the seven of diamonds.
The nine of diamonds and seven of diamonds form a pile, but you
can forget about the seven of diamonds for the rest of the game
since the pile moves as if it were the top card.  Accordion keeps
track of these piles so you can undo moves, but you need never
worry about them.  You now have three cards showing, the queen of
spades, the nine of diamonds, and the ace of hearts.  You cannot
make a legal move with these three cards, therefore Accordion
will automatically deal you cards until you can make a legal
move.  Let's say Accordion deals the seven of hearts.  The seven
of hearts can be placed onto the ace of hearts.  Once again you
must decide whether to take the move or to deal another card
yourself.
    Let's go back to the beginning of the game and assume that
you wanted to deal another card instead of taking the move.  You
deal the seven of hearts.  You now have five cards showing, the
queen of spades, the seven of diamonds, the ace of hearts, the
nine of diamonds, and the seven of hearts.  Because you dealt
another card, you now have two possible moves.  You can place the
nine onto the seven of diamonds as before or you can move the
seven of hearts onto the ace.  Let's move the seven of hearts.
You now have from left to right, the queen of spades, the seven
of diamonds, the seven of hearts, and the nine of diamonds.
Accordion won't deal you more cards so you still have at least
one more legal move.  Since cards can be moved one or two cards
to the left onto a card of the same number as well as onto a card
of the same suit, the seven of hearts can be placed on the seven
of diamonds.  Only after you take this move will Accordion
automatically deal more cards.  Once again you must choose
whether or not to take the move possible or to deal another card.
You continue until you've condensed all the cards into one pile,
at which you've won the game and are ready for another.


Variations
    Accordion allows you to change its rules, giving you a total
of two hundred twenty-eight different playable variations.  You
can change Accordion's rules by selecting Change Rules under the
Edit menu.  When you do, you see the following options:

        Cards may be moved one place left
        Cards may be moved two places left
        Cards may be moved three places left

        Cards may be moved one place right
        Cards may be moved two places right
        Cards may be moved three places right

        Cards go on same number only
        Number may differ by one

        Cards go on same suit
        Cards go on same color

You can vary the game's difficulty by changing these options,
making Accordion challenging for anyone, from the youngest novice
to the oldest master.
    The first set of options governs movement to the left.  The
standard rules only let you move one or two cards to the left.
By changing these options you can move one, two, or three cards
to the left or any combination thereof.  You can even insure that
no cards will move to the left.
    The second set of options controls movement to the right.
Normally you can't move cards to the right, but with these
options you can choose to move cards one, two, or three cards to
the right or any combination thereof.
    The third set affects the number you can put a card on.  In
standard play you can only put cards of the same number on one
another.  For example, you can place the seven of hearts on the
seven of diamonds.  But by changing this option you can put cards
that differ by one on one another.  In other words, the seven of
hearts can now go on the six or eight of diamonds as well as the
seven.
    The fourth set similarly affects the suit you can put a card
on.  Normally you can only put a card on its own suit.  But you
have the option of putting a card on another of its same color.
A heart could then go on a diamond, and a spade on a club.

The Advice Column
    1.  Don't start with the standard rules.  Start simply and
make Accordion fun as well as challenging.  Two good rules to add
are 'cards may be moved one place to the right' and 'cards may be
moved two places to the right.'  If the game is still too hard,
change a few more rules.  The point is to learn to play Accordion
without getting frustrated.  After all, aren't games supposed to
be fun?
    2.  Always check the cards two or three places to the right
and the left before making a move.  A good move or a bad move is
determined more by the cards near it than by the move itself.
    3.  Always deal more than Accordion automatically deals.
When Accordion deals, it deals until you have at least one
possible move.  But this often means that you have only one
possible move.  If you only take the few moves Accordion deals,
you are going to win very few games.  Deal at least three or four
cards more before you make a move.
    4.  Whether you've only dealt out a few cards, a row of
cards, or the whole deck, work from the upper left to the lower
right.  There is a strong tendency for people to work first with
the cards they have just dealt in other words from the lower
right to the upper left.  But for some unknown reason, people
tend to do better when they work from left to right.  It's
probably because it forces them to consider the cards around the
ones they want to move.  Try playing the game both ways.  See
which way you play best.
    5.  Before you cover a card, look for others of its kind.
If the eight of clubs is just four cards always from the eight of
diamonds, don't cover the eight of diamonds with another diamond
without determining if it is possible to get to the eight of
clubs.  The real key to condensing cards is not just covering
hearts with other hearts or clubs with other clubs, but hearts
with clubs and diamonds with spades, etc...
    6.  Use your pairs, triplets, and quadruplets frugally.
Move them as far left as possible before you condense them.  For
example, suppose the two of spades and the two of diamonds were
next to each other.  Try moving the two of spades onto other
spades to the left and the two of diamonds onto other diamonds.
You might be able to jump the two of spades two spades to the
left and the two of diamonds one or two diamonds left before you
put the two of diamonds on the two of spades.  If you hadn't
first tried to move the pair to the left you would have a pile of
two cards, but if you did move them individually as far left as
possible you can make that same pile five or six cards.  The
point is that pairs, triplets, and quadruplets can be incredible
useful in solving Accordion;  don't just throw them away.
    7.  Don't always take all your moves.  Leave a few moves
before dealing more cards or concentrating further right.  You
have more possibilities later in the game if you leave yourself
some leeway.  You can always take these moves later in the game.
    8.  Use Undo.  Use it when you're in trouble.  Use it when
you make a mistake.  But use it, even if you have to Undo to the
start of a game.  Undoing is not cheating.  You can always Redo
an undone move.
    9.  If, in time, Accordion becomes too easy, make it harder.
The ability to change Accordion's rules not only provides you
with the means to make Accordion easier, but it also allows you
to make it harder.  Accordion can be made trivially easy or
virtually impossible.  It's up to you.
    9.  Like many other prominent psychologists, astrologists,
and Advice Columnists, I may not have the slightest idea what I
am talking about.  Use your own judgement.


Rumors
    Steve, Accordion's programmer, is really a native of
Shoriiklaac, the fifth planet of a star in the Andromeda galaxy.
UFO's stole him from his native planet and dropped him off on
Earth.  In his opinion, UFO kidnapping is the alien analogue of
TPing the yard by the alien equivalents of drunk teenage high
school drop outs.  If you wish to speak to Steve, about
Accordion, UFO's, or anything else for that matter, feel free to
contact him at [phone] or write to him c/o:

                UnSane Creations
                815 Windingpath Lane
                Manchester, MO 63021
                USA