PsL Monthly 1993 December

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GA-06: Logic/Puzzle Games --------------------------------- 2407 Arcade Maze Games and Others Small Programs Disk --------------------------------- Blind Maze 2.0 (BLINDMZ) Soleau, William $15 is a maze game in which you blast walls, find maps and time bombs, and avoid the Evil Spirits. Each floor is a different, complex maze of which you can see only a little piece at a time. A different "mission" is given to you for each level. Try to complete the mission and advance to the next level before you run out of oxygen. Graphics NOT required. Computer Mind (CMIND) Acinom Software $10 is another variation of the Master Mind game. Best graphics on EGA/VGA, but works on CGA too. GJID 2.0 Galifir Developments $10 is a fascinating and unusual puzzle/maze game guaranteed to keep you strapped to your chair. For CGA, the graphics are impressive. The sound effects are good, but can be turned off if you don't want to disturb others. Master Mind (MASTERM) Yim, Stephen $0 is a nice version of the Master Mind type of puzzle in which you try to deduce the colors chosen by the computer. Robots From Hell (ROBOTS) Voss, William R. $0 requires you to avoid the robots while attempting to reach the exit. Since there is no time factor and the robots do not move until you do, this is a strategy game or puzzle rather than an arcade type. Since robots cannot be easily avoided, the real key is luring them into obliteration in the force fields. Requires VGA or MCGA. Seeker1 Soleau, William $5-$10 is a lot more fun and addictive than it would sound like from the description. All you do is select one of three entrances into a maze for your man to enter and sit back and watch. Your man moves through the maze, hopefully picking up items that will gain you points. Meanwhile, an enemy is stalking your man and if you have not selected an entrance well, may catch and kill him. We tried using the SILENCER program (on disk 1-UT-270) to quiet the constant beeping, but it somehow messed up the program. This is the first time we have run into this with SILENCER. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #2407 -------------------------------- --------------- 1615 Maze Games Small Programs Disk --------------- Amaze is a nifty maze maker with a twist - after drawing the maze on the screen, it will let you watch it solve the maze by leaving a colored trail. Of course, you can choose to solve it yourself if you wish. Ariva 3.0 Wizard Systems Software $15 is a one- or two-player type of maze/puzzle game. You pick a direction with the cursor keys and the snake goes as far as it can in the chosen direction. The object is to reach the top exit before time expires. Requires VGA CGAMaze Dean, James L. $0 generates 3D mazes on CGA compatible displays. You can try to solve the maze on screen or dump the screen to a printer if you have a graphics screen dump utility. MSC source is included. IBMMaze Dean, James L. $0 will create a maze that prints out on 36 sheets of paper which you tape together to create a 6x6-page, 3-D maze. Your printer must be able to print IBM "ASCII graphics" and 66 lines per page; otherwise, see LPTMaze. C source included. InvMaze Dean, James L. $0 is a fast, full-screen maze generator. To print it out, you will need a printer that supports the IBM extended character set line drawing characters. Pascal source code included. LPTMaze Dean, James L. creates a 6x6-page maze, similar to IBMMaze, but using plain characters instead of "ASCII graphics" characters. If you have a laser printer, you must be able to set it to 66 lines per page. C source included. Maze3 Stiller, Wolfgang $12 is a maze generating program that you try to solve from inside the maze. Any video system will work, but if you have EGA/VGA, you get even better results. PC-Maze creates maze puzzles. BASIC or GWBASIC required. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #1615 -------------------------------- ------------------ 2991 Maze Games #2 Small Programs Disk ------------------ 3D Maze 1.0 (3DMAZE) Haden, Charles W. $0 is a 3D Maze game in which you are down in the maze and can only see the walls. C source code is included. Captain Eric 2.6 (CPTERIC) PC Solutions $15 requires you to navigate twelve monster-filled mazes to escape alien headquarters. You can set traps to destroy some of the aliens, teleport out of sticky situations, temporarily freeze monsters, and more. Landmine (LANDMIN) is a simpler version of MINES, below. Math Maze 1.0 (MATHMAZ) Young, Scott $5 is a maze-adventure type game with some math thrown in. As you work your way through a maze searching for the cash, you run into closed doors that can only be opened using some mathematical combination of digits that you have in your possession. As you use up digits, you can pick up more along the way. There are five levels of play and games can be saved and recalled. Maze Survey (MAZESUR) Tylutki, George $9 is a graphics game in which you maneuver a variable-speed vehicle through mazes laying down and picking up markers while the clock ticks down. There are ten mazes and four levels of difficulty. MazeWars (MAZWARS) Amazing Graphics $15 is a fantastic, real-time, mouse-activated 3-D maze arcade game. Unlike most games were you advance a cell at a time, with MazeWars, pressing the left or right mouse button propels you smoothly through the maze. Moving the mouse to the left or right causes your line of vision to move. If that is not enough, you also have the job of locating and blasting the spinning objects that appear on your radar. You must be careful not to use up all your ammo nor to let them zap you first. VGA and a mouse required. MineHunt (MINEHUN) Nabahi, Narimane $5 is a mine field type of maze game. With VGA in the 50-line mode, you can have a very large playing field. (VGA is NOT required.) Mines 2.0 Vankekerix, Mark $0 in this game you have to find a clear path through a minefield to allow the advancement of your unit, armed with only a metal detector which you later find out is defective. It tells you how many mines total are in adjoining squares, but not which squares they are in. Optionally puts up walls too. Many levels of difficulty. VGAMaze Dean, James L. $0 generates 3D mazes on a VGA display. You can try to solve the maze on screen or print it out. MSC 6.0 source is included. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #2991 -------------------------------- ------------------ 3878 Maze Games #3 Small Programs Disk ------------------ Amazement 2.0 (AMAZERA) Adams, Richard W. $5 will draw mazes of a user-specified size on the screen using graphics. With a graphics screen dump, you can print it out for solving on paper. It also supports monographics and MCGA. Goldmines 1.2 (GOLDMIN) Astro Computing $10 challenges you to deduce the location of mines without having one blow up in your face. VGA and a mouse are required. Labyrinth 1.5 (LAB) Haupt, Lewis $0 is an excellent maze game program. Various options can be changed at any time within the maze: You can display the whole maze, the portion you've explored, or the portion visible from where you stand. You can change the speed the cursor moves. You can either show or hide a thread leading back to the entrance. Normally the program advances you to the next branch point. However, you can make the program search automatically. You can change the distance you can see down corridors. If someone walks in, you can spare yourself embarrassment by hiding the game under the DOS screen visible before you invoked the program. Pharoah's Tomb Vol. 1 3.0 (PTOMB) Broussard, George ASP $25 lets you travel through a pyramid, trying to avoid various monsters and traps. You will find various objects throughout the game that can be used, but you must figure out what they do. This is a well-designed game with excellent graphics. It won't run under DESQview. Telemetry 0.0 (TELMTRY) Wragg, Cris $0 is a 3-D maze game. What makes this one different is the premise that rather than you in the maze, it is your remote sensor (or robot) which you guide with the cursor keys and which sends you back reports like "I just bumped into a wall." If that's too tough for you, you can have it send back a picture so that you can see where nearby corridors and walls are. Requires EGA/VGA. (The author can non longer be reached at the address provided in the documentation.) TiltMaze (TMAZE) Gunn, Christopher G. $? is a labyrinth-type game where the object is to succeed in getting as many of the balls rolled into the center box as possible. You tilt the maze box with the cursor keys and all of the balls start rolling in the same direction. This is not easy, and to make it more difficult there are electric grids scattered around the maze that can destroy the balls. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #3878 -------------------------------- ----------------------- 1904 Logic/Puzzle Games Small Programs Disk ----------------------- #_Mind Eggater & Ibanez $10 is a logic game you play against the computer. The object is to deduce the computer's four-digit code before it deduces yours. It is virtually impossible to beat the computer. 8puzzle 11 Newman, Norman $0 creates the old puzzle of eight numbered blocks and one empty space in a three-by-three grid wherein you try to move one block at a time until they are all in numerical order. If you get too frustrated, the computer will solve it for you. Argh! 4.0 Howorth, David B. $0 is a puzzle that contains different size squares and rectangles in a box. The object is to move the largest square to the opposite side of box by shifting the rectangles around. A file containing the winning solution to a PSL contest is on June 1988 Monthly Additions Disk #2. The program comes with SEVEN devious variations. It supports a mouse, which makes play much easier. Guaranteed to have you screaming "Aaargh!" in no time! Check1 the object of this game is to eliminate all the checkers on the board. The checkers are placed two-deep, on every square all the way around the board. You can only remove them by jumping them diagonally. This is a tough IQ tester. EGA compatible video required, although the graphics are not as impressive as most EGA-only games. CrytoQuick (CRYPTOQ) Thompson, J. R. $? attempts to solve simple substitution ciphers based on frequency and common sense. Logic Die Walkure Software $0 contains a couple of logic problems. You are given a set of clues or facts about various elements of the puzzle and you have to use those clues to deduce the rest of the facts. MicroLink Loyd 1.1 (MLLOYD) Lancaster, Bob $0-$5 is like one of those old plastic puzzles where you slide 15 numbered squares around inside a larger square until they are in order. There are 4 rounds, each with a different goal. Up to 7 players are allowed. The program features sound toggle, fast mode, statistics on multiple games, Bosskey, on-line help, keyboard and mouse support, top ten scores, and more. Works with any monitor, but looks great on a color monitor. This is the best sliding-squares game we have see yet. Pegout 2.0 Leotti, George $5 is a solitaire board game played with pegs. The object is to remove all but one peg. The remaining peg must end up in the center hole, or another hole predetermined by you. Color graphics required, EGA/VGA are supported, if you have them, with better colors and graphics. In our first test, after doing a Backup, the program would not accept any other move, but on the next run, Backup worked fine. Sounds like an elusive bug. StopSign 2.0 (STPSIGN) Howorth, David B. $0 is a puzzle game similar to ARGH!, only this time it's a stop sign that you have to put back together. It has mouse support and graphics for EGA and VGA users. The program will work on CGA as well. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #1904 -------------------------------- -------------------------- 2672 Logic/Puzzle Games #2 Small Programs Disk -------------------------- BoxMania 2 (BOXMANI) Agus, Gunawan $0 is a sadistic sliding numbers game in which you try to get the numbered squares in a box in order. There are eight levels, from 3x3 to 10x10. A new feature is a "chaos" mode in which the computer will interrupt your puzzle solving efforts to slightly scramble the square again(!). While most puzzles simply expect you to get the numbers in numerical order, this one will optionally generate a random sequence for you to attain. While you can press a key during the game to review what the desired sequence is, this feature still makes the puzzle a lot harder to solve. Double Trouble 1.0 (DT) Dickinson, Lawrence $15 is a puzzle in which the goal is to rotate intersecting loops of scrambled colored blocks until all the same colors are back together again. Hua Rong Dao (HRD) Lei, M. $0 is an oriental puzzle game with sliding tiles of different sizes (along the lines of "AARGH!"). Legend has it that even the originator of the game couldn't find a solution in his lifetime. Very nice graphics. Merlin Stafford, David $0 is a simple 1k memory resident (pop-up) puzzle. Merlin is played on a three by three board and the object of the game is to clear the board. Since it is a TSR, you can pop it up and work on it anytime you have a free minute. Sherlock 1.5 (SHERLCK) Kaser, Everett $15 is a game of deduction. It provides you with clues from which you must deduce the location of objects. The goal is to solve the puzzle in the shortest time. This is an interesting, challenging game with good EGA/VGA graphics. Requires 512k and an MS compatible mouse. Subway Sleuth 1.4 (SUBSL) Herring, Steve $8 is a game of underground transportation and above ground crime detection. It uses logical problem solving skills and develops familiarity with the alphabet. Tile15 2.0 Gordon, Jeff $6 is a puzzle where the object is to to get all the tiles in numerical order, just like in the little plastic, hand-held game. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #2672 -------------------------------- -------------------------- 3206 Logic/Puzzle Games #3 Small Programs Disk -------------------------- Blox 2.0 Wright, Richard L. $10 is a unique and challenging puzzle game in which you have to push blocks around a screen to achieve a certain goal. The game is hard to explain, but fun to play. BreakTime 1.0 (BREAKTM) Desert Frog Software $15 is a set of five games which can be run as a 6K TSR so that you can pop it up and play anytime, or you can just call it from the DOS command line. The games and puzzles include Scrambled Capitals, Cave Pig, Towers of Hanoi, Nim, and 8-Puzzle. Cube Cox, Doug $0 is a computer version of the once-popular Rubik's Cube puzzle. It saves itself when you exit, so you can start again where you left off. VGA is required. Cubix Larsen, Bart $0 is a computerized version of Rubic's Cube. We have seen other programs that have attempted to clone the Cube, but this is the best one. Graphics are excellent, too. VGA and a mouse are required. Flip-It AT:SS (FLIP-AT) AT:SS $0 You must flip all the pieces on an 8x12 grid so that they are the same color. When you "flip" a piece, all the pieces from the one you pick to the edge of the board (in the direction the cursor is pointing) cycle through the next of six colors. In the easy mode, the cursor cycles through pointing up, right, down, and left. In the hard mode, it gets quite a bit trickier. Requires EGA, mouse. Jigsaw 1.0 (JIGS-RL) Leinecker, Richard C. $14 is a jigsaw puzzle with lots of options. Move pieces of a puzzle around a playing area until you've completed a picture. Race against the clock and see if you can qualify for the high score list. Scramble your puzzle with one of twelve block sizes. Link-Up 1.04 KillTime Software $15 is a Rubik's cube-type twisting puzzle. The object is to get the proper colors linked back together. VGA and a mouse are required. Mix and Match 1.3 (MIXMAT) Carr Software $12 is an interesting game in which you try to match a random color by mixing the correct intensity of the three primary colors (red, green, blue). The challenge is to match the target color in as few tries as possible. VGA required. A very well-designed game. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #3206 -------------------------------- -------------------------- 4136 Logic/Puzzle Games #4 Small Programs Disk -------------------------- Fiddle Beeferman, Doug $5 is a puzzle of visualization and logic. It has 26 levels of difficulty, each of which has a collection of colored pieces which you must move around on screen to form a square. Requires VGA. MicroLink Crux 1.1 (MICRUX) MicroLink PCUG Headquarters $5 is a colorful puzzle/game where you try to place multicolored cross-shaped pieces on a grid. The object is to only have the crux-arms of the same color touching. See if you can beat the computer's score. Satori Satori, Rinzai $0 You must place tiles on a board trying to create a continuous unbroken design. This is similar to William Soleau's Main Break, but without a time limit. EGA/VGA and a mouse are required. Seeker 1.1 (SEEKR) Barry Keller Microsystems $17 is a challenging game of hide and seek that you play against the computer. The object of the game is to locate and mark the position of five hiding places on a playing board with 64 spaces. There are 32 entry points around the board, and you gain clues by shooting energy beams into the board. The beams deflect, reflect, and divert in different ways depending on the location of the hiding place. This is not easy, but that's what puzzle games are all about. Requires a mouse and EGA/VGA for the excellent graphics. VGA Shuffle (VGASHFL) Soumarokov, Nikolay $0 is a sliding-tiles puzzle game. It uses 256-color, high-res pictures instead of the usual numbered tiles. Three pictures are provided, including a nice one of Gorbachev. You can add your own pictures in Deluxe Paint II LBM format. A mouse is required. Wesp Koch, Guenter $0 is an interesting game in which you are on a series of platforms (squares) which appear to float in random order in space (with stars twinkling in the background). As you jump from a square, it disappears. You can jump one or two squares at a time. The goal is to visit each platform so that they all disappear. Then you move to the next level and a more difficult pattern. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #4136 -------------------------------- -------------------------- 4924 Logic/Puzzle Games #5 Small Programs Disk -------------------------- The Birthday Game (BIRTHDA) BEZ Software $10 is a series of puzzles in which you maneuver around the screen trying to collect ingredients to build your birthday cake. There are seven different screens/puzzles. This is aimed at younger children, but should still be challenging for them. Bubble Trouble (BUBBLE) Strategy Games Franklyn Dodd; $5 is a strategy game which you can play against the computer or a human opponent. You get points every time you can line up three bubbles of your color. The trouble is that sometimes when you drop a bubble down the chute, it may break one or more bubbles below it, so you have to learn which type of bubbles will break which other types. Some will do strange things like change the colors of the bubbles below it, so you have to be careful if you see that your opponent has one of those bubbles coming up. This is an extremely challenging game; in addition, it has interesting graphics. Crates Puzzle Game Mark Batchelor; $12 is a push-pull type of puzzle game. The object is to push all the boxes into the space indicated (by an array of diamonds) in the fewest possible moves. Menace of Dr. Spoil Sport (MODSS) Leithauser, David $5-$10 you need to get to Dr. Spoil Sport's space station above the earth, disable the weapons before he blasts the earth with a super laser, and avoid all the traps and robot guards. This is a 3-D "virtual reality" type game. VGA required. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #4924 [240] -------------------------------- --------------------------- 12084 Logic/Puzzle Games #6 Small Programs Disk --------------------------- Blocks (BLKS-CG) Godfrey, Garr $0 is a block-pushing type of puzzle game that features elevators and prizes to be picked up. Each level is increasingly more difficult. BlueBox $0 is an exercise in deduction. You must identify the locations of hidden magnets on a grid. Clues are obtained by shooting particle beams into the grid and observing their exit point. The Pyramid 1.04 KillTime Software $15 is a puzzle game in which you rotate the sections of the pyramid until each side has all 25 triangles of the same color. There are four skill levels. VGA and a mouse are required. Pyro! (PYRO-JK) Kasunich, John $8 A fire starts burning along the walls of a maze. Your goal is to rotate sections to connect all parts of the walls so that the fire will burn everything. You have to work fast to beat the spreading flames. VGA required. Quiltrex 1.0 (QLTRX) Herringbone Software $8 is a puzzle game in which you move colorful patches around to match a variety of quilt patterns. Some are easy and some are very challenging. Squares 1.1 Friesen, Geoff $25 is an 11k pop-up game whose object is to turn all the squares black. Each numberpad key toggles the color of from 3 to 5 different squares, so it can take a while to solve the puzzle. --------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #12084 --------------------------------- --------------------------- 12338 Logic/Puzzle Games #7 Small Programs Disk --------------------------- BoloBox 1.1 Soleau Software $12 challenges you to flip tiles on a 10x10 grid board back to the same provided for the first 10. Requires EGA/VGA. PC-Sherlock 1.3 (SHERLK) Kanade, Sanjay $18 is a game of logic and deduction. The computer competes against you in deducing a secret number. The Star 1.04 (THESTAR) KillTime Software $15 Can you get the pentagon-shaped background of each star to be all one color? Requires a mouse and VGA. VGA Hi-Q (VGAHIQ) Galifir Developments $10 is an implementation of the classic game of Hi-Q. The board is filled with 32 pegs and the center hole is empty. You must get rid of as many pegs as possible, leaving only one peg in the center hole. Requires VGA. --------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #12338 [50] --------------------------------- Amaze-ing [AMAZE] (11-93 CD) Sherwood Forest Software $15 #12577 is a game with eight different scenarios/mazes, including pipes, railroads, Egyptian tombs, and highways. Beware of obstacles such as trains, robots and invisible walls. Requires VGA graphics and a hard drive. Aqua Man 1.0 Soleau Software $12 #12186 is a push-pull type of puzzle game. The object is to position pipe links so that they connect two underwater storage pumps. The challenge is in the fact that once you push a link, it keeps moving until it bumps up against something else, making it more difficult to position the links. There are 20 different puzzles to solve. Requires EGA/VGA. BigBobs [BIGBOBS] (11-93 CD) Sherwood Forest Software $15 #12578 You must guide the waitress at Big Bobs out to the parking lot in search of a shining star. When hungry dogs, customers, or whatever approach, you must give them food or suffer the consequences. Be careful of the customers who may take you for a spin that you will not enjoy. Requires VGA and a hard drive. Bloxit 1.0 Soleau Software $12 #12074 is a kind of jigsaw puzzle type game. The objective is to rotate and place ten oddly shaped tiles onto a painted section of the puzzle board so that they all fit without overlapping. Requires EGA/VGA and a mouse. Bolo Adventures III 1.0 Soleau Software $12 #12231 can you save Mr. Bolo from the mind-boggling traps that surround him? In this third installment, there are 15 rooms of increasingly challenging puzzles filled with obstacles such as lasers, rivers, balls, boxes, crates, and more. As with other games from Soleau, this isn't a contest of how fast your reflexes are. Instead, it is a test of your resourcefulness. There can be several solutions to each room, ranging in complexity from several minutes to several hours each. An animated demo is included to illustrate game play. This is highly recommended for serious puzzle addicts! Requires EGA/VGA. Bolo Adventures Soleau, William $12 #27633/3438 is a strategy, puzzle arcade game with 40 scenarios to solve. You must get Mr. Bolo to the stairs in each room. The stairs are protected by either monsters, lasers, snakes, blocks, balls, electric grills, water and more. Each floor has at least one solution, but each could take hours to find. If you give up on one scenario you can pick which of the 40 to try to solve next and come back to unsolved ones later; the program keeps track of number of attempts and scores for multiple players. If you solve one scenario, you could go back to it later and try to improve your score. This is another top-notch game by master gamesman, William Soleau. Requires EGA\VGA. Bolo Adventures, Part II Soleau, William $12 #27633/4003 contains the further adventures of Mr. Bolo in a challenging puzzle/strategy game. Once again, you must escape the deadly lasers, snakes, blocks, monsters and other obstacles on 40 different floors. Each diabolical room has at least one solution that could take you minutes or hours to figure out. This game is NOT for people who frustrate easily! EGA/VGA required. P.E.G.S. BEZ Software $10 #27633/4004 is a puzzle in which you maneuver around blockades on the screen and push objects around to get rid of them. There are a total of 16 different screens/puzzles. PEGS is easier than similar games in the library, such as Bolo, so it is better for young children or the easily frustrated. Master Code Morlan, Michael $0 #27675/1653 is patterned after the game "Master Mind". The computer selects four colors in a specific order. You try to guess the colors and the order by "placing pegs" in the "playing board". The computer responds with a white light for every correct color guessed or a black light if the color is not only correct, but is in the correct position. The object is to deduce the colors and order in as few guesses as possible. Requires EGA. Master Mind Hardy, Charles A. $15 #27675/3488 is the classic game of logic and deduction with a twist. Fruit is used instead of the traditional colors. You can choose to guess at 5 to 7 positions from 5 to 9 pieces of fruit with or without multiple pieces of the same kind of fruit and with 3 levels of reporting. Requires VGA and a mouse. Tear Down the Wall Langin, Chester ASP $10 #27675/3235 is a strategy game you play against the computer or another person. The object is to try to remove the brick (of varying sizes) that will let the most bricks above it fall - an unusual and challenging game. Alpha Man 1.0 Soleau Software $12 #27675/4731 is an addictive problem solving puzzle. You use Alpha Man to push letter blocks into their proper places on the game board to solve the puzzle. The problem is that the blocks will slide in the direction they are pushed until they hit a wall or another block. 25 word puzzles are provided, with solutions available for the first five. EGA/VGA is required. Combat Zone [CZ] (11-93 CD) Rockland Software Productions $20 #20288 is a fast-paced arcade war game. Win as many battles as you can and get promoted through the ranks. Requires VESA compatible SVGA graphics card w/1 meg video ram, monitor capable of 1024x768x256 colors, Microsoft compatible mouse, sound card and 4MB of hard disk space. Available on 1.44MB 3.5" MegaDisk or CD only. Enigmacross 1.4 Bellotto, Sam Jr. ASP $26 #12282 lets you solve and construct professional quality acrostic puzzles. It features a mouse-driven graphical interface, animated selection buttons, on-screen help and sound effects. Puzzles can be printed in various styles with standard acrostic numbering added automatically. Requires EGA/VGA, a mouse, 512K RAM. Head Banger #1 Progressive Products $15 #12298 is a sliding puzzle game. The object is to unscramble the picture by moving adjacent blocks to the empty slot. It features three scenic pictures to unscramble, three levels of difficulty and Sound Blaster support. Requires 286 or better, 640K RAM, VGA and a mouse. Hero's Heart 1.1 Kaser, Everett ASP $17 #4884 is a challenging set of "push-pull" type puzzles in which you must collect all the hearts before leaving an area. An interesting feature of this game is that you must try to cause "creepers" to move in a particular direction. You must also watch out for things like snakes, boulders and arrows. (The latter two can help you as well as kill you.) A puzzle editor for creating your own puzzles is built into the program. Requires EGA/VGA. Ladder Man Soleau Software $12 #4556 is a puzzle game of the blockade variety. You push balls around to climb on top of as you clamor to the top of the screen, picking up diamonds along the way. You can pop up a ladder, but it is not always long enough. Meanwhile, you have to watch out for fires and avoid falling into water. There are 30 different rooms to solve, each one more difficult. Even after solving them, you can enjoy going back and trying to do it again in fewer moves. Separate score cards are maintained for each player. Mine Field Expert Source Code, Inc. $19 #3759 is an interesting variation on the old mine field type game. Rather than just picking your way through the field, you have to locate and mark ALL the mines. In addition, there are 15 different board styles. Requires VGA, 350k and a mouse. Numpuz Challenge Ballou, Larry $12 #7673/2711 is an implementation of the traditional puzzle with sliding numbers. It optionally shows you the best solution achieved to date. A special section for educators is included. PPack Acinom Software $7/each; $15/all #7673/2225 contains three programs that each help you build a different type of printed puzzle or problem: Puzzle - build puzzles that require deductive reasoning to solve and therefore teach and provide practice in deductive reasoning. Words - create puzzles containing up to twenty hidden words in a grid of random letters. The words can go in any direction horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Word Maze - build a maze of words from any specific word that you enter. You have to trace your way from the start of the maze to the finish by forming the maze word, letter by letter in sequence from the first letter in the word to the last and then repeat. You may go horizontally or vertically but not diagonally. PuzzleMaster Leinecker, Richard C. $15 #7673/3523 is a set of six puzzles: Master Mind, word scrambles, jigsaw puzzle, peg-jumping, a slide game, and a Simon game. Each game's difficulty can be set, and there lots of options. The jigsaw game loads PCX, IFF, and GIF pictures so you can use any files you have lying around. The individual games are not the most sophisticated in PsL, but they make a nice set. Puzzlers Yelton, Dennis J. $15 #7673/3170 is a colorful, challenging puzzle for all skill levels. The computer rates you based on the number of moves required to solve the puzzle. Requires 512K, and EGA/VGA. --------------------------- 27085/1905 Puzzles & Tricks Small Programs Disk --------------------------- Brn-Bog Taylor, Scott $0 is a puzzle from the Brain Bogglers section of Discover magazine. The author calls it Maze, but it has nothing to do with a maze that we can see. The puzzle is very difficult, but the solution is provided for those who give up. Pascal source code is included. Jigsaw Puzzle (JIG-ANS) All Night Software $10 is a monstrous on-screen jigsaw puzzle. Its use of ASCII line characters makes picture puzzles seem like child's play. In fact it's not just a jigsaw puzzle, but a sliding square type of puzzle too, which requires strategy as well as a good eye. Block positions alternate colors to make them easier to see. Those with the black background are in the correct position. PC-Jigsaw (JIGSAW) Dedes, Bill $15 is an on-screen jigsaw puzzle. Several picture files are included. All video types are supported, but of course it looks much better on EGA/VGA. A mouse is supported, but not required. Magic Squares (MAGICSQ) McCranie, Judson ASP $0 A Magic Square is an equal number of columns and rows of numbers which when added down or across or diagonally will total to the same number. This program will generate magic squares up to 175 by 175. This could be used to generate puzzles or just to satisfy the mathematically curious. The text of a magazine article on the subject is included, as is Pascal source code. Mathtrx $0 is a set of math tricks with which you can amaze your friends. Msquare prints out "magic squares". These are squares in which the numbers in the add up to the same number going across and down. Good for creating "magic square" puzzles. Slider Thomas, A. $5 is a sliding number puzzle game like the ones they sell for party favors. The program is configurable for different sizes, different mix-up percentages, and saving/loading games. Mouse support is included. Trick Yurchuk, Michel S. $1 is a computerized card trick. You pick a card mentally and the computer tells you which card you picked. -------------------------------- END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #1905 -------------------------------- Mosaix Data Assist ASP $35-$45 #27085/1877 [2 disks] is an on-screen jigsaw puzzle program. MOSAIX uses photographic quality color images, rather than being limited to simple line drawings. Pictures may be scanned or captured by those of you with appropriate hardware. If you do not have a scanner, Mosaix can import standard PCX graphics files, of which we have hundreds in the PsL, or for special pictures, Data Assist provides a color image scanning service. We found the program to be very easy to use. It should be fun for kids and adults who like to do puzzles. Three scanned color photographs come with the program and on a VGA are presented in full, beautiful color. (All graphics cards are supported, including mono-graphics.) The puzzle picture is displayed on the screen, then divided into 25 rectangles which are then put into random order. The player moves the rectangles around with a mouse or the keyboard until they are all back in the original position. This is relatively easy, since any block can be freely moved anywhere on the screen. The degree of difficult can be increased by using abstract patterns instead of pictures of people. If you import a PCX picture, keep in mind that if it has a lot of plain all-white or all-black boxes, getting them back in the proper order will be extremely difficult since all the boxes have the same shape. EGA/VGA required. PC-Jigsaw Alive Software $15 #27085/2579 is a challenging jigsaw puzzle. It loads a picture on screen and then shuffles the pieces around. The object of the game is to assemble the pieces to match the original image on the screen. It features Keyboard or mouse support, easy menu operation, five levels of difficulty, print option, music, and more. VGA Jigsaw Alive Software $20 #27085/2581 is an on-screen jigsaw puzzle game with brilliant, 256-color VGA graphics. It requires a 286 or 386 and VGA. Mouse is optional. Cirquerat Maze Video IPMC, Inc. $1-$48 #20020/3296 is a unique puzzle/maze game. Two versions are included, one easy and one challenging. In our testing, we had trouble figuring out the easy one. This is a puzzle for masochists only. EGA/VGA required. Picture Puzzle 1.3 Linton, Daniel Jr. ASP $17-$26 #20020/3302 is an excellent rendition of a computer jigsaw puzzle game. It comes with a couple of very nice graphics to start with, and you can create your own puzzles of up to 1400 pieces from PCX, GIF, and PUX files. It requires EGA/VGA, a mouse and 640k of RAM. PuzzyVGA 1.01 Hawkeye Softworks ASP $20 #20020/4679 is a jigsaw puzzle game played on a virtual table that is over four times the size of your screen. Unlike other on-screen jigsaw puzzles that cut the pieces up into plain blocks and mix them up on screen, Puzzy works more like a real puzzle. Puzzy cuts the pictures into regular puzzle-piece shapes and moves them off the edge of the puzzle area, actually out of view until you pan the screen over. As the pieces come into view, you click on one to put on the board, then you have two chances to get it in the right place before it returns to the side. Six puzzle pictures are included and you can add of your own. Puzzy rates you on accuracy and time to complete the puzzle. Requires DOS 3.0+, VGA, hard disk and a mouse. Capture the Flag 1.3 [CFLAG13] (11-93 CD) Carr Software $33 #4640 is an exceptional animated strategy game that lets you assemble a team of players and search through woodlands and farm fields in a frenzied race to capture the opposing team's flag. The beautifully detailed scrolling playfield features rivers, rocks, trees, rail fences, and other realistic objects. Members of your team can run, crawl, hide, or just stand lookout and you can play against the computer or a friend. Other features include mouse support, an interactive demo, AdLib/SoundBlaster support, and much more. Requires VGA, a 286 machine, and 530K free RAM. Dave's Games Solaris Systems $10-$20 #3297 Pentrix 1.32 is a strategy game for two players based on the game of GO-Maku. DoubleCross 1.1 is a strategy game in which you build a bridge that connects your sides of the board while preventing your opponent from doing the same. Mice Men 1.0 Soleau Software $12 #4911 challenges you to guide your 12 mice across the playing area before the computer's mice make it across the opposite direction. You and the computer take turns shifting columns up or down, which opens up spaces for the mice to travel in both directions. Your moves can let the computer's mice move too, so you have to play carefully. EGA/VGA required. PEG 1.04 Cascoly Software ASP $24 #12558 presents various challenges of peg solitaire with multiple starting positions, and changing endgames. For ages 8 to 88. Requires EGA and mouse. Pencil & Paper Activity Maker 1.0 Groll, Stephen D. $25 #12188 creates and prints out puzzles, activities, and projects for pencil and paper. A variety of puzzles can be made including mazes, decoder, word search, matching, acrostic, word crossover, hidden message, hidden picture, dot to dot, unscramble verses, unscramble words, math puzzles, and more. Puzzle (10-93 CD) Team 20 $? #20268/12528 (2 disks) is an on-screen jigsaw puzzle. Piece sizes can be selected from tiny (156 pieces) to huge (25 pieces). Requires mouse, VGA and offers Sound Blaster support. RailRoad Switch Challenge Miller, Fred $? #1966 is a railroad car switching game. The screen shows a railroad switching yard with several freight cars in different places. You are given an assignment to move some freight cars to other sidings and assemble the other cars in a specific order on the main track. You move the cars by changing track switches, coupling and uncoupling, etc. Demerits are issued for running over switched track and bumping into cars. The object is to complete the assignment with the fewest possible moves and demerits. Graphics required. Simple Simon's Photo Scramble 1.0 Just For Me Software, Inc. ASP $15 #4940 combines tile puzzles and pattern memorization into a fresh mental challenge. There are three different games: unscramble photos, move puzzle pieces following the same pattern as the computer, and move back puzzle pieces in exactly the reverse order that the computer moves them. Features include VGA photo quality images, animation, sound effects, and personalized text. Requires 286+, VGA, and hard disk. SoliTile Everett Kaser Software $15 #3926 is a game of solitaire played with tiles, based on the ancient Chinese game of Mah-Jong. Features include multiple tile sets, a built-in tile set editor, background patterns and GIF pictures, optional music and sounds, and much more. Layouts are provided with anywhere from 4 to 168 tiles, and the program can read and use tile sets created for Nels Anderson's Mahjongg (on disk #884). The slick user interface supports both mouse and keyboard input. EGA/VGA is required. Webs Cascoly Software ASP $20 #3917 you must capture more nodes on the different webs than the computer does. A variety of webs and computer playing strength levels keeps things interesting. Requires a mouse and EGA/VGA. ]]]]]