|
Puzzle explanation |
| Home | Introduction The rules Example puzzle |
| Introduction |
Dropsession is a slide fall construction puzzle game. Each puzzle consists of a set of pieces and a board. The board has entrances and exits which you can use to insert and remove pieces. Pieces that are on the board can only be moved by a forcefield. You must manipulate the forcefield such that the pieces form the goal figure.
The Dropsession puzzle idea is simple. The puzzles are usually a bit harder. To solve the puzzles you need to be creative and plan ahead. Often you need to devise temporary constructions in order to build the final figure. An extra difficulty is that these must be such that they can be removed afterwards.
| The rules |
You should begin by just trying to play the game. Most of the rules become clear very quickly. However, when you are not sure about some of the details, you can find them here:
| Goal | The goal of each puzzle is to build a given figure on a two dimensional board using a restricted set of pieces. |
|---|---|
| Forcefield | The pieces that are on the board are subject to a forcefield. It causes the pieces to drop as far as possible, until they are obstructed by the board or by other pieces. The forcefield is the only way to move the pieces on the board. However, it cannot rotate the pieces. This means that the orientation of each piece is fixed once it is on the board. |
| Rotating the forcefield | The forcefield can be orientated in two directions which are orthogonal. You are able to switch the forcefield between these directions. All pieces on the board must be at rest before you can rotate the forcefield. |
| Inserting pieces | The board has two entrances that you use to insert pieces on the board. The direction of the forcefield determines which entrance you can use. You pick a piece that is still available and position it as you wish in front of the entrance. You then drop the piece. It moves as far as possible in the direction of the forcefield. You must make sure that the piece can get completely on the board. Otherwise the piece will block the puzzle and you are not allowed to continue. |
| Retrieving pieces | The board has two exits that can be used to remove pieces from the board. The direction of the forcefield determines which exit you can open. If you open it, the forcefield may move pieces from board. You can reuse the pieces that left the board. The exit closes automatically. If the exit can not be closed because it is blocked, you are not allowed to play any further. |
There is also one special situation (which you do not have to worry about at first):
| Build to entrance | For some of the puzzles you are not allowed to "build to the entrance". This means that after you rotate the forcefield, you can only insert a new piece when the area on the board under the entrance is entirely empty. If this is not the case, the entrance will be closed. In this way it is as if you have to solve the puzzle on a very large board. It is done to make the solutions for some puzzles a bit nicer (and harder!). |
|---|
| Example puzzle |
Here is an example puzzle that summarizes the most important ideas. Use the three pieces to build the figure that is indicated in light grey (at the bottom right corner of the board).
You may first want to try to solve it yourself. If you give up, you can have a look at the solution.
| Return to Dropsession main page | Return to Eriban Software main page |
 |
Puzzles, programs, pages and images: ©1996-1999 Eriban Software Last update: 1 Feb 1999 |