Installing the NOVA SCOTIA puzzle game.

This game was written using the free Just BASIC from the people who also provide the shareware Liberty BASIC. To run my game,

  1. go to the Just BASIC Download Page and download and install Just Basic on your computer,
  2. unzip my game and the associated *.bmp files into the Just BASIC directory,
  3. make another copy of the jbrun100.exe file that comes with Just BASIC and rename it to NSpuzzle.exe, and
  4. double-click on the NSpuzzle.exe file.

Learn more about Just BASIC or visit the Just BASIC Programming forums.

The NOVA SCOTIA puzzle game.

Note: this is not the final version of the game. The window is currently extra large for adding print statements for debugging and the UnDo feature which will hopefully allow you to back out of a mistaken move has yet to be written. Once the UnDo feature is fully debugged I will then reduce the window size and edit the background image to suit the final window size.

The object is to move the smiley block, , from one corner to the opposite corner with the other blocks displaying the same layout at the start and the end.

One move consists of moving one block up or down into the blank space or moving one or more blocks to the left or right into the blank space. Horizontal and vertical moves alternate. The first move may be either horizontal or vertical. The puzzle can be solved with 34 moves. (You are allowed up to 100 moves and the game forces you to quit and start over when you reach 100 moves.)

New Game:

Click on "empty" to start:

Game started, no moves yet:

The "empty" block is moved out of the way to allow the other blocks to slide into the now blank space.

A possible first move:

(not necessarily saying it's the right move).

Your first move can be a horizontal or a vertical move. After that, horizontal and vertical moves alternate. You can click on any block to the left or right of the blank space in the same row or click on the block above or below the blank space. (If the blank is above or below a double- or triple-sized block,
or then you're stuck.

Note: wait for the blocks to stop moving before trying to make the next move.

Click on the "empty" block at any time to quit.

If you click on the red A on the top row then the A and everything between it and the blank space slides into the blank space, leaving a new blank space where the A was:


 

            Moves so far: 1

 

A vertical move must follow a horizontal move:

so you can only click on the blue O and it will then slide up into the blank space.


 

            Moves so far: 2

 

If you now click on the blue I

then the T and the I will slide to the left...


 

            Moves so far: 3

 

You now have no legal moves left.

Click on the "empty" block to quit and then try again.
(I hope to eventually add an UnDo feature so you won't have to start all over in the event of a mistake.)

Another possible position:

After starting a new game, if you clicked on the blue N and then the Smiley and then the red T you could end up in this position:

Winning, the best result: