Subtitled "The game for the mind", this game definitely falls into the category of a brain teaser. Created by Pāvils Jurjān of Latvia, the game of Net is all about connections.
There is a central energy source, and the objective of the game is to connect all devices to the energy source in the fewest moves possible. Of course, if you're like me, I ignore the number of moves and just try to finish a puzzle. Connecting the devices to the energy source is as easy as clicking on a grid cell to rotate it. Rotating a cell costs one move, and you may rotate is as many times as you wish during that one move. Turn all red unpowered devices into green powered ones to solve the puzzle.
The game features high replay value due to its randomly generated puzzles. It is also highly customizable through many options that you can tweak to get just the right challenge for your taste and ability. For example, you may choose a play field grid of any size from 3x3 up to 13x11, in odd numbered increments. The game defaults to 7x7, and that seemed a bit too complex at first. I found that a 5x5 game is just about right for me. As an added challenge, you may also choose to play with borders that wrap around, which means that a powered wire on one side of the board can connect with a wire on the opposite side.
Thanks to Daniel for suggesting the game. He also suggests starting with the corners if playing a normal game, and if playing with wrapping he says you will need to begin with the sides. Net is an excellent mind bender of a game with features to fit every brain shape and size.
He is not from Luxembourg, he is from Latvia. I know this because Latvia is my neighbour country :)
Thank you, Tony. =)
I have updated the post accordingly.
This game is great. The key to the larger levels, is the 'lock' feature. Every 'wire' must connect on all it's points, so you can quickly get things like pieces can't point into a wall... lock those in place and branch out. I just did the biggest puzzle in 12mins with one extra move... stupid misclick
i love this game. but every now and then i get this bug. there'll be a tile with nothing on it. at first i thought maybe it's just an empty tile but i'm pretty sure that there's supposed to be something there that isn't. here's a screenshot:
http://tinypic.com/2d17ur
there's an empty tile, but i obviously need somehting there in order to finish the puzzle.
wait, whoa. here's another screenshot of that same game. i was able to finish it, but that empty tile came out weird.
http://tinypic.com/2d18g3
Speaking of bugs, every once and a while I'll finish a puzzle -- all the nodes are green I swear -- and the timer keeps going and the games doesn't end.
I love this game though; good job again Jay!
well, every tile has to be used, every piece has to be green, not just the nodes. sometimes it is possible to solve the puzzle without using every piece, but you have to use all of them. unless you've done that, then i dunno what to say.
I'm sooooo addicted to this game! The great thing is, like you said, the random creations so that you won't play the same game.
I also like the fact that you could always improve. The clock and the turns make it really easy for you to measure this. Oh, does anyone pay attention to the scores that come at the end? How does it measure???
Great game, though on occassion (read:most of the time) i am able to finish it below the minimum required. Like my last one said min. was 101 moves, and i did it in 99. I will poat a pic of it in a short bit.
Ah, yes... Zenji without the bad guys...
> i am able to finish it below the minimum required.
Yeah, sometimes there is more than one solution, and if it starts with the harder of them, you can choose an easier one and shave a little off its minimum.
This game has pretty much become my favorite of this entire site, I have played it more times than I can possibly count. I only play on the hardest level and consider it a failure if I don't complete within the minimum number of moves. I swear I got a score of over 900000, but I have not been able to do it again if I did. My best documented is an 11x13 w/ wrapping with a min of 112, where I did it in 110 moves in 7:58 and got a score of 882531. Somebody beat that, I think I have this game mastered and need some more motivation. ;)
Beat you! 6:24, 112 moves in a 112 move puzzle, score of 923541. I think I may have done under 6 minutes in the past, but I didn't keep careful notes.
Beat the other record. maximum size, wrapping, 99 move limit. I made it in 98 moves and 5:22, getting a score of 934829. I thought I was going to break 5 minutes there, oh well.
Hi. I went on this jay site not long ago but this net mind game I've played it for so long! My best score is 937500 in hardest level and with one move under minimum. I wonder if it's a bug (that I made it under the needed moves but you also did so maybe it's not a bug). I play without the borders. Tried it once but thought it wasn't so fun.
boomy bx
Another best time. Maximum size, wrapping edges, a 99 move puzzle. I made it in 99 moves in 5:08, for a score of 944821.
Making it in less-than-minimum moves isn't really a bug. The puzzle just has multiple solutions, and the "moves" given is the distance to one of the solutions, if you find another that can be done faster then you get the better score!
954870 in 5:10, 104 out of 104 moves. Again, maximum size, with wrapping sides.
Anybody know the algorithm used to calculate scores? It seems to give more points for puzzles that require more moves. Does turning on the wrapping give a higher score?
All right, it's time for me to stop. 958514 points in 94 moves, 4:36 (as usual maximum size and wrapping edges). Funny this is so much faster than my previous best but just a few more points, I guess the 10 fewer moves counts for a lot. Well that's that, I'll do be best to stop playing now!
Actually it is more about time than it is about number of moves(as long as you make the minimum). At around 2:30 you get around 1200000 regardless if its 104 moves or 94. Using no-wrapping or wrapping has no effect whatsoever on your score save for your own difficulty in completing the puzzle.
jupp, i made >1.2 billion in 2:18 (max. size/ no wrap)
Here's the Link
I think there must be something I'm missing about this game. Very frequently I am getting levels where the only connection point is next to a straight line (on the easiest level, so that the straight line hits the wall, and this is without wrapping, so I'm stuck from there), or where the connection points are only able to be connected directly to nodes, which then cannot be connected to anything else. Is there some important aspect of gameplay that I'm overlooking, or are there occasionally unsolvable levels?
oh my goodness, you can rotate the power source. ugh, nevermind me.
How score is calculated:
x=X Size
y=Y Size
t=time taken (in seconds)
r=minimum moves required
m=moves taken
If m if t b=base score=(x)(y)(10000)
score=b-(b)(t+r)/(2t)-(b)(m-r)/(2(m-r+1))
The minimum required number of moves does matter, and you will get a slightly higher score for a higher minimum at a set time, but both will have the same maximum score.
The less than sign messed that up (everyone loves html), so here it is again.
How score is calculated:
x=X size, y=Y size, r=minimum moves required, m=moves taken, t=time taken (in seconds)
If m or t is less than r, set it at r.
b=base score=(x)(y)(10000)
score=(b)(1-(m-r)/(2(m-r+1))-(t-r)/(2t))
Sorry Tiralmo that formula does not work. I just got 1074932 with 92/93 moves in 3:05 on the largest board(11x13). your formula gives me 816387. feel free to check my math, but its pretty far off.
I got a slightly different formula than Tiralmo which i have tried and seen work. Using the same letters as Tiralmo I get:
10000*x*y(r(m+1)-(r^2)+t)/(2t(m-r+1))
Looks like you got it Peter, that matches with my numbers. I've been kinda curious about how it was calculated for a while.
Joe, I tried plugging your stats into my formula and got your given score (actually 1074432, which is 500 off, but Peter's formula gives that same error, so I suspect a transcribing error there). I'm not sure exactly how you got 816387, but I could easily understand getting lost in my maze of parantheses.
Peter's formula and mine are mathematically equivalent (did some good ol' fashioned pen and paper checking there), but Peter's is much more user friendly.
I love this game--I played it as a break from work all during finals week when I couldn't get away from the computer. I just broke a million a few days ago, and I'm really proud.
Thanks for recommending it!
where can i find Zenji do you have it?
100 points with 101 minimum in 4:14 minutes
http://i27.tinypic.com/2vxqcrl.jpg
My best efforts:
105 turns in 2:16, 1267022 points
Without border
103 turns in 1:48, 1396898 points
With border
Wow! Almost a year since anyones posted here. Read all the post about scoring formulae but what ever the real one is it's flawwwwwed. One move more than the minimum and it knocks your score down by 200,000 to 300,000 pts. But really arrange 'em perfect and use 2 or 3 fewer moves than the minimum and you get a 2 or 3 hundred point bonus. BIG WHOOPIE!!
Great game, but the algorithm for calculating minimum required turns has a bug. some times it shows more than really required.
Update