Alchemy 1k
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An entry for the 2002 Minigame Compo

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Transmute lead into gold and become a Master Alchemist in this addictive
puzzle game.
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The object of the game is to turn the 9x8 lead board into gold.  You do this
by placing 'magic' runes on the board.  Runes must be placed next to runes
of the same color or shape or both.  When you place down a rune, the square
under it turns into gold.  If you're placing a rune on a square with 3 runes
around it, the rune you're placing must match shape and/or color with all 3,
not just one.  You only need to match runes directly up/down/left/right (no
diagonals).  If you fill up a row or column with runes, they disappear to
make room for more.

There are two special runes:

- The white square is a wildcard rune.  It can be placed on any unoccupied
square, regardless of which rune shapes/colors are around it.

- The white crosshair shaped rune lets you remove any single rune from the
board.

You may also discard a rune if you can't place it anywhere (or don't want
to).  You may discard up to 3 in a row, the 4th is game over.  The border
changes colors to let you know how many you've discarded.  If you complete
a row or column, the discard counter is reset.  If you successfully place
a rune, it is decremented.  When the entire board is converted into gold,
you proceed to the next level, which will have more rune shapes and colors.
The current level is printed on the top right corner of the screen.

Controls:  ijkl to move the cursor
           space to place a rune
           d to discard

To start the game:  load "alchemy1k.prg",8,1
(don't forget the ,1)


Tips:
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It's not a good idea to complete a row if it'll leave you with very few
options for placing the next rune(s).

Try to work in either rows or columns but not both.  In the earlier levels
you can have a row/column for each rune color this makes placing new runes
quite simple.

Don't be affraid to discard.  If placing a rune will make it hard for you to
place new runes nearby, discard!

Credits:
          Code by:         dW/Style (Adrian Gonzalez)
          C/G Graphics:    dW/Style
          XIP Compressor:  Wyndex   (Steve Judd)
          Finished on:     September 15/2002

Based on the game "Alchemy" by PopCap games.

Many thanks to Steve Judd for writing XIP which made shrinking the game much
much easier.  Also special thanks to my friends on #c-64 for helping me test
the game, and to Magervalp for holding this year's compo.
