Welcome to Pocket Aargon, the puzzle game of lasers and logic for your handheld.

Now available for color Palm and Pocket PC devices.

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How to Play

Pocket Aargon is a collection of puzzles involving lasers, tools (mirrors, refractors, splitters, etc), and coins.  The goal of every puzzle is to make all the coins spin, by reflecting the laser beams into coins of the same color.

Here's a screenshot from the built-in tutorial that illustrates this.

Each puzzle is called a "level", and puzzles are organized into collections called "level packs".  Pocket Aargon comes with several built-in level packs, and it's easy to install more packs, and even create your own level packs and beam them to your friends.

Here's what the first "Beginner Level" looks like:

Your goal is to spin the white coin.  Do this by moving the mirror into the beam, either by dragging it, or by tapping the mirror to select it and then tapping an empty cell.  Tap the mirror several more times to rotate it, and you're done!  If only all the puzzles were this easy....

If you want to start a level over, tap the red arrow, normally located in the lower left corner of the playfield.  There is no "undo" command.

After you've solved a level, you can tap the green arrow (normally located in the lower right corner) to advance to the next level in the pack.

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How to Move Pieces

If a piece is movable, there are two basic ways to move a piece: simply drag it to an empty cell, or tap on the piece to select it and then tap on an empty cell.

You can also swap two pieces by dragging one piece on top of the other.  Both pieces must be movable, or the swap will not be allowed.

Selected pieces are highlighted as follows, as long as "Show movable selections" is enabled on the "Game Settings" screen.  To select a piece, either tap it, or use your device's hardware buttons to move the selection rectangle.

Movable Piece	Non-Movable Piece

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How to Rotate Pieces

If a piece is rotatable, simply tap it once to select it, and then tap it again to rotate it.  NOTE: Not all pieces are rotatable; it depends on the individual puzzle.  You can also select a piece by using your device's hardware buttons to move the selection rectangle.

The direction of rotation (clockwise or counter-clockwise) is determined by the state of the Rotation Control, which normally appears at the bottom of the screen.

Clockwise	Counter-Clockwise

In addition, selected pieces are highlighted as follows, as long as "Show movable selections" is enabled on the "Game Settings" screen:

Clockwise	Counter-Clockwise

Alternatively, you can turn off the Rotation Control and rotate pieces by tapping either the left or right side of the piece.  Selected pieces will be highlighted as shown below.

Rotatable Piece	Non-Rotatable Piece

See the "Game Settings" screen (from the Options menu) to turn the Rotation Control off or on.

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Summary of Pieces

Note: any or all of the following pieces may be movable or rotatable in a given puzzle.  Lasers and coins are usually not movable, whereas the other pieces usually are movable.  However, some puzzles will allow lasers or even coins to be moved, or they may not allow some of the other pieces to be moved, so be prepared for anything.

    A laser is the source of a beam, and it always generates the same color (e.g., white, red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, or yellow).  This laser is not rotatable.

    A rotatable laser, other than being rotatable, is exactly like a regular laser.

    The rotation control determines which direction a selected rotatable piece will rotate when tapped.  If you turn off this control, then rotation is controlled by tapping either the left or right side of a piece.

    The left (red) arrow is used to return to the "Level" screen, either to start the level over again, or to select a new level.

    The right (green) arrow is used to advance to the next level in the pack.  You must have previously solved the current level first.  However, you can always return to the "Level" screen and select any available level.

    A coin must be hit by a single beam of matching color in order to spin.  The exception is a black coin (found in harder levels), which will always spin as long as it is not hit by any beams.

    A block is the general term for any obstruction that prevents a beam from passing through it.  Beams can usually pass between the corners of blocks however.  Blocks are rarely movable.

    Dynamite will explode on contact with any beams, disabling the nearest laser, and usually requiring you to restart the level.  Tap the left (red) arrow to restart.

    A mirror is used to reflect a beam by 90 degrees.  For example, it can turn a vertical beam into a horizontal beam, either left or right.

    A double-sided mirror is the same as a mirror except that it is reflective on both sides, so it can reflect two separate beams, one on either side.

    A slitted double-sided mirror is like a regular double-sided mirror, except that it has a slit that allows a beam to pass through the mirror length-wise.

    A refractor is a used to refract light by 45 degrees.  For example, it can turn a vertical beam into a diagonal beam, either left or right.

    A splitter splits a beam into two new perpendicular beams.  For example, a vertical beam striking the tip of a splitter will become two white beams -- one to the left and one to the right.

    An angled splitter (also known as a "three-way") splits a beam into two angled beams.  Unlike a regular splitter, this piece can also merge two angled beams back into one.  In other words, it is bi-directional -- it can be used to split or combine beams.

    A one-way allows a beam to pass through in only ONE direction (the direction the piece is pointing).  A beam striking the one-way from any other direction will be stopped.

    A prism is one of the more complex pieces in Aargon.  It can either split a beam into its component colors, or combine colors into a new beam.  See Creating Colors for some examples.  In addition, a prism can simply be used like a mirror for blue light, and as a refractor for green light;  it has no bending properties for red light.

    A color converter converts beams from one color to another.  The converted color depends on both the beam and the direction of the converter.  Examples of all the possible color conversions are in the Creating Colors section.

    A filter allows only certain colors to pass through.  For example, a red filter does not allow any green or blue to pass through (only red), and a cyan filter does not allow any red to pass through (only green and/or blue).

    A polarizer is like a filter, but in addition, it allows beams to pass through at only one angle.

    A selector refracts only certain colors in a beam.  For example, a blue selector hit by a white beam would refract blue at a 45-degree angle, but it would leave the red and green (i.e., yellow) components of the beam untouched.  Also, like a prism, a selector only works at a specific angle.

    A complex selector is like a regular selector, but it also acts as a filter in the opposite direction, and as a refractor in another direction.  As the name implies, this is a complex piece.  It is not used in any of the standard (built-in) level packs.

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Creating Colors

Beams other than red, green or blue are made up of some combination of those colors.  Here is a diagram and a table demonstrating the combinations that Aargon supports.

Cyan		Magenta		Yellow		White
Green	Blue	Red	Blue	Red	Green	Red	Green	Blue

Some Aargon puzzles will require specific colors that your lasers don't provide, so you must figure out how to split, combine, filter or convert the beams as needed.

On the left, a white beam must be split with a prism to create the necessary red, green and blue beams.  On the right, green and blue beams must be combined with a prism to create a cyan beam.
 

           

Other ways to create a color, like red from white, include the use of a filter (left), and a selector (right).

           

Other ways to create a new color, like cyan from green and blue, include simply aiming green and blue beams at each other (left), and using the angled splitter as a combining tool (right).

           

Note that even if the cyan coin was next to the green laser (left), you could still use a mirror to bounce the cyan beam back through the angled splitter (right).

           

And here are examples of all the possible color conversions you can make with a color converter.

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Differences from Aargon Deluxe

Since handhelds have smaller screens than PCs, Pocket Aargon uses a 10x10 playfield (Aargon Deluxe uses a 16x11 playfield).  This means that Aargon Deluxe Expansion Packs are not compatible with Pocket Aargon.  However, most of the Aargon Deluxe levels have been reformatted and built into Pocket Aargon, along with 30 entirely new levels.

Due to the smaller screen size, there is no separate "toolbox" area to hold all your movable pieces.  Instead, all the movable pieces are laid out on the playfield, usually along one or more sides.  In addition, special controls like Clean, Restart, Undo, Redo, etc. have been removed.  If you need to restart a level, tap the left (red) arrow and then tap "Play" again.

There is no mouse pointer to indicate whether a piece is movable, rotatable, both, or neither.  And there are no left and right mouse buttons, so you can only rotate one direction at a time.  However, there are Game Settings you can adjust that can help (see Rotation Control).  In Aargon Deluxe, you could use your mouse pointer to inspect whether a piece was movable or rotatable; in Pocket Aargon, you either have to select the piece first -- either by tapping it or by moving the selection rectangle around with buttons -- or just try moving/rotating it.

Before purchasing Pocket Aargon, you can only play the built-in "Beginner Levels".  After purchasing, you will be able to play any level;  unlike Aargon Deluxe, none of the levels will be locked.  And even though you cannot advance directly to the next puzzle before solving the current puzzle, you can always jump back to the "Level" screen and skip to any level you want.

Pocket Aargon automatically saves all your solutions.  You can jump back to any level you have already solved and tap the "Solution" button to see your solution.  This feature is not available in Aargon Deluxe.

Finally, there are no Mines or Slimes in Pocket Aargon.  Very few levels in Aargon Deluxe used these objects, so they were left out.

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Installing Packs

Pocket Aargon's expansion pack format makes it easy to download and add new puzzles to your device.  Each pack is a single PDB file that works on any Pocket Aargon device (Palm or Pocket PC), and it contains all the levels and artwork required by that pack.  Demo packs (i.e., free packs) can also be beamed directly between devices.

On Palm devices, a pack is available as soon as it is installed or received.  No other steps are required.  However, if Pocket Aargon is already running, you may need to restart (or go back to the "Title" screen) before it will show up in Pocket Aargon's list of packs.

On Pocket PC devices, an extra step is required to send or receive packs.  After you have received a pack, you must go to the Options menu and select "Import Pack", and then locate the pack (i.e., the PDB file you just received) to import it into Pocket Aargon's list of packs.

Similarly, if you wish to send a pack from a Pocket PC device, you must first select "Export Pack" from the Options menu to create the necessary PDB file, and then send the file using whatever built-in "Send" or "Beam" functionality your device provides.  For example, from the Pocket PC File Explorer, you can choose either "Send via E-mail..." or "Beam File..." once you've located the PDB file.

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Removing Packs

To remove a pack, go to the "Pack" screen, either from the Game menu, or by tapping the Back button until it appears.  Then from the list of packs, choose "Edit Packs" from the bottom of the pack list.

Now simply select the pack you want to delete, and tap the Delete button.

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Creating Packs

Go to the "Pack" screen, either from the Game menu, or by tapping the Back button until it appears.  Then from the list of packs, choose "Edit Packs" from the bottom of the pack list.  The following screen will appear.

Now tap the "New" button and enter a name for the pack.  It will be added to the list of packs, and you can also enter a description for the pack underneath the list.  Leave all the checkboxes (Demo, Read-only, and Tutorial) unchecked until you are done adding levels to your pack.

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Creating Levels

Before you can create a level, you must create or select the pack that will contain the level.  Also, if the pack is marked "Read-only", you will not be allowed to add or modify any levels in the pack.

Now go to the "Level" screen, either from the Game menu, or by tapping the red arrow on the playfield screen.  Then from the list of levels, choose "Edit Levels" from the bottom of the level list.  The following screen will appear.

Now tap the "New" button and enter a name for the level.  It will be added to the list of levels, and you can also enter a description for the level underneath the list.  When you tap OK, you will return to the "Level" screen.

Tap the "Edit" button to start adding pieces to the new level.

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Adding Pieces

After creating a new level and tapping the "Edit" button to begin adding pieces, you will see an empty playfield.

Tap a cell and then type a space, or simply hold your stylus on the cell for a moment (also known as "tap-and-hold"), and a playfield menu will appear.

Since every level needs at least one laser source, select Source to add a laser to the currently selected cell.  A laser with the default position (vertical) and default color (white) will be created.

To change the properties of the laser (e.g., its rotatability, color, etc), once again type a space (or tap-and-hold your stylus on the cell) to bring up a second playfield menu.

Continue this process until you have all the pieces you want.  Use the "Copy" and "Paste" commands in the playfield menu to quickly create copies of common pieces.

Also, even though there is only one "Block" command on the playfield menu, several block styles are available.  To select a different style, make the block rotatable, then "rotate" the block until the desired style appears, and then make the block non-rotatable again.

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Saving Changes

When you're done editing a level, tap the red arrow to return the "Level" screen.  If you made any changes, a "Save" button will appear.  You must save your changes before switching to another level or pack, or the changes will be discarded.

It's also a good idea to test the level and make sure it's solvable.  Click the "Test" button to do that.

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Sharing Packs

Once all your levels are done and tested, return to the "Pack" screen, select "Edit Packs" from the pack list, and update the pack's settings.  For example, if this is a free pack (i.e., purchase is not required and/or sharing is allowed), then check the "Demo" checkbox.

Also, unless you want to let other people to edit your levels, now is the time to check the "Read-only" checkbox.

Finally, if the pack is actually a tutorial pack rather than a puzzle pack, check the "Tutorial" checkbox.

Your pack is now ready to share with others.  A "Beam" button will appear on the "Pack" screen.  If you also want to transfer the pack to a desktop computer, synchronize your device with the PC, and then look for a PDB file with the same name as the pack in the "Backup" folder of your Palm directory.  If you have a Palm OS 5 device and a laptop running Windows XP, you can also beam packs directly to and from your laptop.

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Credits

Pocket Aargon was designed and developed by Jeff Parsons of DoubleBit Software, based on the game concept, level designs, and artwork of Aargon Deluxe, in cooperation with Twilight Games.

Pocket Aargon "Pocket Levels" were created by Steve Verreault of Twilight Games.

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