Lines (video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lines
Developer(s)	Oleg Demin
Publisher(s)	Gamos
Designer(s)	Oleg Demin
Platform(s)	MS-DOS
Release date(s)	1992
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Mode(s)	Single Player
Rating(s)	N/A
Input methods	Mouse

Lines (aka ColorLines) is a computer puzzle game, invented by Oleg Demin and first introduced as a video game by the Russian company Gamos (Russian: Геймос) in 1992.

[edit] Game rules

The game starts with a 9×9 board with three balls chosen out of seven different colours. The player can move one ball per turn, and the player may only move a ball to a particular place if there is a path (linked set of vertical and horizontal empty cells) between the current position of the ball and the desired destination. The goal is to remove balls by forming lines (horizontal, vertical or diagonal) of at least five balls of the same colour. If the player does form such lines of at least five balls of the same colour, the balls in those lines disappear, and he gains one turn, i.e. he can move another ball. If not, three new balls are added, and the game continues until the board is full.

[edit] Lines '98

In 1997, a new, Windows version with added rules called Lines 98 was created by a Russian student at the Perm university, who is only known as Sorcerer. It features three game modes:

• Lines - The standard mode
• Squares – Making rectangular shapes. The minimum is 4 balls.
• Blocks – Minimum seven adjacent balls. Two balls are adjacent if they make a vertical or horizontal line (not diagonal).

The game was shareware, with a time limit after which it must be purchased to play. It featured support for skins, audio packs, undo of last move, and settings for the speed of the game movements in %. For example, you could have faster or slower:

• movement of the ball
• disappearance
• appearance of new balls
• jumping up and down of selected balls

The game had a offline and online high-score table. As of 2009, the official web site of the game, including the hi-score chart, is offline. (The release of the latest version of the game was in 2001.)

In 2000, he also released a free ad-supported version, called Lines Millenium, which does not have the online hi-score feature.

The game was in Russian, but features a text file with all interface items, allowing translation into other Cyrillic languages and English/etc.

[edit] External links

• Color Lines Original for iPhone
• Lines for social site VKontakte.ru
• Chromatica - Hexagonal version of Color Lines
• A Java version of Color Lines
• A DHTML version of Color Lines
• Linez Online Arena
• Freeware Lines game in 3D
• Free Lines Game
• Five or more - GNOME version
• KLines - KDE version
• NetLines - Java multiplayer game, inspired by Gnome Lines
• Color Lines at MobyGames
• Lines - Hexagonal version
• Intelligence appraisal with Lines
• Archive of several popular Lines implementations