Purble Place
Purble Place A component of Microsoft Windows |
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| Included with | Windows XP Media Edition, Windows Vista, Windows 7 |
| Related components | |
| Chess Titans, FreeCell, Hearts, Mahjong Titans, Minesweeper, Solitaire, Spider Solitaire | |
Purble Place is a suite of computer games, developed by Oberon Games and included in Windows Vista and Windows 7 that offers an environment for children to practice pattern recognition, represented by the schoolhouse at the left of Purble Place. The object is to clear the tableau in the fewest number of turns. A sneak peek bonus allows the player to expose all remaining cards for a couple of seconds, but every card exposed in this way is counted as a turn. As the skill level progresses, the game becomes timed, the grid size increases, and more similar pictures are used. The Beginner level has one 5x5 grid, Intermediate has two 6x6 grids, and Advanced has four 8x8 grids to solve per game. In addition to a joker that automatically finds another match of an exposed card, numerous special pairs are present in the higher levels: such as a card of the icing machine in Comfy Cakes that shuffles the board when paired, a clock that adds more time to the timer, and a Master Chef that automatically finds and matches pairs of cards containing cakes.
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[edit] Comfy Cakes
Comfy Cakes exercises analysis, prediction and Eye-hand coordination skills, using the model of a bakery (the middle building of Purble Place). The object of the game is to fill orders by manufacturing a layer cake that matches a specification, by controlling a conveyor belt that brings the cake to various stations. Elements of the cake include shape (square, circular or heart-shaped), flavor of batter (strawberry, chocolate or vanilla), filling (either pink, yellow, or brown), optional icing (flavors as used in the batter) and other decorations (e.g. sugar may be sprinkled on top of the cake, and in rarer cases, flames are applied to iced cakes to create a smooth glaze). After the cake is completed, the player moves the cake to the star section, sending the order off to be shipped. However, if the cake is not made as specified, the player is penalized. If the player sends three incorrect orders, the game is over. After a certain number of correct orders are shipped, the player wins the game, and the score is tabulated. The final score depends upon the number of cakes baked, the number of incorrect orders sent and the efficiency of the player in baking. At higher levels the specifications become more complex and multiple cakes must be manufactured in parallel on a single conveyor belt.
[edit] Purble Shop
Purble Shop is a code-breaker game. The computer decides the color of up to five features (hat, eyes, nose, mouth and clothes) that are concealed from the player. Any color may be used for any feature, and a color can be used once, several times or not used at all. The player then attempts to deduce or guess the correct feature colors in a limited number of moves. There are three difficulty levels: Beginner with three features in three possible colors for 33 = 27 different possible solutions, Intermediate with 44 = 256 solutions, and Advanced with 55 = 3125 solutions.
Beginner and intermediate levels are guessing games where after each move the computer tells the player which items were correct, so there is little scope for deduction.
At the advanced level the computer doesn't tell the player which specific items were correct, reporting only the count of picks in the correct color and position, and the count of picks in the correct color but the wrong position. This level is similar to the colored peg game Master Mind where success requires logical reasoning as well as lucky guesses.
Finding the correct solution is rewarded by an honorary title (Junior Detective, Detective, Senior Detective, Champion of Logic or Purble Master) depending on the number of guesses and the difficulty level.
[edit] Windows Media Center
Purble Place includes a version for Windows Media Center, which runs in fullscreen mode.
