Neopoint Payout (at May 2004): Your Score divided by 2.5 = Neopoints
Maximum Neopoint Payout: 1000 NP per pay (need a score of 2500)
Object: Switch two adjacent tiles to create a line of three or more of the same tiles. Matches tiles will disappear and the tiles around it will fall to fill in the space, while new tiles appear from the top of the screen. You can only switch tiles and make lines of tiles in the left/right and up/down directions. No diagonal plays are allowed.
Game Modes:
Easy Mode: The game pieces are larger and so there are fewer rows and pieces on the board. There are 8 rows and 8 columns which means there are 64 total tiles to play with. You don’t score nearly as many points for making lines of tiles as you can in Hard Mode but the game-points-to-neopoints ratio remains the same. There is a time limit.
Hard Mode: In hard mode, the pieces are smaller and there are 10 rows and 10 columns, which means 100 tiles on the board at any time. You can make more neopoints in this mode with moves than you can in either of the other modes. There is a time limit.
Zen Mode: Zen Mode is only for stress relief. It uses the Hard Mode board (10×10 and a hundred tiles) and has no time limit. You only get 1 point for each successful move you make. If you have no more moves left on the board and it gets reshuffled, you lose all of your points.
How to Score: You score by creating lines of 3 or more tiles. You get points depending on how many tiles are in the line you created. You can create lines of 3, 4, and 5 tiles.
Bonuses: If any new lines are formed after a line of tiles fall, you get combination bonus points. Sometimes bomb tiles appear. Drop a bomb tile more than 2 lines using a vertical line of the same tiles and when the bomb drops are far as it can go, it will explode and clear out all tiles above it.
Advanced Scoring: You can sometimes create two lines at the same time by moving two pieces. Also, wild card tiles (lucky coins) can count in making lines of tiles and in making two lines of different tiles. Planning correctly can result in large combination bonuses!
Time Limits: In Easy and Hard Mode, there is an hour glass on the right hand side of the game board that keeps track of how much time you have left to play. Scoring gives you back some play time. The larger combos you get, the more time is given back to you. When your time limit gets very low, it’s harder to make time back with scoring. If you run out of time, it’s Game Over.
Pausing the Game: Pausing is a new feature. Clicking directly on the hourglass timer will cause the game to pause and a pause screen will come up, so you can’t search for matching tiles while the game isn’t running.
No More Moves: It used to be that running out of moves would mean the end of the game, but now when you have no more moves you can make, the game will automatically reshuffle the tiles and allow you to keep playing. ALL special tiles (bombs, ankhs, lucky coins, and special scarabs) will be removed from the board when it is reshuffled.
Special Tiles:
Bomb: If this piece is dropped more than two lines, it explodes and clears out all the tiles in the row above it. It can also be played like a normal tile for points, i.e., 3 in a line will clear out and give you points.
Lucky Coin: A wild card tile. Match with other tiles (two or more in a line) to clear lines.
Special Scarab: If you get this tile to the bottom of a line, it will clear out the entire vertical row above it.
Ankh: If you get this tile to the bottom of a line, it will clear out the entire vertical line above it and the horizontal line it’s in, which will always be the bottom-most row.
Tips and Tricks:
Try and make as many vertical lines of tiles you can. It’ll help keep your board from filling up with bombs and help you score faster with bomb combos.
Try and keep making lines of tiles towards the bottom and middle of the game board. It’ll cause more combo lines to make themselves and help to keep the board fresh with new tiles.
When you get ANY special tiles on your game board, do your best to ignore them. If you stare at them trying to figure out how to score with them, you’ll quickly run out of time.
Don’t watch your score or the sand timer move! Letting your attention wander too much will cause you to lose time quickly! – tigrlady