DIAMONDS
Can you complete this mind-boggling puzzle from Arthur Lindon?
DIAMONDS is a one player solitaire type game which was popular during the Victorian period, and may have been played by wives to pass away the time while their husbands were at the local tavern. It is played on a double diamond shaped board with blue and red counters. The red counters occupy the left hand side of the board and the blue counters the right.
Object of the game is to move the blue counters to the left and the red counters to the right so they effectively swap positions. This is done either by sliding a counter on to an adjacent empty square or by jumping over a counter of the opposite colour to an empty square the other side of it.
All the moves must be diagonal and the red counters can only move right, while the blue ones must move left.
| Procedures | |
| findblank | Search array for a blank |
| red | Check that move is legal |
| blue | Check that move is legal |
| finished | See if the puzzle is done |
| demo | Demonstrate the solution |
| instr | Print the instructions |
The game is fully error trapped, so don't be afraid to experiment as you won't be allowed to make a wrong move. You'll soon find yourself blocked in and unable to continue. In this situation, press X to restart the game.
And just in case you think the puzzle is impossible to solve there's a built-in demonstration of just one of many solutions.
