Getting Started

To start the game

• Click on the Windows Start button (usually on the bottom bar on your screen)
• Move the arrow up to the 'Programs' option
• Move the mouse over to the 'SmallRockets' option
• Move the mouse over to the 'Tower of the Ancients' option
• To start the game click on the 'Run the game' option

How to play

Stacks of blocks fall from the sky. There are usually three blocks to a stack, but from time to time four block stacks appear, so stay on your toes.

Your task is to position each stack to form lines of three blocks of the same type - horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Such lines are then removed from the tower.

Horizontal (3 points)

Vertical (3 points)

Diagonal (3 points)

Diagonal (3 points)

You score one point for each block forming part of a line. If a single block is in two different lines, it scores two points.

Two lines (6 points)

Any lines which are formed by the blocks settling into place after removing a previous set of lines get a score bonus.

Horizontal (3 points)

Blocks settle

Diagonal (2 x 3 points)

It pays to move quickly. Three minutes into a level, a new block type is added to the pool of blocks you can drop on to the tower, making it harder to form lines.

The block types currently in play are shown along the bottom of the screen.

After another three minutes, a block type is removed from the pool - any blocks of that type still in the tower will be hard to remove without using a power up.

Block types which are in the tower but no longer in the pool of available blocks ('obsolete' blocks) are shown along the top of the screen.

Controls

Controlling the tower is simple:

	Up	Move the top block of the current stack to the bottom
	Down	Move the bottom block of the current stack to the top
	Left	Move the current stack to the left
	Right	You can probably work this out for yourself
	Space,Return	Drop the current stack into place
	Esc,q	Bring up the menu

Special Blocks

As your score increases, you have an increasing chance of getting special power up blocks. These blocks are gold, and glow with a divine light.

	Wild Block This block will form a line of three with any line of two identical blocks.
	Block Smite This block destroys every block in the tower of the type that it lands on. Handy for removing obsolete blocks.
	Row Smite This block destroys every block in the tower at the height it lands.

As your score increases, you also suffer an increased risk of having to deal with stacks of four blocks.

Finishing the Game

When you achieve the level goal, you win the level and move on to the next. The number of blocks left over before the tower would be filled is totted up, providing a bonus score. The emptier the tower, the higher your score.

If the tower gets too close to heaven, you lose and must suffer the wrath of the LORD. A tower column which is less than three blocks from this fate has a glowing block at the top. Dropping a stack onto a column with a glowing top will lose the game.

The only exception to this is on the bonus level. Here the game continues as long as you can keep below the sight of the LORD. When the tower gets too high, you move on to the next level. The number of blocks required to fill the rest of the tower is totted up, and subtracted from your score. The fuller the tower, on this bonus level, the higher your score.

The level goal changes from level to level.

For the first three levels, you have to gain a certain number of points (shown under 'Remaining' in the scoreboard).

After that, the goal alternates between points waves and line waves.

In a line wave, you must form a certain number of lines of a given orientation only - horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Other orientations still score points, but do not contribute towards the level target.

After each level, the goal required to finish the next level is increased.