And Round Again

Instructions

- The basics -

The [sky] is the 15 x 8 squares big game area. A [piece] occupies one square in the sky, the minimum area possible for an entity in the game. A [segment] is one or more connected pieces. A [loop] is a segment with both ends connected.
  1. The basics
  2. The details
  3. Title screen and settings
  4. Keyboard interface controls

How to play

And Round Again is a puzzle game in which the goal is to place the randomly appearing segments in the sky and try to form loops. Completed loops disappear to make room for new segments and new loops. Make sure you don't take too long. If you run out of time while thinking, the segment is forfeit and you lose a life. The timer resets for each new segment that appears.

Creating huge and complex loops is both fun and rewarding, but make sure you don't fill the entire sky. If you run out of room for new segments, the game is over no matter how many lives you have left.

The screen

Explanation of game screen

The lemon tree on the bottom left holds the number of remaining lemons. A lemon is what counts for a "life" or "try" in And Round Again. If you run out of lemons, the game is over.

The timer in the middle keeps track of the time left for the current segment. If it goes a full circle, the bell rings and you've just lost a lemon.

The score stone on the bottom right displays current level, number of loops made, segments placed, and, of course, your score.

Bonus frogShould you score a bonus, a frog will jump in with a loop score multiplier. Consecutive bonuses result in a higher multiplier. Don't break the combo chain or the frog will leave.

MushroomIn a couple of rare situations a special piece might have a lasting effect. For the duration of this effect a mushroom will be visible in the lower right corner, indicating that something is going on. Each of these effects is represented by its own mushroom.

Controls

The first time you launch the game it is configured for keyboard control. Should you prefer to play the game with a mouse, you can change to mouse control in the settings dialog or under the controls tab in the tutorial. There are some subtle differences in gameplay between a mouse and a keyboard game to make them equally fun. For this reason you can't have both control methods active at the same time.

Keyboard (default settings)

Move segment: NUMPAD/ARROWS, rotate: 5 or RETURN, place: SPACE, abandon: ESC, pause: P

Mouse (default settings)

Move segment: move mouse, rotate: right-click or scroll, place: left-click, abandon: center click
With mouse control on, your mouse pointer turns into a shadow of the currently active segment. Move the mouse to steer this shadow to its desired position. The actual segment will chase down the shadow at a speed lower than that of your pointer. You can't place it until both segment and shadow share the same location.

Get right into it

There, if you've read this section you know all you need to know to begin playing And Round Again. We suggest you do exactly that, as the best and most fun way to get a feel for the game is to play it. Some hands-on experience will also make it easier to get the most out of the next section when you feel you are ready to take your gameplay to the next level.

Next: The details >>