Light Up is a logic puzzle with simple rules and challenging solutions. This is exactly the kind of game I like.
Briefly, the idea is to place light bulbs in a grid of squares. Some squares are black (solid) and block the light. Some of the black squares have numbers. In this case, the number of light bulbs directly above, below, left and right must equal that number. Light bulbs must not light each other.
In the version of the game on this site a left click will place (or remove) a light bulb. A right click will place (or remove) a X. The player can use this as a visual aide to indicate a light bulb can not be placed on this square.The grids come in four sizes: 7x7, 10x10, 14x14 and 25x25, and difficulty ratings are Easy, Normal and Hard. There is also a special one-a-week puzzle on a very large grid (30x40) with no set difficulty.
No guess-work is required, and there is only a single solution. Clicking the ready button will do one of three things: tell you how many more light bulbs are required, tell you the puzzle is solved and the approximate time it took to complete it, tell you there are mistakes in the puzzle solution. If you get as addicted to this game as I have you will dread seeing that message.
There are two things I would like to change about this game. Firstly, there is no undo option. There have been times where I have needed to keep placing light bulbs until I was sure the "solution" was incorrect. The trick then is to remove the most recent light bulbs you have placed. You will need to remember them. Two or three is easy. Six or seven can be tricky. More than that is certailny challenging. I would like either an undo function or a save point. Secondly, when there are errors, you are not told where they are. This can be very frustrating, I understand it is part of the puzzle but that hardly makes it less annoying. At least there should be the option of having your mistake pointed out to you.
A nice-to-have feature would be a hint button. Sometimes crosses and bulbs have obvious placements like the following cases:
? X ? X ? X ? L ?
X 0 X ? 3 ? L 4 L
? X ? X ? X ? L ?
Quite often there are single empty squares that can immediately have a light bulb. When you play long enough you will be able to recognise certain patterns when you see them.
I have played this game for so long that I now use the Ironman setup: 25x25 (or 14x14) Hard with no Xs
From a software point of view I see two interesting challenges: the first is the designing a puzzle generator and the second is generating a puzzle solver. I have not written a generator but I did find one here. Simon Tatham has provided code not only for Light Up but for 31 other logic puzzle games. I have not examined the source code yet but it is something on my ToDo list. Having the source code means it is possible to implement some of the changes I mentioned earlier. It also means there is a way to generate a puzzle and pass that puzzle to a puzzle solver (or trainer). I am yet to find any code for that. And finally I can implement the game in another programming language.
I hope this game brings you as much enjoyment as it does me
Thank-you for reading
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