Kou-Jong - The Beginner's Guide

How you play so you can get paid! (simplified)

All you have to do to play this game is clear the board by matching up all of the tiles. The tiles must be removed in identical pairs, with the exception of flower and season tiles. The tiles also must be considered "free". To be considered free they must not be covered in any way and have the right or left side untouched by another tile.

All of the paired tiles will be exactly identical to one another, except for the Flower and Season tiles.

Parts of the Game Screen So the Game Isn't Mean!

STAGE _ OF 3: This tells you what stage you are on. For example, if you are playing the first game you are on stage 1, if you are playing the second game you are on stage 2, and if you are playing your third and final game you are on stage 3.

BONUS: This is the bonus timer. If you finish the puzzle before this timer runs out you get bonus points added to your score. In the Easy levels you have 60 seconds or one minute, in the Medium levels you have 180 seconds or 3 minutes, and 360 seconds or 6 minutes for the Hard levels. I would suggest practically ignoring this unless you are trying to get a REALLY high score.

STAGE POINTS: This is the amount of points that you have earned so far in that level.

TOTAL POINTS: This is the amount of points you have earned total. If you have to reset your game due to lack of moves the points you had gotten thus far in that game will not be added to this, only fully completed level points will.

HINTS: Hints help you by telling you where an available pair is. In Easy mode you get 1 hint, in Medium mode you get 2 hints and in Hard mode you get 3 hints. These hints are reset for every puzzle in every stage, meaning that if you have to reset your stage or if you move on to the next stage you will get your 1/2/3 hint(s) reset.

HINT: Clicking this will tell you where an available move is. To see how many hints you have left, look at the section labeled HINTS.

RESET: Clicking this will reset your puzzle, and no, the pieces will not be in the same place, therefore possibly making it easier for you to complete the stage. Then again, it could also make it harder, so only use this button if you have to because you run out of moves.

END GAME: This button will end your game and give you the options to Play Again or Submit your Score, which I think we all know what they do, but here it is anyway: Play Again takes you to the main menu screen and Submit Score gives you Neopoints for your efforts.

Suggestions, Tips and Tricks Just For Kicks!

Firstly, get to the game. You can do this either by going to the ship and clicking on the Pink Kougra on the ship playing Kou-Jong or you can make a shorter trip to Puzzles in the Games Room, also known as the fountain of happiness and my home. :D

I would suggest you play on Normal mode; I have to mess with my settings a bit for large and I find it quite a bit harder to see what the tiles are if I play on small mode. However, you may have a different opinion; I suggest going with what works best for you and your computer.

When the game window opens up there are 3 choices. Instructions, Play Game and Sound Off. You don't really need to click on instructions because, well, that's what I'm here for and I'd feel betrayed if you were to click the instructions button, and if I feel betrayed I won't tell you how to play the game. *Oooh burn...* Play Game takes you to the game and Sound Off turns the sound on and off. I've never played with sound before, but if you find that it relaxes more than distracts, then feel free to leave it on. I personally prefer to listen to the TV in the background. I'm not sure why, but I do. Silence makes me crazy. 0.o

Now, when you click on play game you are given three options: easy, medium and hard. Each level of difficulty has the same amount of stages in it, the puzzles are just harder because as you progress there are more tiles to be matched.

While the game is sitting at the 'Choose a difficulty' screen, it's time to get comfy and relax yourself. This game requires 75% clear, relaxed and concentrated mind and 25% skill. Take a few deep, cleansing breaths and do not think about anything for a minute or two. It takes practice, especially for a stressed out, busy minded person, but when you teach yourself how, it's very easy to continue doing on a regular basis.

Then click on beginner. It sounds crazy, I know, but you have to walk before you can skip before you can run. In simpler terms, learn the ways of the game and develop your style when the game is easy and then continue on to the harder levels.

The Big Two, Which is for You?

Now, there are two ways to go about playing the game. The first way is just click randomly and hope you get 2 pairs before the bonus timer runs out, or use the strategic method.

The strategic method takes a great deal of memorization and prioritization. Start with one of the highest tiles on the board. Then find a match for it, preferably with another tile that is raised off of the bottom level. Do the same and continue on, doing what you can. Then, if you see a match for that tile but a side is blocked, find the tile that would make that tile free and pair it with another tile. If the match for that tile is blocked too, continue finding matches until one is available or there is no match. If you cannot find a match, then find a match for all raised tiles until you find the match for that tile and make it available. Then go through the string of tiles with pairs and start over again. Sound confusing? I'll give an example.

You're playing the game and the highest tile on the board is a set of 4 dots. So find another set of four dots that matches the highest tile. If the match is not free because the left side is blocked by a bowl of worms, find another bowl of worms. Oh no, a Pawkeet blocks the match for your bowl of worms on the left side. So find another Pawkeet tile, and look, there's a free one! So pair together the two Pawkeets, then the two bowls of worms, and finally the four dots. Now do another string of tiles such as this, and another and another and another and before you know it the board should be cleared!

If you still don't understand, try playing a game and see if it makes more sense then, and if it doesn't, feel free to send me a neomail concerning it; I'll do my best to explain it to you better there.

Well, I have now reached the end of my article. Congratulations, you are now a Kou-Jong master and great at keeping yourself stress free!

Wow, my first article in the Neopian Times! Comments and feedback are appreciated; happy reading!