SameGame

SameGame (さめがめ) is a puzzle game featuring tile removal originally released under the name Chain Shot! in 1985 by Kuniaki Moribe (Morisuke). It has since been ported to numerous computer platforms.

History
SameGame was originally created as Chain Shot! in 1985 by Kuniaki Moribe (Morisuke). It was distributed for the Fujitsu FM-8/7 series in a Japanese monthly personal computer magazine called Gekkan ASCII.

The game was later ported under the name of 'SAME GAME' in 1992 for UNIX platforms by Eiji Fukumoto (Kyoto), followed by the one for the NEC PC-9801 series by Wataru Yoshioka (W. Yossy).

In 1993 it was ported to Windows 3.1 by Ikuo Hirohata. This version was translated into English by Hitoshi Ozawa and is still available from his software archive.

In 1994, Takahiro Sumiya ported it to Macintosh. This version has some gameplay differences (three instead of five colors) and is probably the most widely distributed of the original series. It was the basis for Same Gnome/KSame on Linux.

Game mechanics
Same Game is played on a rectangular field initially filled with typically 4 or 5 kinds of blocks placed at random. By selecting one of a group of adjoining blocks of the same color, a player may remove them from the screen by clicking them (single click in some versions, double click in others). Blocks that are no longer supported by removed blocks will fall down, and a column without any blocks will be trimmed away by other columns always sliding to one side (often the left.) The goal of the game is to remove as many blocks from the playing field as possible.

In most versions, there are no time constraints during the game, however, some implementations gradually push the rows upward or drop blocks from above. Sometimes the player can control the number and timing of blocks that drop from above in certain ways - for example, on some implementations in iPhone OS, this can be done by shaking the device in some versions. The game ends if a timer runs out or if no more blocks can be removed. Some versions (including Windows Mobile ones) include both a portrait (width is less than height) and landscape orientation (width is larger than height) of the playing field, with the field area being the same.

Variations

 * Game starts with no blocks on field. Blocks fall down to the playing field and must be removed before they reach the top. If they reach the top and overflow, the game is over. The falling pieces might be circles/balls instead of blocks. If the game features balls instead of blocks and if the balls do NOT follow the usual rectangular pattern, it plays a bit differently, as the balls form different shapes than square blocks (example: Bubble Bang).
 * 3D variant: game playing field is a cube (containing smaller cubes) instead of a rectangle. The player can rotate the cube. Other than that, the game rules are the same, match several blocks of the same color to make them disappear.
 * Versions supporting rotate: you can rotate the playing field 90° clockwise or counter-clockwise, then one of two things happens:
 * 1) The left/right side becomes the bottom and blocks fall to it. The orientation switches between portrait and landscape. Example: NeoSameGame for iPhone OS
 * 2) The blocks fall to the left/right side, but you must rotate the field back to portrait orientation (which is fixed). Example: Bubblets Tilt for iPhone OS
 * Diagonal blocks removing as well, instead of just adjacent horizontally and vertically (example: external link #2).
 * Versions introduce new types of blocks. The different types of blocks interact in various ways with the play field, i.e. removing all the blocks in a row. An example of this is the Revenge mode in PocketPop Revenge (PocketFun) for iPhone OS.

Rules variations

 * 1) Game ends when the playing field is cleared (or if the remaining blocks can't be removed), the player gets his hi-score/etc.
 * 2) When the playing field is cleared, the game does not end. Instead, a new level appears, usually harder (with more blocks types and/or lower time limit) than the previous one. The rules for the win condition for a level may be different - instead of clearing the whole level, a certain score (or simply certain number of removed blocks) must be reached. When the needed score is reached, the player is usually (in most versions) allowed to clear the rest of the level, but not always. If the player can't reach the needed score (or number of blocks removed) or if the timer (if there is one) runs out, the game ends, and the player gets his hi-score/etc.
 * 3) Endless game. The field starts as empty. Then blocks (or balls) start falling down, but if they reach the top newer blocks stop falling, so they do not overflow, thus the game never ends. The player can end the game at any time by waiting for blocks to reach the top, then doing a special action (for example, right-click instead of left-click).
 * 4) Lives: some versions feature a lives concept. If you happen to get a losing condition one time, the game does not end, but a life is lost. If all lives are lost, then the game ends.
 * 5) Continuous: in this style, whenever a vertical set of bubbles has been cleared and the remaining bubbles have shifted over to the right (or left), a new randomly selected column of bubbles will pop up on the right (or left), thereby allowing a game to be played for an extended amount of time.
 * 6) Shift: when a set of bubbles has been cleared, all remaining bubbles to the top and left/right will shift down and to the right/left.
 * 7) Megashift: a combination of the rules of Continuous and the Shift ruleset.

Scoring
Most versions of the game give $$(n-k)^2$$ points for removing n tiles at once, where k = 1 or 2 depending on the implementation. For instance, Insane Game for TI calculators uses $$(n-1)^2$$. Ikuo Hirohata's implementation uses the formula $$n^2-3n+4$$. The Bubble Breaker implementation for Windows Mobile uses the $$n (n - 1)$$ formula. The 2001 version released by Jeff Reno uses the formula $$n (n - 2)$$.


 * Some versions also offer a large bonus for removing all (or leaving less than a certain amount of) blocks on the screen.
 * Yet others reduce the final score based on the number of blocks remaining at the end of the game.
 * Some game versions award bonus points for quicker clearing of the field, encouraging faster play. The faster the player finishes the level, the bigger the bonus.
 * Still others offer combo/chain bonuses for clearing the same color of blocks 2 or more times in succession.
 * Another interesting scoring technique is awarding bonus points for each chain of a certain (or any) color that has a certain number of blocks (for example, 2 red blocks or 11 blue ones). After you get the bonus once, sometimes the bonus condition changes, and sometimes it does not. Example: BPop
 * Some versions have a simple scoring system - each block removed brings 1 point, and there is no bonus for removing more than two blocks at a time. Example: Same Pets and Same Hearths

Goal score variants:
 * Mutli-level games feature three main goal score types:
 * 1) The score for each level is a certain number. The score for the level starts at zero. When the level is finished, the total score is updated, but the next level starting score is zero again. The target score increases with each level.
 * 2) The target score for each level is cumulative. This means that sometimes you have completed the level you are entering even without removing a single block, if you played well in the previous levels. Also, this means if your play is excellent for several rounds, you can relax in the next ones. Example: BPop
 * 3) Target score for each level is always the same. Game play can be virtually endless if played with planning and concentration. Example: Same Pets and Same Hearths
 * 4) No goal score. The goal is to clear the level completely. When you fail to do so, the game ends. Example: Bonkers for iPhone

Visuals
There are two main block appearances: colored square and circle/ball ones. Some of those include gradients, for example a gradient starting in the top left (with the main block color) and ending in the bottom right (with black) for balls, and other types of gradients for squares. Other tile themes (also known as skins) include animals (cat/dog/squirrel/turtle/monkey/etc), hearts, stars, faces, Lego blocks, jelly bears, Christmas theme, monochrome theme. Most games have only one skin, but others allow choosing a skin from several different ones. Also, there is a special visual aspect in some versions - instead of separate blocks, they feature bordered areas for adjacent blocks of the same color (examples: iDrops, SameGameManiak). Yet others have elaborate tile graphics, featuring pictures/patterns inside the tile, for example see the KSame and Same GNOME pics above (another game that has this visual feature is Glyph for iPhone OS, albeit its rules are different from SameGame).

Another game that can have this feature is Pexeso. Also, Tetris allows this, although the revealed photo is not under the playing field, but beside it (when you make a Tetris row, part of the photo is revealed, gradually revealing all; example - SexTris/PornTris). A iPhone OS non-SameGame example of this is Glyph (revealing a symbol when you complete each level). (See more at "Reveal the picture")
 * "Reveal the picture": The SameGame concept allows for doubling as a "Reveal the picture" game. A picture/photo is behind the tiles, and gradually becomes more and more visible with the removing of the tiles, until it is visible as a whole. Examples (for iPhone OS) include Same Pets and Same Hearts and the free Nissan Cube promotion app, which contains several movies, an interactive 3D view of the Cube car, and a SameGame clone with various photos of Nissan cars in different settings.


 * Animation: some games feature animation for one or more of the game events, for example bursting/expoding of cleared tiles, or an animation at each block removal where the achieved score for the blocks cleared appears on the cleared position and then moves to the current score indicator and adds the points scored to the total score (BPop). An alternative is the same, but a colored block (with the same color as the blocks that have been cleared) moves from the cleared position to the score indicator (Bubblets Tilt).


 * Block highlighting: Double-click versions have means of showing which blocks are selected. It can be a border around them (BPop), a small jump up (and then back down) of the blocks (BPop again), or an increase of the size of the selected balls/blocks (Bubblets Tilt). If the blocks are unselected (usually by dragging away from them, or tapping another block chain or a single block), the highlight goes away (or goes to the other selected blocks).

Versions

 * Chain Shot!, the original game by Kuniaki Moribe for the Fujitsu FM 8/7, ported to PC-8801, PC-9800, N5200 (1988), and Macintosh (1992). It had a 20×10 playing field and four colors.
 * The original Same Game for Unix by Eiji Fukumoto, 1992. It increased the number of colors to five.
 * A version for PC-9801 by Wataru Yoshioka (W. Yossi).
 * A Windows 3.1 port by Ikuo Hirohata, 1993, later translated into English by Hitoshi Ozawa. It added an optional large field of 25×15. The large field requires an 800×600 desktop resolution.
 * A Macintosh port by Takahiro Sumiya, 1994. It reduced the number of colors to three.
 * KSame/Same Gnome/Swell Foop, based on Takahiro Sumiya's Macintosh version.
 * Undake 30: Same Game, 1995. An SNES version of SameGame featuring Super Mario-related icons: Mario's head, coins, Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, and Yoshi eggs.
 * ColorFall by Michael LaLena, 1998, Java/Browser Based. Added the concept of levels. Clear levels by removing a fixed number of colors. New colors are added every level. 5 different versions are available.
 * Clickomania! by Matthias Schüssler, 1998, Windows. Board size and number of colors are configurable. Originally the goal was only to clear the playing field, the number of blocks removed in one turn did not affect the score. This is still the default setting.
 * An Amiga port by Ronald van Dijk, 1999. It has a 15×10 playing field and three colors.
 * Sega Swirl, created by Scott Hawkins for Sega, 1999, Dreamcast, Adobe Shockwave and Palm OS
 * MacStones by Craig Landrum, 1999, based on Same Gnome.
 * Aha! by Computer Systems Odessa, 1999. It allows configuration of the board size (between 3×3 and 25×15) and the number of colors (between 2 and 5).
 * Cascade on Psion Revo, 1999.
 * Jawbreaker, 2003, PocketPC.
 * SameGame by Steve & Oliver Baker. 2008. Online version in JavaScript that allows configuration of board size, number of colors and offers a range of alternative tile themes to play with.
 * PocketPop by PocketFun, 2001, Pocket PC. Won a number of awards including Best Game in Pocket PC Magazine 2001. http://www.pocketfun.co.uk
 * Bubble Shot for iPhone and iPod touch by FingerFriendlySoft. A Bubble Breaker compatible game where adjacent bubbles visually melt into larger bubbles. Includes additional "Folding" and "Black Hole" modes and static challenges. http://fingerfriendlysoft.com
 * PocketPop Revenge by PocketFun.co.uk, February 2009, iPhone OS. Updated version of PocketPop that introduces a new Revenge mode offering a more arcade intense game to the normal games. http://www.pocketfun.co.uk
 * reMovem by Mundue LLC, August 2008, iPhone OS.
 * iDrops by Agant Ltd, June 2008, iPhone OS.
 * BPop by IndieAn, November 2008, iPhone OS).
 * SameGame by Steven Troughton-Smith, July 2008, iPhone OS.
 * NeoSameGame by Hudson Soft, September 2008, iPhone OS.
 * Same Pets & Same Hearths by DSEffects (iPhone OS).
 * Bubblets Tilt by oopdreams software, August 2008, iPhone OS.
 * Bubble Bang by Decane, January 2009, web browser and iPhone OS. Game is in 3D and uses balls instead of blocks. The iPhone version uses Nvidia PhysX for realistic physics. The web browser version requires Unity.
 * A WiiWare version from Hudson Soft entitled Pop'Em Drop'Em SAMEGAME was released on March 23, 2009.
 * SameGame by Torbjörn Gustafsson, February 2009, Android (operating system).
 * Bubble Drop!, the original game by Gizmobuddy.com for the Symbian S60 3rd Edition phones with some interesting twists, including the ability to selectively remove obstructing bubbles by using 'tools', 'acid', 'fire', 'bomb' and with 8 different gameplay modes of 3 and 6 colours. There is also the Bubble Drop Website and Bubble Drop's global high-scores page where players from all over the world can submit their high scores.
 * SameGame, Again! by Itteco Software, March 2009, Android (operating system).
 * Bebbled for Android and iPhone, October 2009. The game includes single player campaigns with different levels and online challenges with global rank list.
 * ColorBalls by Pistooli, March 2010, Haiku (operating system).