By Michael Hartley
Amongst the online games on this site is one called Color Switcher. This page explains how you can play the game offline.
Color Switcher is a simple game. The game begins with a set of black playing pieces arranged on a board. Pieces are made to jump over one another - horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The piece jumped over changes color, but the jumping piece keeps its color. You'll get the idea quickly if you try the online version. The goal is to change all the black pieces to the other color via a series of clever jumps.
A Color Switcher Puzzle
- A board
- Some playing pieces
- A diagram showing how to set up the pieces at the start, like the one on the right here.
The perfect way to get a board and pieces is to use an Othello (Reversi) set. Other obvious choice for a board would be a chess or checkers (draughts) board, or a Go board.
If you don't have an Othello set, you can make your own set of Color Switcher playing pieces as follows.
- Get two sheets of cardboard, of different colors. Preferably, one of the sheets will be black, and the other some bright color.
- Spread glue evenly and thinly all over one side of one fo the sheets of cardboard. Paste the other piece of cardboard onto it, making sure there are no bubbles or areas with no glue.
- Allow the glue to dry, then cut the cardboard into smallish squares using a guillotine.
Once you have a board and a set of playing pieces, you need to know how to arrange the pieces at the start of the game. I've provided hundreds of suggestions here. You should be able to follow that link, select the size of the puzzle board, and print. For each board size, there are five groups of about 20 puzzles each.
Have fun!