Contents

The contents list all of the help topics for Moshe's Insanity.

How To Play

Overview

Playing the Game

Strategy and Hints

Commands

Game Menu Commands


Overview

Written by Shaun Miller in November/December 1994.  Help was added in the spring of 1995.

Moshe's Insanity is a problem first proposed to me by one of my instructors at Pacific Lutheran University, Moshe Rosenfeld.  It resembles the game of Insanity, although admittedly very remotely.

The games starts with 8 cubes across the top of the screen.  Each cube is colored with 6 colors:  red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow.  There are 30 distinct colorings possible.  The 8 cubes across the top of the screen are randomly selected from these 30 colorings with duplicates allowed.  Of course, each time the game is selected, the solution is computed before you ever get to see it, so every game you play is solvable.

Each of the 8 small cubes may be rotated and then placed into the large cube at the bottom of the screen.  The goal of the game is to place the 8 cubes in the large cube such that each face on the large cube is a single color and that all six colors are represented on the exterior of the large cube.


Playing the Game

Rotating a Small Cube

A small cube must be located in one of the positions across the top of the screen before it may be rotated.  Simply position the mouse cursor over the cube you wish to rotate and click the left mouse button.  This will select the cube to rotate.  You should see the a thick square around the cube you have selected.  Then click one of the buttons along the bottom of the screen to rotate the cube.

Rotating the Large Cube

The large cube rotates in place.  Of course, all small cubes in the large cube will rotate with the large cube.  Select the large cube by positioning the mouse cursor over it and clicking the left mouse button.  Then click one of the buttons along the bottom of the screen to rotate the cube.

Moving a Small Cube Into the Large Cube

Position the mouse cursor over the cube you wish to move.  Click and hold the left mouse button down.  With the mouse button down, drag the cube toward the large cube.  When the small cube is near the large cube, a gray cube will appear in the large cube marking the location where the small cube will be placed when the left mouse button is released.  As the small cube is moved around the large cube, the gray marker cube will move as well.

There is one quirk that may make dropping the cube somewhat confusing.  When the small cube is at the top of the screen, there is a vertical edge of the cube that faces toward you.  That edge will be aligned with the outside edge of the large cube regardless of the position in which the small cube is placed.

Moving a Small Cube Out of the Large Cube

Position the mouse cursor over the small cube within the large cube you wish to move.  Click and hold the left mouse button down.  After a hesitation, the small cube will be lifted out of the large cube and it may be placed in any unoccupied place in the large cube or back at the top of the screen.

When You Win

When you solve the puzzle, a message appears at the bottom of the screen notifying you.


Strategy and Hints

Solving the puzzle can be a tedious operation if your initial guesses are incorrect.  The best strategy to finding a solution is to first pick the six colors of the large cube.  You do this by picking two of the small cubes and arranging them in the large cube such that one is on the bottom row, and the other is on the opposing corner on the top row.  If the cubes have been rotated correctly, the colors of the faces of the large cube have now been determined.  From this point, be methodical in the arrangement of the remaining cubes to ensure you have covered all possible combinations.

If the first try is unsuccessful, remove all cubes from the large cube, rotate the same two cubes you used to determine the face colors of the large cube in the previous try, and repeat the process.


Game Menu Commands

New

Randomly chooses 8 new cubes and starts a new game.

Reset

Merely removes all small cubes from the large cube (if any) and places them back at the top of the screen.  This option allows an easy way to start over on the same game.

Solve

Provides an animated solution to the current game.  During the animation, the Exit and Help menu options are still available.

Exit

Quits Moshe's Insanity (same as Close from the system menu).