1. Introduction
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MyBad! for PalmOS is a clone of the classic board game, Sorry! The game's objective is to move all pawns of your color from your start area to your Home area. You do this by drawing the top card from a deck, which is located in the center of the board, and following the instructions on the card. Players take turns drawing cards and (if possible), moving as the card requires. Positive (forward) moves go clockwise around the board. The first player to get all their pawns into the Home square wins the game!
2. Installation
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To install MyBad! on your color Palm device, simply HotSync the MyBad.prc file onto your handheld. Your application launcher will have a MyBad! icon, which you can tap to start playing MyBad!.
3. How To Play
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The turn state indicator above the card deck tells you whose turn it is, and what that player should do. For example, a blue dot next to "Draw Card" means that it's Blue's turn, and that the Blue player needs to draw a card by tapping the card deck on the left. If a player can't move the turn state indicator will change to reflect that it's the next player's turn. Other turn states include "Select Pawn", which means that the current player needs to select a pawn to move, "Select End", which means that the current player needs to select a destination for the selected pawn, and "Sel 2nd Pawn", which means that the player needs to select a second pawn to move.
So, how do the cards work? There are 11 different cards in the game:
+1 or Start : Move a pawn from the Start area to the main game track (outer edge of the board) or move 1 space.
+2 or Start : Allows you to move a card from the Start area to the main game track (outer edge of the board) or move 1 space clockwise. Also gives you another turn!
+3 : Move forward 3 spaces.
-4 : Move backward 3 spaces. Can be used to "wrap around" close to the Home area.
+5 : Move forward 5 spaces.
+7 or Split : Move forward 7 spaces or two pawns forward a total of 7 spaces. Split them 5 and 2, 3 and 4, or whatever you like.
+8 : Move forward 8 spaces.
+10 or -1 : Move forward 10 spaces or backward 1 space. Moving backward one space can be used to "wrap around" close to the Home area.
+11 or Swap: Move forward 11 spaces or swap places with an opponent's pawn.
+12 : Move forward 12 spaces.
MyBad! : Take a pawn from your Start area and put it where an opponent's pawn is located, which you bump to its Start area.
You can not move a pawn to a square which already holds one of your own pawns, but if you can move your pawn to a square which holds an opponent's pawn, you'll knock it back to its Start area.
What else is there? Well, there are slides. If you land on the beginning square of a slide that is NOT of your own color, you'll slide to the end of the slide, knocking any pawns, INCLUDING ANY OF YOUR COLOR, off the slide. So, be careful!
Also, you'll notice that the path leading from the main track to your Home area is for your color pawns ONLY. It's called the safety zone, because your pawn's can't be hurt there. It's important to try to get (and keep) pawns in that area, if possible.
A pawn must move the exact number of spaces required to get Home. Once a pawn is moved into the Home area, it can't be moved anymore (in other words, drawing a card which requires you to move backward won't make you take a pawn from the Home are).
4. Options
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MyBad! has a few options, which you can change to your liking. You can change these options by selecting Options from the Game menu. The menu is reachable by tapping the silkscreened menu button on your handheld (or the virtual menu button).
* Force Swap On 11
If this option is not checked, a pawn can choose to neither move forward nor swap when drawing an 11. You can choose to do neither by selecting a pawn, then selecting it again as the end point.
* Game Sounds On
If this option is checked, game sounds will be played when a pawn slides, swaps, or gets knocked back to start. Your system sounds setting must be on to hear the sounds.
* Tutorial Move
If this option is checked, MANY dialog boxes will appear during the course of a game, explaining gameplay and invalid moves. Once you've played MyBad! a couple of games, you'll definitely want to turn this OFF!.
* Palm Players Draw Cards
If this option is checked, Palm players can draw their own cards. Otherwise, you'll have to draw their cards for them, which is good if you're still learning how to play. But after a while, you'll probably want the computer to draw its own cards. Even if this option is checked, when starting a new game, you'll have to draw the game's first card!
5. Players
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MyBad! can be played by 2-4 players. Unregistered users can play with two players only. A player can be either human or computer-controlled. You must have at least two players. Using the Players screen, which you can reach from the Game menu, you can select which players are active, and who controls each. If you change the players, the game with start over. This is important if you're not a registered user (see Registration, below).
6. Online Help
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"How To Play" on the Help menu gives you some of the same information as listed in this file, and the Tutorial Mode option gives you some more help. If you forget what each card does, tap on the visible card on the right card stack to get an explanation of that card.
7. Registration
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MyBad! is restricted shareware. This means that you'll be able to start 15 games of MyBad!, and play with only two players in each game. If you want to play as much as you like, with up to four players (with as many computer and players as you wish), then you'll need to register MyBad! at www.palmgear.com, by clicking the "Buy" icon on the MyBad! homepage (you can get there by searching PalmGear for MyBad! on the Palmgear homepage. Registration costs $9.95, and will provide you with a code to enter in the Reigstration window, available from the Game menu. Once validated, all functions and options will immediately be available.
8. About Me
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My name is Orrie Pelc, and I am primarily a Windows (Visual C++) software engineer, with seven years' experience in Object-oriented design, MFC, the Win32 API, SQL and the PalmOS API. I live in Sacramento, California, and am looking for work in northern California right now. If you'd like more information, or have an opportunity you think I'd fit, contact me at realpelc@hotmail.com.