Marbles of Olympus rules

Introduction

Zeus, the king of the ancient Greek gods, challenges you to a thrilling duel. He will pit you against a different mythological figure for each of the four elements. In order to progress, you will need speed, skill and strategy. The marbles of fate roll continuously towards the exit. Your aim is to clear the lines of marbles before they reach the exit. Two or more marbles of the same colour next to each other can be cleared by shooting a marble of the same colour next to them.

Zeus is aware of man's imperfections and shows mercy by offering him the "Wheel of the Gods" and other extras which can be collected. This allows the possibility to influence the result of this uneven battle.

The aim of the game

• Remove lines of two or more like-coloured marbles by shooting marbles of the corresponding colour at them.
• Clear a complete line of marbles before it reaches the exit, therefore ending the game.
• Clear all lines of marbles in order to reach the next level.
• If you manage to complete all three levels in the allotted time, you reach the fourth level where you can score lots of points.

Controls

You control the marble catapult, at the bottom of the screen, with your mouse. You fire a marble by clicking the mouse. This marble will travel upwards until it makes contact with other marbles.

The big marble in the catapult is fired by clicking the mouse. Below you can see a preview of the next marble which will be available after your current shot.
You can switch between these two marbles by pressing the space bar. Exchanging marbles is often useful. You can also temporarily save an extra you've collected by pressing the space bar. You can switch marbles with the space bar as often as you like; it doesn't cost any points.

Cascades

A cascade is also known as a chain-reaction which is cleared with just one shot and continues on its own. In order to activate a cascade, you have to clear a line of marbles which has like-coloured marbles at either side. If the line of marbles in the middle is cleared, a new line of marbles forms and is also cleared. The more steps to the cascade, the more points are scored.
In the image displayed two cascades can be made by either clearing the two blue marbles at the right-hand side between the red marbles or by clearing the three blue marbles at the left-hand side between the yellow marbles.

The Wheel of the Gods

The Wheel of the Gods can be found in a different position in each level. The wheel has five different coloured chambers. Your task is to fill the wheel by shooting the correct marble into the chamber which is currently facing downwards. You can shoot whichever colour you like into a rainbow-coloured chamber.

The sooner you fill the chambers of the wheel, the quicker you can reach the next level.
Once the 'Wheel of the Gods' is full, Zeus stops sending lines of marbles as long as the minimum amount of lines for the particular level has been cleared. As soon as you clear the last marble, you reach the next level.

However, even if you don't fill the wheel with marbles, you can still reach the next level - you are simply faced with more marbles.

Extras

You can receive "extras" for a variety of actions. These extras are useful and are rewarded with additional points.

NB: The extras can only be used if you collect the corresponding symbol with your catapult when it falls.

The extras consist of:

	The lines of marbles move slower for a few seconds.
	The lines of marbles stop completely for a few seconds.
	The lines of marbles move backwards for a few seconds.
	The rainbow-ball stands for each colour. You can therefore clear two groups at the same time.
	With the bomb you clear all marbles around the point where the marble hits.
	With the paint brush, you paint all marbles within an area in just one colour. Clearing large lines gives you extra points.
	With the bolt of lightning you can clear all marbles directly vertical of the catapult.
	The colour-bomb clears all marbles of a particular colour from the screen.

The extras won't always appear in the order shown above. Some extras are only available in certain levels or through particular actions.

Tips and tricks to score lots of points

• As the time is restricted, try to score as many points as possible in the allotted time.
• In higher levels you can score more points but it is also more and more difficult not to lose the level due to marbles reaching the exit. Try to score the amount of points in each level which corresponds to your skill level.
• If you fill the "Wheel of the Gods" quicker, you will reach the next level sooner.
• Longer cascades are worth more points. Therefore, try to arrange the marbles so that you can set off a long cascade with just one shot.
• The fourth level cannot be completed by mere mortals. However, there are rumours that the gods have an "Achilles heel" which theoretically makes it possible to complete this level. No one has, however, managed this thus far. As more and more lines of marbles keep coming in the last level, lots of points can be scored.