How to use the Nurikabe iPhone Application

The Nurikabe Player is for doing puzzles.

Tap on an empty cell to paint it black.

Tap on a black cell and it becomes a "dot," to remind you not to paint the cell black.

Tap on a "dot" and it disappears, leaving an empty cell.

Use the "Reverse Handling" function with "two finger" taps: Put one finger where there are no buttons or icons on the screen and tap the cell you wish to change with another finger. Now a "dot" becomes a black cell, and with one more tap the cell becomes empty.

Disable the "Reverse Handling" function via the "Preferences" screen.

Paint cells continuously by dragging. Click on a black cell and drag, and you can put "dots" continuously. Click on a "dot" and drag to delete black cells and "dots."

Tap on a "dot/black cell" and drag to delete "dots" and "black cells."

This is the problem number.

These icons show the difficulty level. From the left: easy, medium, hard, and extra hard.

Tap on this icon to see the name of the author.

These numbers show time passed from starting the puzzle, here 1 minute and 3 seconds.

Benchmark means target times for beginners, intermediate solvers and expert solvers. The times suggest how difficult the puzzles are, and your times to solve puzzles may be very different from the "benchmark" times here.

When you want to start a puzzle anew, tap the "Retry" button and a dialog box appears, then if you choose "Yes" all markings in the puzzle will be deleted.

When you want to redo a step, tap the "Undo" button. Repeated tapping on the "Undo" button will return you to the start.

After finishing a problem, tap the "Check" button and the screen will say "Congratulations" - if your solution is correct. If your solution is not correct the puzzle will show one point where it is not correct, then tap the "Check" button to continue to solve the puzzle.

If you wish to quit a problem, tap the "Quit" button, and a dialogue box will ask if you wish to "Save" the puzzle, to go back and solve it later; or "Quit," to abandon the puzzle. Next you will be returned to the problem list.

his is the list of problems you can play.

(The left image is for "#1 Problem List".)

A light blue background shows "Unsolved" problems, light yellow is for "tried but not solved," and pink is for "Solved" problems.

Each puzzle shows, from the left: problem number, author name, difficulty level. The bottom row of solved puzzles shows how many times this puzzle was solved and the record solution time.

Right column: green check for solved and || for tried but not solved puzzles. Tap the green || buttons, when you wish to continue saved puzzles.

The puzzle you worked on most recently has its problem number in italics.

The bottom line shows your record and status. "Total time" turns white when you have solved all the problems.

Here you can go to the other screens, problem list, tutorial, rules, and preferences.

If you tap "Website", you will quit the application and go to the Nikoli website.

(The left image is for "#1 Menu".)

Here you turn the sound on or off, lock or unlock the orientation of the Nurikabe player, and enable or disable the "Reverse Handling" functions.