News: Chocolate hour at Winster means FREE SPINS!!!

I got an email from Winnie Winster today, and she confessed that she’d gotten a talking to from the candy fairy.

Aww! But she looks so sweet!

To be exact, here’s what Winnie told me.

Oh My! The candy fairy here at Winster notified me that we just missed that all-important holiday, American Chocolate Week! She gently urged me to make amends. So I've cooked up something new, and you are invited to help us test it.

This Thursday, March 31, from exactly 4pm to 5pm Pacific Standard Time, we will have a Chocolate Hour at Winster. During that hour, all spins will be free - that is, you can spin away to your heart's content, and it won't count against your daily spin allotment!

Join us and be sure to invite your friends and family to toast the god of chocolate. (And you may want to buy them a gift of chocolate from the Winster Gift Shop - after all, it's fat free and guilt free!)

An hour of totally free spins? AWESOME!!! ^_^ Just realize that the hour is only for today, so don’t miss it!

Doku Deluxe – I’d like mine with a side of fries and a shake, please!

Note: This guide is adapted from the Doku Deluxe guide that I wrote for Winster. (To be honest, re-editing mainly consisted of adding smiley faces back in. ^_^) The “Final Rating” section is completely my opinion and is not endorsed by Winster in any way.

Doku Deluxe is a simplified version of Sudoku, and it’s available only at Winster! If you’re familiar with Sudoku then this will be a breeze! If you’ve never played Sudoku in your life, well, then learning to play Doku Deluxe will be more like a bracing wind. Not bad though!

Let’s start at the beginning. When you play Doku Deluxe you’ll be in a room with up to four other players. Each person has their own Doku board.

Nice to meet you!

The board is a 4x4 grid divided into four colorful sections, or “quadrants.”

To get game pieces click “Spin” or hit the Enter key. Both methods work. ^_^ Whenever you have a clean board, the first time you hit “Spin” you’ll get 6-8 yellow numbers that fly to your board. You can’t move yellow numbers!

From then on out, each time you click “Spin” you’ll get a single game piece. It will have a white number (1-4) and a solid colored background that’s either purple, green, blue, or red.

The background color relates to score, but it’s really a bonus feature. More will be explained in the points section.

You can move pieces around the board by clicking and dragging them to new squares. Now, if you want to trade with a teammate, just click on the piece you want to trade away and drag it to the piece that you want. Your teammate will see a Yes/No balloon pop up with a picture of what you’re offering. If your teammate accepts the trade, the pieces will switch places!

Thanks!

On the other hand, if someone sends you a trade then you’ll see a Yes/No balloon pop up with a picture of what they’re offering. You don’t have to accept any trades if you don’t want to, but they’re a great way to finish your puzzle quicker and maybe make a friend or two along the way!

How do you finish the puzzle? Well, each quadrant has to have the numbers 1-4 in it. The background color of the pieces don’t matter, but you can’t have any repeating numbers!

In addition to each quadrant needing to have the numbers 1-4, each row has to have the numbers 1-4 too.

Again, the exact colors don’t matter, but you can’t have any repeating numbers!

Lastly, each column has to have the numbers 1-4 too.

A finished puzzle has no repeating numbers in each quadrant, row, and column! Take a look!

Hey! Where are you going? Come back here! I promise you, this isn’t impossible! Remember those yellow numbers you get at the very start? Since those numbers are always in the right spot you can figure the rest out with a little detective work. Here, we’ll start one together.

 

	It’s the first spin and you got six yellow numbers! Think of them as anchors for the rest of the puzzle.
	On the next spin you get a purple 2. It’s in the right color quadrant, but is it in the right spot?
	First look across the row to see if there’s another 2. All clear on that count! Next look down the column to see if there’s a 2. There is! That means the purple 2 isn’t in the right spot. Just move it over one square.
	Now the purple 2 is in the purple quadrant, and there aren’t any conflicts (duplicate numbers) in the row, column, or quadrant that it’s in. It’s in the right spot! Time to spin!
	A green 1. It doesn’t conflict with any other numbers, so you could leave it there for now. But if you want the color bonus you should move it over to the green quadrant.
	On your 3rd spin you get a green 2! Now the green quadrant is complete.
	As you spin, keep checking that numbers are in the right spots. If you have “extras” you can trade them or spin them to get  different pieces. (This puzzle still needs some work.)
	Once everything is in the right spot, Doku Deluxe will automatically submit the puzzle and you’ll get Winster points!

That’s it! Just take it one piece at a time. Before you know it everything will click and it’ll seem so easy! ^_^

 

Points

You’ve probably noticed the pretty colors on the Doku boards. No? Well take a look again.

This is what your board looks like before there are any numbers on it. If you finish a Doku puzzle AND keep the colors intact, you’ll get double the points! This is a bonus and isn’t required, so don’t worry if you can’t do it.

 

Finished Board	Free Players	Club Winster
Solved Numbers	325 points	1300 points
Solved Numbers AND Colors	650 points	2600 points

 

 

Tips & Tricks

1. One Step At A Time

Start by focusing on the quadrants. First, work until you have one of each number in each quadrant. If you want to get the color bonus then spin any “wrong” color pieces or trade them to a teammate!

Once you have the quadrants settled, take each row one at a time. If you see something like this:

Then you know it’s mixed up. Switch pieces around until the row looks right. If you want to keep the color bonus, only switch pieces that are the same color! This will keep each quadrant in it’s separate color.

Work your way through each row. If the puzzle doesn’t flash and vanish (meaning you got it!) start working through the columns in the same way. You can do it!

 

2. Puzzle Protection

Remember, once the number part of Doku Deluxe is solved, the puzzle automatically submits to Winster and you get points! If you’re working on the color bonus and just need one more piece, be careful! Any piece with the right number and any color background can finish the puzzle for you!

To avoid losing out on the generous bonus, switch two numbers so that they’re in the wrong spot. This way you won’t accidentally complete the puzzle! Once you have the final piece, switch the mixed up pieces back into place.

 

3. Help Others Out

If you have a piece that you can’t use, look around before you get rid of it! Most players arrange pieces in the “correct” spots as they go, so it’s pretty easy to tell what they need. If you have an extra red 2, look to see who doesn’t have a red 2!

 

4. Be Polite!

Always say "Thank you!" and "You're welcome!" after trading pieces! At Winster they make this incredibly easy. Just click on the "ty" or "yw" buttons and you'll automatically say "Thank you" or "You're welcome!"

To thank a specific person, click and hold on "ty." A list will pop up with the names of all of the players in the room!

When you don't say "Thank you!" you appear ungrateful. People notice this and will stop giving you their extra pieces. It pays to be polite!

 

Final Rating

I really like Sudoku, but Doku Deluxe just doesn’t cut it for me. I suppose it’s a decent starting ground for beginners, but if you’re a pro you probably won’t be too impressed.

Personally, I rate this one a 3 out of 5 stars. What would you rate it? Do you agree or disagree with my verdict? ^_^

 

Similar Games

If you like Sudoku then you should try some of these games too!

• Sudoku Puzzle Blast at Pogo – Sudoku combined with a jigsaw puzzle? That’s just bananas enough to work!
• Sudoku at BugleGames – Plain Sudoku.
• Drip Drop Sudoku at IWON – Um, this game is broken. Read for laughs, but don’t play it!

Winter Holiday Break!

I had stuff planned, but then I realized that most of you are busy right now. SO, Free2WinGames is taking a winter break! ^_^ P4P and game guides will resume on January 4th, 2011. All comments will get regular points, but I probably won’t update the points total until the new year. Don’t worry though. If you make a comment, you WILL get credit for it! (Assuming that you’re in the Points4Prizes program, of course!)

If you feel chatty you can always drop in on the Open Discussion threads. I already have those written and scheduled!

 

Upcoming Events

Here’s a few things to look forward to!

The P4P invite-a-friend bonus will continue through January! This is a fantastic way to earn points. Don’t be shy!

As extra incentive, I’m going to see if I can get a few more prizes for the January prize table. We’ll see how that goes. *Knocks on wood*

Also coming up are guides for the newest Spigo, Slingo and Gamesville games! Club Bing will finally get a site review, so you have a better idea of what the heck it is.

 

Winster News

I got an email from Winster today, letting me know about the new holiday eCards that they have up. They’re pretty cute! To send one, log in to your Winster account, and click (or mouse over) the link at the top that says Inbox. From there you’ll get a link to send eCards!

If someone joins Winster via your eCard, you’ll earn referral points for them. Up to 1,000,000 points per referral!

I like the eCards because it’s a non-pushy way to get more referrals. I approve. ^_^

 

Sometime in the next few days I’m going to post about Treasure Trooper. (That’s my referral link.) Technically it isn’t a game, but I like it and I figured that if I’m going to advertise it I should probably tell you how it works.

More on that later. ^_^

 

Have a wonderful holiday! And if you’re lucky enough to see the lunar eclipse, I want pics!! It’s too cloudy over here. I can’t see a darn thing. :(

Match Maker – Make me a match!

Match Maker is a Winster game, so you know it’s going to be a little different from what you expect. ^_^ It looks similar to other jewel-based match 3 games, but it’s not!

Let’s start with the basics. First, you’ll join a room that holds up to four other players. Each player has their own board. Click “Spin” to fill your board with gems!

Spin!!

There are five gem shapes and five gem colors, which combine to create 25 different gems! Whenever you get 3-5 gems of the same color and shape into a row or column, the gems will automatically disappear and any gems above the gap will fall into place!

Gravity check!

No new gems will appear until you clear your board, so work carefully! Move gems around by clicking on them and dragging them to new spots. If you drag a gem to a spot that already has a gem, the two will switch places!

Unlike other jewel games, in Match Maker you can switch any two gems on your board. They don’t have to be near each other at all! When you get down to two (or less) gems on the board, the game considers your board “cleared.” The remaining gems will vanish and you’ll pick up five bonus points!

To start a new board just click “Spin” again. This will give you completely new gems, but they’re always in the same pattern of what you had left. If the board is empty, you’ll get all new gems. If there are any gems left at all, clicking “Spin” will replace those gems with new ones. Like this!

 

Mirror mirror, on the wall..

As a general rule of thumb, don’t click “Spin” until you’ve made every match possible and traded all that you can.

What? You don’t know how to trade? Well relax, because trading is easy! Click on a gem on your board that you want to trade away and drag it to a gem on a teammate’s board that you want in return. They’ll see a Yes/No balloon pop up with a picture of the gem that you’re offering. ^_^

Yes please!

If they click “Yes” the gems will switch places! On the other hand, if someone offers you a trade then you’ll see the Yes/No balloon pop up with a picture of the gem they’re offering. Easy-peasy! 

 

Points

In Match Maker you get more points for bigger matches, and admittedly, sometimes that gets a little confusing. Just remember that a match is any group of gems that vanish at the same time. You can create chains where one group of gems triggers another group to vanish, but the game will count them as separate matches.

Now, there are three levels of matches: Basic, Advanced, and Pro. You can make whatever type of matches you like, but you’ll get more points for trickier matches! Let’s start with the Basic matches. For these you only need to focus on one type of gem. It can be any type, of course.

Match	Free Players
3 Gems	8 points
4 Gems	12 points
5 Gems	16 points
Clear Board	5 points

Basic matches are the foundation of Advanced and Pro matches. Remember, whenever gems are in a line of 3+ they’ll automatically cash in and disappear! To make the 4-5 gem matches you’ll need to keep the gems spaced apart in groups of two. Place the final gem to connect them together and make a match!

Advanced matches take a little more thought. For these you’ll need to work with two gem types and make both groups vanish at the same time. An easy way to do this is to use one gem from each group to block the other, and then switch the two gems to set off both groups.

In the pictures below you’ll see examples of how to make Advanced matches of 6-10 gems. The first picture shows the layout, with the key gems highlighted in green. The second picture shows what happens after you switch the two highlighted gems. There are many different ways to make Advanced matches! The pictures are just to give you an idea of what’s possible.

Match	Free Players
6 Gems	20 points
7 Gems	24 points
8 Gems	28 points
9 Gems	32 points
10 Gems	36 points

Making any matches above 10 requires more effort. The only way to do it is to use an unfinished horizontal 3-5 match to keep other matches apart. There’s a reason that these are Pro matches! Here’s how you might create a match 11.

Right now the blue gems in the middle are keeping the green and yellow gems from making a match. When we switch out the highlighted blue and yellow gem, we get this:

Now the three blue gems will vanish and the gems above them will fall down.

All of the remaining gems create a match at the same time, which makes this a match 11.

Use the same principles to make bigger matches! The biggest match you can make is 20, and you can check the Tips & Tricks section to learn how to make it! Here are all of the points for Pro matches.

Match	Free Players
11 Gems	40 points
12 Gems	44 points
13 Gems	48 points
14 Gems	52 points
15 Gems	56 points
16 Gems	60 points
17 Gems	64 points
18 Gems	68 points
19 Gems	72 points
20 Gems	76 points

 

Tips & Tricks

1. Trade!

To really succeed in Match Maker you need to trade. Clicking “Spin” resets the entire board, so look to your teammates for help!

When you join a room and hit “Spin” for the first time, wait to see if anyone needs your gems before you start moving things around. If you help others complete what they’re working on, they’ll be able to spin and get new pieces to help you make your own big match!

2. Let’s All Do The Hop

Sometimes you and your teammates might get stuck. Most players want to build big matches, but as we just discussed, that can only be done through trade. What happens when all of you are waiting for new gems, but no one wants to spin and lose what they have?

Well, you can hop rooms! Click the “Change Room” link near the top and you’ll move to a new room with new players!

I’d be hoppy to change rooms. ^_^

With a new pool of gems you can (hopefully) find the gems that you need. If you still need more gems, hop again! If you’ve made a new friend and don’t want to lose them in the hop, mouse over their name and click “Friend.” This will invite them to be your friend. If they accept you’ll be able to see what room they’re in!

3. The Almighty 20

The biggest match you can make is a 20. It may seem impossible, but once you understand how it’s done it will all make sense! Essentially, you use an unfinished horizontal match 5 to hold apart four vertical match 4s. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to do this!

 

	Setting up the pattern is the hardest part. Start by making a line of gems in the middle to separate the upper and lower halves. Reserve the center gem in another line and use a gem from that line to hold the middle.
	When you have everything ready switch the center gem out. This will make a line of five gems in the middle, worth 16 points. (64 points for Club Winster)
	The middle line vanishes, and the gems above it will fall.
	Now you have a match of 20!! This is the biggest match possible and is worth 76 points! (304 points for Club Winster)
	The last gems vanish and you’ll pick up 5 points for clearing the board. (20 points for Club Winster)

Altogether this pattern is worth 97 points! (And remember that you’re only using one spin for this.)  If you’re a Club Winster member you’ll get 388 points!

If you have trouble remembering how to make this pattern, think of the match 5 as a belt that goes across the board. It’s a defining line that keeps shirt (top half) and pants (bottom half) where they’re supposed to be. It’s also the only match 5 in the pattern!

4. No One Is Born An Expert

It can be frustrating to see a new player come in and spin their board over and over again. It’s even more frustrating when they don’t listen to the helpful advice that you and your teammates share. Why won’t they listen?!

The truth is, there is a strange conflict in our hearts. No one is born knowing everything but few of us want to admit that we’re ignorant, even if our actions broadcast the message loud and clear. So we pretend that we don’t need help, and sometimes even lash out at those who only mean well.

Your best bet is to direct them to this guide, and try to be helpful if they have questions. Once upon a time you didn’t know how to play Match Maker either! Remember your own newness and have compassion for someone trying to understand it all.

5. Be Polite!

Always say "Thank you!" and "You're welcome!" when trading pieces! At Winster they make this incredibly easy. Just click on the "ty" or "yw" buttons and you'll automatically say "Thank you" or "You're welcome!"

Politeness matters!

To thank a specific person, click and hold on "ty." A list will pop up with the names of all of the players in the room!

When you don't say "Thank you!" you appear ungrateful. People notice this and will stop giving you their extra pieces. It pays to be polite!

 

Final Rating

Conceptually, I like this game. ^_^ And for free players with a LOT of time on their hands, you can’t beat the points. (1 spin = 97 pts! That means the daily 200 free spins = 19,400 pts. Geez!!!)

But the downside is that getting a match 20 takes a good deal of time. And if there aren’t many players on, it’s downright impossible to get the pieces that you need. :(

So….. My verdict is that Match Maker is 4 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Do you have any other tips you’d like to share?

 

Similar Games

If you like jewel-based games, try some of these!

• Diamonds at Spigo – A classic match-3 jewel game.
• Gem Drop at IWON – Appears simple, but it’s very complex!
• A Glorious World at Playtopia – This is more like pinball with gems. Very fun. ^_^

Note: The guide section of this post can be found on Winster, in the How To Play section. I was paid to write those guides for Winster, but I retained the rights to publish them on my blog. :)

HOWEVER, the “Final Rating” and “Similar Games” sections are not endorsed by Winster. What you read is my genuine opinion. I don’t do paid reviews!