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Game play:
Trinity is a simple game to learn and to play. Each player is given a certain amount of triangles which make up his or her hand. Each point on a triangle has a number on it. Match the numbers on one of your triangles up with numbers on the triangles already on the board to score points. A well chosen play may earn you additional bonus points for a 'special play.' You may need to rotate a triangle to one of six orientations in order to play it. The first player to play all of their triangles wins the round, and the player with the most points after all rounds have been played is the winner!
A game of Trinity involves two to four players, human or computer. There are 3 experience levels for computer players: novice, average, and veteran. More experienced computer players will be able to sniff out special plays (described below) better than less experienced players, as well as managing their triangles wiser.
Drawing and Passing:
If during your turn you find that none of your triangles are playable on the board, you may draw a triangle from the triangle pool. You may draw as many triangles as necessary, but keep in mind that each draw from the pool will result in a deduction of 5 points from your score. It is not possible to 'trade in' any of your triangles for different ones. If the triangle pool becomes empty at any time and you need to draw, you will have to instead pass your turn. In this case play moves to the next player.
Controls:
Playing a triangle - Drag a triangle from your hand to wherever you'd like to play it on the board. If the triangle fits, it'll snap into place.
Rotating your triangles - To rotate one of your triangles, it must first be selected by clicking on it. You can then rotate it by either pressing one of the rotation keys you have selected in the Preferences dialog, or by clicking one of the rotation arrows below your triangles on the screen. Because of their uses in other parts of the game, the arrow keys, Caps Lock key, and Escape key are not available as rotation keys.
Scrolling the game board - There are two ways to scroll the gameboard to reveal areas not currently visible. The easiest way is to click on the gameboard and drag it around. Alternatively, you can use the arrow keys to accomplish the same task.
Pausing the game - Use the Caps Lock key to pause and unpause the game.
Ending a game - The Escape key will end a game in progress and return you to the main menu.
Saving a game - At any point during a game (except in a tiebreaker round) you can save your game. Either select the Save… command in the File menu while paused, or type Command-S. The dialog presented when you press Escape to end a game also gives you the option of saving.
Active triangles:
You may be asking yourself, "What happens when a computer is playing? Do I have to sit and wait for them?" The answer is no. In the case of a game involving at least one human, a human players triangles will always be visible in the triangle area. If a human is the current player, obviously his or her triangles will be shown. If a computer player is the current player, then the next human scheduled to play will have their triangles shown. This means that while you are waiting for a computer player to play, you can be looking at your triangles to determine your next move. You never have to wait for the computer to think, you can think about your next move, scroll the board, quit, save, basically do anything but play or draw a triangle when a computer is playing. In the case of an all computer player game, the current computer players triangles will be shown.
Scoring:
The amount of points you receive for a successfully played triangle is based on two factors: the sum of the numbers on the triangle and whether or not you created a special play. There are three types of special plays: the Hexagon, the Span, and the Slide. They are described below.
Hexagon:
A Hexagon is created whenever a triangle played creates a hexagon of six triangles. This will earn you a bonus of 40 points in addition to your normal points for the triangle.
Span:
The second special play is the Span. A Span is created whenever a triangle is played such that one and only one side of this triangle touches another triangle's side, and the point opposite this side also matches up with a point on another triangle. You are 'spanning' the gap between two triangles when playing a Span. This will earn you a 50 point bonus, plus normal point scoring for your triangle.
Slide:
The third, and rarest special play of the three is the Slide. The Slide can only be played after a Span has been formed in the game. Any time a triangle is played in which exactly two sides of the triangle match with two sides of other triangle and a Hexagon is not formed as a result, a Slide has been played. Because of their dependence on a Span being played, a Slide will earn you the most bonus points, 60 points.
Note: Special plays are also described and diagrammed under the Special Plays item in the Help screen of Trinity.
End of a round:
There are two ways to end a round:
1) A player plays the last triangle in his hand, in which case he is declared the winner of the round, or
2) All players have passed on their last turn, in which case the round is declared a draw.
If a round ends with a winner, the winner will receive a bonus of 25 points. In addition to this bonus the winner will also receive the sum of the numbers on ALL other players triangles. This can result in some fairly hefty bonuses, especially if one player has had a tough round and is stuck with many triangles. Should a round end in a draw, no bonus points will be awarded, and play will move on to the next round, if there is one.
Winning a game:
A game of Trinity may be one to three rounds long, depending on your choice in the New Game dialog. After the final round has been played and bonuses have been tallied, the player with the most points is the winner! A display will appear listing the order everyone finished in, and you'll hear the crowd voice their approval as well. However, it is possible for two or more players to remain tied for first place at the conclusion of the final round. In order to break this tie (who likes a tie game?) a tiebreaker round will be played between ONLY the players that are tied, and will continue to be played if a tie persists until a winner is determined.
Tiebreaker round notes:
Scoring and bonuses during a tiebreaker round are the same as for a normal round with one exception:
If a player has a terrible tiebreaker round and actually loses points, their score will be reset to what is was before the tiebreaker round started. This is to prevent a player who was tied for first from dropping below other players who were not involved in the tiebreaker.
Misc. Info:
- There are 76 triangles altogether. 56 triangles with all the various combinations of the numbers 0 - 5 as well as the reverse order for triangles that do not contain a double (a repeated number on a triangle). There are 20 non-double triangles. For the triangles that do contain doubles, their reverses are the same triangle and are not included again.
