Factor - A Game of Primes
| Factor - A Game of Primes | |
| |
| Download | (archive) |
| Developer | Trevor Bradley |
| Version | 0.3 |
| Webpage | |
| Status | |
The idea of the game is that you need to factor a very large number which is a multiple of the first 8 primes: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, and 19. So, for instance:
12355467391260000000 = 2^8 * 3^7 * 5^7 * 7^10
By pressing the left, right, up, down, A, B, X, and Y buttons, you can attempt to divide the large number by a prime.
By using the L and R buttons, you can increase the power of the divisor. 2 becomes 2^2 = 4, 7 becomes 7^2 = 49, and 19 becomes 19^2 = 361.
You can increase your power up to a factor of 6, where 19^6 = 47045881!
Be careful though. If you make a mistake you'll be penalized 3 times the amount of points you would have gained if you were correct. Increasing the power is risky business!
The icon graph is a hypercube, a four dimensional object that could be used to represent an easy puzzle (2^w*3^x*5^y*7^z).
The music is from Isaac Albéniz's Suite Española, Op. 47 - Leyenda. The music is copyright free and in the public domain and is available for download at http://www.musopen.com/view.php?type=piece&id=224 I rather enjoyed the fast pace, and the Spanish guitar is perfect for reading through the Fenix API (which is written in Spanish, of course). The entire song is there, split up between the menu, gameplay, and high score screen.
HINTS
The easy mode eliminates the higher primes, leaving a number built only from 2s, 3s, 5s, and 7s.
If you get a positive score, you're doing good!
Fives and Twos are easy. Just count the zeros at the end of the number, increase the power to that number and hit 2 (up) and 5 (right). These points are so easy to get that 2's and 5's aren't available at the hard Level!
Testing a divisor to see if it is safe is easy at the first power; you'll only lose 3 times the prime in points. But if you test a prime like this, you lose valuable points you could have gained at a higher power.
Try turning up your power first and risking a big score early when it's more likely to be possible.
You can also eliminate a prime by a large number of low power moves, and then focusing on one prime. This strategy works, but you won't get the highest score
It is possible to get a score so low (below 200 million) that the machine won't be very impressed with your performance.
