BlockOut   /
                    /
                   /   Jason Wellington
                             <AMIGA version by Tim Midkiff>




     Start with the four elements of the ancient world - air, earth, fire,
and water.  Combine each element with five different colors - red, yellow,
green, blue, and violet.

     What do you have?

     The makings of "BLOCKOUT", an addictive strategy game that's so easy
to learn, everyone in the family will want to play.

     In BlockOut, players compete for points as they build a wall of tiles.
You get points for placing blocks of the same color or shape next to each
other.  You get more points if both the color and the shape match.



-----GETTING STARTED-----

     To start the game, double-click on the BLOCKOUT icon.  If you're using
the CLI, type CD BLOCKOUT and then RUN BLOCKOUT.

     To play, pull down BlockOut's menu by holding down on the right mouse
button.  You'll see the four types of games:  Human vs. Human, Human vs.
Computer, Computer vs. Human, and Computer vs. Computer.  There's also a
Quit menu item which exits the game.

     After you've selected a game, you and your opponent (human or computer)
recieve a rack of four tiles.  Each tile is designated by one of four images
(Earth, Raindrops, a Tornado, or a Flame) and one of the five colors (red,
yellow, green, blue, or violet).  Players alternate turns in BlockOut;
player 1 always moves first.

     When it's your turn, move the mouse pointer to one of your four tiles
and press the mouse button to select the tile.  Now choose one of the 13 gray
chutes in which to place your tile by moving the mouse to the appropriate
chute and clicking the mouse button.  The tile falls to the bottom of the
chute.  You can stack tiles as many as eight levels high.  After you've made
your move, the points you've scored are added to your current score and
displayed at the top of the screen.  A new tile then apprears in your rack.



-----WAYS TO SCORE-----

     When you drop a tile next to or on top of a tile that has the same
color but a different image, you're awarded 15 points.  If the tile is of
the same image but a different color, you get 25 points.  If the tiles match
in both image and color, you score 40 points.  Since dropped tiles can touch
other tiles in three directions (left, right, and down), the maximum score
per play is 120 points.
     When all the chutes are filled, the player with the highest score is
the winner.