Playing Swell Foop

Swell Foop is a puzzle game. The goal is to remove as many objects as possible in as few moves as possible. Objects that are adjacent to each other get removed as a group. The remaining objects then collapse to fill in the gaps and new groups are formed. You cannot remove single objects.

Figure 1Swell Foop at the beginning of a new game.

The board starts as a full grid of objects. Depending on the size of board you select, there are either three or four types of object. If a group of objects are adjacent and all the same type, then they can be removed simply by clicking them with the mouse (or by pressing the space bar). When you move the mouse over a group you can remove, the objects will start moving. The number of objects in the group, and the points you will score for removing that group, is shown in the lower left corner of the window. The more objects in the group, the more points you will score. Once the group has been removed the objects above them fall down to fill the space. If an entire column is cleared then the objects slide leftward to fill the gap.

Table 1Playing Swell Foop
1. Eliminate groups of two or more
2. Objects fall down to fill the gaps
3. Objects move left to fill empty columns
4. New groups are formed and the cycle repeats

Scoring is based on the number of objects you delete:

Number of Objects Points Scored
2 0
3 1
4 4
5 9
6 16
7 25
8 36
9 49
n (n - 2)2

If you clear the board there is a 1000 point bonus.