Zap'Em Logo
August 13th, 2005
Version 1.0u
Introduction

Thank you for trying Zap'Em, another title brought to you from the guys at Vicious Bytes. This game was previously for sale on the Tapwave store. Unfortunately, Tapwave has left the Zodiac business, leaving us without a store to sell our game. Instead of re-tooling Zap'Em and selling it elsewhere, we decided to release it to the community. We'd like to thank all the customers who bought the original version of Zap'Em, as it kept our little company growing. There is no change from the retail version, so existing customers do not need to install this version.

Visit our website for the latest news and games at http://www.viciousbytes.com/.
Please visit our forums at http://www.viciousbytes.com/forum/ to discuss Zap'Em and our other games.

Requirements
  • Tapwave Zodiac 1 or 2 with the 1.1 Software Update
  • 1.2MB of free space in internal memory or on a SD card
Installation
  • Use the Install Tool provided by Tapwave to install the ZapEm.prc file to your Zodiac.
  • Press the HotSync button on your Zodiac.
  • Wait for the game to install. Zap'Em installs to the Games category.
  • Play and enjoy!
How to Play

Depending on the level specified, each game of Zap'Em starts the player with zero points and an empty or partially filled screen. The player's shape, a colored triangle, is positioned in an inescapable square grid in the middle of the screen. The player's goal is to eliminate as many shapes as possible.

Only shapes that are the same color as the player's piece can be destroyed. A player must line their piece up in the appropriate column or row and fire in the direction of the like-colored shape. Each adjacent shape of the same color in the row/column will be destroyed. Assuming all adjacent shapes are the same color, the player's piece is not affected. However, if a shape of a differing color is behind the like-colored ones, the player's piece will assume the color of the differing shape, and the shape will assume the player's color.

For example, assume the player's color is green. Two green shapes are in the player's row followed by a red shape. If the player zaps the two green shapes, they are destroyed, but the adjacent red shape turns green and the player's piece turns red.

Players rack up points for destroying shapes sequentially.

Scores are tallied as follows:

  • 100pts
    One shape:
  • 100 + 200 = 300pts
    Two shapes:
  • 100 + 200 + 300 = 600pts
    Three shapes:
  • 100 + 200 + 300 + 400 = 1000pts
    Four shapes:
  • 100 + 200 + 300 + 400 + 500 = 1500pts if in a row, otherwise...
    Five shapes:
  • 100 + 200 + 300 + 400 + 500 + 5000 = 6500pts!
    Column of five shapes:
  • 100 + 200 + 300 + 400 + 500 + 600 = 2100pts
    Six shapes:
  • 100 + 200 + 300 + 400 + 500 + 600 + 700 + 10000 = 12100pts!!
    Row of seven shapes:

Shapes stack in rows and columns moving towards the player. Play continues until a shape has encroached upon the player's inescapable square - at which point the game is over.

Combos
Combos start in after five shapes are zapped in succession without a miss or initial zap of a different color. Starting with the fifth shape, you get a 2x (times) combo. Each shapped zapped after that increases the combo by one.
Power Ups
There are three random powerups in Zap'Em:
  • Zap five to clear the entire screen
    Lightning Ball:
  • Player's shape is transformed into lightning bolt which allows the player to zap an entire row/column regardless of color.
    Lightning Bolt:
  • Player's piece begins to cycle colors allowing player to zap an entire quadrant clear of shapes of a particular color. The first color hit is completely removed from the quadrant.
    Cycling Color Blob:
Controls
Menu Screens:
  • Analog stick:
    • Previous menu item
      Up
    • Next menu item
      Down
  • Select current menu item, toggle current selection, or return to main menu
    Blue, Red, Yellow, Green Buttons
In Game (Analog Control):
  • Analog stick:
    • Moves piece up
      Up
    • Moves piece down
      Down
    • Moves piece left
      Left
    • Moves piece right
      Right
  • Pauses game
    Function Button
  • Fires laser in current direction
    Blue, Red, Yellow, Green Buttons
In Game (Stylus Control):
  • Fires laser in current direction
    Tap the center region
  • Moves piece up
    Tap the column above the center region
  • Moves piece down
    Tap the column below the center region
  • Moves piece left
    Tap the row to the left of the center region
  • Moves piece right
    Tap the row to the right of the center region
Pause Screen:
  • Un-pauses game
    Function Button
  • Ends current game and returns to main menu
    R Button
High Score Entry:
  • Analog stick:
    • Choose previous letter
      Left
    • Choose next letter
      Right
  • Enter selected letter
    Blue Button
  • Delete last letter entered
    Red Button
  • Finish entering name
    Function Button
Known Issues
  • None at this time.
Thanks
Thanks to Joyce Morrell, Mitch Hashimoto, Skeezix, Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, and Bob from Tacoma.