HOW TO PLAY OUR GAMES We aim for our games can be informative and educational, but most of all they are challenging and fun to play! In this tutorial we will tell you what you need to know to play our games. WHAT GAMES WILL I FIND HERE? Our games are puzzle games, sometimes called Riddles, but we prefer to call them Puzzles. They consist of a series of individual puzzles (usually called levels) that you progress through, with the goal of completing all the levels. At heart you are a detective when you play, you need to seek out the clues, then work out the answer. Most of our puzzles are themed, for example our Sherlock Holmes games have a Holmes mystery story running through them, a case for you to investigate and solve by completing the game. HOW DO I ENTER MY ANSWERS? Our games are played by"URL replacement". The answer is the name of the next web page. For example, if you look at the address bar in your browser, you will see this page is called "tutorial.htm", now say this was a puzzle and you thought the answer was "queen", then you would simply click on the address bar, and change "tutorial" to "queen", still with the .htm file extension. One important thing - never use punctuation marks, spaces, or capital letters in your answer. For example, if you thought the answer was "King Arthur's sword", you would enter "kingarthurssword.htm". WHY USE URL CHANGES? Firstly, for security. It is very difficult for someone to hack into the answers this way. Secondly it give more versatility to use different files, and responses to your answers. Don't worry, after a few minutes it will become second nature to change the URL to enter your answer. WHAT IS AN EGG? You will hear players talking about eggs. These are simply other files related to the puzzle. They are used in two main ways, to allow us to catch partially correct answers and give you a further clue, and secondly for you to find other files needed to solve the puzzle. Don't worry, it will all become clear when you play. DO I HAVE TO BE SUPER INTELLIGENT TO PLAY YOUR GAMES? No! While they aren't easy, anyone can solve them. They require logical and lateral thinking, a keen eye for observation, and often research. But they are solveable by anyone who perseveres and uses their mind and their wits. WHERE DO I FIND CLUES TO SOLVE THE PUZZLES? Almost anywhere! In the level picture, the text, there may be files to find ("eggs"), and often in the source code (just right mouse click away from the image and select "view source"), try it now. HOW DO I SOLVE THE PUZZLES? At heart our games are logic puzzles. The clues will lead you to the answer. You may need to research information using tools such as the Wiki and Google, or convert a cipher (Purple Hell.com is a great resource for this sort of helper), or maybe anagram to find a solution. WHAT IF I GET STUCK? You will get stuck, everyone does. 1. Take a break, a fresh pair of eyes seems to work wonders at spotting something you missed before. 2. Go through all the information logically and systematically. HOW HARD ARE YOUR GAMES? Our games range in difficulty, though difficulty is a very subjective term, you can spot an answer quickly that most people struggle with, and vice versa. We aim to cater to all who enjoy puzzles. ARE THERE ANY PRIZES? No. Our games are for the pure enjoyment of playing them. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO PLAY YOUR GAMES? Nothing. All our games are free. No credit cards, no charges, no hidden charges. WHICH GAME SHOULD I PLAY FIRST? If you are a newcomer to playing riddles then the Realm of Dreamers is a good place to start. Hope that helps, and have fun!