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About

Beaming is an open source, browser-based puzzle game that involves directing beams through a hexagonal grid. The rules and requirements for each puzzle can be inferred by interaction and visual cues. If you'd prefer a little more guidance before you get started, you can expand the sections below for more information.

Table of Contents

The Basics

The core gameplay involves selecting a hexagonal tile and interacting with the toolbar at the bottom of the screen that contains actions that can be used to manipulate items in the puzzle, the goal being to figure out the solution for the puzzle. When you have successfully solved a puzzle, you will see a message indicating as much, as well as a puzzle overlay indicating the tiles that were part of your solution.

Actions and Attributes

The actions shown in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen are updated based on the currently selected tile. Actions which are available to use on any tile will always show up in the toolbar, whereas actions which belong to a specific tile, indicated by the corresponding icon within the tile, will only be available when that tile is currently selected. You will notice that some tiles also contain attributes which can change the way a tile behaves. Actions which are available generally but cannot be applied in the current situation, for example because no tile is selected, will still be visible in the toolbar but disabled.

Solution Requirements

The solution for each puzzle varies. The requirements for solving a puzzle will be displayed in the upper right corner of the screen.

Interaction

In general, puzzles can be solved strictly by tapping. You tap on a tile to select it, and then tap on an action in the toolbar to apply it to that tile. Some actions support additional behaviors, which are listed below and expanded upon in the Actions section below:

  • Masks - Some actions require the user to select other tiles. The mask is used to restrict which tiles can be chosen by covering the invalid ones. While the mask is active, the action can be cancelled by either tapping on the currently selected tile (displayed with a dashed border), or by tapping outside the puzzle area.
  • Swiping - Some actions in the toolbar support swiping, or pressing on the action and then releasing the pointer outside the action, to toggle between states. For example, the Rotate action can be swiped to change the applied direction of rotation.
Attributes

As mentioned in The Basics above, attributes change the way a tile behaves and are indicated on a tile by a light gray icon. Click or tap on an icon below to learn more about it.

block - Immutable

The tile, and the items within the tile, cannot be modified in any way. Any available actions are disabled.

- Locked

The items and modifiers on the tile cannot be added or removed. Any available actions on the tile may still be used.

- Sticky Items

Any items placed on the tile are stuck to the tile, they cannot be removed. If the item is a collectable, it will be treated as a Sticky Modifier when collected.

- Sticky Modifiers

Any actions applied to the tile are stuck to the tile. A maximum of six actions can be added to a single tile, at which point no further actions will be available for that tile.

Actions

As previously mentioned in The Basics above, actions manipulate the items within tiles and are indicated by the icons in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Click or tap on an icon below to learn more about it.

- Toggle

Any valid (toggleable) items in the tile will have their state toggled. For example, toggling a terminus item will turn beams on and off.

- Rotate

Any valid (rotatable) items in the tile will be rotated in the direction indicated by the icon (either clockwise or counter-clockwise). This action supports swiping, which can be used to change the direction of the applied rotation.

- Move

Any valid (movable) items in the tile will be moved from the currently selected tile to a valid tile of your choice. This action utilizes a mask for selecting the valid tile.

- Puzzle

Using this action will navigate the user to the puzzle it is configured for, which will be listed in a message above the tile. Any puzzles which have been navigated to before will also be available in the dropdown menu in the top toolbar.

- Swap

Any valid (movable) items in the currently selected tile will trade places with any valid (movable) items in a valid tile of your choice. This action utilizes a mask for selecting the valid tile.

Items

Items are placed within tiles and generally will have some impact on the behavior of a beam in that tile. Items can be manipulated through the use of actions, as described in the section above. Their behaviors may also be modified by any attributes applied to the tile. Some items are collectable, meaning that when a beam collides with them, they will be converted into an action. Click or tap on an icon below to learn more about it.

- Filter

The filter item changes the color of a beam which passes through it by averaging the RBG channels of the beam with the color of the filter. For example, if the beam is blue () and the filter is red (), the result is: + = .

- Portal

The portal item transports a beam that collides with it from one tile to another, retaining the direction of travel the beam had when it entered the portal. In order for a beam to travel through a pair of portals, it must enter and exit from a direction that is not occupied by another beam. This item will utilize a mask for the user to choose an exit portal if there is more than one valid exit portal location.

- Portal (directional)

As with the portal item, a directional portal transports a beam that collides with it from one tile to another. However, unlike a standard portal, the directional portal will change the direction of the beam when it exits to the direction indicated by the arrow attached to the portal. This item will utilize a mask for the user to choose an exit portal if there is more than one valid exit portal location.

- Puzzle Piece (collectable)

The puzzle item is a collectable that will unlock access to a puzzle when a beam collides with it, converting the item into a puzzle action on collection. This item will always convert to a stuck modifier on collection, regardless of what modifiers are on the tile.

- Reflector

The reflector item changes the direction a beam is traveling when it is collided with, producing a specular reflection, or a mirrored reflection angle.

- Terminus

The terminus item is both the origin of and destination for beams. Each terminus may have up to six openings, one for each direction. Each opening is capable of sending, if toggled on, or receiving, if toggled off, beams in the color indicated by the opening. When a beam enters an available opening of matching color, a connection is formed between the origin and destination terminus. However, if the color of the beam does not match the opening color, a collision will occur.

- Wall

Wall items are attached to the edges of tiles and will stop any beams that collide with them.

Solution Requirements

As mentioned in The Basics above, the requirements for solving each puzzle vary and are indicated by the text and icons on the right side of the top toolbar. Generally, solutions will require that a user meet one or more threshold requirements. Click or tap on an icon below to learn more about it.

link - Connections

A connection is formed when a beam emitted from one terminus enters an available opening in another terminus of the same color.

stacks - Moves

A move is stored any time the user makes a decision, generally in relation to taking an action. Note that some actions may result in multiple moves. For example, if an action causes a beam to enter a portal with multiple potential exit portals, the resulting decision will result in an additional move.

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Reset the game cache. This will erase all progress and settings across the game. This cannot be undone, use with caution!