Use the HotSync button as usual to install the game onto your handheld. If you have a handheld with an expansion card, you can then move the game over to it. Do this before you register the game!

Now run Abysma and tap the screen to play the game!

If you've got any queries about Abysma or the registration process, first check out our knowledge base on our website (you must be connected to the internet to access this). If this doesn't help, get in touch with us at support@astraware.com. If you've got any questions (or suggestions, we love those) about the game itself, please get in touch with us at the email address at the top of this page.

Game Objective

You start the game with a full bar of energy, and a board that is mostly full.

The bar will descend - and it is your task to make sure that the bar never reaches any empty squares! To do this you will have to move the available pieces - so that the area just under the bar is kept full.

If the bar hits empty spaces, your energy will reduce, and if it reaches zero - that is game over!

The game is easy to begin with, but as the shapes included get more and more complex, you'll have to plan your moves more and more carefully!

How To Play

You start with a playing area almost filled with different shaped interlocking pieces. The bar descends from the top and if it travels over any empty areas then your energy begins to run out. You can prevent this by filling the gaps with other pieces on the board trying to keep the area below the bar full.

In Easy level, you will start in level 1 and the playing area is filled with only two different shapes. As the levels progress, more shapes are introduced making the play more difficult.
In Medium level, you will start on level 11
In Hard Level, you will start on level 21.

After level 35 there are no more shapes introduced.

Bonus awards
If you fill all the holes in the path of the bar then you will be awarded bonus points and energy based on where you completed the puzzle. The quicker you complete the puzzle the more bonus points you get. If you need any energy this is also replenished and the amount gained is shown as ‘% saved’. If you have 100 % energy already then you will not save any energy when the level is complete.

Controls and Settings

There are two modes of play customisable from the options menu.

Drag:
This mode needs a ‘pen down’ to select a piece and a ‘pen up’ to lay a piece. You move a piece to its new location by dragging it there. If you need to put the piece back in its original place, you can either drag it back or jus let go of it in an area where it will not fit and the piece will ‘snap’ back to its home location. As you drag the piece around, if you get close to an area that the piece will fit into it will snap into that area ready to be dropped.

Tap:
This mode needs a ‘pen down’ to select a piece and a ‘pen down’ to lay a piece. So Tap to select and then tap in the location you wish the piece to move to. Your selected piece will appear in the lower left portion of the screen.


The options menu gives you various options

Shade: On or Off, Set to ‘On’ if you wish to see shadows in the gaps. This gives a greater feeling of depth but may decrease performance on slower machines.
Stylus: Drag or Tap, Set to Drag to select the Drag and Drop interface. Set to Tap for the Tap and drop interface.

Game Hints

Here are a few hints that should increase your score
Take pieces from the very bottom at the start of a level to fill the higher gaps. And replace them with pieces from above the bar when it has descended a bit. If you can clear large areas from the bottom rather than getting bits from all over the place then this will be easier to fill later on.

Registering

In Demo form, you can play 10 games of Abysma for free, as you decide whether you like it or not. After these games are up, the program will display a short message reminding you to register each time you play!