Pokarus the game:

Get into the Zone! With one of the world's most popular Poker Dice video games. It`s available for Pocket PC.Smartphone and soon Symbian mobile phone formats. Pokarus features two, fun-filled modes of play. From the timeless Long play mode to the intense Quick, each game will keep you coming back for more. But don't take our word for it, download the free trial and see for yourself!

Stunning graphics and sounds vault the Pokarus experience to new heights. Upload your high scores to the world-wide Leader Board. Compare your ranking with players from around the globe.

Think fast & play smart. Entertain yourself for just the right amount fun with exciting and challenging Poker action.



Game Features:

Two game variations will keep you entertained for hours:
Marathon - continus challenging gameplay to obtain the highest score.
Sprint - See how far you can go in 5 minutes!
Awesome graphics and sounds heighten the Pokarus experience.

Upload your score to a world-wide Leader Board — compare your ranking against players from the around the world!

Available on:

Compatible on all Pocket PC WM5 / WM6 and above devices (Professional and Classic)

Compatible on all Smartphones WM5 / WM6 and above devices (Standard)

Compatible on all Symbian S60 3rd eddition devices and above
Windows Mobile Professional and Classic devices (formerly known as "Pocket PC") Windows Mobile Standard devices (formerly known as "Smartphone")
Pokarus©2008

To install Pokarus you need to run the appropriate installation file (InstallPokarusPPC.exe or InstallPokarusSP.exe) on your PC when your mobile device is connected to the PC via Activesync or Windows Mobile Device Center.
Simply follow the instructions on your PC and mobile device to install, we recommend that you install to a storage card if possible.
Alternatively if you do not have a PC then you need to transfer the appropriate CAB file (PokarusPPC.cab or PokarusSP.cab) from your MAC or Linux system to your mobile device and then run the CAB file to install.

Please read the documentation, either "Pokarus.txt", "Pokarus.doc" or "Pokarus.htm" on your PC or the in-program instructions on your mobile device.

For any help with Pokarus please contact Parys Technografx:

support@parystec.demon.co.uk

Pokarus by Parys Technografx

Installation

To install Pokarus you need to run the appropriate installation file (InstallPokarusPPC.exe or InstallPokarusSP.exe) on your PC when your mobile device is connected to the PC via Activesync or Windows Mobile Device Center.
Simply follow the instructions on your PC and mobile device to install, we recommend that you install to a storage card if possible.
Alternatively if you do not have a PC then you need to transfer the appropriate CAB file (PokarusPPC.cab or PokarusSP.cab) from your MAC or Linux system to your mobile device and then run the CAB file to install.

The "cards"

Pokarus is based around poker using a deck of cards on dice however there are some slight differences from the norm.

First of all each "pack" is extended to 15 cards per suit. The extra 2 cards in addition to the usual 2 through to Ace are a 1 (equivalent to Ace low - which means that Aces are always high) and a suited joker.
This means there are 60 cards per pack and each pack appears as a set of 10 consecutive dice, obviously 6 cards per dice.
The cards on the dice are chosen randomly from the cards remaining in the current "pack", however you should note that the cards on opposite faces of the dice always add up to 15 - 1 opposite ace, 2 opposite king, 3 opposite queen, 4 opposite jack, 5 opposite 10 etc. so if a facing card is low then the opposite side of the dice is high - except for jokers in which case if one side of the dice is a joker then the other side is also a joker.

The Game

The game is similar to "Tetris" in some ways. The poker dice appear at the top of the game window and drop until they land at the bottom or on a previously dropped dice.

As the dice drop you may rotate the dice - up, down, left or right - in order to change the card on the facing side of the dice, in this way choosing the card to use.
Also as the dice drop you can move the dice left or right from one column to another in the game window i.e. giving you control over where the dice will land. You can also slow down the rate of fall of the dice or speed it up.

The basic idea is to control the dice so that they land forming scoring "hands".
In order for several dice to form a hand they must be connected horizontally and/or vertically without branching.
Scoring hands are equivalent to those in poker so a scoring hand may consist of:

1. A pair (2 cards of the same value such as two 4s or two kings etc.).
2. Two pairs (2 sets of 2 cards of the same value).
3. Three of a kind (3 cards of the same value such as three 4s or three kings etc.).
4. A run (5 cards that are numerically consecutive but not all the same suit, e.g. 8 of Clubs, 9 of Hearts, 10 of Clubs, Jack of Spades, Queen of Hearts).
5. A Flush (5 cards all the same suit).
6. House (One set of Three of a kind (see 3 above) and one pair (see 1 above)).
7. Four of a kind (4 cards of the same value such as four 4s or four kings etc.).
8. A running flush (5 cards that are numerically consecutive and all the same suit, e.g. 2 of Spades, 3 of Spades, 4 of Spades, 5 of Spades, 6 of Spades)

The jokers can count as any numeric value when making a "hand" but unlike normal poker they have a suit so, for example, in order to have a flush in Hearts with a joker in it the joker's suit must be Hearts.
The higher the value of the cards in a hand, the higher the score will be.
"Natural" hands always score higher than hands using jokers.

As each dice lands the game automatically detects the best scoring hand and highlights it. In order to score the hand you must press the "Score" button. When you press the Score button your score will be increased by the value of the hand you're scoring and the dice in the hand will disappear from the game window, any dice above the scoring dice in the game window will fall to fill the empty spaces.

As the game progresses eventually the pile of landed dice will climb to the top of the game window. The game ends when there is no room for the next dice to drop. The object of the game is to score the maximum number of points before this happens.

In addition to the "normal" game you can also enable "Sprint" mode.

In the normal game the game only ends when the dice reach the top of the window but in Sprint mode there is a time limit of 3 minutes, the object being to score as many points as possible within the time limit.
Also in the normal game you only get to see one face of the dice at a time and must rotate the dice to see what the other available cards are, in Sprint mode all sides of the dice are shown making it easier to rotate the dice to the card you want.
In addition in the normal game occasionally "blocking" dice are dropped. These dice have a suit but no number and cannot form part of a scoring hand. In order to remove a "blocker" once it's dropped you must drop a joker of the same suit on top of it. As the game progresses the frequency of blocking dice will increase. Blocking dice do not appear when playing in "Sprint" mode.
In the normal game you may also cheat if you wish by pressing the cheat button. When you press the cheat button your score will be reduced by 1000 points and for a duration of 7 seconds all sides of the dice dropping will be shown - you must have more than 1000 points for the cheat to work.

The Main Menu

From here you can start a new game, load a saved game, go to the options screen, read the instructions or view the highscores. Use the buttons you defined for moving the dice around in the game window and for scoring a hand to control the menu (i.e. normally the joypad buttons), or use the stylus if you have a touchscreen.
Note that "Sprint" mode games cannot be saved so when you load a saved game "Sprint" mode will always be turned off.

The Options Screen

Here you can adjust the volume of the music and sound effects, change the display orientation, redefine the buttons and enable/disable "Sprint" mode. Again use the buttons you defined for moving the dice around in the game window and for scoring a hand to control the menu (i.e. normally the joypad buttons), or use the stylus if you have a touchscreen.
Note that when changing orientation there may be a slight delay while the game graphics are adjusted and that your defined buttons are automatically adjusted to the new orientation.
Also note that after changes of orientation due to hardware changes in your device (such as pulling out or pushing in a qwerty keyboard) you may need to redefine the buttons.

The Instructions

Use the buttons you defined for moving the dice in the game window to scroll the instructions (usually the joypad directions). Press any other button or tap the screen with the stylus to exit the instructions.

The High Scores

If you've just played a game and have achieved one of the four highest scores then you can edit the initials for the highscore. As with the menus use the buttons you defined for moving the dice around in the game window and for scoring a hand to alter the characters (i.e. normally the joypad buttons) pressing the "score" button when the three characters are correct.
To exit the highscores (once you've edited your initials) press any button or tap the screen with the stylus.

Defining/Redefining the buttons

Here you will be prompted in turn to press each of the buttons for control of the game. Each time press a button once and then again to confirm.

You will be prompted for the following buttons:

1. A button to slow the dice down in the game window (joypad up recommended).
2. A button to move the dice left in the game window (joypad left recommended).
3. A button to move the dice right in the game window (joypad right recommended).
4. A button to speed the dice up in the game window (joypad down recommended).
5. A button to score a hand (joypad centre recommended).
6. A button to pause the game (left menu recommended).
7. A button to cheat (right menu recommended).
8. A button to QUIT the game completely at any time (home or end call recommended).

Then you need to define the controls for rotating the dice.
Here if you have a touchscreen then we recommend you just tap the screen twice in each case though you may define buttons if you still have buttons free. With a touchscreen you can always rotate the dice by tapping the onscreen icons.

9. A button to rotate the dice down (keypad 2, 4, 6 or 8 recommended).
10. A button to rotate the dice right (keypad 2, 4, 6 or 8 recommended).
11. A button to rotate the dice left (keypad 2, 4, 6 or 8 recommended).
12. A button to rotate the dice up (keypad 2, 4, 6 or 8 recommended).

PokarusDemo.zip [22.37 Mb] (Count: 1)