Sailing

The sailing puzzle is a duty puzzle whose mechanics are similar to Dr. Mario. A pirate's performance at sailing contributes to the acceleration or deceleration of a vessel. Sailing is an alternative to the rigging puzzle and is started from the same place aboard a vessel. A vessel's sailing stations are occupied by pirates playing either sailing or rigging.

Basic gameplay

The sailing board is eight columns wide and sixteen rows high. Pieces fall from the two central columns in joined pairs. The pieces represent water (blue), rope (yellow), and wind (white).

The object of sailing is to fill the outlined targets with pieces of the corresponding colors while using line clears and falling pieces to create chains. Four or more adjacent pieces of the same color in a horizontal or vertical line are cleared.

The two pieces in a newly placed pair remain constrained to one another after landing. If either piece is cleared, the constraint is broken and the surviving piece may fall under gravity. This behavior is important when constructing chains.

Controls

Using the default controls:

Left and Right arrow keys: Move the falling pair left or right
Up and Down arrow keys: Rotate the pair clockwise or counterclockwise
Space bar: Increase the pair's falling speed

Increasing the falling speed does not prevent the pair from being moved or rotated while it is still falling.

Clearing platforms

A platform is completed when every outlined target contains a piece of the required color. Spaces within the platform that do not contain targets may contain a piece of any color or remain empty.

An active platform acts as a shelf across its full rectangular width. Pieces cannot fall through the spaces between its targets until the platform is cleared. When a platform is completed, all pieces within its target spaces are cleared and the platform is removed.

If several platforms are completed during the same resolution step, they are cleared simultaneously.

Resolution order

After a pair settles, the puzzle repeatedly resolves the board in the following order:

Gravity is applied until no piece can fall.
All completed platforms are cleared simultaneously.
All horizontal and vertical lines of four or more matching pieces are cleared simultaneously.
The process repeats until the board is stable.

Each non-empty platform-clearing step or line-clearing step advances the chain by one. Multiple platforms or lines cleared simultaneously count as only one chain step, although every cleared piece still contributes to the score.

Chaining

A chain is created when one clear causes pieces to fall into a later clear. For example, clearing one half of a joined pair may release the other half into the final target of a platform, producing a Double.

The chain notifications are:

One step: no chain notification
Two steps: Double
Three steps: Triple
Four steps: Bingo!
Five steps: Donkey!
Six or more steps: Vegas!!

Chains longer than six continue to display “Vegas!!”. Notation such as V² and V³ is sometimes used by pirates to describe longer chains.

The size of a chain notification reflects the value of the clear, up to a display cap. A Triple containing a large platform clear therefore produces larger text than a Triple made only from small line clears.

Simultaneous clears should not be confused with chains. Clearing two lines or several platforms at once increases the material cleared, but it does not create additional chain steps. The clears must occur in successive resolution steps to lengthen the chain.

Clearing the board

When every platform has been cleared, the board is completed and a new board is generated. There is no separate score bonus for clearing the board.

A booch occurs if, after all clears and gravity have resolved, either top cell in the two central columns remains occupied. The game displays “Oh, ye Booched it!”, applies a 20-point puzzle penalty, and generates a fresh board.

Boards become increasingly difficult as play continues without a booch. After several boards have been cleared, the side stars and board difficulty reset.

Scoring

Sailing is scored primarily by the value produced per dropped pair. A long chain is valuable only when its additional score justifies the pieces used to construct it.

For an entire resolved cascade, the client accumulates the following base values:

Up to the first four ordinary pieces cleared during each simultaneous line-clearing step: one point each
Additional ordinary pieces beyond the first four in that step: two points each
Non-fixed pieces cleared from platforms: four points each
Fixed square pieces: five points each

Filling a previously unfilled target with the correct color adds one point. If a correctly filled target piece is removed before its platform is completed, that lost progress subtracts one point.

The base value accumulated across the entire cascade is multiplied by the cascade's final effective chain value. If c is the number of chain steps and d is the current board difficulty, the effective multiplier is:

c, when c <= 2d
2d + (c - 2d) / 2, when c > 2d

The multiplied result is rounded down. Chains beyond twice the current difficulty therefore continue to gain value, but each additional step increases the effective multiplier by one-half instead of one. The displayed chain name describes the number of resolution steps and is not always the literal scoring multiplier.

Several platforms cleared simultaneously contribute all their pieces to the base value but advance the chain only once. The final effective chain multiplier applies to the accumulated base value of the whole cascade rather than separately multiplying each step.

Performance indicator

The performance indicator in the upper-right corner represents the pirate's recent points per dropped pair.

Performance is tracked over eighteen rotating ten-second intervals, producing a rolling window of approximately three minutes. Every dropped pair counts as one move. An expired ten-second interval in which no pair was dropped is also charged one move, so prolonged inactivity lowers performance even though sailing is principally scored per pair rather than per second.

The sad blue sail on the left contributes little to the vessel's speed. The sparkling golden sail on the right represents full sailing performance.

Strategy

Good sailing balances platform value, chain depth, safety, and the number of pairs invested. The longest available chain is not necessarily the most efficient, especially at lower board difficulties where the chain multiplier begins increasing by half-steps sooner.

Common strategic principles include:

Prepare lower platforms first and leave an accessible target unfilled as a trigger.
Keep the columns above unfinished targets open so pieces can be delivered to them.
Fill lower, wall-side, and otherwise constrained targets before flexible targets that can serve as triggers.
Use the joined nature of pairs so that clearing one half releases the other into a platform or later line clear.
Arrange clears to occur sequentially. Simultaneous clears add material but do not add separate chain steps.
Incorporate surplus pieces into line clears that feed later platform clears instead of making isolated four-piece clears.
Avoid placing the wrong color in a target. Such a piece must usually be removed with a line clear before the platform can be completed.
Avoid sealing an unfinished target beneath pieces that cannot be removed safely.
Preserve space in the two central spawn columns, as only those top cells determine a booch.
Complete boards at a reasonable rate. Board completion awards no direct bonus, but provides a fresh set of productive platforms and removes accumulated clutter.

A common construction begins by preparing a lower platform one target short. A line clear above it breaks a joined pair, allowing the surviving piece to fall into the missing target. Further platforms and line clears may then be arranged to resolve in succession.

Token sailing

Token sailing is a variation of sailing played during a blockade, flotilla, or sea monster hunt. Bonus shapes may appear on the regular yellow, blue, and white sailing pieces when a pirate is performing well.

If two matching bonus shapes are adjacent and are included in the same platform or line clear, they contribute progress toward the corresponding maneuver. The pieces carrying the shapes do not need to be the same color. If the qualifying clear occurs as the third or a later step in a chain, additional maneuver progress is awarded.

Multiple bonus shapes may be removed during the same larger clear. Maneuver progress is shared with the vessel and contributes to the maneuver selected by the navigator.