P=NP (iOS)

Connect the dots and find the shortest route! But beware, the world wraps in both directions.
P=NP is listed on GamesKeys and on their Hand-picked Mobile Puzzle Games page!

Index

How to play

  1. Download the game for free on your iPhone or your iPad ( > here < ).
  2. Launch the game.
  3. Do as you are told during the tutorial and everything will be all right. If you are a rebel at heart, you can quit the tutorial from the pause menu. The tutorial can be replayed anytime from the main menu.
  4. From the main menu, select how many dots you wish to play with using the plus (+) and minus (−) buttons. You can select as few as 3 dots and up to 35 dots.
  5. Choose a puzzle in the list. The difficulty increases probabilistically as you approach Z. The random puzzle, marked with a star (*), will unlock once you have completed all puzzles from A to Z of the same level, and allow you to play a different puzzle each time. In the random puzzle, both the placement of the dots and the difficulty are random.
  6. Once the game has started, all the dots you have to link together are displayed. The distance to be covered (aka the target), in pixels, is displayed at the very top of the screen. Touch the dots to connect or disconnect them. Your current distance is displayed just under the target in the HUD. Do not forget that the world wraps both horizontally and vertically; a dot located at the very right of the screen, for example, is in fact really close horizontally to a dot located at the very left of the screen. Slide your finger on the screen to move the dots and thus make it possible to connect them optimally. You have to connect all the dots and come back to where you started. The starting dot, in yellow brackets, becomes available again only once all other dots are connected.
  7. Should you not have found the best route on your first try, your best route will be represented as a dotted line. Your best distance is displayed just under the current distance in the HUD. You can choose to display as a dotted line either your best route or your previous route. You can also hide the dotted line by touching the eye icon in the controls.
  8. If you are stuck, you can use a hint. To do so, touch the magnifier icon at the bottom right of the screen. The number at the bottom right of the magnifying glass indicates how many hints are left. Win hints by completing puzzles or buy them directly in the in-app shop. Hints are available as soon as you have completed a first route and highlight the good parts of your best attempt. If no segment of your best route is highlighted after using a hint, it means none are correct! A hint remains available until you improve your best route.

Interface


  1. Target
  2. Current distance
  3. Best distance
  4. Timer
  5. Puzzle id
  6. Pause button
  1. Starting dot
  2. Active dot
  3. Segment of current route
  4. Best or last route
  5. Part of the solution revealed by a hint
  6. Scale
  1. Clear current route
  2. Display or hide best or last route
  3. Switch between best and last route
  4. Hints

Score

Completing a puzzle rewards you with points that are traded automatically with hints. You win a hint every 10000 points. The score is calculated as follows:

  • Puzzle completed
    You are awarded 10 points for having completed the puzzle.
  • Level bonus
    You are awarded additional points depending on the number of dots (level) of the puzzle. They are distributed as follows:
    Level Points
    30
    49
    539
    687
    7156
    8243
    9351
    10478
    11624
    12790
    13975
    141180
    151404
    161648
    171912
    182195
    192497
    202819
    213160
    223521
    233902
    244302
    254721
    265160
    275619
    286097
    296594
    307112
    317648
    328204
    338780
    349375
    359990
  • Difficulty
    Type: multiplier
    Minimum value: 0.59
    Maximum value: 1.41
    Independant from your performance, this multiplier represents the difficulty of the puzzle. You earn more points for completing more difficult puzzles.
  • Time
    Type: multiplier
    Minimum value: 1.00
    Maximum value: 1.41
    This multiplier rewards fast players. Those who prefer a slower pace are not penalized, since its value is always greater than or equal to 1.
  • No hint used
    Type: multiplier
    Minimum value: 0.1 (at least one hint used)
    Maximum value: 1.0 (no hint used)
    If you use a hint, you will earn only 10% of the points you could have earned without using a hint, assuming a constant completion time.
  • Replay
    Type: multiplier
    Minimum value: 0 (the puzzle had already been completed)
    Maximum value: 1 (the puzzle had never been completed)
    Thus no point is awarded if the puzzle had already been completed. Only apply to A-Z puzzles. Regarding the random puzzle (*), it is always assumed that it had never been completed before.
  • Total
    Total number of points awarded.
    Total = (Puzzle completed + Level bonus) × Difficulty × Time × No hint used × Replay
  • Previous balance
    Current number of points before completion of the puzzle.
  • Hints awarded
    Points traded with hints, if any. Its value is negative or zero and is a multiple of 10000.
    Hints awarded = −10000 × ⌊(Previous balance + Total) / 10000⌋
  • New balance
    Remaining points after deduction of the points traded with hints. The new balance is thus always inferior to 10000.
    New balance = Previous balance + Total + Hints awarded
© 2020 Ken L’Héritier