Objective of Styx

The objective of the game is to move your ball into the central area (you can do this while the F1 key is held down) and trap the Styx (the swirly lines in the centre of the screen) by creating filled areas of colour. You get points for filling in areas, the larger the area the more points. The area (in units of 0.1% of the playing area) is multiplied by either 1, 5 or 10 (depending on the colour of a little block in the top right of the screen) to calculate your score. Your job is done when you have reclaimed 80% of the territory (each extra full percentage point you get over this gets you a 1000 point bonus). Then you proceed to the next level.

Not only must you avoid the Styx, but you must not let it touch the line you are drawing before you are back on safe ground and the area has been filled in. You must not stop in the middle, and you cannot cross over the line you have drawn. Also, you must avoid the caterpillar, the dots moving around the edge of the reclaimed area. They can't touch you when you are in the central area, but then the Styx can so nowhere is safe.

The game is hard and requires a lot more luck than Digger (also a famous Windmill game, check www.digger.org), but there is also a lot of skill and strategy required.

Scoring System

*   1 point  for every 0.1% of the screen covered with blue.
*   5 points for every 0.1% of the screen covered with red.
* 10 points for every 0.1% of the screen covered with green.
(the colour you fill with is shown in the top right, and follows a cycle:
long period of blue, medium period of red and short period of green).

* 1000 points bonus for every full 1% of the screen covered over the 80% necessary to complete the level. So the smaller the area you trap the Styx in, the more bonus points you get.

The maximum possible theoretical score to complete a level is 30,000 by reclaiming 100% of the territory; that is 10,000  territory points (1000 x 0.1% = 1000 x 10) plus 20,000 bonus points (20% above 80% x 1000).
Of course, this maximum is impossible to achieve in practice, as you could not trap the Styx in a space even as small as 0.1%, let alone smaller. That's why a bonus of 20,000 points is not possible. But one can really get 19,000 bonus points.

We are not sure if this is an exhaustive list. There may be an extra life at some point. If you have any additional information, please contact us.

Keys to Play the Game

The keys you need to play the game are (might be considered spoiler):
F1 to be able to move the ball into the central area; Left, Right, Up, Down, Home, End, PgUp, PgDn, (or 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 on the numeric keypad) to move your ball; Space to pause and F9 to toggle sound. To exit either press F10 or hold down Alt and Ctrl and press Delete (no, your computer will not reboot, it was changed to simply exit the to the operating system). The numeric keypad is recommended (rather than the block of four arrow keys found on most extended keyboards) because it is easier to move diagonally. Sorry portable computer users, the game will be more difficult for you because of this. Users of older portable computers may also have trouble seeing the caterpillar due to display latency.

Maximum scores on level 1

Andrew Jenner's best level 1 score was 95% solid green, 24,500 points; that is 9,500 territory points (950 x 0.1% = 950 x 10) plus 15,000 bonus points (15% above 80% x 1000). He writes: "This score cannot be beaten for sheer flukiness. For my  first move of  the game on level 1, I just cut off a little corner with a diagonal line, and the Styx somehow got on the small side of it and bounced around in the corner for long enough for me to draw the line. I was very surprised to have completed the level!"

Elad Verbin got 27,810 at level 1 using a clever method. This method is described on this website on the strategies page.

Irina Timp caught the Styx in an area of less than1%, so got a bonus of 19,000 points. Because one needs at least 0.1% to catch the Styx, 19,000 is the practical maximum bonus one can get.

Visit the Hall of Fame to see the records so far.