GAMEPLAY

OVERVIEW

The player moves a trap around a circular field with the task of catching moving objects before they cross the field bounds.

visual guide

TRAP

The trap is the device controlled by the player. It is always centred at the bottom of the screen.
It can move only left or right, always at the same distance from the field center (the field will rotate accordingly).

OBJECTS

The objects move from the center of the field towards its bounds in straight line. Their initial direction is unpredictable. There are 4 different kinds of object, each with its own color and speed; while colors depend on the theme, speeds are fixed as follows: slow, normal, fast and swift.
The objects are shot by a generator placed at the center of the field.

CATCHING AND MISSING OBJECTS

When an object has not crossed the field bounds yet, it is said to be "alive".
If the center of an object passes through the beams between the trap sides, the object is caught.
When an object goes beyond the reach of the trap (shortly after passing the field bounds), it is definitely missed. The game ends when the allowable misses (initially 5) are 0 and an object is missed.

Catches:

give points;
increment the meter that, when certain thresholds are reached, enhances the trap with additional features called "extras";
increase the allowable misses every 10.

Misses:

halve the meter (and, consequently, the extras whose threshold is above the new meter value are lost);
decrease the allowable misses by 1.

EXTRAS

extra	kind	threshold(s)	what it does / how it works
pointer	automatic	3	marks the furthest object with a special symbol
expansion	automatic	6, 80, 164	makes the trap wider
inverter	targeted	12	inverts the movement of the targeted object; each object can be inverted only once; inverted objects are marked with a special symbol
laser	targeted single-use	20	destroys the targeted object; overrides the inverter
freezer	targeted	30	keeps the targeted object nailed at its current position as long as the button is held down; objects, while frozen, are not affected by other extras; frozen objects are visually connected to the trap with a beam
speed-up	automatic	42	increases the trap speed
decelerator	global single-use	64	diminishes the speed of all the alive objects by 2/3rds; each object can be decelerated only once; decelerated objects are marked with a special symbol
guide	automatic	98	marks the critical object with a special symbol
kickback	global single-use	118	makes all the alive objects rescuable; overrides the decelerator; when a rescuable object goes out of bounds, it is automatically sent back along the opposite direction and becomes non-rescuable again; rescuable objects are marked with special symbols
nuke	global single-use	140	destroys all the alive objects; overrides the kickback
magnet	global single-use	190	attracts all the alive objects to the trap until they are automatically caught; overrides the nuke; magnetized objects are not affected by other extras; magnetized objects are visually connected to the trap with beams

Furthest object = alive object that is furthest from the field center.
Critical object = alive object that will reach the bounds first.
Targeted object = alive object indicated by the guide or, secondarily, by the pointer.
Automatic extra = the extra becomes active as soon as acquired and requires no action by the player.
Targeted extra = the extra affects only the targeted object.
Global extra = the extra affects all the alive objects.
"A overrides B" applies only to extras operated by the same button and means that when both the extra A and the extra B have been acquired, the extra currently associated to the button is A; after A is used, B becomes usable.
When acquired/available, the speed-up and targeted/global extras are indicated by their initials on the screen.

LEVEL

As time passes by, the level increases making the game more and more difficult. The level is represented by 2 numbers, a major value and a minor value.
The minor value goes from 0 up to 99: as it goes up, the time interval between 2 consecutive shots will become shorter and shorter. When it reaches 100, it restarts from 0 and the major value is increased by 1.
The major value affects the speed of objects (the higher the level, the faster the objects) and the margin the trap is given to reach objects (the higher the level, the smaller the margin).

POINTS

Points are awarded when catching objects. The points assigned for a catch are directly proportional to the speed of the object, the current level, the current extras meter and the chosen difficulty.