FLATSPARK

Four in a row. Send them the surge.

FLATSPARK is a falling-fuse puzzle for two, played face to face across one table. Each of you has an old brass fuse box full of blown sockets, and glass fuses slide in from the middle toward you. Line up four of a colour and the circuit closes with a crack: the current races down the line, sparks bounce and the sockets pop in a puff of smoke. Clear two at once and a power surge crackles across the table into their box, and you get to watch their face when it lands. Five ways to play, for two of you or just one.

1–2 playersFalling-fuse puzzleVersusCo-opFamily

I want a FlatboyTwo players, one at each end, a fuse box each, and only one lights every socket first.

Clear two. Send the surge.

Fuses landing at both ends at once, a chain lighting up line after line, and a surge crackling across the table into the other box. Then the other four ways to play: OVERLOAD against the clock, the SWITCH board, the ARC launcher, and GRID, where the two of you play as one team.

Fourof a colour in a line closes the circuit

Chainloose halves slide down and spark again

Surgetwo lines at once crackle into their box

Real gameplay at real speed, straight off the table's screen.

Two fuse boxes. One table. Two of you.

Each of you has an old brass fuse box lying on the table, its slot to the middle and its bottom at your own edge, full of blown sockets in three colours: HUM magenta, GLOW amber and ZAP cyan, each with its own symbol. Glass fuses with glowing filaments slide in toward you. Line up four of a colour and the circuit closes: a white-hot current races along the line, sparks fly and the sockets pop in smoke. Halves left on their own slide down and can go again in a chain, and two lines with one fuse send a power surge crackling into the other box.

Light every socket in your box and the round is yours; fill it to the slot and it's theirs. Best of three, and the rematch is one press. Each end picks its own level and speed, so a parent on level 12 against a child on level 2 is still a close game. The winner's box blows out in light, and the loser's main breaker goes with a bang.

Five ways to play it.

The classic, face to face

Circuit

Two players, a fuse box each, both playing at once. Four of a colour in a line closes the circuit; two lines at once send a power surge into their box. Light every socket first to take the round. Best of three, and the rematch is one press.

Alone

Circuit: the computer or SOLO

Against the computer, or SOLO, box after box, for a place in the top five at your speed.

Two minutes

Overload

New rows of dead sockets shove up from your edge. Every socket you light and every chain wins time back. Fill your box and it BLOWS: six seconds gone. Higher score wins.

Swap and blast

Switch

Swap two neighbouring pieces to make three of a colour. Four make a BREAKER that fires along its row or column, an L or a T a TRANSFORMER that blasts all around it, and five the MASTER SWITCH that takes every piece of one colour. 24 levels, each with one goal, a set number of moves and up to three stars.

Aim and fire

Arc

A launcher at your edge fires plugs up into a cluster of dead sockets hanging from the bus bar. Three of a colour pop, whatever hangs loose drops, and big drops land in their box. Best of three, or SOLO stage after stage.

Co-op

Grid

Two boxes, one grid, one team clock. Two lines at once send POWER across that lights a socket in your partner's box. Get both boxes lit and you're on to the next stage. A parent and a child, or you and the computer.

5ways to play

24SWITCH levels, up to three stars each

3colours, each with its own symbol

1press for a rematch