Heaven & Earth (Game)

Heaven & Earth

GAME » on 1992

FM Towns (Platform)Mac (Platform)PC (Platform)

A collection of three mini-games inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist legend of Shambhala, including a pendulum, a Hanafuda-inspired card game, and a series of illusions.

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Overview

Heaven & Earth is a mini-game collection developed by Software Resources International and published by Buena Vista Software (Company) for MS-DOS and Macintosh computers in 1992. It was later released by Fujitsu (Company) for FM Towns (Platform) computers in Japan on June 1993 under the title Steepia (with an earlier demo version on March 1993 as Steepia Lite).

Inspired by the Tibetan Buddhist legend of the ancient kingdom of Shambhala (Location), Heaven & Earth features three different games (the toy "Pendulum", the card game "Card Game", and the puzzle game "Illusions"), as well as a campaign that combines all three (known as "Pilgrimage").

The DOS and Mac versions of the game were later released for free on the website of Ian Gilman, one of the game's designers.

Pendulum

Simulating a real-life pendulum, Pendulum has players looking down at a three-dimensional pendulum that can be manipulated using movement from either the mouse or keyboard.

The game includes "vortices", which have a gravitational pull on the pendulum itself (when close-by) and can be collected by the point of the pendulum resting on top of them for a short time. The objective of the game is to collect all "positive vortices" while avoiding "negative vortices".

The game includes 24 scenarios (split into four difficulty levels: Ocean, Desert, Mountain, and Sky), each with a different assortment of vortices. There is no scoring, timing, or ranking system.

Card Game

Inspired by the Hanafuda series of Japanese card games, Card Game has players attempting to form tricks with cards drawn from a unique 48-card deck. The game is split into four "hands", with each hand having players making 12 "draws" from the remainder of the deck (in which players draw a certain amount of cards for each "draw", choose one, and discard the rest for subsequent hands). Players are scored for all tricks made in each hand.

Cards

The game's card deck is divided into the 12 months of the year, each month corresponding with one of four seasons (shown on the top of the card) and one of four natural elements (shown on the left of the card):

	Spring	Summer	Autumn	Winter
Water	March	July	November
Fire	April	August		December
Earth	May		September	January
Air		June	October	February

The four cards of each month also corresponds to four "landscapes" (Ocean, Desert, Mountain, and Sky, shown on the right of the card), with some cards randomly having "celestial phenomena" (animations corresponding to weather, moon and sun positions, and other events). Both Landscapes and Celestial Phenomena affect the trick's score.

Tricks & Scoring

As players make "draws", they can rearrange the cards in the play area however they'd like to form the highest-scoring tricks they can find. Once all 12 cards are drawn and the tricks are finalized, they can click the discard pile to proceed.

The valid tricks are as follows:

2 of a Kind - Two cards with the same Month. 100 pts.
3 of a Kind - Three cards with the same Season, Element, or Landscape. If the Season or Element is the same, the score is 150 pts. for mixed Landscapes, and 300/400/500/600 pts. for same Landscapes. If just the Landscape is the same, it is 150/200/250/300 pts.
4 of a Kind - Four cards with the same Month. 1000 pts.
Opposite Month - Two cards with "opposing" Months (Jan/Jul, Feb/Aug, Mar/Sep, Apr/Oct, May/Nov, and Jun/Dec). 200 pts. for mixed Landscapes, 400/600/800/1000 pts. for same Landscapes.

For matching Landscapes, the scoring order is Ocean/Desert/Mountain/Sky.

Cards with Celestial Phenomena act as a multiplier to the trick's score, with some of them giving a negative multiplier. Tricks with multiple Celestial Phenomena add these multipliers together, and some combinations give unique multipliers. These multipliers are:

+10 - Apex Sun + Rising Sun + Setting Sun, Rain + Lightning + Tornado
+5 - Supernova, Rain + Tornado, Tornado + Lightning
+4 - Solar Eclipse, Rainbow
+3 - Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse, Shooting Star, Aurora Borealis, Rain + Lightning
+2 - Crescent Moon, Halo Moon, New Moon, Apex Sun, Rising Sun, Setting Sun, Betelgeux Star, Double Star, Evening Star, North Star, Earth Shine, Lightning, Rain + Snow
-2 - Apex Sun + Rising Sun, Apex Sun + Setting Sun, Rising Sun + Setting Sun, Rain, Snow, Snow + Lightning
-3 - Tornado

In addition, players earn bonus points for using all 12 cards in each hand to form tricks. It is 500 pts. for the first time, 1000 pts. for the second time, 1500 pts. for the third time, and 3000 pts. for the fourth time.

Illusions

A set of 576 different puzzles, split into 12 types of puzzles (each with four difficulty levels: Ocean, Desert, Mountain, and Sky). Each puzzle can be played with a mouse or keyboard, although some puzzles are preferred with mice and some with keyboards.

While there is no scoring or timing system, players can track the puzzles completed.

Figure Ground

Drag pieces of blocks of different colors around the Puzzle grid and rearrange them in order to form the shape in the Goal grid. When blocks of the same color overlap or are adjacent, they merge into the same piece. Pieces cannot be moved outside of the grid and moving a piece reveals the next color underneath (which cycles through all available colors).

White Center (Ocean) - Uses two colors. However, white-colored blocks cannot be moved. Some scenarios add a third color, which also cycles down to white.
Three Colors (Desert) - Uses three colors. All colors can be moved.
Four Colors (Mountain) - Uses four colors. All colors can be moved.
Two Colors (Sky) - Uses two colors. Both colors can be moved.

Cursor Warping

Hover the cursor over each colored block to "deactivate" them (turning them gray). However, instead of simple mouse or keyboard movement, the cursor now moves on its own velocity (which is affected by the mouse and keyboard) and bounce off the edges of the playfield. Furthermore, targets must be deactivated in a specific color order.

Velocity (Ocean) - Standard.
Symmetries (Desert) - Depending on the scenario, the cursor may move in a different direction than the key pressed or the mouse movement. Sometimes it's mirrored in either axis, sometimes it moves a different axis altogether.
Walls & Ice (Mountain) - Includes two new obstacles: ice (which make the cursor unable to be controlled) and solid walls (which can be bounced off of).
Slopes & Troughs (Sky) - Along with ice and solid walls, it includes a new obstacle: slopes (which affect the velocity in specific directions).

Sliding Graphics

Slide pieces of blocks of different designs around the Puzzle grid and rearrange them in order to form the configuration in the Goal grid. Blocks cannot move through each-other or outside of the grid. Some scenarios have the Goal grid only showing some of the pieces, with the position of other pieces ignored.

Single-Square Pieces (Ocean) - All pieces are single blocks. Includes Wall blocks that cannot be moved.
Rectangular Pieces (Desert) - 2x1, 1x2, and 2x2 pieces are added.
Concave Pieces (Mountain) - In addition to rectangular and square pieces, it includes L-trominos and skew-tetrominoes.
Disconnected Pieces (Sky) - In addition to rectangular pieces, it includes groups of single blocks that are non-adjacent and move in unison. These groups do not necessarily have to be the same color.

Multiple Cursors

Move blocks around the playfield and have them touch each-other in a central location. Rather than a single cursor, several smaller cursors are used that tie with the same keyboard or mouse movement and are confined into a smaller playfield (which can overlap). Rather than dragging, blocks can be picked up and dropped by clicking, which sometimes has cursors picking up blocks while others are dropping them. Some scenarios have cursors moving in an opposite direction.

Unity (Ocean) - Single color. All objects must touch each-other.
Match (Desert) - Multiple colors. All objects of the same color must touch each-other.
Touch Base (Mountain) - Single color. All objects must touch a target square.
Multi-Color (Sky) - Multiple colors. All objects must touch a target square of the same color.

Identity Maze

Control a disjointed group of two-or-more cursors that move in unison one tile at a time (horizontal and/or vertical) around the playfield in order to collect goals scattered around. Some scenarios have the walls removed, allowing the blocks to wrap around the playfield.

Parallel (Ocean) - All cursors move in the same direction.
180 Rotation (Desert) - Some cursors can now move in the opposite direction of both axis.
Mirror (Mountain) - Some cursors can now move in the opposite direction of either axis.
90 Rotation (Sky) - Some cursors can now move in a different axis.

Changing Bodies

Control a cursor that move one tile at a time (horizontal and vertical) around the playfield in order to collect goals scattered around. Moving on top of a Frozen Cursor instead unfreezes that cursor while turning the other into a wall, potentially blocking the new cursor's path if not careful.

Standard (Ocean) - One cursor.
Frozen Goal (Desert) - All cursors must be unfrozen before the goals are unlocked.
Aggregate Cursor (Mountain) - Multiple cursors are controlled in unison. Some scenarios have goals that must be unlocked by unfreezing all cursors.
Free Partner (Sky) - Multiple cursors are controlled in unison, and cursors can unfreeze others even if the other cursor in the group is blocked. Some scenarios have goals that must be unlocked by unfreezing all cursors.

Gaining Losing

Control a group of cursors that move in unison one tile at a time (horizontal and vertical) around the playfield, and must change the configuration using special blocks to match the goal configuration while navigating around walls.

Losing Only (Ocean) - Uses Holes that remove cursors overlapping it.
Gaining Only (Desert) - Uses Frozen Cursors that add to the configuration when adjacent to it.
Gaining Losing (Mountain) - Uses both Holes and Frozen Cursors.
Wraparound (Sky) - Uses both Holes and Frozen Cursors. However, walls are removed and the group of cursors can wrap around the playfield.

Antimaze

Control a cursor that move one tile at a time (horizontal and vertical) around the playfield in order to collect goals scattered around. The cursor itself can only move over walls in the same orientation.

Antimaze (Ocean) - One goal.
Multiple Goals (Desert) - Multiple goals.
No Return (Mountain) - Multiple goals. One-use walls are added that disappear once crossed. Some scenarios have removed walls around the edges, allowing the cursor can wrap around the playfield.
Flip-Flop (Sky) - Multiple goals. Along with one-use walls and removed edges, it adds a rule where collecting goals toggle between moving over walls and moving over empty spaces (like a traditional maze).

Flip Turn

Manipulate multiple sheets of blocks (by rotating or flipping them) to form an image on the Composite grid in order to form the image from the Goal grid. When sheets have different colors on them, selecting sheets puts its colors on top of others.

Single Colors (Ocean) - Four sheets. All blocks are single colors.
Diagonal Split (Desert) - Four sheets. Blocks can have patterns of two color halves (split diagonally).
Six Sheets (Mountain) - Six sheets. Blocks can have patterns of two color halves (split diagonally).
Four of Six (Sky) - Six sheets, but only the last two sheets selected are used for the Composite grid. Blocks can have patterns of two color halves (split diagonally).

Regrouping

Drag pieces of lines around the Puzzle grid and rearrange them in order to form the shape in the Goal grid. When lines overlap or are adjacent, they merge into the same piece. Pieces cannot be moved outside of the grid, and shape-based difficulty levels allow players to "carve" from the piece.

Lines (Ocean) - Any piece of connected lines can be moved.
1x1 Squares (Desert) - Enclosed 1x1 squares can be moved.
Biggest Square (Mountain) - Enclosed squares can be moved. Clicking on an edge selects the biggest square that can be formed from the highlighted edge.
L's (Sky) - L-shaped pieces can be moved. Clicking on an edge selects the biggest L-shaped piece that can be formed from the highlighted edge.

Fit Fall

Arrange groups of blocks of different shapes to fill the specified shape of the encarved "well" exactly, with some scenarios allowing rotation and mirroring of pieces.

One Level Deep (Ocean) - One layer deep.
Multiple Depths (Desert) - Multiple layers deep.
Infinite Pieces (Mountain) - One/multiple layers deep. Flashing pieces can leave copies of itself for an unlimited supply.
Disconnected Pieces (Sky) - One/multiple layers deep. Includes groups of blocks that are non-adjacent and move in unison. Flashing pieces can leave copies of itself for an unlimited supply.

Convex Concave

Arrange pieces of reversible cubes to match the goal image without getting lost in an optical illusion. Selecting a piece brings it to the fore-front.

2D (Ocean) - Most goal images have only one layer.
3D (Desert) - All goal images are layered.
Convex/Concave (Mountain) - Cubes have different orientations, with goal images having an unorthodox combination of concave and convex shapes. Inspired by the M.C. Escher lithograph Convex and Concave.
Up/Down (Sky) - Groups can have other polygonal shapes and cubes with missing walls. Goal images are based on impossible object illusions, such as the Penrose triangle. Inspired by the M.C. Escher lithograph Waterfall.

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