CS jawbreaker is a nice simple game. I originally discovered it on my mobile phone. This version is made in C# (Microsoft .Net) language, and is designed to run on a Windows Operating system. There are various game types, (please see What different game types are there?), which alter the way the game plays. I have found this game to be rather addictive and lots of fun. I hope you do as well!
To download CS Jawbreaker is pretty easy. Please visit the Download page. There you will find the latest version and a copy of each version made before then. Simply click on the version required and it will give you a box asking you to save it to your computer.
Once the file has been downloaded, (see How do I download CS Jawbreaker?) you will need to unzip the files into a temporary directory, (they are only needed for the installation process and can be deleted afterwards).
Once the file has been downloaded you will need to extract the files out so they can be installed. Locate the folder you downloaded the file to, right click on the zip file and select “extract all”. This will open a wizard to assist in unzipping the files.
Once the files have been unzipped, locate the folder / location them. There will be a file called “setup.exe”. Right click the file and select “open”. This will start the installation wizard. From this point you can follow the instructions given by the wizard.
Once the installation process has finished you should have a shortcut on your desktop and on the start menu bar under "House of Hawkins"
To upgrade CS Jawbreaker you will need to a download the version you require (assuming it is a later version than the one already installed).
Once downloaded you simply need to install. The process is the same as installing it for the first time. It will upgrade the files but not remove your scoreboard
Please note that you will loose your personal settings, they will be reset to the defaults.
To run CS Jawbreaker there should be an icon in your “start” menu bar and on your desktop, (unless you unchecked these options during installation). Left clicking one of these will launch CS Jawbreaker.
When it starts you will be prompted for a name. Enter this and then CS Jawbreaker will be ready to play.
When CS Jawbreaker first starts it will ask you for a user name. Once this has been entered you will be shown the default game which will be ready to play.
To play CS Jawbreaker is pretty simple. The objective is to score as much as possible by removing groups of balls of the same colour:
The objective of CS Jawbreaker is to score as highly as you can. To score points you need to select groups of balls and remove them from the game. The larger the group of balls selected at any one time the greater the score you get for them. As you can seem from the image above 6 red balls have been selected giving a possible score of 30. If that group was clicked again the balls would be removed and 30 added to the score.
When you select a ball (by clicking on it with the mouse) it will do one of a number of things.
- If you do not have any balls selected at that moment and there is a ball of the same colour either, above, below, to the left or to the right it will find every ball that is connected to that group and highlight (select) the group of balls.
- If you do not have any balls selected at that moment but there are no balls of the same colour above, below, to the left or to the right of it then nothing will happen.
- If you have a group of balls selected at that moment but do not click on one of that group it will deselect that group. It will also select the new group if there is one available.
- If you have a group of balls selected and click on them again then the balls will be removed from the game and the value of that group added to your score.
Depending on the game type the rest of the balls may then act slightly differently, (see What different game types are there?).
The game will continue, until there are no more groups of balls available to select and remove.
The objective of CS Jawbreaker is to score as highly as you can. To score points you need to select groups of balls and remove them from the game. The larger the group of balls selected at any one time the greater the score you get for them. Simple really!
There are 4 different game types at present:
- Standard
- Shifter
- Continous
- MegaShift
The Standard type is the most simple. When you remove a group of balls, the balls above it will simply drop down to fill the gap, (if a column is completely emptied of balls all the columns to the left of it move across to the right so they are next to other balls), and game play continues
Shifter varies slightly. The balls still drop down like standard but they then all shift to the right. This has the affect of removing any gaps in each column. All the balls stay on the line they are on after the balls have dropped down, but all move as far to the right as they can.
Continous is the same as standard apart from new balls can appear on the left of the screen. This happens when a whole column is emptied, the columns shift to the right and new columns of balls fill the gap created on the left of the game. The number of balls in each new column is random as is the colour of those balls.
Megashift is a combination of them all really. The standard rules still apply. When the balls are removed if a column is freed up on the left it is replaced, just as in Continous, they are then shifted to the right, as in Shifter.
To change the game type you need to click on “Options” then “Change Game Type”:
This will open the window below. From here you can select the game type required.
Once you have selected the game type click on “Select Game Type”. This will then return you to the game screen with the new game type enabled.
N.B. Please note that this will start a new game so the current game will be lost.
There are certain parts of CS Jawbreaker that can be modified.
- The colour of the balls can be changed to something more comforting on the eyes.
- The game type can be changed at any time.
- The size of the grid can be changed to a value of 3 to 21, (N.B. the gird must be a square).
- If you want the scoreboard to synchronize with the website.
- If you want to keep a local scoreboard.
To modify these you can do this through the window below:
To get to this window please click on “Options” then “Game Setup”.
At this point the “Save As new Game Settings” does not work. This means that it you can save the settings for the current session but when you close and open CS Jawbreaker the settings (apart from the scoreboard options) will be reset to default. This will change in the future so you can save them and not have to worry about it.
To view the local scoreboard please click on “Options” then “Local Scoreboard”
This will open a new window with all the local scores recorded:
The scoreboard can be sorted on any of the columns, (simply click on the column you wish to sort). It is also possible to filter the results to find a certain score or say all your scores. To do this simply enter the information to limit the scores lists, for example if you wanted to only display games played by “Jonny” you would enter the name “Jonny” into the “Player Name” field above the scoreboard and click on “Filter Scoreboard”.
To view all the scores again click on “Clear Filter”.
To view the online scoreboard you can either go to: Online Scoreboard
or click on “Options” then “WebSite Scoreboard”
This will open the scoreboard form (the same as the local scoreboard) but it will populate it with the scores from the website.
N.B. This may take a while to load as it has to download the whole website scoreboard to your machine. If the scoreboard is large or you have a slow connection this can have detrimental affects on the time it takes to display the results.
If you do not want your scores to be sent to the online scoreboard you will need to uncheck the “Synchronize with Website Scoreboard” tick box in the “Game Setup” window, (please see “What parts of CS Jawbreaker can be customized”).
By default scores will be sent to the website.
To report a bug please use the FogBugz Page. You can also submit suggestions for improvements in the same way.
To remove CS Jawbreaker from your system (why you would is beyond me!!!, just kidding), all you need to do is go to your control panel (Start menu, settings, control panel), and click on "add remove programs". Find CS Jawbreaker and click on the "remove" button. You will be given instructions to follow at that point to remove it from your system.
If your question is not answered here why not contact me here. If it is a common or sensible question it may very well be added to the FAQ. But at any rate I will hope to get back to you as soon as I can.