Number Munchers - Troggles

Troggles

The Troggles are monsters with two legs and a large head, whose goal is to eat Muncher and/or disrupt his progress by rearranging things on the board. Levels 1, 2, and 3, contain only one Troggle on the grid at any given time. A second Troggle appears starting with level 4, and a third appears starting with level 8. After approximately level 18, the game (especially the movement of the Troggles) accelerates to make responsible munching more difficult.

Safety squares occasionally appear to help protect Muncher from the Troggles. These are temporary havens identified by four small white rectangles on the corner of the square. No Troggle may enter a safety square; if one appears on a square a Troggle currently occupies, that Troggle dies (but may be replaced afterwards). Safety squares may disappear as quickly and randomly as they appear; hence, one must take caution not to remain in one for long.

In addition, Troggles are quite cannibalistic; if one Troggle enters a square already occupied by another, or if two of them enter one square at the same time (even if they are of the same species), one Troggle will eat the other (however, another Troggle may re-enter the board afterwards).

There are five species of Troggle, each with its own binomial name:

• Reggies (Trogglus normalus) - magenta in color; simply moves in a line unless redirected by a safety square in his path. Also if Muncher is one square somewhere away from him, Reggies will chase after him in that direction.
• Bashfuls (Trogglus timidus) - greenish-blue in color; move in an arbitrary manner on the gameboard, unless approached by Muncher, in which case she will move away from him. She is pig-like.
• Helpers (Trogglus assistus), - also green in color; like Muncher, she eats correct answers, thus at once making level completion easier and point accumulation more difficult.
• Workers (Trogglus laborious) - purple and white in color; this Troggle adds new answers and/or change existing answers as he moves around the board.
• Smarties (Trogglus smarticus). - a yellow Troggle with large teeth, and the most difficult enemy to avoid; he always follows Muncher on the board. But if Muncher is three squares somewhere away from him, Smarties will not make chase.