The level starts with a countdown, 3-2-1 to prepare you as shown below
The elements which make up the screen are:
- Top-Left is your score so far
- Top-Middle iis the number of legs left to be removed (see later)
- Top-Right is the best score you have achieved on this level
- Middle is the Virion itself, this varies by patient and sometimes level
- Bottom-Right is the time remaining in seconds
When the countdown is complete, legs emerge from the Virion and the patients anti-bodies start floating across the screen, as below
The antibodies are coloured and shaped at one end
The Legs have receptors whose shapes are the inverse of those on the antibodies
The Legs rotate around the Virion and can (for various reasons) retract individually and re-appear with a different receptor shape.
Not all the Legs of a Virion are always visible at one time, but the number left is shown Tip-Middle.
To remove a Leg, the correctly shaped antibody must be attached to the Leg, it is then pulled from the Virion by the antibody.
There are 3 stages, to attach an antibody to a Leg
1st : Put the antibody in Orbit around the Virion.
This is done by tapping an antibody. The tapped antibody will then fly itself into orbit around the Virion, matching the Virion Legs rotational speed.
In the picture below, two antibodies are in orbit (pink and red). They are identifiable by an orbit ring running behind them.
The 2nd step, is to align the antibody with the correct Leg, ie the one with a reciprocal shape.
To do this you select an antibody in Orbit (finger down and hold).
You can then move the antibody around and over the Virion, by dragging your finger, to line it up with the corresponding Leg.
When an anitbody is selected, a flashing triangle appears under the antibody, this helps you align it with your finger on the screen!
When your are happy, lift your finger and antibody will once again start rotating in orbit.
The 3rd step is to engage the antibody. This is done by tapping the center of the ball, where the orbit ring is rotating in the middle of the ball.
This causes ALL the anitbodies in orbit to move in.
If an antibody is correctly aligned over the right shaped Leg, the antibody attaches to it and pulls the leg from the Virion.
If an antibody is incorrectly aligned, it bounces off and generates a 3 second time penalty. In addition, if the antibody collides with one of the Virions legs, that leg will retract and re-emerge shaped differently!!
The level ends when either:
- All the legs have been removed from the Virion (you win) or
- The time reaches Zero (you lose)
If you win, you will get a Bronze, Silver or Gold star. The Star Rating depends upon your score.
You score points for
A leg being extracted (125), if multiple legs are extracted at the same time a score multiplier is added!
Ten points for each second remaining when all the Virions legs have been extracted.
Things to watch out for:
1. If you leave antibodies in Orbit to long, the Virion starts fizzing and then shortly afterwards expands to knock all your orbiting antibodies away.
2. Effects. Occasionally, a coloured bar appears in the bottom left, which drains over time. This is a warning that the Virion is going to induce behaviour on the antibodies, a defence! To stop the Virion, you must remove a leg using an antibody with the same colour as the bar, before it runs out!
App Store Links :
Virion - iPad
Virion SD - iPhone,iTouch