Instructions for playing 'In the Year'

'In the Year' is a general knowledge quiz covering events from the past 200 years. The game is played in rounds, one for each Year in question. You can read more about the game or find out about Myst Ltd its makers.

Fact …or Fishy?

Each round presents five simple statements recalling events that supposedly happened 'In the Year' in play.

These statements can be true, eg In the Year 2012

or they may seem true, eg In the Year 1910

or you may wish they were true eg In the Year 2006

…but in all likelihood they are as fishy as a trawler full of haddock.

The Challenge

And therein lies the challenge. You need to correct any ‘mistakes’ and avoid any traps our puzzlemaster, Dr Wellard, has set.

Play on your favourite Board

Tap the button to reveal the gameboard selector. Choose from Wood, Metal, Pink or Sky boards to suit your mood. We would love to know which board is your favourite.

How to Play

Thinking Time: Is any of this true?

Each round starts with some Thinking Time. You have up to two minutes to consider your strategy. This is free time — Playing Time hasn’t started yet — so take as long as you want (well, up to the two minute limit of course). When you are ready, tap the Play Button to move on to Playing Time, where you correct the mistakes.

Playing Time: Can you beat the clock?

As soon as you tap the button, the statements split up with an elegant animation and Playing Time begins.

Now you are playing against the clock. Complete the statements at the top of the board using the tiles laid out at the bottom. Simply drag each tile into place; you don’t need to be too accurate, the ‘wells’ are magnetic and will capture any tile dropped nearby.

Scoring & Scoreboard

Scoreboard can display either in year or high score order. Just tap the scoreboard to swap between the two sort orders.

Tap the Count ’em up! button when you’ve placed all your tiles. The sooner you tap the button, the bigger your Time Bonus score will be.

Want to change your answer? Just slide your new choice into place; the old tile will scurry home automatically.

Your score will be calculated and displayed in the middle of the gameboard. Each correctly placed tile scores 100 points, but these points are then increased by a bonus multiplier. The size of the bonus depends on how long you took before tapping the button. The bonus dwindles away to zero as the Playing Time is used up, so it pays to place your tiles as quickly as possible. If you let all the Playing Time elapse your bonus will be zero.

Round Over

After your score has been calculated, two new buttons appear on the gameboard.
Tap the Reveal Correct Answers button to reveal the Red Herrings and see where you might have gone wrong.
The other button lets you Tweet Your Score so you can tell the world, and us, how you’re doing.

Next Round

The main button now reads Play another Year and does exactly what you expect: once tapped a new Year appears and the Thinking Time and Playing Time countdowns start afresh.

In the Year is always played against the clock, there is no way to pause the countdown, so make sure you’re ready. (Don’t worry if you do start a new round by mistake, any Year for which you score zero is treated as unplayed, so it will, eventually, reappear and give you a second chance).

Game Over?

The Year in play is selected at random. Every Year will appear eventually. When you've played all the Years you can reset the game, and start again. Don't forget to Tweet your final score: you've joined a select band of quizzers!

Feedback

We want you to love playing 'In the Year'. We hope you’ll be entertained, excited and amused. Maybe even a little exasperated, that’s all part of the fun; remember, our puzzlemaster, Dr Wellard, is based high in the Swiss alps and views our day-to-day worries with olympian detachment ;-)

If you do like 'In the Year' please rate or review us on iTunes. And if there is something you don’t like please let us know.

Thank you so much for playing 'In the Year'.