How to play & controls Shisen-Sho
In GameNow's Shisen-Sho a match is a race on a single board. Both players clear the same 80 tiles at once, each pair goes to whoever connects it first, and the pairs your opponent takes disappear from your screen behind a dashed line. Their selected tile is outlined on your board as they pick it, so you can see which pair they are going for before they finish it.
Instead of a clock, each player has an energy bar. It drains 0.55% per second, emptying in about three minutes if untouched; a pair adds 0.8%, or 1.2% within three seconds of your previous one, a miss takes 4% and a hint 10%. In a match energy breaks ties; in the daily challenge it is the time limit.
Boards are generated from a seed and played through before anyone sees them: the generator removes random open pairs, and if six such runs all get stuck it deals a new board. The same seed always gives the same board, which is how both players in a match, and everyone on the same day's challenge, get an identical layout.
Modes
Solo play (Easy · Normal · Hard)
An AI shares the board with you. On average it takes a pair every 5.2, 3.5 or 2.3 seconds, and it deliberately picks an unconnectable pair up to 8%, 4% or 1.5% of the time. On Easy, selecting a tile also outlines the other tiles of that pattern.
Find opponent
Two signed-in players share one board held on the server. It ends when the board empties, both are out of energy, the remaining pairs can no longer change the result, or after 6 minutes.
Today's Shisen-Sho
Signed-in players clear one daily board alone. It changes at midnight Korean time (15:00 UTC); the score is pairs × 1,000 plus energy left on a 1,000-point bar (up to 999), and only your best attempt of the day is kept.
Watching
Live matches can be opened from the lobby. You see both players' selections, lines and energy bars, but cannot touch the board.
Controls
| Action | Mouse & keyboard | Touch | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select a tile, then its match | Click; or arrow keys move the tile cursor, then Enter or Space | Tap one tile, then the other | Left stick + A; the D-pad moves the tile cursor, Start presses |
| Drop the selection | Right-click or Esc, or click the tile again or an empty cell | Tap the tile again or an empty cell | B or X |
| Hint (−10%) | H or Hint; press again for the next step (solo, daily) | Hint, then Show pair · free, Show path · free | Pointer on Hint + A |
| After a miss: route view (solo, daily) | H or View rules · free, then Straight / Inside detour / Outer border | View rules · free, then a tab | Pointer + A |
| Resign | Click Resign twice within 3 seconds | Tap Resign twice | Pointer on Resign + A, twice |
| Result screen | Enter = Play again (solo, daily), Esc = leave | Tap a button | Start = Enter, B = Esc |
Strategy tips
Select only when you see the match
Your selection appears on your opponent's board the moment you make it, so pick the first tile only after finding its partner, then tap both quickly. Losing a race costs nothing: a pair already gone is refused without penalty.
Watch the AI's first tile
The AI selects its first tile 450 ms before pressing the second. If you can connect that pattern, take either tile in that gap and its move is quietly cancelled. A human opponent's outline stays until they press their second tile.
21 pairs ends the match
With 40 pairs, holding 21 makes the result final and the match stops on the spot. At 20–20 the board empties and leftover energy decides, which makes a late miss or hint expensive. If your opponent runs out of energy, the match ends the moment you take the lead.
Know the AI levels
Hard's pairs come 1.6 to 3.0 seconds apart, nearly always inside the three-second combo window, so each refills 12 of the roughly 12.7 energy drained meanwhile and its bar barely moves; aim for 21 pairs, not a tie. Easy's pairs are 3.1 to 7.3 seconds apart and never earn the combo bonus.
Daily: every second is 5.5 points
A cleared board always outscores an unfinished one. Then each second after Go! costs 5.5 points, a hint 100 (about 18 seconds) and a miss 40 (about 7 seconds), while a pair within three seconds of the last earns 4 extra. Every attempt that day starts from the same layout, so a second run can reuse the order you found.
Hints charge once; misses can finish you
In solo play and the daily, only the first Hint press costs 10%; the partner and then the path come free on later presses. A hint never takes your last bit of energy, but a miss removes 4% even if that empties the bar.
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