About Kye
Kye is a puzzle game with arcade game elements. It was originally a shareware Windows game in the early 90s; it is now available for Windows and Linux. The game takes place in a small playing area, where the player controls Kye — a distinctive green blob. The player moves around and tries to collect all of the diamonds. However, there are many other objects in the game, which can obstruct, trap or kill the Kye.
Kye is one of those games like Chess, where a small number of different playing pieces, obeying simple rules, combine to create a game of enormous variety and complexity.
The Playing Pieces page on My Kye Page gives a description of the various objects in Kye. The game loads with a simple start level, and a series of introductory levels; it is best to play around in the introductory levels for the while and get a feel for the game, before attempting any of the add-on levels.
Alternatively, I have made a short video demonstrating the game and showing how some of the objects in the game work.
There is also a mailing list for use by anyone interested in any version of Kye.
Versions of Kye
Originally Kye was a shareware game for Windows 3.1. Version 1 had all the main elements of the game, and a (very) limited collection of levels. Version 2 was also distributed as shareware (registering just got a few more levels and removed the registration/charity appeal at the start). Kye v2 also supported a range of new objects, including timer blocks, rocky/slider generators, black holes and one-way doors. It also includes a built-in level editor.
I have written a clone of Kye, which works on Linux and other systems that have the pygtk library (including Windows, although it is not very easy to set up for Windows). You can get this from the download page.
I have also made a large number of extra levels for Kye. 20 of my levels were included in the registered Kye v2, but I have written another 30 since then. The various level sets are described here.
Charityware
The original Kye for Windows was shareware, with the proceeds going to Save the Children. As I have used the game idea, it seems fair to maintain the spirit of the original program, and make it charityware — if you like Python Kye, you are encouraged to donate to a children's charity of your choice.
