Is Inkball More Fun Than Freecell?

I always liked Freecell to while away a half hour.

 It relaxes me without taxing my brain too much.   I know that it is a pure waste of time but at least I am not shooting anyone dead in a video game.

   I discovered inkball at Costco while looking at the laptops.

 I found out that the game was available only with Vista (I have XP) and bootleg copies almost exclusively required the use of stylus and tablet, which I don't have. One download allowed the use of a mouse but required a few tries before it would open up properly. I am attracted to the unlimited variations of the game, the skill required with the mouse and the automatic variety of games available. I quickly mastered the beginner class and graduated to the novice.

 Intermediate level was too quick for my skills so I have to be satisfied with novice for the time being.
 The rules of scoring are still somewhat of a mystery.

 So if anyone out there can explain it to me, I would appreciate it.
The mouse places a barrier in front of the ball.
 Each barrier can used only once.
 The relative angle of the barrier to the ball determines the direction the ball will take when bouncing off the barrier.
 For instance, an angle of forty five degrees will bounce the ball forty five degrees in the new direction. Of course, fast moving balls do not give you much time to place proper angles.

 One thing to watch out for is not ending up with one ball with low kinetic energy. You need a collision with another fast moving ball to capture more kinetic energy.
A second use of the barrier is to protect a wrong color ball from entering the wrong color hole, thereby ending the game prematurely.

 Multiple balls in play may require several barriers to be put in place to be effective.

 By taking note of the color of the balls about to enter play will give you some safe time to put these barriers in place before the ball(s) enters the playing field.

 Another use of the barrier is to lock in a small area a ball with high kinetic energy.
 This results in many blocks being knocked out in a short time.
 Don't forget that the mouse can be used up and down or left and right for a double barrier.

When you become more adept at playing, you can try to favor the high scoring balls (like yellow) for a higher score.

 Since scores are not saved, you must write them down each time you play.

 The right mouse button allows a new block to be born when reaching a score of 1600.

 Use this feature wisely since it may backfire if placed thoughtlessly.

What a great way to waste time!