Touch Pack: How to play Microsoft Garden Pond

To play Garden Pond, you must be running the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7, a program for Windows Touch users. For more information, see What's the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7?

This game takes place in the serene Japanese water gardens of Garden Pond. Gently guide your origami pieces to peaceful areas on the pond or direct them through a challenging obstacle course.

The goal of the game

The objective of Garden Pond is to complete each game within the time limit. You move the origami around the pond by touching the screen to create ripples.

Garden Pond includes four games. Each has a different objective that you must accomplish within a limited time period:

The Village: Use the boats to collect as many origami flowers as you can within the time period.
The Gate: Burn all the origami on the pond within the time period.
The Bridge: Move all the origami to the correct zone within the time period
The Castle: Avoid the obstacles and get the origami to the end zone within the time period.

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Playing the game

Move your origami playing pieces by touching the screen to create ripples on the surface of the water. Keep in mind that small, gentle ripples push the origami farther.

If your origami touches the floating candles, it will catch fire. To douse the flames, slide your finger along the water toward the flames, causing a splash effect.

To exit a game, tap the Close button Picture of the Close button

in the upper right corner of the screen. A window appears with options for adjusting the music and sound, continuing to play, or exiting the game.

To start playing

On the menu screen, tap Play.
On the Select a Game screen, tap the button for the game you want to play.
Select the number of players (one or two), and then tap Play.

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Hints and tricks

Don't touch the origami. Push the origami with ripples in the water.
Tap a dragonfly to move it out of the way.
Put out fires by using longer strokes on the screen to make bigger splashes.

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Objects in the game

There are six types of objects: floating candles, stationary candles, rocks, wooden posts, dragonflies, and origami.

Game piece	What it looks like	What it does
Floating candle		Small candles float on the pond and move when ripples are made. If your origami comes into contact one of these candles, it will catch fire.
Stationary candle		Stationary candles are fixed in place in the pond. Ripples won’t move them. If your origami comes into contact with one of these candles, it will catch fire.
Rock		Rocks in the pond are obstacles that will hinder your progress.
Wooden post		Wooden posts lay out a path you must follow. Some posts show the area you must reach in order to finish the game.
Dragonfly		Dragonflies fly over the pond and try to hamper your progress. They’ll bump into your origami and knock it off course.
Origami		Two of the games have a set number of origami pieces floating on the water. You must collect these origami pieces or burn them in order to complete your task.