First of all, when you go into the Ion Engine Office, you'll see a man and a woman. I'm not sure what their names are, but let's call them Fred and Susie. Fred informs you that you can do three things: play Hotspots, create your own Ion Engine or play the Charge Simulator.

If you play the Charge Simulator, you can raise your salary! So, let's start with that. Level one is basic; it has the charge gun on the left side of the screen and the target on the right. The object of the game is to get the blue ion (which is a positive ion) that is shot out of the charge gun to the target. You can put as many positive ions (blue) and negative ions (red) on the screen as you want. And here is some helpful advice: You can drag the ions anywhere you want! Just click on them. Trust me, I would have saved myself a lot of time if I knew that when I first started! :-)

So try things out. What happens if you put a red ion in front of the charge gun? Does it go forward? What happens with the blue ion? What happens if you change the size of the ions? As you progress into the higher levels, you'll meet more and more challenging obstacles. Good luck!

Back to the Ion Engine Office, if you click on Fred's computer screen, it'll take you to a "Design Your Own Ion Engine Game." The object of this game is to design your own Ion Engine (hehe). Your goal is to get the rocket (at the top of the screen) to go as far as possible by sending ions through the two plates. Red ions are thrust out of the blue pipe when you press launch. When they hit the green ions, the green ions will turn blue, and then the red and blue ions will shoot out through the two plates. Just as they hit the screens, they flash white and disappear; this is what produces the thrust so your engine goes further.

As you adjust the Plate Location and Plate Charge, your rocket will either go a shorter distance or a longer distance. How far can you get your engine to go? Medals are rewarded (bronze, silver, and gold) for how far your engine travels. Just read the dialogue that appears in the box below the launch button to find out more.

Lastly, if you go back to the Ion Engine Office, you can play a game called Hotspots. This is a four-player game that's kinda like hockey. First, you pick a color helmet to wear, and then you'll randomly be placed on the field. You will be given a helmet (don't play too long or you will have helmet hair, LoL!). The helmets have either a positive or negative charge on them.

The object of the game is to get your test charge (the thing that is shot out of the charge gun) to go into your goal. Score enough points and your team will win! After every time a test charge is shot out, you will have 10 seconds to move around and position yourself on the field. This is just like the Charge Simulator -- what happens when you're in front or behind of the charge gun? Does a positive or negative helmet affect where the test charge goes??

I hope I cleared up some questions about the Ion Engine Games, I know that I'm not confused anymore!

I'm off to try and get past Level 4,

Kt98