How do I play?

Game play consists of 10 rounds in each of which up to 6 players can participate. In each round, the Game server selects a random target, usually a well-known person. The player whose snap (captured during the game) is deemed most similar to that of the target by the game server is the winner of that round. Within the game, similarity is measured in miles in Hash space, a region in space time with a unique geometry wherein your distance from any person is directly related to the similarity of your looks.

Players get to choose who takes their picture, or they can snap themselves. Players are given a reasonable amount of time to transform their looks with whatever make-up or appearance-enhancement aid happens to be at hand.

The rules of the basic game are so simple that even grown-ups can play it with ease. 10 points are awarded to the winner of each round (no points for 2nd and lower places). In addition, a player gets 1 point each time he or she is chosen as a snapper by another player (No points for snapping yourselves). Points are tallied up at the end of the game to determine the overall winner of the game. Games typically last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, but will be archived live during game-play to be available for your viewing pleasure forever thereafter. Here is a sample archive of a fictitious 3-round game (Dummy player images).

Click here for screen-shots from a simulated basic game. Of course, there are infinite variations in game-play. The Zetangole website offers contributed clients to play a number of them.

Why does skin of the example game look like a phone?

It looks like a phone because we originally envisioned Zetangole to be a phone-based game. We're still working on the possibility of developing a phone-based client for Zetangole. If you'd like to author it and have us distribute it, please do contact us soon.

Where is the SEND button in your Java game client?

The SEND button looks like this:

Can I write a Zetangole client application?

Sure. We will be pleased to distribute it for you. Please contact us to register for development. Zetangole.com will distribute your game for you, but it will be provided for free to users with standard disclaimers. We have a strong preference for client software written in Java and will need to be persuaded to distribute clients written in any other language. (Part of the reason for this is that we only have the free resources to compile and run Java code). If you want to write a Zetangole client to sell, you must contact our office to discuss the terms.

In any case, all Zetangole clients distributed by our website must pass our screening process where we verify the integrity of the software and ensure that it does not compromise the security, privacy or integrity of our users' computers or phones. We will therefore require you to deposit the final source code with us and compile it ourselves prior to distribution. Attribution on the download site will clearly show you to be the developer of your client.

One final note: All Zetangole clients must meet the "DOD" criterion (See the next question).

If you are agreeable to the above, you may peruse the Game server protocol here to get an idea of how your client should interact with the game server.

What is dead-on-deletion software?

All images used by Zetangole are believed to be in the public domain. If you feel that the use of any of these images infringes upon your copyright, please contact us giving us further information and we will promptly remove the offending material. See our terms and conditions for your use of the Zetangole software and service.

How was the logo designed?

All image artwork for Zetangole was created using the fine and free GIMP toolkit and all the html was created using GNU emacs under Linux. When the logo stabilizes, we will post the GIMP script for it here.

How do I pronounce Zetangole?

Zay-Tan-Goal