When you start the program, the first thing you need to do is load a pattern. Go to the File menu and select Open Pattern. If you're playing the online version, you'll be presented with a list of patterns that are available online. If you're playing the offline version, you'll select a .PATT file or a .SVG file from your hard drive. (Go to How To Create Patterns for more information about valid pattern files.) After you've loaded a pattern, go to the Game menu and select Start Multiplayer Game. Type in the name of each player, and select one player to take the first turn. When you're ready, press the Start Game button.
When it's your turn, your name will appear in the upper-left-hand corner of the screen. Your goal is to guess the color of one of the unrevealed tiles. (Unrevealed tiles appear as white tiles.) Click on an unrevealed tile to highlight it with one of the possible colors. To change the color of your guess, hold down the mouse-button and drag the mouse. A color-selection ring will appear, showing all of the colors found in this pattern. Move the mouse toward the color of your choice, and release the mouse-button when you've selected the color you want. You're free to change your guess by clicking on a different tile or changing the selection-color. When you're satisfied, press the Accept Guess button at the top-center of the screen, or press the spacebar/enter key.
After your guess, the tile's actual color is revealed. If your guess was correct, you'll gain a point, which will be displayed next to your name in the upper-left-hand corner of the screen. You may now take as many additional guesses as you'd like, gaining a point for each correct guess. However, if you guess incorrectly, your turn ends immediately, and you lose all of the points you collected during your turn. If you decide not to push your luck any further, you may end your turn and lock-in your points by pressing the End Turn button at the bottom-center of the screen. The points you collected on this turn will then be added to your permanent score, which is displayed along the bottom of the screen.
During your turn, the number of points you need to collect in order to win will be displayed in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen. If you manage to collect that many points on this turn, no other player will be able to overtake you, so you win immediately! Conversely, if, at the beginning of your turn, it's impossible for you to overtake the leader, you'll immediately be eliminated from the game. If all players but one are eliminated in this fashion, the remaining player is the winner.
After the game ends, you can reveal any remaining tiles by clicking on them one-by-one, or by going to the Game menu and selecting Reveal Pattern.
To play a Paradigm pattern in solitaire mode, go to the Game menu and select Start Solitaire Game. Type in your name, and select the difficulty rating (1 - 10). When you're ready, press the Start Game button.
The solitaire version is played exactly like the multiplayer version, except that you lose points every time you end your turn or guess incorrectly. On your turn, take as many guesses as you'd like, until you either make a mistake or lock-in your points. Whether or not you gain points on your turn, at the end of your turn you lose points equal to the difficulty rating you selected. Play until you've revealed all the tiles. If your score is greater than zero, you win.