Chapter 1 introduces the primary core mechanic; the ability to collect seed-pods in-hand and throw them over water to grow temporary bridges of walkable lily-pads. For Chapter 1 you only need concern yourself with mastering how to safely navigate the water-garden optimising the use of the seed-pods you collect as you walk. Here is a list of the basic mechanics:

• Collect seed-pods by walking across the stepping-stones
• Throw seed-pods over water by stepping towards open water
• Seed-pods thrown across water grow new lily-pads
• You can walk across lily-pads but they sink as you walk across them
• Seed-pods that fall onto stepping-stones can be picked up again later
• Seed-pods that fall into the weeds instantly perish

Chapter 2 introduces several new facets of the core mechanic. The first is that seed-pods can be found on water (collectable if reachable) the second is that two or more lily-pads can co-exist in a stack, at the same location. The stack sinks one lily-pad at a time making it strong enough to support multiple visits or additional actions. Stacked lily-pads grow a flower, one for each lily-pad in the stack. The flowers are both a visual indicator of current height and a new element of the mechanic. As the stack shrinks the flowers die and in turn generate new seed-pods which are only revealed once the last lily-pad sinks. So now you can start to recycle those seed-pods, how useful might that be?

Chapter 3 builds on Chapter 2 offering trickier puzzles that require higher stacks of lily-pad (indicated by more flowers). Here you will discover the extra power or two, three or even more flowers. Two flowers for example will permit three actions (step, pickup, throw) without getting your feet wet, plus the bonus of two new seed-pods! Stack carefully, in order to facilitate the right sequence of actions including the option of harvesting the new seed-pods that are revealed as you walk.

Chapter 4 introduces mud-banks. Mud-banks are an obstacle that blocks your path but can also hold seed-pods. Seed-pods on mud can be collected by reaching towards them, just like water-born seed-pods. It won't take long to discover seed-pods can be thrown over mud enabling them to be scattered and regrouped in powerful new ways.

Chapter 5 introduces the first rule-of-five edge-mechanic. If you collect more than five seed-pods you immediately drop (i.e. spill) four of them into adjacent locations. This mechanic may help or hinder progress but it definitely means you can never grow a row of six or more lily-pads with a single throw, so how else might you achieve that? Note that seed-pods that spill onto water grow a new lily-pad (as if thrown) and seed-pods that spill into weeds instantly perish, so think careful where and when to trigger this effect.

You might well ask at this point... how have you managed to avoid spillage before? In earlier levels? It's a good question, and a puzzle in itself. A puzzle that perhaps explains why it's taken me over a year to publish the first five chapters of this game.