The hopscotch challenge
Every fall the village of Toad Valley holds its hopscotch games. Pnomes come from far and wide to win the gleaming golden trophy. This year Baral was ready. He had trained hard all summer jumping over logs and brooks and anything else he could find. Baral's training was paying off. He was in the finals - only one more hopscotch challenge to do. Then he read its rules and shuddered. The last challenge wasn't going to be easy.
Begin in the START area and hop one hexagon each time. You win if you reach the END area and have picked up exactly 142 pebbles. Each hexagon has small pebbles on it. The number tells how many pebbles are on a hexagon. You have to pick them up before you move to the next hexagon.
Baral thought about what he needed to do and then began to hop. He badly wanted the trophy.
You cannot land on a shaded hexagon. You cannot land on a hexagon that shares a side with a shaded hexagon. If you land on a hexagon that shares a side with a shaded one, you are out of the game.
For example, you can hop to 3, to 7, but not to 11 (it shares a side with a shaded hexagon). For example, you can hop to 4, to 9, to 13, but not to 18 (it shares a side . . .). For example, you cannot hop to 5 (it shares a side . . .).
For example, you can hop to 3, to 7, but not to 11 (it shares a side with a shaded hexagon). For example, you can hop to 4, to 9, to 13, but not to 18 (it shares a side . . .). For example, you cannot hop to 5 (it shares a side . . .).
