The first batch of eight (8) entries submitted to the competition are now up and available to play! Click.
Here is a listing of what puzzles are included in this batch:
- "Puzzle 1" ...by Tonypa
- "Puzzle 2" ...by Tonypa
- "Sigil of Binding" ...by John-Paul Walton
- "Submachine Zero" ...by Mateusz Skutnik
- "Gear Puzzle" by David Durham
- "Free the Bird" ...by Bart Bonte
- "The Alchemist's Apprentice" ...by Lars A. Doucet
- "Jewel Drop" ...by Nick Redmond
I think I have all the bugs worked out of the UI. I've rushed to get this up, though, so please be kind with your bug reports. =)
It will be a while yet before any results are announced. There are quite a few to get through, and we want to be sure that each and every puzzle is thoroughly examined. I will be watching the comments to see what people think of each of them, and possibly taking that into consideration.
Please leave your comments for these 8 only here. Thank you!
Hey Jay,
These all look great, and the interface is lovely, but Jewel Drop doesn't seem to ever stop loading. I'm using Firefox, anyone else having this same problem?
My bad, Maggie, and thanks for the alert! =)
I forgot to upload Nick's sound files. It should be fixed now. Cheers!
yay! glad to see the first batch up, even if i don't quite understand how to play tonypa's, and i'm stuck in submachine right now (can't get enough of those submachines!)
Wow, all the jayisgames favorites submitted entries. I'm stuck on the submachine one right now, as I cannot figure out what to do with the
jewels because I can't find where to stick them in.
Never mind, solved it.
That last part was both familiar and cryptic.
I'm having the same problem.
I've explored all the rooms on the left side, gotten the 3 jewels, a square stone and the lighter in my inventory, stopped the spears on that side, all that stuff, but I can't for the life of me understand the right hand side. Can't figure out what to do with the jewels or the square stone or how to stop the spears
Look, it's the parrot again! Why are we trying to help it? It drove me nuts (literally) in that last game.
so far I love the gear game, but once I get the pink widget down, I can't do anything.
@jay - why arn't they hosted on JiG?
yeah, i'm totally stuck with all that stuff.... still.... in submachine.... help, weirdguy!!
Imok - they are on one of my media servers, just not the same one that hosts the site. ;)
Have looked at all, but am totally confused as to what to do with puzzle 2.
I am also having the problem of the sound from jewel drop repeating even though I exited the game.
the luck of the post has struck, I figured it out :D
Allegra
try using something to block the spears
good games :)
in one of the rooms where you get the jewels you can also get a stone plate of some kind
use the stone on the other gate with the moving spears
slgalt - the main menu GUI has a couple of guitar chords that play, might you be confusing those sounds with those of Jewel Drop? (...they do sound a bit similar)
ahh! i thought i'd tried that, i guess not in the right spot. thanks everyone.
now, in the gears game, what do i do once he's down??
does anyone care to explain what we're supposed to do in the first two games? i'm at a total loss here.... usually i can pick up tonypa's games right away, but not this time...
I didn't understand either of the first two either, or the second last. I understand the principle of Lars' but not really how it works, if that makes sense.
the submachine was really fun (and I finished it without any spoilers!! So was the one with the gears
Imok
you need to change the way the gears go so you can lift the cage up
but does anyone know what to do with the bird one? That bird is driving me crazy (well, crazier) I know it has something to do with:
moving the hands on the clock. But I have tryed every obvious combination and still have yet to get it. And the only hints I can see is the picture meaning late afternoon?
Help me with Alchemist Apprentice! Does the number of ingredients really matter?
The number does sorta matter, but for now just try using one of each thing.
I'm still sort of stuck on how the system works, but so far I've made two of the three things i need by accident.
Oh, and the clock can be yanked on in more than just one place.
That's strange.... Alchemist's Apprentice:
silly putty can make gold?
Please label what your spoilers are for so that somebody doesn't inadvertantly click one for a puzzle they don't want spoiled. Cheers!
Can someone give me some recipes?
I am totally confused by jewel drop...
am i trying to pick the three notes that make the chord? because i'm sure i've made the same chord as the top "button" and it says I'm wrong...
thanx weirdguy, but I figured that out already... I just don't know what they do aside from
Free the Bird:
the right one makes a cukoo(sp?) noise and the left one just move into three different places (not sure what this one does)
ok...so in jewel drop...
you also have to get the colors in order...got it
After a quick look:
Puzzle 1 and Puzzle 2 I didn't get at first, so I will go back to them.
Sigil of Binding was very entertaining and had a good difficulty level. (Need to go back and beat it!)
Submachine Zero was incredibly enthralling, although it was a bit short. Truly amazing, and definitely my kind of game!
Gear Puzzle is also very engrossing, but more difficult than it seems. A little frustrating, but now I need to know how to beat it.
Free The Bird confuses me, and I need much more time to figure it out.
The Alchemist's Apprentice is very interesting, but how exactly do you play it?
Jewel Drop is a little frustrating, but eventually I'll master it.
All in all excellent games, but some are difficult to figure out how to even play. Maybe that's the point, but it's frustrating to play.
Recipes for Alchemist Apprentice...
Fairie dust, metalic goop, silly putty
Alligator, Duck, Chick
Aliigator, Rat, Skunk
Silly Putty, Glue, sulfur
All Powders except sulfur
Ok, I figured out Puzzle 1. You need to have all of the shapes with (or without I don't know) color, and when you click on a shape it switches to the opposite position. It also switches shapes of similar color and shape, so you have to plan in advance.
Ok, I figured out Puzzle 1.
You need to have all of the shapes with (or without I don't know) color, and when you click on a shape it switches to the opposite position. It also switches shapes of similar color and shape, so you have to plan in advance.
more for Apprentice:
chick, mold, baby powder
Thnx! I needed that one. But do you know any others?
The sigil was a nice presentation of an old type of puzzle, and I liked it.
I got lucky, and beat it on the first go.
Okay, I figured out Alchemist's Apprentice.
Look at the recipe, and find the key words in it. Then, find ingredients with these key words. Find out which number word the key word you are looking for is in each ingredient, and put that many of that particular ingredient in the cauldron. Once that's done, mix them together.
I have almost no idea what Puzzle 2 means, other than that there's an answer, and the top area is a section of an 8x8 grid of....something.
Paul I don't think that is right. Because, for example,
recipes like shrimp cocktail, have are in a completely different order(in this case the #1 place on all of them) and it is just one of each.
feel free to correct me if I am wrong, after all, I'm not perfect (just as close as anyone is going to get) ;)
Jewel Drop:
An easier way to do it is just to line up the three discs you think are right on top of each other OUTSIDE of the middle circle. If the color seems to match the top color, then put them in.
Oh, and it's a 56 x 56 grid. 8 x 8 'big' squares each with 7 x 7 'little' squares made up of 1 x 1 'pixels'.
Look, here's the thing about the alchemist puzzle that Paul was trying to explain, but in a more comprehensive spoiler guide:
1. Look up the recipe. Notice the key words? Key words are in bold. For instance, shrimp cocktail has Soft, Moist, and Meat as key words. These words are called qualities, and they are the most important thing you need to remember.
2. Find 3 ingredients, each of which has a different quality in the recipe. So for instance, the shrimp cocktail requires one ingredient with Soft, one with Moist, and one with Meat in its description. So each ingredient will have to contain one of those qualities. For instance, the Chicken, Duck, and Alligator each have Soft, Meat, and Moist qualities respectively. If an ingredient has more than one of the qualities you want, pick one of those qualities and look for the others in other ingredients. For example, even though the Chicken also has Meat in its qualities, I have to pick Soft or Meat, and then find the other in something else. Duck also has Meat, so I use Chicken for Soft and Duck for Meat.
3. Dump the three ingredients you chose into the pot by drag and drop. The order in which you dump them in doesn't matter. Go back to the book of ingredients. Find the first ingredient and note which order the qualities are listed. For instance, if I picked Chicken as my first ingredient, that ingredient is Soft, Meat, and Light qualities, in that order. Imagine that this list was numbered. So 1 would be Soft, 2 would be Meat, and 3 would be Light.
4. See the number on the pot below the ingredient you looked up? This number corresponds to the numbers on the list. Since we wanted Soft from the Chicken, we can just leave it at 1. However, if you wanted Meat instead, you would select 2. You may only take one quality from each ingredient, and each ingredient overall can only be used once. You must have 3 ingredients.
5. Repeat this for the other two ingredients. Luckily, Duck and Alligator have Meat and Moist, respectively, as their first qualities, so I leave all ingredients at 1. Hit the mix button and bam, shrimp cocktail.
I'll leave a few notes for the rest.
- Make sure that you have enough ingredients for all the recipes. For instance, only 2 objects have the quality of Plastic, and if you use them up before you make something that needs those qualities, you can't finish the game.
-The retry button is handy for planning how you use the ingredients.
-If you want to, write down each ingredients' quality list (IN ORDER!) on a notepad window, and then use it to plan out your creations.
-If gumbo lists Goop three times in its recipe, why not find three Goop quality ingredients and set them all to Goop? Of course, leave one of the items with Plastic in its list in case you need it later.
Hmm... don't really get the Tonypa games yet. Sigil of Binding is nice, if a bit frustrating (having to start over again each time).
Jewel seems to be a cool game (involving chords and all), but I don't completely understand, how it works. I understand that:
you have to get the right notes at the bottom so they match the chord at the top
, but what I don't understand is:
how to get the right sequence, once you know which notes/colors you have to choose
.
Anybody got some hints?
LOVED Submachine Zero, but was sorry it was so short. Still, very elegant design.
Didn't like "Alchemist's Apprentice" quite as much - while it was fun to play with ingredients, the "one shot and it's gone" kinda cut down on experimentation and I'm the type who likes to try lots of permutations just to see what may happen (though I did get Shrip Cocktail on the first try :D)
"Jewel Drop" once I figured out how it worked, I kinda liked it. Very clever idea.
"Free the Bird"... still really not sure what to do. Tried both the levers with a variety of times and there's no indication I can see if I'm on the right track or not. Same with "Puzzle 1& 2", not enough feedback to let you know if what you're doing is right or wrong.
"Sigil of Binding", liked this one too. Easy to figure out what to do, but still a challenge in doing it. Same with "Gear Puzzle", though it seems to just "stop" at the end...
Mea - maybe you haven't yet reached the "end"? ;)
Hmm... Will have to poke around there again on that note. :) thank ye.
To everyone trying to solve the bird one -
What time is it?
Now?
Like, on your computer.
And I'm sure it seems obvious, but make sure the bird cuts the string.
Yes, that means the picture is of course
a red herring.
I have no idea what to do with the bird and Puzzle 2 seems to lack any clue how to solve it at all, but the rest were all great and pretty easy to figure out. If anybody has any ideas what to do with those two, it'd be great to hear it.
oh, and the gears, for those who haven't gotten it:
To lower the cage, make sure you leave one gear OUT of the path. To raise the top, remake a path that allows the removed gear back in. Solved!
Thanks for expanding on what I was saying, weirdguy. When I originally posted my explanation, I thought it made sense, but when I read it over it sounded confusing.
On another subject, did anybody beat the gear game? I can get all the gears lined up, but then they all stop. I tried to take one gear out so the last one is spinning the opposite direction, but it seems impossible. Is it possible, or am I missing something?
Does anyone know if jewel drop ever ends? or does it just keep going until you lose. ive played until i got 4200 points and just didnt really want to play any more, it got kind of repetative.
Never mind, I figured out the gear puzzle.
You end up leaving out three gears.
Is there anything after you lower the other creature? They kind of sit there and it doesn't seem like an end to the game. Should I hoist her back up?
Great games. I've played most of them...not able to get through any as of yet.
Maybe I'll try harder in a few hours. Great work. It's amazing the response you've gotten.
Cheers.
-LVK
Hmm. I seem to be having trouble with Jewel Drop.
I seem to get the right cords, but it always tells me that I didn't get the right combo. Is it order specific?
Hunh... that's the first Submachine I've ever solved without help. Cool!
The third game is awesome, and although I haven't won yet I like Tonypa's game. Cannot figure out the second one at all, though.
Nice games!
I'm finding Tonypa's extremely hard (nothing new there) but I was entertained by everything in this batch. And there are still more?!
My favorite is probably Jewel Drop, mainly because it's such a great (and actually fun) alternative to the old guy with a guitar we all had to face in grade school music class. Plus, it has good replay value.
Submachine was also fun, if a little short. The ancient setting is a nice change; I was amused that it was "Submachine 0."
Good comments. Paul, Mea, Lizard, thank you. =)
For anyone concerned about the shortness in length of the puzzles submitted, please bear in mind the theme of the competition: "simple puzzle games"
And more specifically, the type of puzzle game with which you are forced to figure out what to do, as you might encounter in a point-and-click game. =)
i finaly beat puzzle 1
Great games! Good job everyone. My favorite? Submachine Zero - I'm a fan for life. ;)
Okay, I don't get jewel drop AT ALL. No matter what color combo I put in there it still says I'm doing it wrong, how do you figure it out?
A guess at Puzzle 2...
Can anyone else see numbers in each image as you click the different directions? You have to look at it thinking outside the box. (no pun intended) lol.
Maybe i'm thinking too hard?
I'm not sure if that would mean it's a sudoko type thing or what?
Hopefully posting this will help open someone's mind up to figure what the goal is?!?
Longtime gamer, first time poster. Thanks Jay & other comment posters. Keep up the good work.
"I sure wish life had a Walkthrough!!!"
-DJ-
argh!!! thank you delvar! I can't believe it was that simple. That thought never occured to me (obviously) Kudos!
Good entries, I'd say I got along more with submachine zero, for its adventuring retro looks (reminds me of old IFs with pictures), atmosphere and simple logical puzzles, and, Gear Puzzle, for its cute graphics, not so easy as it looks puzzles (it took me time), envitness, interface and casual standards. The others are also professionaly done, but my flavor on these puzzles would be those two. Excelent standards, congratulations and thanks.
Why is Jewel drop order-specific? Am I supposed to be able to hear which notes are played before each other? Because I can't tell...
This is a great collection of games... I'll give more thorough comments once I've played through them all...
Hacking away at Tonypa's Puzzle 2 right now...
It may not have been worth it, but I actually copied all 64 screens into photoshop to see if I could make out anything by seeing it all at once. I also isolated each color individually.
A couple observations:
there are distinct columns where four or five of the colors are all but missing. (For example, look at the second screen from the left; the light brown/tan is missing from that screen in almost every row.
There is a pattern with three rows of three dots inside those otherwise-empty columns that repeats for five of the seven colors. The light grey actually repeats this pattern twice
Wow! Very impressed, so far all the entries are great! can't wait to see the rest.
Ted - If you think of laying down each color as in layers of cellophane, not liquid, you can see that the top layer color will have a greater impact on the resulting color than the bottom layer will. Reversing the order of the same 3 colors can result in a very different color.
HAHA! I got Puzzle 2!
I believe Puzzle 2 is randomly generated. No dice.
First off, a comment about the UI. The text popups for the games, names, person who made them, website, could be made instantly, or at least faster, IMHO. It saves waiting time for finding a game's name to comment on.
Puzzle 1: Nice, but confusing, at first. Design is fairly... simple. It works, but could have used a tutorial kind of thing... or maybe just a bit more virtual spiffyness, some more audio effects. It seems very unpolished to me.
Puzzle 2: Spent 10 minutes to try and figure it out. No clue still what to do. so I skipped on it. Too hard to figure out, for a casual online game.
Sigil of Binding: Very nice, simple, clean, and welldesigned games. A nice little puzzle to play around with, and very intuitive to understand what to do. One I will probably come back to.
Submachine Zero: Not my favorite type of game, and I find the graphics a bit... cramped. But, all in all, a nice game, very well designed, and a nice play.
Gear Puzzle: Looks gorgeous, and is a wonderfull concept. It would be a very good puzzle, for a bit longer adventure like, platforming game, which the graphics and characters are very suited for as well. Will need to check back, to see if I can actually solve it, and to see if the cogs are randomized. (I doubt it, but would be very cool.)
Will report later, for the others.
Thanks for your comment about the UI, Deadl0ck. I agree that there is a better way to present the game titles, but I ran out of time and had to get something up quick.
My design for the final compilation will include just plain black circle icons with the game name and the author for each along the bottom. As you complete each puzzle, the corresponding black icon will turn to the game's picture icon giving you a visual cue of which ones you've already done.
I do like the rather slow 'typing' of each of the titles, authors and links, however. That will likely stay as it is. =)
Thanks also for your detailed thoughts about each of the games. =)
In #2 you can type in your own numbers. I tried 8, 64, and 3136 (the number of pixels).
This may be a ridiculous question, but are the games all done in Flash 8? I only have Flash 7 on this computer and cannot upgrade, so I can't even see the links to the games on the intro page.
Is there any other way to access the games besides through that link?
I'm afraid not. All of the games have been compiled under Flash 8 publish settings, and therefore require Flash Player 8.
Soon (after I finish putting up all the entries) I will list all the authors who contributed and links, where available, to their websites. You might find some of the games are available in older versions of Flash.
in submachine, the lighter gets stuck on cursor after i have lit the lamp. Is this part of the game or a wee buggy?? I am a safari browser babe.
catherine - that's part of the interface. You click on an inventory item and it will 'stick' to the cursor. You need to click back on your inventory to put it back down.
Wow, every single one of those games was unbelievably brilliant. I assumed that they were all going to be simple Bejeweled rip-offs or something like that, but every single was highly original and enjoyable. Sigil of Binding was really enjoyable and I was really surprised that a (brilliant) new edition of Submachine was submitted.
wow - Jay, you are really there!
Thanks for advice. I have tried sticking lighter back to inventory but it really doesn't want to leave me. Restarted game several times but nothing doing. Washing up is calling, but will try again later.
i LURV jig.
I'm always here. ;)
Catherine, try putting the lighter a little further over to the right. There is a significant gap between the narrow passageway and the inventory.
To agree with an earlier poster - I can't see why Jewel Drop requires a specific order. There are no order cues given in the chord you here, so it's down to pure luck whether or not you manage to hit on the right combination. Remove the order requirement and it becomes a test of skill.
Oh Mighty Jay - I am an idiot.
Thanks!!
Thought you were in US - what you doing up at this hour?
Question about Jewel Drop:
What is the point? I put the exact three notes I hear in a chord (and believe me, since I play the guitar for 12 years I know my notes) and still it says "Wrong Combo"! I simply don't get it.
I feel bad because I suggested to Nick that he remove the instructions, because I was confused by them when playing for my first time.
The game is not only an ear-training type exercise, it is also a color matching exercise. You must do BOTH.
And you mix colors as in laying transparent sheets of color on top of one another, not as in mixing paint or liquid. Therefore, the top layer (the last color you add) will be the dominant color and carry more weight to the overall result color.
Wow...What a great group of games. I especially like Puzzle 1 (Though I haven't been able to solve it yet.) The game took some time to figure out why the different pieces moved the way they did. And I loved Submachine 0. Nice atmosphere and the sound effects and music of his games are always creepy. That being said, all the games are well designed, with a great look, and unique features that I would expect from a competition sponsored by JIG.
Nice job Jay...I have been visiting your site since November of last year and felt like it was time to post some comments.
Hey Jay, noticed some bugs in Alchemist's Apprentice:
There's an easter egg reference to "Within a deep forest" in the recipe book. The ball's recipe has a button that looks like normal text - on mouseover it gives the url to "within a deep forest." Could you align this button so it isn't offset with the rest of the normal text?
Also, the music seems to stop looping after a while. In my original source this didn't happen.
Alchemist shrimp cocktail recipe:
Duck, chick, eye of newt
pineapple recipe -
eye of newt, seaweed, mold
I'm not getting Puzzle 2 at all... wow. How vague.
Damn, I got to the last on Sigil Binding, and I suck at these puzzles... stupid limited moves. :p
Hints for Puzzle 2:
It wants 8 numbers. There are 8 columns.
Look at each column one at a time.
big hint:
Count the colors.
There is a color entirely missing from each column...
...almost
Argh, I see that now, but I don't know where to get the numbers from >_
Wow, I finished Gear Puzzle obscenely fast.
I was able to lower her with the two largest gears at the tail end, then just lowered the largest gear, stuck one of the smallest ones between it (I hadn't used it) and raised her back up, but I didn't actually raise her; that takes the bars off the prison.
Christ, this is the second, maybe third game I've seen to reference within a deep forest. Nice to see some recognition, maybe we can get a sequel someday. God I'd love that.
Thoughts on each of the games:
Puzzle #1 - It's like a Rubik's cube, except that you can't see any of the connections. You have to play with it once, carefully pick it apart, and then plan out the whole thing. Frustrating, because you think you have one part complete and have undone other parts. Not enough positive feedback. To make it easier, sections could lock into place once they are completed, making the rest easier (or more apparent).
Puzzle #2 - Interesting premise, but difficult to decipher without help. I needed a hint, and then I was able to find the code without any problems. The addition of some sort of colour help to reveal the magic numbers might have made the puzzle a little more logical.
Sigil of Binding - I like these kind of puzzles. They are simple, yet allow for increasing complexity. This one is nicely done, good graphics and theme. The individual puzzles work nicely into the overall challenge. The problem I have is that there is no undo or reload from last puzzle. I got to the last one, failed, and really didn't want to have to go through the first 7 all over again.
Submachine Zero - Very nicely done multiple-room puzzle. Only got stuck twice. Finding the lighter (I always hate looking for the 6 pixel clickable object I missed), and finding out how to get past the right-hand spears. I kept trying to fix the lock mechanism because the rock looked like some sort of replacement. Short, but very polished.
Gear Puzzle - Nice set up, and fun free-form nature. The mechanics are nice, but the game feels unfinished. There are too many options for it to be a really good puzzle. I could see it being a mini-game of its own (you have X gears, and an objective) with a time limit and progressive levels. There is also no direction to the goal (lower the cage, then raise the bars?). I got half-way and thought it was done.
Free the Bird - Making the clock say the current time (according to your computer) is counter-intuitive to the game. It breaks immersion. All the clues and solutions to the puzzle should be in the puzzle. There is simply no feedback that tells the player what to do. And Red Herrings are not fun.
The Alchemist's Apprentice - Fine job of creating a dynamic system of rules. There are many things that can be made from a wide selection of objects. Two things made it more complicated than necessary: the amounts of objects (this could be replaced by the order of the objects), and that there was no initial rule. A sample equations (X + Y + Z = Goo) would have made the mechanic a little more apparent. Excellent level of experimental complexity (I like that things other than the goals could be created).
Jewel Drop - This is a simple an wonderful audio puzzle. The sounds are delightful and pleasant (always important when the mechanic is auditory). The problem was that mixing the correct three notes was not enough to be successful. For some reason I could have identical chords, but be wrong (and get different colours - how does colour theory do that?). If order was supposed to be important, then there should have been an order apparent in the playback of the original chord. Space them out in order. Or let me rearrange the colours I have selected. Having limited failures adds to the frustration. I wanted to like this one more, but it got too annoying trying to find the correct order.
ABOUT PUZZLE TWO:
Keith's answer is very good for a hint.
However, note there are SEVEN columns in each square,
so he does not mean column within each view. He means the ENTIRE column.
I get every puzzle in 3 or less (one in five) on Sigil of Binding, but I cannot for the life of me solve the second-to-last puzzle! Help someone, please? Many attempts here. These puzzles are not my forté; I was definitely frigthened to come across that one in SubMachine:2
Jewel Drop just doesn't recognize correct combinations.
And Submachine Zero has got to be the biggest tease ever.
Puzzle 1 - This just didn't engage me. I fiddled about with it for a few minutes and then just gave up.
Puzzle 2 - I'm definitely missing something here. I didn't understand what the puzzle was and I wasn't that inclined to try and work it out.
Sigil of Binding - This puzzle was slick. Whilst it wasn't a new idea as such I liked the way it was presented, it was easy enough to get into and it was enjoyable to play. Even better I managed to finish it.
Submachine Zero - The first of the puzzle games I managed to complete. I liked the graphics and the game, it was very short though, extremely easy and nothing that new. If it was expanded though I can see it making a neat game.
Gear Puzzle - Again it's something I've seen before but I liked the implementation of it was it was fun to puzzle out.
Free the Bird - Grrr! That bird drove me bonkers. I'd no clue what the time of the clock had to be set to for ages and once I did realise it was far too easy. I didn't really like this puzzle mostly because of that annoying parrot.
Alchemist's Apprentice - This one looks fun and an interesting idea. I like the graphics too. I've not seen anything like it before but it's a simple concept and they're always fun. It's also replayable since it gives you different recipes each time. That said I haven't actually finished it yet.
Jewel Drop - This seemed like a nice idea and rather different from other puzzle games I've seen. Unfortunately I have no real ear for music and so getting past the first level was a major accomplishment for me and I've yet to try and get any further.
Out of these games I'd have to say Submachine Zero was my favourite with Sigil of Binding coming in 2nd.
Here's my evaluation:
The tonypa games just irritated me; too impatient to figure out the point.
Similarly Sigils puzzles were okay, but too long to wait for the payoff if any; just not my style.
Batty bird just annoyed me; couldn't keep at it.
Couldn't get Alchemist to load.
Don't have sound for the jewel drop, but would probably like it.
Gear puzzle definitely held my interest, but was not sure of end; got cage down but nothing happened. Reading through above, I see that I should have sent it up again, but why?
Best of all: Submachine's ancient game. Got it with no help; lovely visually; perfect length for casual game.
Just the right blend of challenge & satisfaction for me.
So far, that's my winner.
Great challenge Jay!
@ *Jacob* (Sigil of Binding) :
number the squares from left to right and top to bottom, 1-4, 5-8 etc.
A possible solution for puzzle 7, the second last, would be
8-6-11-13-9-16
.
This one was my "longest" solution as well, I would be interested in a shorter one :-)
You mention all in 3 (and 5 for the fifth puzzle I assume), so what do you have for puzzles 6 and 8? I got those in 4, but still finished the game, which suggests they were the shortest?
In the other batch I wrote a few words about games and I rated 'Personal Universe' as my personal winner and 'Gateway' as the second best game. This is of course not a poll but that's how I think. The 'Houses' and 'Alchemist's Apprentice' from this batch I rate for the third place.
Like 'Houses', 'Alchemists's Apprentice' gives you a chance to be playful since you can build or mix your own solutions. That is allways a nice feature in games: to have a possibility to be creative. Only problem in Alchemist's Apprentice is the way how proportions are conducted. It simply is not logic or intuitive. As far as I know, this is also not a new idea. I have seen similar kind of game somewhere before.
Can someone be more clear on what to do for puzzle 2? I still can't figure it out...
Submachine Zero is the best of this bunch, followed closely by Sigil of Binding
I loved all of the games, but am stuck (as usual) with Submachine. Where do I find the 3rd jewel?
And, as usual - as soon as I post, I figure it out!
hey all...
did anybody have a bug problem with the game submachine zero?
After using the lighter to light the 1st lantern (going down into the tunnel)...
the game got stuck for me. I couldn't set the lighter back down. And the mouse just went crazy trying to figure out his double identity as lighter and hand... lol. But i really enjoyed the game, for the short while that i played!
sherry - refer to this comment; catherine had the same problem.
I don't know...maybe I'm stupid, but I'm clicking the Submachine Zero link and it's not taking me to game...What am I doing wrong?
Just played Submachine Zero...that was a fun little game!!!
Submachine Zero - had the same issue with the lighter but figured it out - have 3 jewels and Im stumped. Is it just so easy?? Staring me in the face? How to get past the right gate? What to do with the jewels? Im going round in circles.......its making me dizzy. LOL
Thought you should know (various online sites) have started linking directly to various contest entries.
If you right click on the submachine zero game it has links the three other sequels/prequels not sure which came first.
Helanren,
I don't know HOW you got that solution to work on puzzle seven, right before the last puzzle. I've tried three times:
Attempts 1 & 2 grid:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
Attempt 3 grid:
1 5 9 13
2 6 10 14
3 7 11 15
4 8 12 16
Neither way does your solution
8 - 6 - 11 - 13 - 9 - 16
come even close to finishing. Also, I can't beat 6 in fewer than..I think 6 moves? I'd love to know your four-move solution, if you wouldn't mind some secrets with me. :)
I did finally figure out seven. Look in my spoiler Walk-through below.
Also, to save time, if you want to post solution 8 as a spoiler within a spoiler, I'm sure I'll need help with it too when I finally get there with enough attempts to try myself. I will try it a few times without looking, but at this rate I'm sure I'll screw it up every time. Thanks!
*****side note: as I was writing out the walk-through, I figured out seven, miraculously.*****
AND to anyone else who knows how to beat this--I KNOW SOME OF YOU HAVE--why not post a walk-through of sorts for the rest of us? Since I'm nice, I will do that for anyone struggling with the first seven:
SIGIL OF BINDING WALK-THROUGH (WALKTHROUGH) SOLUTIONS:
If you can do better, I IMPLORE you to respond and tell me your solutions, in a show of fairness
please.
For all of these answers, I will be using the following guide to number the squares:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16
So, before you click, I hope you at least attempted these for yourself. I've split this up into individual puzzle spoilers in hopes you take them only when you need to advance and then try on your OWN to solve the next puzzle before looking at the solution.
Puzzle one:
6
Puzzle two:
9, 11
Puzzle three:
6, 8, 15
Puzzle four:
3, 10, 15
Puzzle five:
1, 4, 13, 15, 16
Puzzle six*:
2, 5, 8, 13, 14, 16
*NOTE: THIS IS NOT IN THE SHORTEST NUMBER OF MOVES, or so I'm told, so let me know if you can do better, please.
Puzzle 7*:
1, 5, 10, 14, 15
*NOTE: I am not sure if this is the shortest possible number of moves. Let me know if you do better.
Puzzles 8, no idea. By the time I get there, I have only two moves left. Help, PLEASE. and with six as well, 'cause I KNOW it's supposed to be shorter.
I stilll CAN'T beat the Gear Game! All of these people seem to have beaten it, can't someone help me out? I know you lower and then raise the cage. ONCE I got it to lower, but I could not raise it. Help please. I don't need tips, I need layouts. Screenshots anyone?
Jacob, here you are:
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3720/gearsvm8.jpg
And the cage came down when the fouth gear from the left was two knots higher and there were one tiny gear between it and the next gear.
A little map of items and their properties for the Alchemist's Apprentice.
Sorry 'Take it Slow' but yuor map is not very helpful. I don't understand what the numbers are for. You should put the current number of words. E.g. metal in mercury is the first word. Therefore you need only one mercury when metal is needed.
Jacob: Here is a complete walkthrough for Sigil, under one spoiler tag. (I found a four-move solution for level 6, a different 5-move solution for level 7, and a 4-move solution for level 8)
Level 1: 6
Level 2: 11-9
Level 3: 6-8-15
Level 4: 3-10-15
Level 5: 15-16-13-1-4
Level 6: 6-7-8-12
Level 7: 6-9-10-11-16
Level 8: 4-11-15-12
ha, i just was looking at the apprentice game again and read the note with your task on it. the master's name is Herr Ananas Wurstwagen which means pineapple meatwagon. some humor just can't go unappreciated.
Hey Jay, i wan to know how to make a ball in that alchemist game thing
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