Gwigle
Platform: Javascript
Gwigle is an online puzzle game that actually teaches you Google search tricks as you play. Each screen shows a few search results along with the search string at the top. One word is replaced with question marks; it's your job to fill it in. It's hands-on education that feels more like you're playing a game than learning useful knowledge.
Glancing at the search results gives you clues as to what the mystery search term is. If you're stuck, you can always hit up Google for some clues. Simply copy some of the text from Gwigle and search away.
Some of the puzzles are a little tricky and it can be difficult to find the answers, even with thorough Google research. Most of them are fairly easy, however, and won't take you too long to complete. You can always bookmark the puzzle you're on and come back to it later.
Gwigle is a great puzzle game for anyone, not just power Googlers-to-be. Give it a try and see if you accidentally learn something useful.
Thanks to Wang for sending this one in!
Hmmm... I don't get this one. Maybe it's a cryptic puzzle of some sort...
Interesting stuff. Although, it's a little annoying that, if you can't solve a particular page, you can't move on (which means you can't learn any more).
I'm stuck on tax ????????:pdf
#1
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We're stuck on level 1.9 -.- Any hints?
#A
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No comment.
I'm totally stuck on 1.8 I'm not mathmatically inclined at all. GRRRR!!!
Labyrinth:
Try 8 ^ 7
I'm stuck on 1.9 though.
1.9:
The word you need isn't something you are searching for. It is a google keyword.
i got 1.8 by trial and error.
i am totally stuck on 1.9 too.
I'm stuck on 1.4
Whats a Mailservice with five letters?
1.8 wasn't bad. Can't get 1.9 though...
I found them all pretty easy...up until 1.e.
It seems you have just guess the name of the stock, knowing only that it is five letters, listed on NASDAQ, and has been in the low 30's recently in stock price.
Yawn.
And if you haven't checked the source of the page yet (I did, I admit, after grinding at 1.9 for 30 minutes), the author is very clever. The method of checking the answer (and getting you to the next level) is practically impenetrable. Good job..
1.e
google this:
incorporated nasdaq $28..34
I get stuck on 1.d. Any hints?
For 1.4:
It's a newer email provider famous for the huge amount of storage it offers. It's also affiliated with a major search engine...
For 1.9:
ACK. Like an above poster said, the answer has nothing to do with what you're actually searching for. Hint - searching by file type isn't as simple as it looks.
I'm now stuck on 1.d. Help, please???
what is 1.4?
1.d
Full name of a famous French Impressionist.
Hmmm. Stuck on 2.6. These get harder.
I'm stuck at 1.4 as well and have tried the following:
yahoo lycos ekurd orcon and many others that I have come across.
None of which worked. Can someone help please?
eh. im on 1.9 and im stuck. its frustrating.
Walkthrough.
1.0
google
1.1
mission impossible
1.2
ipod
1.3
don't be evil
1.4
gmail
1.5
leonardo
1.6
critical
1.7
1896
1.8
8 ^ 7
1.9
filetype
1.a
singapore
1.b
pulitzer
1.c
5255452
1.d
pierre auguste renoir
1.e
adobe
1.f
hong kong
1.4 is a lot easier than you guys are making it. Who has a web based mail client that would show at the top of a google search?
I'm stuck on 1.f, anyone had any luck with it?
I might be on the wrong track with this, but is that "Hono" or "Hona" in the bottom right of that image? I can't tell. If I zoom in on Honolulu at that same distance I can't see anything remotely similar to that. What else starts with "Hono" or "Hano" or "Hona"?
anyone got help for the challenge levels?
Frikazoyd, look again. What's a two word major city that starts with 'Hon* ****'? Don't think too hard about it. This one's really easy.
frik-
it is hon? , definitely. that should help a lot ;)
Stuck at 2.6...
Can anyone help? I haven't got the slightest clue...
Is 2.6 impossible or is it just me? These DEFINITELY get harder as you go along!
I'm stuck at 2.6 too.
Here's the walkthru from 2.0 - 2.5
2.0
From Caltech To MIT
2.1
wallace*gromit
2.2
~worm
2.3
headache
2.4
andrea boccelli
2.5
games
It stops at 1.f or is it just me?
1.f was extremely simple after seeing it's in Asia, at the coast, a big city, which starts with Hon... and is written like Hon? ????
any ideas on 2.6?
what calculator expression(???) can give the following result? -
(? ?) ? = 35.8114573
Yeah! I finally got 2.6 (the last level).
hint, you need to use one operator twice to force Goggle to insert the parentheses.
e!!
John, very fun puzzle game. Keep it up.
Thank you, Tocharianne! I NEVER would have solved that one without help!
wut's the answer to number 2.6? i cant get it!
You should pretty much not need any help after level 1.6 that's a hint btw
guys, regarding 2.6, if you're not math inclined:
The above poster gave you the answer basically,
its (e factorial)factorial.
HOW on Earth did you get 1e?! I know the answer but only because I cheated. Wow.
Anyone know the answer to 2.6? I am an English major, so I can compare differences between Dostoevski and Tolstoy, but that is little help to the math equation (or any place of employment for that matter).
For 1.e:
I'm not sure how anyone else did it, but it helped that I did it on Monday. Since it was the next business day after May 12th's closing prices, I simply found the NASDAQ closing report and looked for the stock that closed at 31.92.
An easier way that I just realized also works - search for "Nasdaq closing May 12 31.92" (without the quotation marks!). The answer is the top search result.
My solution for 1.e (it's not as easy as Trix but I didn't think you could actually google for stock prices):
I Googled Nasdaq with Google Finance and there was a link saying "show all 3495 companies" so I went there and on the third page found a company that had "Incorporated" in its name
That was fun, i would have never guessed 2.6 though :(
For 1.e there is an easy way :
Type 52Wk High : value and 52Wk Low :value, you'll get the one
i know its kinda cheat but..
If you google (the real one) some of the sentences from the "search results" in a gwigle game.. then youll get all without any ???'s..
Im cracked..
Interesting half md5 collision on level 2.0:
'from aaaab j to kzq'
I enjoyed the game and at the end i watched the movie. I'd like to worck for a company like that.
Wow, 2.6 was really hard. I am really glad it's the last level, but it's the only one I had to come here for help on.
Searching for the answer (35.8114573) brings you here. It's the only site on the web that does so.
I cannot get past 2.6 at ALL.
Level
1.9
is generally for people who have already used Google for some time.
Just find
Google's keyword help somewhere on their site.
Answer:
From there you can see that you can use
filetype
to search for files of a certain type.
dang i wish i payed attention in math more....
@collider: Hehe, I also needed some MD5 brute force on 2.2 and 2.5 :)
2.2 using the same MD5 javascript funcion Gwigle uses (very slow), but for 2.5 I used a C program from here, modified to check only the 8 first characters of the hash.
level 2.6 was the only really really hard one. I knew it had something to do with
e
but I couldn't figure out
which two operators to use
.
for some reason I can't get past 1.8, even though I know my answer to be true. It's not telling me it's incorrect, it just won't proceed. anyone else have this problem?
I am stuck on 1.9 I don't have any knowledge in the tax and goverment department. Please tell me!
vvv
vvv
answer to 1.8 is easy! Just use the trial and error method. Do it like this:
1 ^ 1, 1^2, 1^3....ect.
well yes
^^^
^^^
i dont get 2.6
last answer(2.6)
e!!
I love this game, but every now and then the game seems to refuse to recognize my answer and then I have to start over again. Is this due to me using Firefox to play it?
A very nice game, thank you.
I beat it with no walkthroughs, I'm proud. By the way, I got this right away: (Level 1.f)
The 'hona' is 'hong'. Hope that helps.
Hey I got through level 1.d then got stuck so yeah
filetype
I know that LEVEL 2.6!
That's ->
e!!
!!!!!!!
half md5 collision on level 1.9
tax jahwyuvf:pdf gives a collision.
do we have any more games like the GWIGLE.....?
it was sure fun to play.....
2.6 answer:
Games
translate.google.com I searched from there.
hi im stuck on 2.0 PLEASE help. The person who summitted the review saying the walk through from 2.0 to 2.5 was wrong, the first one (2.0) is wrong! please help :D
I am really stuck in 1.d
I'm stuck on Level 2.0. I tried the answer you already put down there and it says incorrect. Why?
I cant believe I just found this game.
For you guys who figure out on your own, how do you know 2.6? I've finished this, but that's because I read spoiler for 2.6 :p
This was an awesome puzzle game :D Level 2.6 was really cool with the subtle parentheses hint.
Interestingly, the author used a MD5 hash to prevent looking up answers, but uses half the hash to check the answers and the second half to give you the next problem. If you find a half MD5 collision, it tells you that you're right, but directs you to a bad URL.
Update