How exactly did I (supposedly) cheese them (ROT13):
3-10: V chg n sna orgjrra gjb snaf cbvagvat gbjneqf rnpu bgure, gura guvf sna jbhyq tb onpx naq sbegu naq gur ohggba jbhyq or uvg vaqrsvavgryl
4-2: V whfg hfrq gur punyx gb uvg gur ohggba
Interesting idea, though I'm not sure whether some behaviours are working as intended. For example (ROT13): jura gur fvghngvba ybbxf yvxr: (11)(KK)|K... , jurer 1 zrnaf cynlre punenpgre, K zrnaf obkrf naq | zrnaf jvaqbj obeqre, gur guvat V'z rkcrpgvat gb unccra jura chfuvat evtug vf ..(11)|(KK)K. , ohg gur tnzr vafgrnq cebqhprf ..(11)|(KK).K
Another example is kinda like this (ROT13): chfuvat evtug va fvghngvba (11)(KK)|2.K. , jurer 2 zrnaf nabgure cynlre punenpgre, guvf jbhyq erfhyg va 2 naq K fgnpxvat ba rnpu bgure.
Nice game! Though I didn't need to use all the boxes in Secure, here's what I did (ROT13): V perngrq n fgnpxvat obk hfvat gjb obkrf naq gur cunfr obk, gura chfurq gur fgnpx bagb gur fxhyy, pybfrq gur qbbe jvgu gur cunfr obk, xvpxrq bar bs gur obk sebz gur fgnpx vagb gur qbbe, gura pbzcyrgrq gur erfg.
Just to confirm, (ROT13) fjnccvat n obk sbe n punenpgre (ROT13 end) is a step for level 5 (now 6), right? I might be overcomplicating it.
If true, then I think it is still too much of a leap for the player to take. Maybe it is nicer to have that level near the end where you (ROT13) arrq gb fjnc n punenpgre sbe n obk (ROT13 end) at the front so that the player could have a clearer objective in mind and also has a smaller possibility space to experiment with.
Some mindbending ideas here, though the order of the levels feels mixed up. For example, level 5 feels way more difficult than the ones that come after it, and I think some later puzzles actually do a better job of conveying that mechanic.
Still a good jam submission though, I think this can be explored further if you really want to.
Solved again, I think this time the solution I used was similar to what I used in the first version of the level. Is the intended solution just (ROT13) ohvyqvat n 4-gvyr gnyy funcr jvgu gur cvax bar ba gbc, gura teno gur oyhr bar, gura pbzr onpx gb sbez nabgure gnyy funcr ohg jvgu gur cvax bar ba gur obggbz?
Nice, just re-solved all the changed levels and almost all solutions were different from my initial solution haha, but now they all seem like proper solutions. Though I still have a question about level 9, because it actually felt easier to solve this time, I just (ROT13) tenoorq gur fgenaqrq oyhr fyvzr onpx gb gur evtug fvqr, naq gura vg jnf irel rnfl gb fbyir
What a wonderful game! I tried this game when it first came out, but it was too hard for me back then. Now it is still as difficult as I remember, but I prevailed, and it only took me a week to chip away at the puzzles! Completing this game and Alephant are two of the most significant achievements of my puzzling journey, and I won't forget them any time soon.
Sorry about the deleted post, that was me asking for a hint for a level that made me stuck for 2 days straight, I have solved it since.
Finally got around to play this game. I remember playing a pre-release version of the game and then abandoned it because I wasn't feeling it, but now I've completed it in its entirety, I can say that it's very, very clever, and the puzzles only get better and better.
I like the fact that rather than having one specific core mechanic and hook, this game has multiple unique and seemingly irrelevant mechanics at play. While you can argue that some of those are more 'core'-y than others, like the portals, all of the mechanics just work so well together that they feel equally important. I believe the game did a good job bringing all these ideas together and exploring them to their fullest potential.
All in all, great game, strongly recommended.
The final puzzle is a completely different beast than the rest, I won't go into details but here's the general thought process I went through, expressed as hints:
1: Pbafvqre lbhe tbny: Znxvat vg gb gur rkvg jvgu gur negvsnpg. Jung'f gur svany fgrc?
2: Gur negvsnpg arrqf gb gryrcbeg ng gur fnzr gvzr nf lbhe cynlre punenpgre. Ubj pna lbh znxr guvf fvghngvba unccra?
3: Lbh arrq nabgure jnl gb gevttre gur gryrcbegre jvgu "." flzoby.
4: Lbh arrq gb erpbafvqre rirel cneg bs gur yriry gb svaq n jnl gb qb guvf, fgnegvat sebz gur evtug fvqr bs gur svany ebbz.
5: Lbh arrq gb gevttre n punva bs gryrcbegngvbaf gb ernpu gur tbny, guhf, rirel cneg bs gur yriry vf vzcbegnag va guvf arj pbagrkg.
I won't go into any more details for now, but this should be a very strong start to solve the final puzzle, if you still want to do it yourself, that is. Good luck!I started following you from Magicube, which I think is a masterpiece in puzzle design, and this game is a blast as well, thanks for the great game!
That said, I seem to have cheesed lvl 19 because some of the lanterns (is that what the 'boxes' are?) are left unused, is there some way I can contact you privately?
Just solved all puzzles, really enjoyable game! The rule set is creative, and the puzzles are brilliant for showcasing the rules and how the rules can interact with each other.
I always find the concept of witness-like to be interesting, but I also find myself not enjoying some of the witness-like games. After reading your puzzle design thoughts post, it became clear that I like games that are more communicative when it comes to teaching rules, and more deductive when it comes to puzzles. That's why I like Taiji but can't get into Insight.
I think you did exactly what you set out to do as mentioned in your post. I can often deduce a lot about a puzzle, what you call "deductive anchors", and from there I can see the solution intuitively. I still don't feel like I have good intuition, but I did it in the end.
I liked most of the puzzles, and the bonus puzzles in section H and I are my favourites. They can be very hard and unintuitive, and some took me over an hour to solve, but I'm surprised by how much I can deduce without excessive trial-and-error. F9 is the puzzle that I struggled the most with, I relied mostly on trial-and-error on that one.
Really creative idea and great execution of the idea. The only thing I don't actively like is the puzzles involving actual dices in the later part. It fits the theme, but it doesn't really connect with any other part of the game, and this kind of "cube rolling" puzzle is not that creative, even kinda dull. Maybe you had some idea to make it work with the other mechanics in some unexpected ways, just didn't have time to implement? Great game nontheless, and I'm excited to see the expanded version of this.
An absolute delight of a puzzle game. The mechanics are so strange yet so full of clever surprises. New tricks always seem to pop out of thin air, yet they always seem so "obvious" in hindsight. Really giving me Stephen's Sausage Roll vibes, and this is a huge compliment from me. It was very fun to reason through this game and I highly recommend it.