EyezFilter

May 23, 2006 12:24 PM

Chrononis yet another new, incredibly charming, Eyezmaze puzzle game from On, that GROW guy. It is along similar lines, but while in GROW the arrow of time is firmly fixed in the forward direction, here you can flip back and forth between different times whenever you want.
Despite this, the game is quite a bit more difficult than GROW (especially if you want the maximum score - keep going after the little guy escapes from his cage!), and it's very new so there may still be a few bugs, but it's immensely satisfying to solve!
posted by JHarris (25 comments total)

I think some hints on this one may be necessary (although I did manage to get to 95/100 points before I needed help):

The clock is very important. It only runs while it's on the wall, but it remembers its time even when it's taken down. It is probably the first thing you need to bother with.

One object in the room has a second, clickable part.

The things that happen "outside" the room are important.
posted by JHarris at 12:31 PM on May 23, 2006

On thinks this game was a failure.

I think, considering that it's a brand new kind of puzzle, it's an amazing success. He should be proud.

I think if the only game he'd invented in his whole life was Grow, that's an amazing accomplishment.
posted by empath at 12:45 PM on May 23, 2006

I have no idea what I'm doing with this game, which is a shame as I really liked working out the logic of the Grow games.
posted by Orange Goblin at 12:50 PM on May 23, 2006

Yeah, I had noticed what On thought about it. It did take him a long, long time to finish it. It couldn't have been easy to design.

If there were any justice in this world, On would have a billion dollars and a team of highly-skilled programmer pixies to implement his every game whim.

One more note, one of the things you can find in the game is actually a link to a hints page, but the page is just a placeholder so far.
posted by JHarris at 12:54 PM on May 23, 2006

Orange Goblin, when you move something earlier in the day, its state will persist throughout the rest of the day. Note the time on the clock, the objects on the clock face, and the relative differences between the various times available to you.

Other than that, the wreath and egg are probably good things to start with, early in the day.
posted by JHarris at 12:58 PM on May 23, 2006

I was too stupid to figure out the rest of his games - but loved em because they where so cute.

This one isnt as cute and is much harder to play. Yet 20 mins on I am still trying.

Oh wait, theres no guns. Back to counterstrike for me lol
posted by 13twelve at 1:01 PM on May 23, 2006

This is sweet.
posted by sonofsamiam at 1:03 PM on May 23, 2006

Is there only one day? So doing things at the end of the day won't change anything?
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:03 PM on May 23, 2006

This is the first time I've seen GROW. (Yes, I live under a rock). I can't seem to get past ther first level. I always get creamed with not enough hearts. harumph. good game!
posted by DesbaratsDays at 1:04 PM on May 23, 2006

I remember that first puzzle (the G) from ages ago. I didn't realize it was a puzzle though. I thought it was just about dropping stuff on it and seeing what happened, for fun. There's actually a logic behind it?
posted by smackfu at 1:04 PM on May 23, 2006

Wow. I played with it for a few moments, but I am completely stumped. It's really great, and I imagine it will take me a while to "get" it.
posted by arcticwoman at 1:07 PM on May 23, 2006

For Grow, you can work out how long each item needs to get to its full growth, and which items it depends on, draw a little diagram, and work out the puzzle.
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:08 PM on May 23, 2006

You can't do anything at the very end of the day, when the giant has returned, so yes Orange Goblin, even things you do on the last "turn" still matter. There is in fact only one real solution to this one, unlike in a couple of the GROW games, so you can generally bet everything you can do is important. (Although there is one very notable exception to this at the end of the puzzle!)

If you're stuck, I suggest focusing on the click to start out with. If you havent gotten the treasure box open yet, then you haven't focused on the clock enough, and getting that box open gives you something "permanent", that isn't undone by going back in time.
posted by JHarris at 1:49 PM on May 23, 2006

This is such an ambitious game, I really like it but it was too hard for me to finish without cheating since certain things are not intuitive. The way the clock functions is pretty weird for example. I still think Tontie is the most fully realized flash game around.
posted by I Foody at 1:50 PM on May 23, 2006

Okay, I realise I'm being incredibly dense here, but how do you start the game? I see a "how to play" link, which goes to a blog post, the "I'm very happy if you enjoy my games" spiel with links to a donation page and a guestbook, and lots of google ads, but no game...

Help a guy out here, what incredibly obvious thing am I not seeing?
posted by afx237vi at 2:06 PM on May 23, 2006

There are hints and a full walkthrough available here.
posted by evilangela at 2:14 PM on May 23, 2006

afx237vi, the game display should be over the "HOW TO PLAY" link. It's Flash, so if that doesn't work on your system you'll have problems. What browser are you using?
posted by JHarris at 2:21 PM on May 23, 2006

If there were any justice in this world, On would have a billion dollars and a team of highly-skilled programmer pixies to implement his every game whim.

Agreed. He's a genius. He should be programming DS games for Nintendo, but I'm glad he's giving these away for free.
posted by empath at 2:23 PM on May 23, 2006

JHarris, I was using Firefox 1.0.7, but I just tried it in IE and it started working. For what it's worth, I use the Flashblock plugin with FF, but there's usually a little "play" icon to start flash animations. Oh well, IE it is.
posted by afx237vi at 2:30 PM on May 23, 2006

afx237vi: Firefox 1.0.7?? This is a bit off the subject, but why haven't up upgraded to 1.5 yet?
posted by JHarris at 2:38 PM on May 23, 2006

I like the idea, but the execution might be a bit off. On all of his other games I could make logical sense of what I needed to do, I'd end up with lists of things that were in the correct or almost correct order so I'd generally only need a few tries to get it right. This time I didn't understand what the eventual goal was so I didn't know what was logical.
posted by substrate at 3:16 PM on May 23, 2006

Aw man. The happiest ending is so cool. I love it.
posted by RokkitNite at 3:17 PM on May 23, 2006

Firefox 1.0.7?? This is a bit off the subject, but why haven't up upgraded to 1.5 yet?

I'm usually pretty good at that kind of thing, but for some reason I never got round to it. Thanks for putting it back towards the top of my to-do list!
posted by afx237vi at 3:25 PM on May 23, 2006

Very modest, talented puzzle-maker. Makes me appreciate the effort and the result all the more.
posted by dreamsign at 5:20 PM on May 23, 2006

Oh, DesbaratsDays, the key to that GROW puzzle is to put down the items in the right order so the adventurer dude survives the awful horrors of his little cartoon world. All the GROWs boil down to the order in which you plop the items down.
posted by JHarris at 7:02 PM on May 23, 2006