Physio-logical

January 29, 2009 6:06 AM

Perfect Balance If this is Flash Fun, then today must be Friday.

A lot of physics games require timing or pixel-perfect fiddling rather than what you might call mechanical logic. After solving the first 40 levels of this one, I think that might not be the case here. I did have to solve 2 or 3 that way, but it may be a lack of insight on my part that drove me to it.

posted by DU (46 comments total)

Dude you freaked me right out with that Friday talk.
I scan MeFi before heading to work and I almost thought I'd missed a day.
Damn near gave me a heart attack.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 6:25 AM on January 29, 2009

No, you had the heart attack. This is the afterlife.
posted by DU at 6:33 AM on January 29, 2009

No, you had the heart attack. This is the afterlife.

Unfortunately, BB, this is bee heaven. All of the bees that have succumbed to colony collapse have formed a hive in your office bathroom. Fortunately, ghosts don't need to poop. Unfortunately, you are still in etheric resonance with your old meat body so you think you do.

Hold it in for weeks if you have to as receiving millions of phantom stings is an experience almost as traumatic as the real thing. Only once you notice that you are able to walk through walls will it be safe to lay your spectral eggs.
posted by bunnytricks at 6:59 AM on January 29, 2009 [5 favorites]

After spending ages trying and failing to pass Level 2, I consider this more Friday Frustration than Fun.
posted by Nedroid at 7:07 AM on January 29, 2009

Level 2 spoiler: Wedge the beam into one of the given notches.
posted by DU at 7:08 AM on January 29, 2009

Cleared the first 40, got to "Inferno." It wasn't so much the frustration as the change of aesthetic that made me quit 3 stages in. I liked the sparkle-motion of the first part, but the Diablo-meets-teen-angst "Inferno" is just ugly.
posted by explosion at 7:12 AM on January 29, 2009

Yeah, the Harmony aesthetic is pretty nice. Also, after about 4 levels of Inferno I realized they are actually the same puzzles, only with bloodstains. So I guess it's only 40 unique levels.

(MetaFilter: actually the same $X, only with bloodstains)
posted by DU at 7:19 AM on January 29, 2009

"Level 2 spoiler: Wedge the beam into one of the given notches."

After reading that, I consider this more Friday Make-Me-Feel-Stupid than Fun. (Thanks DU)
posted by Nedroid at 7:25 AM on January 29, 2009

Level 3 makes me sad. :(
posted by milarepa at 7:51 AM on January 29, 2009

Fuck you, level 3.
posted by autodidact at 7:52 AM on January 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

Holy crap this is addictive. Glad I noticed the 'rotate piece' keys after I'd been trying to do the 2nd puzzle for 10 minutes.
posted by Happy Dave at 8:05 AM on January 29, 2009

Happy Dave. Thank you! Suppose I ought to have read the instructions...
posted by tawny at 8:11 AM on January 29, 2009

Level 3 strugglers, you know you can rotate the pieces, right? Use A and D.
posted by nthdegx at 8:20 AM on January 29, 2009

You can rotate pieces? You're mine level 3.
posted by minifigs at 8:21 AM on January 29, 2009

One annoying thing about the game is that the rotate functions are 'A' and 'D' but I keep wanting to hit 'R'....which resets. (The other annoying thing is that if you pick a piece up you can't change your mind without reseting.)
posted by DU at 8:22 AM on January 29, 2009

I hate level 29. hate hate hate.
posted by Memo at 8:27 AM on January 29, 2009

Is level 3 just there so we can tell who bothered to read the instructions?
posted by 0xFCAF at 8:28 AM on January 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

D'oh!
posted by milarepa at 8:30 AM on January 29, 2009

Damn you, DU. I have work to do.
posted by nthdegx at 8:30 AM on January 29, 2009

The inferno levels desperately need a new colour scheme. Spotting the bricks virtually becomes a game in itself.

Also, why can you skip the inferno levels even if you haven't completed them? For some reason I found that very annoying.
posted by afx237vi at 8:37 AM on January 29, 2009

Oh, hang on, it looks like the game-maker has changed the inferno colour scheme since I played a couple of days ago. Good job.
posted by afx237vi at 8:39 AM on January 29, 2009

Augh, level 29!!
posted by marginaliana at 8:56 AM on January 29, 2009

Oh yeah, 29 is killer. It's one of the ones where I *did* have to get fiddly and/or timing-y rather that logical. Actually, it wasn't so much killer because I happened to get it in a few minutes. But I didn't like it.

Also, why can you skip the inferno levels even if you haven't completed them?

I think because you've already done those levels as Harmony.
posted by DU at 8:57 AM on January 29, 2009

Actually, now I'm remembering 29 better. It wasn't a timing issue. But you do have to think about friction and inertia rather than simply centers of gravity.
posted by DU at 8:59 AM on January 29, 2009

Playing Topple on my iPod last night has prepared me for this.
posted by brownpau at 9:06 AM on January 29, 2009

Stop giving clues, DU!

Level 29 solution, if you want it!
posted by nthdegx at 9:14 AM on January 29, 2009

Okay, I got past 29 but am now stuck on 33. This is challenging but fun!
posted by marginaliana at 9:15 AM on January 29, 2009

"Stuck". My problem was that too much of the second-hand of the game was breeze-through-able. Even some levels that I couldn't immediately see a solution to I still solved on the first attempt just by ploughing ahead. There shouldn't be any puzzle in the second half that can be solved just by putting everything in a big balancey pile. Alas, plenty were. Being a puzzle fan, I yearn for that stuck feeling. A couple of levels gave it to me, but only briefly. Plenty of fun, though. Cheers, DU.
posted by nthdegx at 9:18 AM on January 29, 2009

Although, a thought. This is one of those games that I will probably never play again. The first run-through is fun, and then after that there's no real initiative to come back and repeat the task. It seems like a lot of flash games are like this. The only one I've found that I keep going back to is ChainFactor. Hmm.
posted by marginaliana at 9:18 AM on January 29, 2009

second-hand? Second half*.
posted by nthdegx at 9:18 AM on January 29, 2009

"Although, a thought. This is one of those games that I will probably never play again. The first run-through is fun, and then after that there's no real initiative to come back and repeat the task"

Welcome to puzzling!
posted by nthdegx at 9:18 AM on January 29, 2009

Wasn't particularly happy with my level 33 solution. Didn't feel like it should have been allowed.

If you're *really really* stuck, here's a way out of level 33.
posted by nthdegx at 9:30 AM on January 29, 2009

Neither of your solution images opens for me.

Yeah, I'm probably not going back either. And it's true that a few of them are "big balancy piles" but only in the sense of not having a unique solution. They still require some thinking in terms of order of operations to avoid having to be really really fast.
posted by DU at 9:44 AM on January 29, 2009

Screw you, level 34.
posted by Happy Dave at 9:53 AM on January 29, 2009

This is pretty good, though it is pretty easy. A good 15-20 minute diversion. Thanks.
posted by schyler523 at 11:10 AM on January 29, 2009

Hmm. Yeah, I uploaded the grabs to Picasa which I've never used, so I'm probably doing something wrong.

Answers to the harmony levels, if you need them.
posted by nthdegx at 11:38 AM on January 29, 2009

"Yeah, the Harmony aesthetic is pretty nice. Also, after about 4 levels of Inferno I realized they are actually the same puzzles, only with bloodstains. So I guess it's only 40 unique levels."

They look different to me :)
posted by nthdegx at 11:51 AM on January 29, 2009

It's worth trying to see through the gory aesthetic of the inferno levels. They are harder.
posted by nthdegx at 12:00 PM on January 29, 2009

Yeah, I take back the balancey piles bit, I think. I think the inferno levels were probably designed first, as the puzzles, and then made easier for the harmony mode - generally with the removal of pieces. I haven't played right through yet, but my hunch is some of those ridiculousy easy ones are going to make sense when they're hardened-up for inferno.
posted by nthdegx at 12:10 PM on January 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

I didn't really have much trouble with any harmony levels, but I'm stuck on inferno 13 & 17 and haven't tried after 17.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:30 PM on January 29, 2009

Guess I'll finish the game before I read this thread. Jeez, spoilers ahoy.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 12:52 PM on January 29, 2009

Inferno levels seem the same at first, but are all slightly harder.

I'm stuck on Inferno 11. Cusses.
posted by damehex at 2:50 PM on January 29, 2009

Please stop telling me to relax.
posted by alexei at 3:12 PM on January 29, 2009

Inferno solutions level 7 onwards. I hit a Tumblr image upload limit so will have to put up 1 to 6 later.
posted by nthdegx at 4:10 PM on January 29, 2009

Fun, and makes good use of the various piece properties and physics. I also found Inferno not as appealing and stopped after a few levels.
posted by meinvt at 6:31 PM on January 29, 2009

Wow, the crying baby and heavy breathing in the Inferno levels is horrid. What a weird decision. Why not just have 80 levels of interesting puzzles and relatively pleasant music? I don't really want to continue, largely because it's creeping me out.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:40 AM on January 30, 2009