Great stuff! I always love a good mysterious puzzler. It took me about 40 minutes, and I swear most of that was trying to get the light on on the 7 windows. I drew a lot of diagrams that didn't help and ended up stumbling upon the answer at random. Never figured out what angle to even tackle that one from, but every other puzzle was a blast to deal with and I had a fun time.
With these light puzzles, the simplest way is often to just bruteforce it, unfortunately. A slight optimisation is to write down the patterns that you can toggle so that you can at least spot when you are one move away from the solution.
If you are into maths and computer science, this type of puzzle has a more systematic way to think about it (and to solve it). The state of the system is the 7 windows, on or off. Clicking any window toggles 3 windows, in a predetermined pattern. You can encode the entire puzzle as a linear equation in GF(2). The toggling patterns become a 7x7 matrix, with each column representing one possible move. The goal is to find a set of moves that results in all lights on, or in other words, to find a vector which, when multiplied with the matrix, results in a vector of all ones. In sagemath (free online version at cocalc.com), which can solve GF(2) linear equations:
# the puzzle # # we number the windows 1 - 7 in some order, # here: left to right # # every column represents what happens # when a window is clicked # # for example, column 1 shows that clicking # window 1 makes windows 1, 3, and 4 toggle A = matrix(GF(2), 7, 7, [ 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, ])
# our target is all lights on b = vector(GF(2), [ 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, ])
# solve the linear equation x = A.solve_right(b) print(x) # >>> (1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0)
# so the solution is: # click windows 1, 4, and 5
# (just to verify, does `x` really produce # `b` in our puzzle?) print(A * x) # >>> (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
That's what I was thinking, but all I see are the little rectangles on the chimney, which no doubt tell me what order to press them in. I just can't decipher what they're telling me.
That's exactly it. The little rectangles in the chimney face in 4 different directions. And you have 4 windows to press, facing the same 4 directions. Just follow the order :)
Don't rely on sound for puzzles. It's an okay mechanic, but it heavily gatekeeps people who don't use sounds, especially since you have an option to mute sounds in your game.
Yup, I know. I would have liked to add an accessibility feature but time was limited (it is a gamejam game!) Also I think a puzzle where you gradually rely only on one sense where originally there were two is interesting, and for accessibility the only real option would be to skip the blind parts altogether.
waouh ! began and couldn't stop to play till I finished it :) But it doesn't look like it's and exciting ending ??? The cabin flew ??? love everything from the concept to the style the music and the puzzle :) I have to say I have to look at the hint in the comment because I didnt see clearly the chimmey and the small windows onto them. After was a relief ! Thanks for this nice sweet brainteaser :)
There is! I don't really like pixel hunting, so I am not super happy about it being in my game, but I ran out of time for the gamejam. What you need to click happens to be very close to the back-most chimney that just went down.
Got really stuck when the smokestack lifted the back cabin. Not really clear on the position the windows are suppose to be in. It felt like the last puzzle which is a shame, but It was cute getting to that point.
So lost. I'm at the part with stack just came up high and there are four windows to click. The only thing I can do is click four windows and I don't see any feedback from doing it in any particular order.
Maybe the jump to that puzzle was too sudden, or I should have added at least some subtle feedback! If you'd like a hint …
(spoilers incoming)
The only two relevant elements in that puzzle are the 4 windows and the chimney that just came up. Can you see anything similar about the two? You do need to press the windows in some order.
Thank you! I changed to playing it on a laptop from a massive screen. It may be that the resolution was a lot more distorted on my first screen and it really made the details hard to see relative to the chimney. It was a lot more detailed and ran quicker/smoother on my laptop. I also could just not be very smart lol. I really liked the game though! I really like these one screen puzzle box kind of games and enjoyed this enough to play through the majority of it multiple times and ensure I got to the end. I wouldn't mind more of different varieties. I've explored a bit of that game idea myself, with trying to craft some story into the whole thing. Not sure if you are interested in making more things like this or if this is just a one and done, but I would certainly like to play more. Thanks for the good game!
Hi there. Lovely game. Like an earlier commenter, I'm stuck on the (final?) puzzle with the 3 vertically sliding doors where the chimney has lifted the cabin into the air. Could you provide a hint at all? The only thing that suggests a solution is the appearance of the top of the cabins from a top down view, but I can't relate that to any potential configuration of the doors.
(Also, is it the last puzzle? I accidentally closed this tab and I'm not sure if I've got it in me to brute force that window light puzzle again to find out...)
Thanks! Yes, the lifted cabin is the final puzzle of the game. As for a hint:
(spoilers of course) The lifted cabin is the only piece of the puzzle. What positions are available on each of the three windows? Do any of them do anything at all different?
(The 7-window puzzle earlier on is definitely solvabe without brute force, although I guess it takes a piece of paper.)
You need the sound on for that last puzzle, I had the tab muted, but it suddenly made sense when I unmuted it and listened to the sound of the doors as I left them in different positions
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Great stuff! I always love a good mysterious puzzler. It took me about 40 minutes, and I swear most of that was trying to get the light on on the 7 windows. I drew a lot of diagrams that didn't help and ended up stumbling upon the answer at random. Never figured out what angle to even tackle that one from, but every other puzzle was a blast to deal with and I had a fun time.
Thanks :)
With these light puzzles, the simplest way is often to just bruteforce it, unfortunately. A slight optimisation is to write down the patterns that you can toggle so that you can at least spot when you are one move away from the solution.
If you are into maths and computer science, this type of puzzle has a more systematic way to think about it (and to solve it). The state of the system is the 7 windows, on or off. Clicking any window toggles 3 windows, in a predetermined pattern. You can encode the entire puzzle as a linear equation in GF(2). The toggling patterns become a 7x7 matrix, with each column representing one possible move. The goal is to find a set of moves that results in all lights on, or in other words, to find a vector which, when multiplied with the matrix, results in a vector of all ones. In sagemath (free online version at cocalc.com), which can solve GF(2) linear equations:
That is very informative, thank you very much! And congrats again on a great game.
So, uh... anyone get this little bit?
See my reply to KNGDAVD Game Team below :)
That's what I was thinking, but all I see are the little rectangles on the chimney, which no doubt tell me what order to press them in. I just can't decipher what they're telling me.
That's exactly it. The little rectangles in the chimney face in 4 different directions. And you have 4 windows to press, facing the same 4 directions. Just follow the order :)
This is one of those moments where you slap your forehead and sigh.
Thanks for the help btw
ok, this is flipping cool! Love the puzzle mechanic and how everything looks pixelly but highly detailed! You did a fantastic job!
Don't rely on sound for puzzles. It's an okay mechanic, but it heavily gatekeeps people who don't use sounds, especially since you have an option to mute sounds in your game.
Also, how many endings are there?
Yup, I know. I would have liked to add an accessibility feature but time was limited (it is a gamejam game!) Also I think a puzzle where you gradually rely only on one sense where originally there were two is interesting, and for accessibility the only real option would be to skip the blind parts altogether.
There is just the one ending!
wonderful concept and execution. Love the (quasi?) pixel-art graphics as well!
I'm stuck on the first part,
waouh ! began and couldn't stop to play till I finished it :) But it doesn't look like it's and exciting ending ??? The cabin flew ??? love everything from the concept to the style the music and the puzzle :) I have to say I have to look at the hint in the comment because I didnt see clearly the chimmey and the small windows onto them. After was a relief ! Thanks for this nice sweet brainteaser :)
Haha, sorry, the "exciting ending" is something to take with a grain of salt ;)
oki doki :) so i got to the end with the "good"ending ! Again I enjoy a lot to play this little gem :)
I'm missing something, I'm sure, but I got the chimneys to go down, and now as far as I can tell there's nothing at all to click on
There is! I don't really like pixel hunting, so I am not super happy about it being in my game, but I ran out of time for the gamejam. What you need to click happens to be very close to the back-most chimney that just went down.
Thanks! I enjoyed it, once I figured that bit out.
(Or, well, once you told me :) )
Got really stuck when the smokestack lifted the back cabin. Not really clear on the position the windows are suppose to be in. It felt like the last puzzle which is a shame, but It was cute getting to that point.
A really nice puzzle, a bit tricky in places. I was stuck on the four windows too for a while, so good to finish it.
So lost. I'm at the part with stack just came up high and there are four windows to click. The only thing I can do is click four windows and I don't see any feedback from doing it in any particular order.
Maybe the jump to that puzzle was too sudden, or I should have added at least some subtle feedback! If you'd like a hint …
(spoilers incoming)
The only two relevant elements in that puzzle are the 4 windows and the chimney that just came up. Can you see anything similar about the two? You do need to press the windows in some order.
Thank you! I changed to playing it on a laptop from a massive screen. It may be that the resolution was a lot more distorted on my first screen and it really made the details hard to see relative to the chimney. It was a lot more detailed and ran quicker/smoother on my laptop. I also could just not be very smart lol. I really liked the game though! I really like these one screen puzzle box kind of games and enjoyed this enough to play through the majority of it multiple times and ensure I got to the end. I wouldn't mind more of different varieties. I've explored a bit of that game idea myself, with trying to craft some story into the whole thing. Not sure if you are interested in making more things like this or if this is just a one and done, but I would certainly like to play more. Thanks for the good game!
Hi there. Lovely game. Like an earlier commenter, I'm stuck on the (final?) puzzle with the 3 vertically sliding doors where the chimney has lifted the cabin into the air. Could you provide a hint at all? The only thing that suggests a solution is the appearance of the top of the cabins from a top down view, but I can't relate that to any potential configuration of the doors.
(Also, is it the last puzzle? I accidentally closed this tab and I'm not sure if I've got it in me to brute force that window light puzzle again to find out...)
Thanks! Yes, the lifted cabin is the final puzzle of the game. As for a hint:
(spoilers of course) The lifted cabin is the only piece of the puzzle. What positions are available on each of the three windows? Do any of them do anything at all different?
(The 7-window puzzle earlier on is definitely solvabe without brute force, although I guess it takes a piece of paper.)
Here's a hint:
(Hint incoming)
You need the sound on for that last puzzle, I had the tab muted, but it suddenly made sense when I unmuted it and listened to the sound of the doors as I left them in different positions
A cute little puzzle box with some clever puzzles, glad I finished it!