"I hate this puzzle!" - advice for if you're stuck on a particular level

[Draknek]

First of all, I would very strongly suggest not looking up solutions! I know it's tempting, but I promise that all the levels in the game can be beaten with persistence (even if lots of them are mean).

General puzzle-solving tip: work out what you can't do, then don't do that. Less facetiously: learn to recognise fail states, and use that to reason about how the solution has to be constrained.

Take breaks from the game, play other levels and occasionally come back to the one you're stuck on. Don't try to solve a constellation completely before moving on to the next one! The levels are grouped thematically rather than by difficulty - Andromeda 14 is one of the hardest in the game, despite being in the first constellation.

Teamwork also helps - try explaining the rules of the game to a friend and working through things together. Working with a partner often helps push you to try more different approaches rather than fixating on one idea which might turn out to be a dead end.

Good luck! I believe in you :)

[Gerald]

This is such a cool post, especially coming from a dev. Now I feel bad for my Monolith solutions guide :(

[Mist]

Thank you for this post and for the wonderful game!

I actually feel the design of this game doesn't encourage you to use a guide as other games might. I occasionally check guides for puzzle games if I'm super stuck and many times I can't solve something because there's part of the puzzle I can't see (color blind) or didn't notice. All your puzzles use the same concept and there's nothing than can be "missed" or "forgotten". I really appreciate this.

Every single puzzle I solve makes me feel like I achieved something.

[GAMING_Alligator]

Originally posted by Draknek:

First of all, I would very strongly suggest not looking up solutions! I know it's tempting, but I promise that all the levels in the game can be beaten with persistence (even if lots of them are mean).

General puzzle-solving tip: work out what you can't do, then don't do that. Less facetiously: learn to recognise fail states, and use that to reason about how the solution has to be constrained.

Take breaks from the game, play other levels and occasionally come back to the one you're stuck on. Don't try to solve a constellation completely before moving on to the next one! The levels are grouped thematically rather than by difficulty - Andromeda 14 is one of the hardest in the game, despite being in the first constellation.

Teamwork also helps - try explaining the rules of the game to a friend and working through things together. Working with a partner often helps push you to try more different approaches rather than fixating on one idea which might turn out to be a dead end.

Good luck! I believe in you :)

I wish I'd read this before I spent hours staring at Andromeda 14 before moving onto other constellations!! Felt rather good to finally beat it though.

[inappropriately_gendered_fungus]

Huh, I beat Andromeda 14 before moving on to the other constellations. That was brutal.

[Meat Clown]

Honestly this game needs some kind of a hint function. There are no community guides and I am really tired of being stuck on the same levels for a week now and not being able to figure them out. I love a hard puzzle but this borders on frustrating.

[Meat Clown]

I mean most puzzle games have a hint function or at least a puzzle guide somewhere, but I can't find either for this game and it is just frustrating being stuck at the same spot for weeks. No solution I try works and I am about ready to give up.

[GAMING_Alligator]

Originally posted by Pakuyasa:

I mean most puzzle games have a hint function or at least a puzzle guide somewhere, but I can't find either for this game and it is just frustrating being stuck at the same spot for weeks. No solution I try works and I am about ready to give up.

Which level are you stuck on?

[Meat Clown]

Originally posted by marclev:

Originally posted by Pakuyasa:

I mean most puzzle games have a hint function or at least a puzzle guide somewhere, but I can't find either for this game and it is just frustrating being stuck at the same spot for weeks. No solution I try works and I am about ready to give up.

Which level are you stuck on?

Multiple Levels - can look it up tomorrow. I don't really 'want' a solution either since I love figuring things out on my own but it is getting frustrating. An optional hint function would be great so youd at least have the option to get some help, not even necessarily an outright solution, just "this is the first thing you gotta do, figure out the rest" or something.

[inappropriately_gendered_fungus]

I think an indirect hint system would be very difficult due to the abstract nature of the puzzles.

[Meat Clown]

Originally posted by fungusdude4:

I think an indirect hint system would be very difficult due to the abstract nature of the puzzles.

So should I just get stuck at the same puzzle for months until I figure it out by chance? The issue is that this is a game that doesn't really guide you towards a solution either. There are very few things you can do in puzzle to single out a certain path or be like "Yeah, I should probably go this direction first" or something. In some puzzles this outright doesn't exist. This game has way too much trial and error, which doesn't become apparent in the first few worlds, but definitely in the last few. :/

[GAMING_Alligator]

Originally posted by Pakuyasa:

Originally posted by fungusdude4:

I think an indirect hint system would be very difficult due to the abstract nature of the puzzles.

So should I just get stuck at the same puzzle for months until I figure it out by chance? The issue is that this is a game that doesn't really guide you towards a solution either. There are very few things you can do in puzzle to single out a certain path or be like "Yeah, I should probably go this direction first" or something. In some puzzles this outright doesn't exist. This game has way too much trial and error, which doesn't become apparent in the first few worlds, but definitely in the last few. :/

I'm not really sure what a hint function would look like, most of the time the main variable ends up being the order that you pick the passengers up in, as long as you systematically work through the possible combinations, the solution usually becomes apparent quite quickly. After a while I started recognising impossible solutions quite quickly, which sped things up again.

I've had ones that I've been stuck on for ages, then I switched the game off, came back the next day and saw the solution in 5 minutes. Most often it was a case of needing to think about which options I hadn't tried yet rathern than the ones I waspersisting with that weren't working.

[Meat Clown]

Originally posted by marclev:

Originally posted by Pakuyasa:

So should I just get stuck at the same puzzle for months until I figure it out by chance? The issue is that this is a game that doesn't really guide you towards a solution either. There are very few things you can do in puzzle to single out a certain path or be like "Yeah, I should probably go this direction first" or something. In some puzzles this outright doesn't exist. This game has way too much trial and error, which doesn't become apparent in the first few worlds, but definitely in the last few. :/

I'm not really sure what a hint function would look like, most of the time the main variable ends up being the order that you pick the passengers up in, as long as you systematically work through the possible combinations, the solution usually becomes apparent quite quickly. After a while I started recognising impossible solutions quite quickly, which sped things up again.

I've had ones that I've been stuck on for ages, then I switched the game off, came back the next day and saw the solution in 5 minutes. Sometimes you just need think about which options you haven't try yet rathern than the one's your trying that aren't working.
.

Yeah, that I figured a puzzle out in 5 minutes that I was stuck on for a long time happened to me too. I guess I am just being too negative. Just finished Taurus which I was stuck on for a bit. Guess I gotta press on!

[juh]

it's a fight that one can neither win through force, superiority by numbers, faith, speed or skill. Just logic.

update: Ursa Major 2, upper exit... I'm dumbfounded... it seems impossible!

update: after not playing the game for 4 weeks, it is impossible to pick up where I left. I feel nausea when trying to solve one of the advanced puzzles. No fun.

[Inventarius]

Thank you very much for your fantastic game and your advice. After completing many more levels I finally solved Andromeda 14. Now I´m hoping for some more difficult levels.

[pb]

I've just 100%'ed the game without using any hints. Fun fact: I solved the last-est level in my head. After trying to solve it in-game for over 1h - I gave up, went to sleep but I was still thinking about it and then the solution dawned on me. I tried it first thing in the morning and voilà, the game is done. :D

I love your games, please keep them coming! :-)