Friday, July 07, 2006

Cool and Frustrating Puzzles


I came across these Grow puzzles a couple of years ago, but they were weird and I didn't spend a lot on them. Returning to them now, they're still weird, but brilliantly weird: like the guy you meet on the subway who does your math homework for a pouch of Pop Rocks, not like the guy you meet on the subway who carries a duffel bag with his wife's severed head in it.

The premise of all these puzzles is the same: there are a number of items along the left and right sides of the screen that must be activated in a certain order. The twist is that different orders give misleading results. A lot of times you'll think you're making progress only to find you're straying dawn a misleading path. In Grow 3, for example, the tornado attaches to the windmill to provide the globe with electricity; but if the tornado is activated too early, it destroys the windmill -- and then a misleading "bonus" pops up, suggesting you've done the right thing.

These puzzles are perfectly crafted and great fun to watch, even if you're not trying to solve them.

Grow v2 (via Kent's Blog)
Grow v3
Grow RPG
Grow Cube

Update: It turns out the all knowing, all seeing Wikipedia has a link to Grow and a mysterious fifth puzzle called Glow Ornament. Solutions for all the puzzles are also listed, so don't look too closely or you'll ruin the fun!

Link to Wikipedia article

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