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Square Illogic
When I got my new computer and started learning of the glories that is Steam, they were in the middle of some massive year-end sales. I bought a bunch of games, then, many on impulse. The impulsiest of impulses was Everyday Genius: SquareLogic
I know, I know. If you're one of the puzzle connoisseurs, you're shaking your head. It's calculodoku (presented in the New York Times as Kenken), which isn't the most thrilling puzzle form (unless it's being done with extreme care, as people like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
motris give it). I wouldn't have given it a second look, except that the sale had reduced it's price from $9.99 to $1.50. And since I was already having fun with Croco-Puzzle, all I had to ask myself was "Do I think I can get a buck fifty's worth of puzzle out of this churned-out schlock.
My answer was, actually, yes. Particularly when I saw, from the screenshots that some of the levels featured twin grids, where the numbers in one grid were the same as the numbers in the other. That's a form of the puzzle that can provide some interesting twists, but that can be hard to do on paper because of the extra bookkeeping involved. So it went onto the list with other, actually good games, like the LucasArts Adventure Pack.
And I played through it, whiling away the time with the mindless puzzles. There were certainly things to like, there's a little box that appears and shows possible combinations that you can choose from, which keeps you from having to redo the math. (On the other hand, it's not always precisely accurate, though it rarely precludes answers that could be valid, except during hidden cages.) Although there were an absurd number of computer generated puzzles, you could skip most of them, by only solving a representative puzzle of each type. And the error checking is a bit harsh (a stray click can kill your streak of error-free puzzles) but makes solving difficult puzzles more relaxing, since the game can automatically dial you back to the place you made your first mistake, if you want.
After unlocking everything, I thought I might try to get the achievement for solving all the puzzles in one "location" (meaning they're generally of the same type). I went to the easiest level (the first "region" is all 1-4 puzzles), and looked for the location with the fewest puzzles. That turned out to be the "hidden cages" location with 200 (yeah, computer generated all right). None were really thrilling, but a nice way to kill time mindlessly while IMing with folks, or watching Hulu or Netflix.
Until this.
Now, I didn't have a great puzzle-solving day today. My Croco-puzzle times were crap because I missed a lot of obvious things. So I could just be missing something terrible obvious here. But it looks, to me like I was able to find a valid solution to this puzzle that is being treated as an error by the game. I'd love to write an angry e-mail to the creators about shoddy product, but . . . I keep thinking I'm missing something. So below the cuts, I've provided screenshots of the puzzle, and my proposed solution.
Please, puzzlers, either vindicate me or knock some sense into me. I can't stand the not knowing.
I know, I know. If you're one of the puzzle connoisseurs, you're shaking your head. It's calculodoku (presented in the New York Times as Kenken), which isn't the most thrilling puzzle form (unless it's being done with extreme care, as people like
motris give it). I wouldn't have given it a second look, except that the sale had reduced it's price from $9.99 to $1.50. And since I was already having fun with Croco-Puzzle, all I had to ask myself was "Do I think I can get a buck fifty's worth of puzzle out of this churned-out schlock.My answer was, actually, yes. Particularly when I saw, from the screenshots that some of the levels featured twin grids, where the numbers in one grid were the same as the numbers in the other. That's a form of the puzzle that can provide some interesting twists, but that can be hard to do on paper because of the extra bookkeeping involved. So it went onto the list with other, actually good games, like the LucasArts Adventure Pack.
And I played through it, whiling away the time with the mindless puzzles. There were certainly things to like, there's a little box that appears and shows possible combinations that you can choose from, which keeps you from having to redo the math. (On the other hand, it's not always precisely accurate, though it rarely precludes answers that could be valid, except during hidden cages.) Although there were an absurd number of computer generated puzzles, you could skip most of them, by only solving a representative puzzle of each type. And the error checking is a bit harsh (a stray click can kill your streak of error-free puzzles) but makes solving difficult puzzles more relaxing, since the game can automatically dial you back to the place you made your first mistake, if you want.
After unlocking everything, I thought I might try to get the achievement for solving all the puzzles in one "location" (meaning they're generally of the same type). I went to the easiest level (the first "region" is all 1-4 puzzles), and looked for the location with the fewest puzzles. That turned out to be the "hidden cages" location with 200 (yeah, computer generated all right). None were really thrilling, but a nice way to kill time mindlessly while IMing with folks, or watching Hulu or Netflix.
Until this.
Now, I didn't have a great puzzle-solving day today. My Croco-puzzle times were crap because I missed a lot of obvious things. So I could just be missing something terrible obvious here. But it looks, to me like I was able to find a valid solution to this puzzle that is being treated as an error by the game. I'd love to write an angry e-mail to the creators about shoddy product, but . . . I keep thinking I'm missing something. So below the cuts, I've provided screenshots of the puzzle, and my proposed solution.
Please, puzzlers, either vindicate me or knock some sense into me. I can't stand the not knowing.
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(Anonymous) 2011-02-23 11:46 pm (UTC)(link)I'm pretty sure the problem comes from the 9+ area ; either in killer sudoku or in calcudoku, the clue has to be in the top-left cell of the considered area... Your solution breaks this "rule".
Bastien aka Ours brun in the puzzling world
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