Well, I saw it without help so I guess it's not impossible :)

 AdCook wrote:

Well, I saw it without help so I guess it's not impossible :)

It is a tricky business trying to figure out what people will find obscure, and others will find obvious. The arms dealer puzzle caused lots of problems in playtests, so we added more hints. However vague they might be, there are hints for every puzzle, so at least I can sleep at night knowing I'm not a complete sadist :)

It'd be good in future to have the resources to do proper user tests, to get a better feel of what people do and don't find easy.

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Deejay
Managing Director, Binary Tweed
New games that are a bit like old games, but better.

Is there a reason why I can't give the catnip to angry sampson, after he's been shot down off the organ?

nevermind that...i've gone over the entire map and the silly necklace isn't "singing". Generally, where should I dig for jewels? In Andalan?

 alixsanders wrote:

nevermind that...i've gone over the entire map and the silly necklace isn't "singing". Generally, where should I dig for jewels? In Andalan?

Go to the area of the castle where guards are patrolling around something important.

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Check this out :
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2990/a4oihlu.gif

 alixsanders wrote:

Is there a reason why I can't give the catnip to angry sampson, after he's been shot down off the organ?

I really should've made some dialogue for when you try and give the catnip to Sampson, to make the solution more obvious. You're not the first to have this issue, and I expect not the last!

To be honest, I was kinda worried about the solution to the puzzle that you use to get Sampson down (won't mention it here). It was effectively Clover's rubber-chicken-with-a-pulley-in-the-middle.

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Deejay
Managing Director, Binary Tweed
New games that are a bit like old games, but better.

My two favorite puzzles where the curtains and the rope.  I think that's because I was proud that I figure them out.   I saw the hooks on the scaffolding and knew right away what the rope was for.     For the curtains, I am glad some hints where added because it took some back-and-forth for me to get that one - but it's good to have a couple toughies.

For me the catnip for cat stuff was the most aggrivating (nothing terrible of course).  It's a slightly different kind of puzzle/solution, enough so that it threw me off for awhile.

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Ophidian Wars
SmallCaveGames

 Chunkbutter wrote:

My two favorite puzzles where the curtains and the rope.  I think that's because I was proud that I figure them out.   I saw the hooks on the scaffolding and knew right away what the rope was for.     For the curtains, I am glad some hints where added because it took some back-and-forth for me to get that one - but it's good to have a couple toughies.

For me the catnip for cat stuff was the most aggrivating (nothing terrible of course).  It's a slightly different kind of puzzle/solution, enough so that it threw me off for awhile.

Yep, it's all about affordance. The hooks look like you could tie something to them, so they're a solvable puzzle. The catnip one unfortunately requires you to know something you can't figure out from the information available in the game, and as such it's a bad puzzle. Apologies!

If you're interested look up Donald Norman's Design Of Everyday Things. It's a fascinating book, and a lot of it translates immediately to game design.

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Deejay
Managing Director, Binary Tweed
New games that are a bit like old games, but better.

hola

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Pobres Piratas! que..?
que carago digo jajaja
Baneenlos a TODOS!!!

 DeejUK wrote:

Blimey! That's the quickest completion time I've seen from a player other than myself. Hope it wasn't too short for your liking: we considered making it longer, but felt it just diluted the experience rather than add to it.

I can do it in 24 minutes, if you fancy a challenge...

Just played this game and I enjoyed it very much. The design, music etc has a certain charm to it.

Anyway, I had a look on t'net for the developers [nice moustache, by the way] and found a link to here. As for speed runs, I've just done it in *entering smug mode* 22 mins and 58 secs. Not too shabby. My first playthrough was 1 hour 36 mins which, given the price, felt about right. Especially as that didn't take into account a couple of periods of thinking and then giving up for a while.

I'm stuck and have no idea what to do can someone give me some hints. I just got the foldaway oars and just put the heavy curtains on the arm dealer's window and got the explosive cookbook. I have the anvil, pick axe, hammer, pocket watch, bucket, and where do you find the king's assistant? Please help I'm really enjoying the game.

Hi JJMoe,

Have you fully explored the castle? I think you may have missed a room.

Glad you're enjoying the game - tell all your friends!

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Deejay
Managing Director, Binary Tweed
New games that are a bit like old games, but better.