A shepherd and his day, it's a beautiful routine in the latest puzzle game by Lucas Le Slo: Flockoban. (arrow keys to move, Z key to undo a move, R key to restart)
Hi! I'm Bart Bonte, a Belgian independent game designer and bontegames.com is where I blog about new interesting browser and mobile games. My own games are all in the left column (or at the bottom of this page on mobile). More info about me and my games on bartbonte.com.
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47 comments:
Lovely little game, Bart.
What a lovely game!
Charming puzzle game, love it!
There've been a few levels where I've had to go away and sleep on it before coming up with the solution, but I did that with the 4.20 level (3 brown sheep) and I still haven't got it. Whatever I try, either I trap myself, can't get away from a sheep without pulling it off the spot I wanted to leave it on - so it's got to go round that circuit again - or leaving it stuck next to that small barrier near the top, which I can't move it from without going back to a position I've been in before.
It will let me look at the next 3 levels - I haven't spent nearly so long on them (are those owls calling at nightfall?), but they all look pretty difficult. Perhaps it's time to give up.
In the browser version, the levels are not numbered, so this might not be exactly the same one, but for the web version's three-brown sheep, I have found a solution, possibly not optimal.
If you can get one of the brown sheep into the top row, then the rest of it is pretty easy, and it can be done, first pull all the sheep to the right until they're all separated, then make the two right-most ones into a horizontal row, and pull it leftwards until the three sheep make an "L" shape. Then loop around and pull the "L" upwards by the bottom extension, then move rightwards, pulling the top-row sheep with you until it's above the highest "target". The rest should be straightforward.
@Urban Garlic,
Thanks, but I think you're talking about the one at noon (the _first_ one with 3 brown sheep). If you "pause" (Esc), you see a watch graphic that shows the time of day - there aren't any level numbers, but each level's at a different point on the dial. The black lines are the ones you've solved. I'm up to 4.20, by which point the white sheep look pink because of sunset!
Aha, had not noticed the clock trick. Looking forward to getting stuck where you are...
I have the same problem. The '4.20' seems impossible. Tried everything, but I don't see the the solution.
Yikes.
A very clever Sokoban variant. Really enjoyed this, though it took a couple of weeks, and several restarts (from the beginning, since the browser doesn't save progress, at least not that I saw). For anyone who's curious, the browser game has 35 levels. I never could quite decipher the "watch" pause screens.
There are two three-brown sheep levels, but the trick is the same for both. You need to get one of the brown sheep to the top of the screen. How you do that, of course, is the trick. . . .
Many thanks to LeSlo for this one.
@Stage name,
It saves progress in my browser (Firefox). On the watch pause screen, you can move the hands using the left and right arrows.
On the second three-brown-sheep level, I thought that was the case, but couldn't see how to get there. There were a bunch of positions I could get to, and a bunch from which I could get to the top, and they didn't connect. Now I've done it, but without a notation for spoilers, it's difficult to describe. It involves putting them in the same position twice, but the second time you're on the other side; stopping before you trap yourself in the top left corner; and getting an L shape on the second and third rows. Once I did get a sheep to the top row, it was still tricky, but solvable.
Now I'm stuck on the next level (pentomino of white sheep). I can make lots of shapes, but not the right one, and I can only split one off from the flock by sticking it in a corner, where it's not much use!
Level 26, the right angle of white sheep! I was stuck there for two days. Go for a 3 over 2 shape that will let you split off that one sheep but let you pull the rest down from top of the sheep pen. Then shape and combine.
It's the "shape" part I have trouble with! That "the rest" is a square, or a small s shape, depending how I do it. I can't see how to get it to the shape with a right-angle that I need (without getting it stuck on the bottom edge).
I actually worked level 26 out on good old paper. Put 3 sheep in a row above 2 sheep (the top 3 to the left, not the right); push second from left up to separate the far left sheep. Now you have 4 sheep in a zigzag two rows at top. Pull down and using the projecting fence knob push the far left sheep down one and the top middle sheep right one. Now you have the bottom part of the "L" shape you need. Move it into place and cap it off with the lone sheep you've got stored in the lower left corner of the pen. Easier to show with a pencil sketch than with words! . . . Does Bart allow us to attach jpegs?
I'm stumped on the 10.2 puzzle - 1 white sheep, 1 brown sheep, two main sections to the pen with a little two-section part in the middle of the right one. Any tips?
Sheepishly, I assume you mean level 8 (pen 8?). It is tricky. And the trick is to get the brown sheep to the left of the white one, so you can then pull the brown into the left sheepfold (sheepcote?) and then drag it back to the right to let you exit. Of course, getting the brown to the left is not easy. Try getting the white one by itself in the far right column.
Stage - thanks for the tips. I don't see how to get the white sheep back on its food if it were in the very far right-hand column?
Sheepishly:
As far as I recall, you need to put the white one at the far side, down at the level of the barrier, then pull the brown one along the row with the food until it's one column left of the white one, and push the white one up; then you can pull it left. Maybe it's all one row higher, it's been a while since I did that one.
Stage name: I think I see where the misunderstanding is! My "3 and 2" arrangement is like
XXX
XX
but I think yours is like
XXX
00XX
and I reckon I can follow your description from there. But I'm not sure that's one of the shapes I can make. Among other things, I can get a + sign or the pentomino F
XX0
0XX
0X0
(or various reflections of it). Is that any use?
Unknown, that's a really good way of notating! As I recall, I got it to
XXXX
OOXO
Then push to bottom and depress the far right sheep to get
XXXO
OOXX
Sheepishly, Unknown is right about positioning the brown sheep just above the white flower patch.
Got it! Thank you Stage and Unknown!!
I am also stuck at the same level as Sheepishly. I managed to get the brown sheep on the left and the white one to the right, but I then can't separate them in order to get them both where they need to be.
@Ari,
If you're where I think you are, with the sheep on the same row as the flowers, you need to find somewhere where the white sheep can't go up or down, and pull the brown sheep down.
Time to admit I'm stuck again - on the white-grey-grey level (28, I think). Overnight I thought of another place I could park a grey sheep, but it doesn't help. I can get either of them to the target row, but once it's there I can't send the shepherd round the loop to move the white sheep away from the wall and fetch the other one; if I try to pick them both up at once, I can't move in the right direction.
Thanks, stage name (10 october), for your help with the '4.20'. Finally I could solve it, and silly enough it wasn't even that difficult now that I knew it was possible to move one sheep to the top.
Unknown,
Lvl 28. Took me a while to work this out again on paper! Put one gray (or grey) sheep atop the left fence "island" and the other gray sheep below the right island. Push the white sheep up to the right of the right gray one, then push both sheep left till you can shear the white sheep off down. Come up on them both on the left and drive them home.
Jade,
One of the things that keeps me going when I'm stuck on any puzzle is the thought of how I'll kick myself when I finally figure it out.
@Unknown
Well DUH. That should have been obvious, but somehow wasn't. Thank you!
@Stage name,
Thanks! That's a neat trick!
Pity I can't use it on the next level, where the problem is separating the darn grey sheep without blocking a route I need to use. I'll probably need help on that as well, but I'll try to work it out on paper first.
@Stage name, re: level 26 (4:40 on the clock), how do you get to the first part of your answer? i.e.
XXXX
OOXO
If i can get to that bit i can see how to do the rest.
Same here with the 4.40 ...
Nevermind, I found it. Thanks a lot 'stage name' for your explanation.
Level 26, for the record:
XXX
XOO
XOO
XXX
OXO
OXO
OXX
XXO
OXO
OXX
XXO
XOO
XXX
XXO
XOO
XXX
OXO
XOO
XXO
OXX
XXO
XXX
OOXX
XXXO
XXXX
OOXO
XXXO
OOXX
(separate far left X)
XXO
OXX
OXO
XXX
OOX
XXX
(combine with separated X)
et voila
Thanks Stage name! Phew.
I can't believe i couldn't see the transition from
OOXX -> XXXX
XXXO -> OOXO
Could anyone help with the 3:00 one? I've been stuck for days there.
Great great thanks Stage name !
Stuck at 3pm: always stuck?
3 o'clock level or sheep pen 21 . . . Been a while, but the goal is to put one white sheep in the left white-flower square at top, then push the brown sheep up through the left opening with the remaining white sheep. When you pull the brown sheep right into its brown-flower space the white sheep above will move with it. Then you push the second white sheep up into the now vacated left white-flower square. The hard part is maneuvering the brown sheep either above or to the left of one of the white sheep. I think I actually did it two different ways. But remember that the brown sheep can pull a white one away from the side or bottom fence wall.
I spent a night thinking through that one, too. Am I the only one who had trouble with the one before it, level 20? That looked impossible for a while and then turned out to be one of the simplest of all.
Moi aussi j'adore ce moment de compréhension où ce qui semblait inextricable devient subitement évident.
Mon anglais est trop pauvre, sorry.
Thank you so much for the help with the 3 o'clock/pen 21 help! That's just what I needed. Moved on now to the 4 white sheep pen 22.
Ouf, fini!
Un jeu qui m'a duré un mois, très très bon.
At the end the person goes to sleep, then wakes up and you can start all over again.
I liked this game so much I played it twice.
I don't suppose anyone could give a hint for the next-to-last level (2 brown sheep, 2 white sheep - 1 of the white sheep is stuck in upper right). Thanks for any help!
@So Close,
That doesn't describe the next-to-last level; it sounds more like the 5pm. level, so you've got another 8 to go. If it is that one, the first stage is to get the sheep in a row, white-brown-brown-white, in order to get that one out of the corner.
Yes- that is the level - thank you for the hint. I have a hard time understanding where I am in terms of the number of levels.
That is a very helpful hint.
Hi,
can anybody upload a screenshot maybe somewhere about this level 26, Stage name explained it like this, i can't figure it out (starting from the separate the far left X)
XXXX
OOXO
XXXO
OOXX
(separate far left X)
XXO
OXX
OXO
XXX
OOX
XXX
(combine with separated X)
I'm looking for help with this level. (It looks like this:)
= is a fence.
O is brown sheep.
X is a grey sheep.
=============
= O =
= X =
= O=
= X===
= =
===========
It's basically a level where two brown sheep have to be in the center with two grey sheep in between them at the sheep on the right. Any help?
That sounds like level 20. (2:40 pm on the clock)
Bring the 2 brown sheep up between the 2 black sheep, then move the flock to the corners and shift each black sheep down a step. Then bring the flock to the center.
Right now I'm stuck on level 27.
I'm making a Flockoban guide with pictures, but can't recall how to clear level 31. Any help?
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