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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June 11, 2020
puzzle astronauts [browser]
Move all the astronauts to their goal items in the puzzler Puzzle Astronauts by Llpujol94. (controls: cursor keys to move, R-key to reset)
@llpujol94 I'm using Chrome Version 83.0.4103.97 (Official Build) (64-bit), on Ubuntu Linux. When I run it, the level select screen comes up, but the moving stars background is missing, and when I select a level, it goes to that screen, but the puzzle map doesn't come up, it's just gray.
For me (Linux mint chrome 70.0.3538.77 (Official Build) (64-bit)) The stars appear, but no list of levels. The menu button work. Works great in Firefox though
That was my first thought, as it is the only way to tag the right platform. But unless there is some glue I can't see, it won't end the level in any way.
Hmmm.. Annoyingly, Kongregate seems to have forgotten my progress, but I was having fun before that point!
I understand the rationale behind stepcounts and stars, but I think there are better ways to think about multiple difficulty levels in puzzle games. Ordinarily, stepcounts are a crutch, where the puzzles are unconstrained enough that the designer has to lean on whether the player found the optimal solution, rather than the only/acceptable solution. That's not the case here, where it's clear from some of the later levels that a lot of the puzzle design is based around introducing and developing concepts, then constructing levels that require a particular insight or strategy. In that context, what's important is whether the solution is reached, rather than the arbitrary number of steps it took to achieve it. And once you reach those more challenging levels, the a-ha moment of finding the solution is infinitely more pleasurable than the tedious busywork of optimising the solution to get a 3 star rating.
Anyway, nit-picking aside, there's some really well-designed puzzles in there, so congrats :-)
Unknown you are the first comment on this or the main site to refer to a level higher than 22. Are you going to post a meaningful hint, or solution for level 22 so we know it can be done?
Anonymous, I think the hint above on level 22 is the most important one. The only other thing that might have been new is to notice that when both of you are sliding over the ice, the one who hits a target first stops there.
For 22 you want to get one of your aliens on to the right target, then just interpolate the movements of the other alien so that the alien on the right target is always walking back on to that target.
ie, you want the non-target alien to move down. If you just press down it's no good, but if you press up first and then down, the non-target alien will still end up where you wanted them, but the target alien will have moved off their target and back on to it.
@Frobisher is really rare that you lose your progress... and obviously quite annoying... I don't know the cause, but Kongregate will not be, maybe some of your browsers settings or other, that finished deleting the storage for that site... but just a possible theory.
@Frobisher About the stepcounts and stars, I totally agree with you, it happens to me sometimes while I am playing. This happens heavily in some levels that the solution steps are large, and some of them are 'arbitrary', although, I tried to define every level with every step being important for the final result. But yeah, it happens, solving the level should be the main thing, and reaching the 3 stars just an option. Thanks for pointing it out in that comment, it helps a lot:) (At the beginning just was 2 puntuations for the level: solved and perfect (perfect meaning the minimum steps taken for that level, maybe that made more sense)
About the levels in general, Reaching the level 54 should be possible with some dedication and understanding of the mechanics of the game. Although, for the ones that solved level 54 and reached level 55, I totally advise that levels 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 & 60 are REALLY HARD to solve. To solve them one needs some dedication & time. Even for me that designed them, I struggle to solve them once some time has passed. So I advise if someone gets frustrated with the game or something, that those levels are non easy and one can't solve them without thinking a lot.
If someone struggles in some level, or needs some hint, you can direct message me on twitter: https://twitter.com/llorenspujol or sent me an email: llorenspujol1@gmail.com
Thank you for your help with #22. At first I thought you meant slipping in an extra move. If you could move one whilst the other was still sliding how to keep track of the move count. However I figured out the walk into the wall a lot method lol.
For level 39 - I don't know if it is out of bounds just to give you the whole key, but best as I can explain it without just laying it out - you need to get both men next to each other in the right sector where the man on the left is stuck between the escalators and the man on the right is poised to go up.
After you hit the up key, the man on the right will go up and into the top wall. When you go left, they will line up underneath one another, with one man at the top of the wall and the other at the base of the descending escalator. When you hit down, the man at the top will descend down the escalator and the man at the bottom will move one space down. After that - by going up one space, it crams the top man onto the descending escalator and he is frozen there and you can go to the right twice which creates the space that is needed to then go down and into the target spaces.
Ps. when I say "stuck between the escalators", I mean that the man on the left is in the space just below the wall that separates the escalators, so that when the man on the right moves up the escalator, he maintains his position.
Anonymous today: o-ho! I thought it* would slide down the arrows once the obstacle (i.e. the other astronaut) was removed. (* undifferentiated little blue humanoids = men?) Now I'm up to level 41, for which I might just need to be a bit more awake.
Glad to help on 39 - I have gotten 3 stars on all of the levels up to 40, and 3 stars on 42, 43, 45 and 50. Then 2 stars on 41, 44, and 46 thru 49. By 51 and 52, I have solved them, but just have 1 star. On level 53 now, but at this point, I have enjoyed the game immensely, but without an "undo last move" option, it begins to get tedious with ad nauseum restarts.
Now I'm stuck on 46, I can't see how to line up 2 of them vertically without the third ending up in a hole. (I gave up trying to get 3 stars, then 2 stars, quite a few levels ago.)
I was the "anonymous" on the two 39 explanations and the unknown on the followup. As far as 46 - I can only 2 stars - with 20 being 3 stars and this gets you 21. I apologize if this is a spoiler, but it takes too much thinking to describe it in some mysterious way and anyone is free to tell me I am out of bounds or just ignore the below, but those that have gotten this far in the game understand that we've all been looking for a "walkthrough".
Thanks Anonymous/Unknown! (I don't want to give Google my name in the Blogger profile and that seems to be the only kind of account I can comment with here.)
Once I saw your method, I was able to think about shortcuts. Try this (anyone who doesn't like spoilers: just don't expand the abbreviations): ddd urr ddl llr dlr drd lu
Wow, 49 looks easy but it really isn't. I need to come back to it fresh, I think.
So I came back to it fresh and I still don't get level 49. I can get a T-shape with one of them on the wormhole, but I can't get them lined up both vertically and horizontally. Has anybody found a walkthrough?
I haven't really tried 53 much more - as I stated above, I just don't have the time or concentration without an "undo last move", so 49 is the last difficult one I got 2 stars on - 50 is a pretty easy 3 star and on 51 and 52, I got 1 star so that would be an extended walkthrough that would be tough to communicate. As far as 49 is concerned - the max is 12 and this one gets you 15 -
I wouldn't say 50 was easy, exactly, but once I got it, I got "Minimum movements 44 Your movements 41"!
I got 2 stars on 52. I guess you've got the basic method of "get as many as you can onto the bridge, use the wormhole to line up the others" etc. I could use the replay button to make a step-by-step if you want it.
Going by the author's comments, I might be giving up hereabouts.
@Unknown You did 41 movements in level 50? For now I am just able to do 42 (I would have to dig more into it:)). Nice play, maybe I should add 4 stars, for when the solution of the dev is beaten:), congrats!
I am really happy some people is enjoying the game, so I added the 'undo' feature. Hope this can make the game less frustrating sometimes.
I am planning to add an option too, that says: 'Undo when lose' that would mean that when a player steps into a hole, automatically is done an undo movement... because as it is now, you can undo, but if you step into a hole, you lose all your progress! still frustrating in some levels maybe, since with 4 astronauts moving is hard sometimes to avoid the holes.
Just for curiosity, I notice that one player just have 2 levels left to solve (59 & 60)!!
These last days I had some time and I uploaded a new version where everyone can push it's score on a ranking and see where it is:). It also non-hackeable since I check on the server that every solution is a valid one, so all results seen on the ranking page should be totally valid:).
If someone is stuck and wants help you can DM on twitter: https://twitter.com/llorenspujol or gmail: llorenspujol1@gmail.com
Doesn't seem to work with Chrome. Works with Firefox.
ReplyDeleteWorked fine for me with Chrome. Love the look and game mechanics were smooth. Fun puzzler! Thanks, Llpujol94 and Bart.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, here is Llpujol94 the dev under this game:), can you pass me your chrome version and the device you are executing it?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
@llpujol94 I'm using Chrome Version 83.0.4103.97 (Official Build) (64-bit), on Ubuntu Linux. When I run it, the level select screen comes up, but the moving stars background is missing, and when I select a level, it goes to that screen, but the puzzle map doesn't come up, it's just gray.
ReplyDeleteFor me (Linux mint chrome 70.0.3538.77 (Official Build) (64-bit))
ReplyDeleteThe stars appear, but no list of levels. The menu button work.
Works great in Firefox though
Chrome Version 83.0.4103.97 (Official Build) (64-bit) and that is what you need to play this game.
ReplyDeleteThe game could use a sliding animation.
ReplyDeleteI gave up trying to get a 6 instead of 7 on # 21.
ReplyDeleteNow I can't see any way level 22 could be done.
Hint for level 22: move both astronauts to the right side of the bottom row.
ReplyDeleteThat was my first thought, as it is the only way to tag the right platform.
ReplyDeleteBut unless there is some glue I can't see, it won't end the level in any way.
Hmmm.. Annoyingly, Kongregate seems to have forgotten my progress, but I was having fun before that point!
ReplyDeleteI understand the rationale behind stepcounts and stars, but I think there are better ways to think about multiple difficulty levels in puzzle games. Ordinarily, stepcounts are a crutch, where the puzzles are unconstrained enough that the designer has to lean on whether the player found the optimal solution, rather than the only/acceptable solution. That's not the case here, where it's clear from some of the later levels that a lot of the puzzle design is based around introducing and developing concepts, then constructing levels that require a particular insight or strategy. In that context, what's important is whether the solution is reached, rather than the arbitrary number of steps it took to achieve it. And once you reach those more challenging levels, the a-ha moment of finding the solution is infinitely more pleasurable than the tedious busywork of optimising the solution to get a 3 star rating.
Anyway, nit-picking aside, there's some really well-designed puzzles in there, so congrats :-)
I'm stuck on level 26. I see a hint lightbulb, but it's greyed out; is there a way of activating it?
ReplyDeleteUnknown you are the first comment on this or the main site to refer to a level higher than 22.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to post a meaningful hint, or solution for level 22 so we know it can be done?
Anonymous, I think the hint above on level 22 is the most important one. The only other thing that might have been new is to notice that when both of you are sliding over the ice, the one who hits a target first stops there.
ReplyDeleteFor 22 you want to get one of your aliens on to the right target, then just interpolate the movements of the other alien so that the alien on the right target is always walking back on to that target.
ReplyDeleteie, you want the non-target alien to move down. If you just press down it's no good, but if you press up first and then down, the non-target alien will still end up where you wanted them, but the target alien will have moved off their target and back on to it.
On 26, you want them to meet while sliding on the ice so they can leave together.
ReplyDeleteI'm stuck on 49.
ReplyDeleteHere is Llpujol94 (the dev under the game).
ReplyDelete@Frobisher is really rare that you lose your progress... and obviously quite annoying... I don't know the cause, but Kongregate will not be, maybe some of your browsers settings or other, that finished deleting the storage for that site... but just a possible theory.
@Frobisher About the stepcounts and stars, I totally agree with you, it happens to me sometimes while I am playing. This happens heavily in some levels that the solution steps are large, and some of them are 'arbitrary', although, I tried to define every level with every step being important for the final result. But yeah, it happens, solving the level should be the main thing, and reaching the 3 stars just an option. Thanks for pointing it out in that comment, it helps a lot:) (At the beginning just was 2 puntuations for the level: solved and perfect (perfect meaning the minimum steps taken for that level, maybe that made more sense)
About the levels in general, Reaching the level 54 should be possible with some dedication and understanding of the mechanics of the game. Although, for the ones that solved level 54 and reached level 55, I totally advise that levels 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 & 60 are REALLY HARD to solve. To solve them one needs some dedication & time. Even for me that designed them, I struggle to solve them once some time has passed. So I advise if someone gets frustrated with the game or something, that those levels are non easy and one can't solve them without thinking a lot.
If someone struggles in some level, or needs some hint, you can direct message me on twitter: https://twitter.com/llorenspujol
or sent me an email: llorenspujol1@gmail.com
I will be happy to respond:)
Thank you for your help with #22.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought you meant slipping in an extra move.
If you could move one whilst the other was still sliding how to keep track of the move count.
However I figured out the walk into the wall a lot method lol.
Now I'm stuck on level 39. How can you possibly get them 2 spaces apart left-to-right?
ReplyDeleteFor level 39 - I don't know if it is out of bounds just to give you the whole key, but best as I can explain it without just laying it out - you need to get both men next to each other in the right sector where the man on the left is stuck between the escalators and the man on the right is poised to go up.
ReplyDeleteAfter you hit the up key, the man on the right will go up and into the top wall. When you go left, they will line up underneath one another, with one man at the top of the wall and the other at the base of the descending escalator. When you hit down, the man at the top will descend down the escalator and the man at the bottom will move one space down. After that - by going up one space, it crams the top man onto the descending escalator and he is frozen there and you can go to the right twice which creates the space that is needed to then go down and into the target spaces.
Ps. when I say "stuck between the escalators", I mean that the man on the left is in the space just below the wall that separates the escalators, so that when the man on the right moves up the escalator, he maintains his position.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous today: o-ho! I thought it* would slide down the arrows once the obstacle (i.e. the other astronaut) was removed. (* undifferentiated little blue humanoids = men?)
ReplyDeleteNow I'm up to level 41, for which I might just need to be a bit more awake.
Glad to help on 39 - I have gotten 3 stars on all of the levels up to 40, and 3 stars on 42, 43, 45 and 50. Then 2 stars on 41, 44, and 46 thru 49. By 51 and 52, I have solved them, but just have 1 star. On level 53 now, but at this point, I have enjoyed the game immensely, but without an "undo last move" option, it begins to get tedious with ad nauseum restarts.
ReplyDeleteOh, another Unknown, that'll be confusing!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm stuck on 46, I can't see how to line up 2 of them vertically without the third ending up in a hole. (I gave up trying to get 3 stars, then 2 stars, quite a few levels ago.)
I was the "anonymous" on the two 39 explanations and the unknown on the followup. As far as 46 - I can only 2 stars - with 20 being 3 stars and this gets you 21. I apologize if this is a spoiler, but it takes too much thinking to describe it in some mysterious way and anyone is free to tell me I am out of bounds or just ignore the below, but those that have gotten this far in the game understand that we've all been looking for a "walkthrough".
ReplyDeleted d d u r r l l d d l d r r r l d r l d u
Thanks Anonymous/Unknown! (I don't want to give Google my name in the Blogger profile and that seems to be the only kind of account I can comment with here.)
ReplyDeleteOnce I saw your method, I was able to think about shortcuts. Try this (anyone who doesn't like spoilers: just don't expand the abbreviations):
ddd urr ddl llr dlr drd lu
Wow, 49 looks easy but it really isn't. I need to come back to it fresh, I think.
So I came back to it fresh and I still don't get level 49. I can get a T-shape with one of them on the wormhole, but I can't get them lined up both vertically and horizontally. Has anybody found a walkthrough?
ReplyDeleteI haven't really tried 53 much more - as I stated above, I just don't have the time or concentration without an "undo last move", so 49 is the last difficult one I got 2 stars on - 50 is a pretty easy 3 star and on 51 and 52, I got 1 star so that would be an extended walkthrough that would be tough to communicate. As far as 49 is concerned - the max is 12 and this one gets you 15 -
ReplyDeleted l l u u l d r u u l r l d r
Thanks, Anonymous Unknown.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say 50 was easy, exactly, but once I got it, I got "Minimum movements 44
Your movements 41"!
I got 2 stars on 52. I guess you've got the basic method of "get as many as you can onto the bridge, use the wormhole to line up the others" etc. I could use the replay button to make a step-by-step if you want it.
Going by the author's comments, I might be giving up hereabouts.
Hey all, llpujol94 here (dev of the game).
ReplyDelete@Unknown You did 41 movements in level 50? For now I am just able to do 42 (I would have to dig more into it:)). Nice play, maybe I should add 4 stars, for when the solution of the dev is beaten:), congrats!
I am really happy some people is enjoying the game, so I added the 'undo' feature. Hope this can make the game less frustrating sometimes.
I am planning to add an option too, that says: 'Undo when lose' that would mean that when a player steps into a hole, automatically is done an undo movement... because as it is now, you can undo, but if you step into a hole, you lose all your progress! still frustrating in some levels maybe, since with 4 astronauts moving is hard sometimes to avoid the holes.
Just for curiosity, I notice that one player just have 2 levels left to solve (59 & 60)!!
Made it all the way to level 57 before getting stuck. Anyone have any tips?
ReplyDeleteHey all, llpujol94 here (dev of the game).
ReplyDeleteThese last days I had some time and I uploaded a new version where everyone can push it's score on a ranking and see where it is:). It also non-hackeable since I check on the server that every solution is a valid one, so all results seen on the ranking page should be totally valid:).
If someone is stuck and wants help you can DM on twitter: https://twitter.com/llorenspujol or gmail: llorenspujol1@gmail.com
I hope someone pushes it's results!:)
Cheers!