Jewels of the Oracle is 1995 puzzle challenge game that followed on the success of Mist. It is composed of twenty-four puzzles ranging from easy to difficult.
In the above video, the puzzle that appears at 6:00 is the puzzle that was onscreen two decades ago when I walked into the high rise apartment for the first and only time of a friend of a friend. I forget why we were there. His computer station was set up tightly right at the entrance in the space of a closet without a door. The glow of this puzzle lit the area.
Some person: "This is where we got stuck."
Frank: "You haven't got passed this?"
Some person: "No."
It looked very much like this, partially solved. I looked at their solved pieces at the top, how they knew they were right, I did not know. I looked at the tiles remaining. They have one thing in common, and only one thing. I guessed. Their solved pieces fit my guess. I saw what I needed in the remaining tiles. I put the tiles in their place and the puzzle was done in seconds. Next. The two men were stunned and disgusted and angry -- with me. Frank punched me.
"Son of a bitch."
When I showed them the solve they both shook their heads and said at the same time,
"Sometimes it takes an idiot."
See? I don't get any credit ever. But not all the puzzles are this easy. One puzzle is maddening because the solve is so subjective.
My favorite puzzle is a dung beetle in a maze pushing poo into a hole. You can instruct the game to be either easy or hard. The beetle tends to get stuck in corners. It can only push and there is alway something goofing it up.
One puzzle is a dastardly maze on a cube. You must solve it as if it were not a cube by rotating it around.
One you must solve for the values of Al-Jabara. Get it? It's maths!
A couple of challenges are based on the puzzle you see in puzzle books all over the place, very recognizable games, things like getting all the beans into bowl by making one hop each, or getting all the sheep to an island with limited means (not an actual puzzle in the game), or filling pipes with water by releasing sections and combining them so that they all eventually equal. Many of the puzzles are solved counterintuitively by working first in the opposite direction, that is, filling a pipe beyond the desired amount then dividing it later. Another with four beans on one side and four beans on the other with a blank space between, the goal is get all pieces to switched sides by hopping one piece at a time.
Ah! I notice some player uploaded all 24 challenges. They are not necessarily taken in this order. I think, all six positions at the central fountain have four challenges each.
One is based on the plastic game that is held in the hand with numbered tiles with one open space. The puzzle is solved by sliding the tiles around until they're arranged in order. That is another puzzle I used to solve in seconds when I was a kid. I am very good at that puzzle. Instead of numbers, the Jewels of the Oracle version has a pattern. I see the person solving the puzzle hasn't a clue what they are doing but manages to solve it anyway.
There is another similar puzzle that solves a wall mural of running horses. That is another of my favorites.
The whole atmosphere of the game is nice. It envisions an ancient world predating Sumerians. I read that somewhere. I like it because the world resembles predynastic Egypt.
Six pairings in the Hall of Hidden links is the subjective puzzle I do not like. Prehistoric objects are paired... by what? By type? By material? By intended use? By craftsmanship? By importance? By value? By weight? "These things go together," seems very simple but more than two things go together depending on how you regard them.
No wait. "Bowl and chest?" Not bowl and table?
"Hammer and brush", and not comb and brush? Not hammer and chisel?
"Statue and table", and not bowl and table?
I do not recall the satisfaction of completing this puzzle. It's like the logic portion of the GMAT verisimilitudes, they go completely off the rails and there is no way to challenge their thinking.
You can buy this game on CD ROM for $59.50 at Amazon. Or else $2.00 + shipping by other options at Amazon. What a world, what a world.
This laptop doesn't even have a slot for a CD ROM. That is like so last century.
I notice in search results places for free download of this game but none of the things I tried worked without signing up.
7 comments:
My husband bought me Myst because he loved computer games and was trying to share. I hated Myst. Supposedly this is the game that girls liked. I found nothing fun in being stuck by things that were made-up by other people and were made-up wrong. Hated Monkey Island. Hated Zoo Tycoon. Someone programmed what the animals needed but they were *wrong*.
Tetris was fun. Asteroids and pong and that breakout game were fun. There was always the reward of getting just a little bit farther or a slightly higher score.
None of this... you can't figure out how to get over the first bridge? Oh. So sad.
MMORPGs are fun because if you can't just cut your way through your obstacles you can go around them... or just go do something else until you level up... or find some friends to help.
How about Metroids? After all that, the hero celebrates your victory, automatically rips off their helmet and turns out to be a girl!
PSYCHE!
Eeeew what a buuuuuurrrrrrn.
Average salary in Amsterdam = $53K
Average salary in Washington D.C. = $84K
The Government teat swollen and leaky, my friend.
Wow. Mist. So many memories, from back in that time and in that day.
What a blast, plus the past. ; )
"I" [meaning "you"] know, right? With the appropriate spoken-aloud intonations, of course.
A catchphrase with, these days, a longer-than-average lifespan. It's the new "Cool!".
Just sayin'... .
People were johnny-come-lately talking about this catchphrase back in 2011 and referring to a 2007 somethin'-somethin'.
I say, so what else is new?--that is to say, what have you missed from more like 15-20 years ago, at the least, if not last?
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