Block Puzzle Walkthrough

Another time killer found - Block Puzzle

*** The name of the game has been recently changed***
*** Hope that the puzzles remain the same***

This tetris-like block puzzles Android game is another interesting time killer, containing MORE THAN 5000 block puzzles! Seriously, it is going to claim weeks to finish this.

The block puzzles are categorized:

• Novice (500)
• Normal (500)
• Expert (500)
• Novice 2 (500)
• Normal 2 (500)
• Expert 2 (500)
• Bonus (1000)
• Exceptional (1000)
• Hardest (1000)

In short, you are required to arrange the blocks into a contained area, through a simple drag and drop, as shown below:

Drag and drop the blocks into the white contained area

As observed, in the Novice mode, there are only 5 blocks (and large one), which are easier to be played around. There are 7 in the Normal mode, while 8 in the Expert Mode.

In the next few posts, i would start posting the Ultimate Puzzle Solutions, especially the Expert Mode. Since it really contains too many levels (and it consumes too much of my time to solve... oops), the solutions would be posted separately.

Last, if you are asking "Is that an intelligent way to solve the block puzzles?"

Hmm... I wouldn't say mine is the best one. But at least it isn't a random trials and errors. Usually, i would attempt placing the largest block (or the block containing the most tiles) as the first. Since the largest block has the least possible places to try, more often than not, it is the fastest to be figured out. And hence, the puzzle can be solved easier if the first piece is confirmed.

OR you may use the Universal Block Puzzle Solver (link provided below) if you have racked your brain but still to no avail.

Anyway, if you are having problems in Novice or Normal modes, kindly drop some messages here so that we would solve them together. :)

Edited:
1. Go to (Ultimate) Block Puzzle solutions lists to view more solutions.
2. (*NEW*) Go to Universal Block Puzzle Solver if you would like to DIY.

Caveboy Escape Game Walkthrough 2

So i actually managed to pass through the first three stages (RUINS I, RUINS II, RUINS III) in the Caveboy Escape Game after playing the 900 levels (3 stages x 100 levels x 3 puzzles per levels) in order to unlock the stage Forest I.

Then, as expected from the previous Walkthrough, the challenges onwards are 95% similar. In the Forest I stage, you are still going to help the caveboy escape. Except the fact that, in the third puzzle of each level, you need to locate the key first before entering the destination. Yep, the difficulty added is that, the key may not be on your paths to the exit. In some cases, you have to purposely take a longer path to reach the key first before returning to the exact exit paths. Other than that, there isn't much difference.

Ohya, you may argue that the tiles in the FOREST I stage are having closer colors (eg: more greenish). That is 'slightly' more difficult to play with. But overall it is still fine.

Again, there isn't a need to use the potion to solve the puzzles. Reverse engineering would pretty much solve every level. I would stop here unless you wish to know some solutions to get the 3 stars.

What i really wish is, the developers could reduce the similar puzzles, and add more variations into the game play (eg: add spikes or obstacles or sth). Let's wait for any update soon.

Caveboy Escape Game Walkthrough 1

Recently a friend of mine introduced a new game to me: Caveboy Escape. After playing for a while, i decide to write down the game's walkthrough.

The Caveboy Escape is a puzzle-solving game. In every level and stage, you have to guide the Caveboy to escape to the destination. The number of stars rewarded depends on how quick you overcome them.

I am personally impressed by the new ideas - The caveboy has to pass through a multiple of 3 steps before escaping. The 3-step has to be on the identical tiles. With this, it can be served as a time-killer easily.

However, i have to say - the number of puzzles are way too much, and monotonous. In each stage of the Caveboy Escape, there are 100 levels, in which there are 3 puzzles each to be solved. When the similar things are repeated too much, it really demotivates you to go further. At some point i am thinking the Caveboy should better stay inside the cave forever (since there isn't any threat in the cave...) Yet, i did actually make myself going through the first and second (solving 150+ levels and unlock the third one (RUINS III) with sufficient stars - 420). So far, the only thing i find out is that, the difficulty level increases with the larger tiles dimension, a.k.a from 6x6 to 7x7 and 8x8. I haven't reached to the FOREST stages as displayed in the Play Store yet, which i think is more interesting as it adds some variations into the game play - Key and Time Potion. More walkthrough details would be added once i have completed more.

Example of simple solution

Example of Longer Path solution

Alright, back to the puzzles solving. The puzzles could be easily solved through Reverse Engineering and Experience. Some levels just require a straightforward L-Shape path to reach the destination. On the other hands, if you find some stages a bit tricky, using reverse engineering (take the destination path as the starting point) would save much of your time. It helps ruling out a lot of possibilities which enable you to see through the maze quickly. And once you are getting used to the trends, your experience would be contributing in your solving ability.

I first thought to post the screenshot solutions of each level, but hesitated after realizing that it would occupy too much spaces... unless you really need it. Feel free to post some comments on the game.

Why the ratings of the Android Games/Apps are so extreme?

I am not sure how's the situation in the Apple App Store. But i am pretty sure that Android Games/Apps generally have an extreme record of ratings, a.k.a you would observe the peaks on both 1 star and 5 stars rating. For example:

We notice that out of the total of 7000 ratings of this Android Game, the 5-star-bar occupies 40+ percent, and the 1-star-bar is about 30+ percent.

According to my personal academic experiences, this situation is rare for any statistics distribution. Usually, the result would be Gaussian/Normal distribution with a peak almost at the 3-star-rating, with possibly left or right skewed. But the picture displays a completely different output. Why?

I have no absolute answers. But there are few possibilities to these scenarios:

In-compatible framework/tools used

Personally i experienced this as a developer. As mentioned before, there are a number of frameworks available to your needs in order to create an Android Game. However, the fact is that, Android devices vary too much, such that there isn't a standard for the implementation of the device testings. Seriously, there are hundreds of Android devices out there, with myriads of hardware designs and different Android versions. Have you really ensured that your Android Game is working on All devices first before uploaded to the Google Play Store? It would be considered sufficient if you could fulfill the needs of about 80%. Then? Right, you will get 1-star-rating from the remaining 20% as your games keep crashing on theirs. The xml configuration would help reduce some, but surely not all.

A disastrous update / design of your framework/tools

Adobe AIR IDE features 2 ways of packaging your games: Captive Runtime and Shared Runtime. The former is fine but with much larger apk file size. The latter consumes much smaller file size, but at the cost of the requirement to install another Adobe AIR plug-in. Say if you switch from the former to the latter, the users would be irked as they are required to make an additional move installing another app that they are so unfamiliar with. Hence, the stats of the uninstall rates will increase sharply. Despite the facts that the updates are actually coming with great features, the awareness of the users are desperately lacking. This only adds to their dissatisfaction, which results in 1 star rating (some even curse to rate worse than that).

Competitors

Google Play Store requires a relatively much lower threshold of the cost of development. With only $35 and no annual fees, it attracts a lot of competitors. The world of competition could be merciless. It is not surprising to see that no matter how outstanding your games are, they are still some rating them so badly in order to spoil your fame. Furthermore, the increasing availability and the affordability of the Android devices do enable those competitors to engage in these unhealthy activities so rampantly. Too bad this is the realistic world.

They are actually many more. But probably these are the main points.

Running Man Rock Scissors Paper Game is in the Google Play Store Now!

Yay! The Running Man Rock Scissors Paper Game is now available in the Google Play Store!

As the RM maniacs, we all know that there are 2 types of Rock Scissors Paper Games which are popular in the Running Man Variety Show:
a) Ka-wi Ba-wi Bo (가위 바위 보)

• A normal Rock Scissors Paper Game. Ka-wi (scissor), Ba-wi (rock), Bo (paper). 

b) Muk-jji-ppa (묵찌빠) 

• This is a Korean modified Rock Scissors Paper Game (eg: Refer Episode 147).
• To play this Muk-jji-ppa game, there are at least 2 rounds.
• In the first round, it is a normal Rock Scissors Paper.
• The winner of the first Round has to make the opponent's hand same as him/her in the second round in order to win the Muk-jji-ppa
• If there isn't a winner in the second round, the process is repeated.
  

In the Running Man Rock Scissors Paper Game, the game has been designed such that the winner of either the Ka-wi Ba-wi Bo or Muk-jji-ppa has to 'attack' his opponent (which is actually the Running Man Members) with the toy hammer (refer Episode 166). Meanwhile, the loser of the RSP has to protect himself from being attacked by using the pot shield. In order to defeat the RM member and unlock the stronger one, you need at least hit the opponent 3 times.

Something to note is that, this Running Man Rock Scissors Paper Game has no offense to any RM member. The stats is simply based on personal opinion.

Also, since a number of users don't like the Adobe AIR 4.0 plugin, this game is using the Adobe AIR 3.7. Before the awareness of the Adobe AIR 4.0 is getting popular, we would only use the lower version.