This set seemed to, coincidentally, be the set of tough (mostly block) puzzles, with several of them appearing in the final 10.
Some of my favorites here:
#6 If I Ran the Zoo -- What an incredibly creative concept! This was fun to figure out. I really like being able to walk around the level freely and the easy-to-use mechanisms for choosing which cage to partial-post the monsters into. I'd love to see this in CCLP4, just as JB said.
#10 Yet Another Pickle -- Teeth dodging in an open space tends to simplify itself to one easy strategy: lure all the Teeth into a clump near you, then hightail it across the level, grab as much stuff as you can, and repeat. The force floors here keep you constantly on your toes, as they ensure that strategy never goes off without a hitch. But since there are just 5 Teeth, which is a perfectly reasonable number to dodge, this isn't extremely hard either, and I had a lot of fun beating this one!
#35 Teknopathic (This is how I first misread its name, and I refuse to use its real name, because the level is not pathetic!
) -- This is a variety level where the parts don't have a lot of cohesion, but I found it incredibly fun to play. I think it's a case of the level hitting the bullseye on difficulty for its length--not so hard as to be frustrating, but not too easy as to be boring. Like JB, I enjoyed the "find the path through the monster trails" section. Also, I nearly panicked when I saw the bombs on the force floor slide, but soon realized the level is kind enough that the force floors won't fling you into them if you sit still and let them carry you.
#41 Malachite -- A logic puzzle that's exceptionally rigid, but it's really not too hard to figure out what gets done before what. If this were bigger it would have been frustrating to try to remember everything to do, but the designer kept the level down to a manageable size.
#43 Death to Us All -- Like Malachite, but trades being a bit bigger for being a bit less rigid.
Honorable mention goes to Reservoir Frogs which other people already mentioned.
Responses to others' comments:
JB and Chipster both commented on Salmon, with differing opinions, but both compared it to Rat Race. While it was definitely designed to be a foil to Rat Race, a notable difference is that Rat Race is pure dodging while Salmon involves both dodging and puzzles. Nice to see some diversity in opinions, even though one of them says the level's "ordinary".
Not that it matters now, but "Too hard for CCLP1", really? This was only Level 11 in my first set! I wonder what you thought of "Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me".
However, looking back at this level, even though it was made long ago I just now realized that the thief could be replaced by a gravel tile. As of now the thief tile means that if you accidentally re-enter the bug quadrant a second time, you're cooked. However, there's no fire outside of that quadrant, so letting you carry the boots elsewhere isn't a problem, and none of the other quadrants cause a cook if you enter them twice. So if this does get into CCLP4 (and I think it's a fine early level but no standout), I give the staff (hey, that includes me!) permission to make that switch.
Some of my favorites here:
#6 If I Ran the Zoo -- What an incredibly creative concept! This was fun to figure out. I really like being able to walk around the level freely and the easy-to-use mechanisms for choosing which cage to partial-post the monsters into. I'd love to see this in CCLP4, just as JB said.
#10 Yet Another Pickle -- Teeth dodging in an open space tends to simplify itself to one easy strategy: lure all the Teeth into a clump near you, then hightail it across the level, grab as much stuff as you can, and repeat. The force floors here keep you constantly on your toes, as they ensure that strategy never goes off without a hitch. But since there are just 5 Teeth, which is a perfectly reasonable number to dodge, this isn't extremely hard either, and I had a lot of fun beating this one!
#35 Teknopathic (This is how I first misread its name, and I refuse to use its real name, because the level is not pathetic!
) -- This is a variety level where the parts don't have a lot of cohesion, but I found it incredibly fun to play. I think it's a case of the level hitting the bullseye on difficulty for its length--not so hard as to be frustrating, but not too easy as to be boring. Like JB, I enjoyed the "find the path through the monster trails" section. Also, I nearly panicked when I saw the bombs on the force floor slide, but soon realized the level is kind enough that the force floors won't fling you into them if you sit still and let them carry you.#41 Malachite -- A logic puzzle that's exceptionally rigid, but it's really not too hard to figure out what gets done before what. If this were bigger it would have been frustrating to try to remember everything to do, but the designer kept the level down to a manageable size.
#43 Death to Us All -- Like Malachite, but trades being a bit bigger for being a bit less rigid.
Honorable mention goes to Reservoir Frogs which other people already mentioned.
Responses to others' comments:
Quote:18 [Variety of Brown]: The sokobans aren't very fun. The paramecia sections are annoying. The block checkerboard at the end is pointless.I liked the sokobans, but didn't like trying not to boost into the paramecia in the ice-corner room in the MS ruleset. A little more breathing room between them would have been nice.
Quote:34 [Another Medium]: Various small fun puzzles. It's a good level.Agreed but I don't know what purpose the tank button serves. It seems you can get the chips and get out of that room without pressing it.
JB and Chipster both commented on Salmon, with differing opinions, but both compared it to Rat Race. While it was definitely designed to be a foil to Rat Race, a notable difference is that Rat Race is pure dodging while Salmon involves both dodging and puzzles. Nice to see some diversity in opinions, even though one of them says the level's "ordinary".
Quote:49: I think I played this in CCLP1 voting. While it was too hard for CCLP1, I think it is just perfect for CCLP4.
Not that it matters now, but "Too hard for CCLP1", really?
This was only Level 11 in my first set! I wonder what you thought of "Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me".However, looking back at this level, even though it was made long ago I just now realized that the thief could be replaced by a gravel tile. As of now the thief tile means that if you accidentally re-enter the bug quadrant a second time, you're cooked. However, there's no fire outside of that quadrant, so letting you carry the boots elsewhere isn't a problem, and none of the other quadrants cause a cook if you enter them twice. So if this does get into CCLP4 (and I think it's a fine early level but no standout), I give the staff (hey, that includes me!) permission to make that switch.