Announcing the 2021 Holiday Create Competition!

[geodave]

First, a few words on the competition itself.

I admit to being a bit disappointed at only receiving two entries.    I understand that other things (like cclp5 tws fixes) were going on, but I felt this is an unexplored area, and would stretch designers if they put their minds to it.

Despite that, the two entries I did get were quite surprising and I found them very fun.    I asked for solutions because I was pretty sure I would not be able to solve them on my own -- and I was right.  I'll get into that in each level, but let's just say I'm not all that clever when it comes to level solving.

Entry 1 (first received) from Jeremy Christman:  Stairway to Valhalla.

This is a really interesting concept.  Basically, you can't get a red key (we've seen this trope before), but in order not to do so, you have to set up a line of tanks and a block for each teleport so when you teleport you skip them all and end up by the exit.  Very nice!

What made this level hard for me was not the red key, it was figuring out all the mechanisms to make the lines of tanks.  I imagine in time I would have figured it out, but I got rushed and watched the replay.  Also nice that the two solutions are clear -- one up and one down.

The only improvement I could see here is maybe a bit more of the goal explained in the hint -- but that's a matter of style preference.  This is also a very "do it in this order and don't screw up" level, so if you don't like that, you may not like this.  All in all, very well done.

Entry 2 (last received) from Bowman:  The Seven Gates.

I LOVE the hint in this level!  It's nice when every choice is the right one.  I could play this level over and over just to read the hint.

Whereas in Stairway to Valhalla, I think I could have eventually figured it out -- with The Seven Gates that is a near impossibility.  There is so much stuff hidden under blocks and the layout is so cacophonous that I imagine I would have just thrown up my hands -- which in fact is what I did.

That is not to say this isn't a good level -- it's a very good level.  Layouts like this are canon in cclps and it's not like anything is chasing you while you figure out where to go.

Also nice is the seven solutions to the two exits.  I feel this is very in the spirit of what I was going for in Splashing in the Rainstorm. 

I like the nods to Keep Trying and Special at the end.  It's nice to see something familiar amidst something new.  And then, for some of us, it will bug you until you figure out where you saw that before.

This level is not "challenging", but it is interesting.  Now that I know the solutions I'll probably try to do them all.

In fact, for both levels I'll probably keep playing them until I can solve them.  This is similar (but not the same) as to what happened to me with Same Game and Old Frog -- I needed some help but once I got what was going on I wanted to complete them.

All in all, these are good levels and you should give them a try.  I would vote either into a CCLP.

The "winner" - by a hair -- is The Seven Gates.  Mainly because there are more solutions.  Thanks for participating and keep trying new ideas!