7 hours ago
I finally finished CCLP5 in MS mode a few weeks ago and am currently almost done with it in Lynx mode and thought I'd post my thoughts on the set as a whole. First, some context: my opinion of a levelset seems to largely hinge on how much I participated in the voting. For CCLP1 and 4, I voted on every level. For CCLP3 and CC2LP1, I was not involved at all, and these happened to be my favorites. Not that I don't like the other 2, (I'm shamelessly ignoring CCLP2; I already shared my thoughts on that set for my CC2LP1 review) in fact I recognize that the overall quality of level design went up after CCLP3, but 3 and 2LP1 were my favorites. I think this set falls in between them for me, with 2LP1 still taking the top spot. But CCLP5 is impressive. The fact is that it's my favorite CC1 LP and that's saying something.
I was still pretty involved in the voting process, being able to vote on about 90% of the levels before the voting deadline. I had planned on voting and playing all the levels, but I realized even before the deadline was announced that that wasn't very likely. I played through and voted on my first 12 voting packs completely before I started just voting on the minimum 80 percent of a set before I was allowed to move on to the next one. I was able to get to all the voting packs this way, and then when time was almost up, I quickly looked at the levels I didn't get to and voted on some that I knew or that would be quick enough for me to playtest a little. All told, I voted on 1,525 out of 1,695 levels. Phew!
I was curious how many, if any, levels that I never played would be in the final product, but there were some, and I'll make note of these below. After voting was over and while the set was being compiled, I also compiled my own realm set of levels from voting that I thought should make it. This was a very loose set as I also had the stipulation that no levels could be in it that were also in my realm set for CCLP4 voting I made years back. That means that even some levels that I gave 5's to would not make it based on the fact that they "should've been in CCLP4." Despite this, 60 levels from my realm set made it, which is more than the 51 from BUR that made it in CCLP4. Also, notably there were 2 levels from BUR that made it in CCLP5. These realm sets are for meme purposes but they were so much fun to make and you can check them out if you so choose. (They are on gliderbot. BUR.dat (Bowman's Unlikely Realm) was compiled with CCLP4 in mind, BUTTS.dat, (Bowman's Unlikely Trial, The Sequel) CCLP5)
Then CCLP5 officially came out and I started playing right away on March 1. I had planned to take sort of a hiatus from the game as I had become burnt out on CC from playing the voting packs with a time crunch. So I was in no rush to complete CCLP5. But it was the perfect thing to get me back into enjoying the game immensely. My progress through the set hit many lulls and sometimes I would go weeks, maybe even months without playing, as summer is the busiest time of the year for me. But my breaks were never because I was not satisfied with the set. If anything, playing at my own pace enhanced my enjoyment of it. In December 2024, I started to spend more time on the game again, completing the set sometime in January, which I did in the Clubhouse on Discord, with a few people showing up to watch my experience, which was a lot of fun.
Now, let's get into it. I love the set. The quality of levels continues to go up from CCLP4, which is amazing. For the longest time I was still saying there is not a single level in CCLP5 I don't like, but as I got to the end of the set, I was able to refine my opinions on some levels that I would've liked to have seen and a few that I could've done without. That being said, I still don't blame the staff or the voters for the levels that made it. Even the ones I'm not the fondest of are still genius levels and I can see why they were so well liked. This is easily my favorite CC1 level pack. Even CCLP3, my next favorite, has a handful of levels I really don't like. Also, CCLP5's best levels rival my favorites ever in any official pack. The only thing keeping this out of the top spot for me is the sheer perfection of CC2LP1.
I did like the secret hints. They made for a fun extra thing to achieve since CC1 doesn't have bonuses. Now to post my thoughts on the individual levels. Please note, any levels not mentioned here I still very much enjoyed. I just have some comments on levels that were either my absolute favorites, or I just had something else to share about them.
Level 12 - Vault Line: This is one of the few levels that I did not get to in voting, but I had played it before because I have beaten Trading Places. I still didn't remember this one at first but I knew it felt familiar. In my opinion, the level its walls are from, Josh Lee's Prison Hall, is much more memorable and I would've rather seen that one in its spot. I'm curious as to others' opinions on this, but the staff has spoken and ultimately, I have no problem with its inclusion.
Level 18 - Press Any Button to Continue: Love this one, glad I wasn't alone.
Level 25 - Drops of Jupiter: I still wish there was some reason to reach the area where the hint is, but the rest of the level makes up for this nitpick.
Level 31 - Sealed Chamber: This is one I kind of missed the mark on. I think I gave it a 4 in voting, which means it didn't even qualify to make my realms set, which I regret because I do think it's deserving of its spot.
Level 41 - The Dividing Line: This level is really cool.
Level 47 - The Toggle Station: I like this one. A surprise entry since I had never played nor seen it before, but I like that it's in the set and it's cool that Eric Schmidt gets to continue his CCLP streak.
Level 50 - The Unwinding: This is a unique case where I gave a level a 5 without actually having beaten it at the time. Since it fell after level 40 in its respective voting pack, I did not play it right away, as I skipped to the next pack, but I heard a lot about this level. So, in the last days of voting I went and played it a little and while I didn't complete it back then, it did feel like a level I would love to play. It also feels like a spiritual successor to Spiral which is cool. It ended up not being as hard as I would have thought. It was level 136 in my realm set lol.
Level 55 - Dauntless Extraction: Another one I didn't get to in voting. It's fine. I like it.
Level 58 - Warehouse of Lost Hopes and Dreams: I have previously said that this level may be my favorite level in all of CC. I may have cooled on it since then but it is still super fun to replay. Yeah, if this level didn't make it, I was done with the game.
Level 64 - Condemned Facility: It's still Condemned Faculty to me lol. I know "Facility" is the name it's supposed to be, but something about the "wrong" title was appealing to me. I don't know why, it just grew on me and I kind of wish it could've stayed, like one of those words that people say wrong long enough that it becomes part of the vernacular.
Level 66 - Tornado Alley: Favorite level from Trading Places. Glad to see it here.
Level 67 - Manhattan Stoplight: A nice puzzle from Andrew M. and the next level that I had never seen before. I would've voted highly on it.
Level 74 - Dark Hollow: I love this one. This level is deceptively hard and always seems to stump me.
Level 79 - Drawn and Quartered and Quartered: The brown button puzzle always stumps me!
Level 81 - Numbskull: I am so glad this level made it.
Level 86 - Phantasmal Stalkers: Really cool concept to be in a CCLP.
Level 100 - The Most Interesting Block in the World: I do like this level. However, I've found that it's not the most fun level to replay which I often had to do. Get gud I guess. I wish Block Buster 3 in 2D would've made it over this.
Level 101 - Barefoot Bandit: Now we're talking. I absolutely LOVE this one.
Level 110 - Another Perspective: Another one that is a must-include.
Level 111 - Aquatica: The next level that I had never seen before. A nice maze.
Level 114 - A Love for Puzzles: Super well-designed puzzle. I really like this one.
Level 116 - Sho Sheng Shui: I'm a big fan of this.
Level 122 - Expanding Warehouse: I have always liked this level, but said in the past that I didn't think it was CCLP-worthy. I think I could be wrong. I definitely do not hate playing it. It's a unique take on the concept and for that I like it here.
Level 128 - Fahrenheit Frenzy: This is where I picked up the game again after a pretty lengthy hiatus.
Level 135 - Crux of the Matter: This was my favorite level in all of voting. It had to do with my first experience in solving it, kind of like the first time I solved Plug in Baby back in the day. It was just so satisfying and I didn't require any outside help. I'm hesitant to say if it is still my ultimate favorite level here but it's definitely a contender.
Level 137 - Gravelways: Perhaps the only level in the whole set I'm not really a fan of. So, for a while I had seen this level making different chipsters' realm sets, and I was thinking, "Have I played this?" And yes, I had played and beaten it in CCLP4 voting and again in the voting for this set. But it never really stuck out to me as to why so many people loved it. I gave it a 2 each time. As I was attempting it again for CCLP5 proper, I could not for the life of me solve it. It killed me, but I resorted to checking my solution from the voting packs and, sure enough, the level had been changed! Clearly, my solution was a bust and it was more than a little demoralizing to realize that I had never truly solved this level all these years. The solution I had achieved never really felt like a bust though, which is why it never occurred to me. Maybe my dislike is due to the fact that I was never able to fully wrap my head around why certain actions were necessary/impossible. It really is brilliantly constructed, but it was frustrating for me to have to stoop to ask for help. So yeah, it's not the level's fault, but this is probably my least favorite level in the set. Maybe I will come to appreciate it more the more I play it, but it's definitely not one I would replay for fun. Later, watching Markus explain it in his LP made it seem so simple. I guess it just comes down to: this is a level I just don't "get."
Level 138 - Eternal Engine: Another level I had never beaten before. For this one, I called up Jeremy, the level's designer, on Discord when playing it. Fortunately I was able to solve it without any help and that was a fun experience. It made me want to play the rest of the set like that, with company and a nice back-and-forth, hence why I played the rest of my CCLP5 run in the Clubhouse. The level itself was intimidating to me at first, but eventually it unraveled itself into a nice, reasonable puzzle. I felt like it hit a good balance and I can see why it was voted in.
Level 139 - Udassa: Much like Sho Sheng Shui before it, I like the challenge of levels like this. I even enjoyed playing to get all the chips after I initially beat it. I probably like the former a bit more overall, but a fun level nonetheless.
Level 140 - Yet Another Perspective: This is where I'm glad the set diverges from my realm set, as I included Another Perspective but not this level. I am so glad they are both here. I was kind of worried the similar themes might be seen as too similar for both levels to make it, so I wanted to vote higher on Another Perspective. But I do really like both. This one, in particular, was super hard for me this time around. I beat it in voting with help, but had a harder time this time around beating it, and actually needed help on another aspect of the level than last time. The staff made the right call here and I love the Totally Fair/Totally Unfair aspect of both the levels making it.
Level 141 - World Revolution: Not much to say here. A fun, hard level. The only part I'm not the biggest fan of is the force floor section in the NW, but that's only because I'm not too good at timing those kinds of things. Also, I kind of wish there was something to do with the block at the end.
Level 142 - Crown Jewels: I have mixed feelings on this level. On the one hand, it's brilliant and definitely CCLP-worthy. On the other hand, it's hard. Really, really, really hard. Why is that a bad thing? It's not. This is just a personal issue. I hate when I need help with a level, and I just could not figure this one out on my own. I had beaten the original four block version of this level, which makes sense because that was much easier. The fact that another block could be added and the level was still possible I think is awesome. I would be disappointed if JB didn't change the level to make it reach its highest potential. However, when I first played the new version, (I don't remember if it was in voting or sometime before that) I eventually cheated after I, in my mind, had exhausted all possible moves. I wish that wasn't the case. I just felt trapped. But once I had seen the solution, I haven't needed to consult it again. At least I was able to beat it without help again, with a lot of time elapsed since then, but that just means I vaguely remembered what the solution involved. I can't unknow the trick. So once again, not the level's fault, but I both like and dislike this level. I feel like the set is better for it though.
Level 143 - Lagoon of the Low Tide: Wow. What a level. This is exactly the kind of level I don't like to solve, upon initial viewing anyway. This level really intimidated me, as it felt like everything I did was a part of some grand puzzle that I couldn't see yet. I really don't like that. It felt like in order to explore the level fully, I had to make moves that probably cooked me in some way but I couldn't be sure. I wasn't too concerned about looking for my solution in the voting pack this time, but it was notably missing. I straight-up skipped this level in voting lol. So I was on my own. Because I felt like playing the level in a 9x9 window was unreasonable and frustrating, I resorted to playing the level in SuperCC, which I feel was warranted. There, it was reasonable to map everything out, and I was able to solve the level without help. That was a good feeling. But CC isn't a game where the whole map is viewable at once. I know, this is subjective. I'm sure some people were able to beat the level in Tile World and didn't think not being able to see the whole map was a problem. This level was the first time that a CCLP reached CCLP3 difficulty since that set. With all that being said, figuring out the solution was extremely satisfying so I did end up liking the level in the end. And if it did remind me of some of CCLP3's insanely hard levels, at least there's just one of them. CCLP3 had like 4.
Level 144 - Culmina Crater: I kind of thought this would be level 149. I don't know if it should be 144, it's definitely not the hardest level here. Maybe this one and Lagoon should've swapped places. I do like the level, though I always seem to struggle with a different part of it each time I play it. The fireboots section at the end is very deceptive.
Level 145 - Pardon Our Dust: A surprise pick for me, but I really like this one. Just a fun puzzle to unravel.
Level 146 - Broken Paradise: Josh's hardest level and one of his best. This level is intimidating but in a way that I like. I can't even pin down why it is so hard, but it is. I love how everything is laid out for you to see, so it is 100% fair. The fact that it gets its difficulty from ordering everything correctly and it can still stump you is very cool. One of my favorites for sure.
Level 147 - Lounge Act: Ah, this level. For previous CCLP's I gave it a 1. But this time I was like, you know, it's time. I gave it a 5. Similar to Crown Jewels, I used a solution for this level once and know what I'm doing now every time. But that was many years ago. It's a really cool puzzle, except I don't know how reasonable it is to solve for the first time. You can't unring that bell. But for a level to be so notorious outside of an official set, I'm happy to see it here.
Level 148 - Brute Force: I don't make many levels. In fact, this is still the most recent one I've made, but the way it came together was really cool. A level called Brute Force was originally in my first set, Bowman1.dat. That level is not very good. It's pretty bad, actually. But it had one part that I liked. So the idea was, if I could make that one idea into an entire level, it could be good. I literally copied and pasted that room from the original level and that became the starting room in this level. From there I made a second, similar room. At this point, I was like, if I just keep doing this for all the rooms, this is going to get old very fast. So I just made an ice path throughout the rest of the level, gave the player ice skates, and created the rooms individually with their own concepts. The final room does also borrow an idea from the original Brute Force, but the new one is implemented much better. I thought about just having the player teleport back to the start to exit, but I liked the idea of a victory lap back through the level better. Finally, I saw an interesting way that the blue button could be used at the end and made a slight change to the starting room. I was really happy with the final results and it cannot be overstated how thrilled I am that other people liked it as well.
Level 149 - Shadow of the Day: Ok this is a nice pick actually. Just a fun, not too hard level to cap off what was a really fun set. I kind of miss the blob/glider section from the original but it's whatever.
Thanks so much to everyone who voted and to the staff for knocking it out of the park as has become the norm. As for levels I wish could have made it, I feel like my own Ramifications went underappreciated. To me, it even felt like a spiritual sequel to Stratagem. So that would've been cool to see. Other ones I would've liked to make it were VT's Lead Salad and Makings of a Crime Boss, JB's Blink Block Blitz, Block Fort (my 2nd favorite from voting!) and the aforementioned Block Buster 3 in 2D, Josh Lee's The Internal 3D Dungeon and Disintegrated Canyon, and my own Key Party. Also, when will people learn that Plug in Baby needs to be in a CCLP?
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
I was still pretty involved in the voting process, being able to vote on about 90% of the levels before the voting deadline. I had planned on voting and playing all the levels, but I realized even before the deadline was announced that that wasn't very likely. I played through and voted on my first 12 voting packs completely before I started just voting on the minimum 80 percent of a set before I was allowed to move on to the next one. I was able to get to all the voting packs this way, and then when time was almost up, I quickly looked at the levels I didn't get to and voted on some that I knew or that would be quick enough for me to playtest a little. All told, I voted on 1,525 out of 1,695 levels. Phew!
I was curious how many, if any, levels that I never played would be in the final product, but there were some, and I'll make note of these below. After voting was over and while the set was being compiled, I also compiled my own realm set of levels from voting that I thought should make it. This was a very loose set as I also had the stipulation that no levels could be in it that were also in my realm set for CCLP4 voting I made years back. That means that even some levels that I gave 5's to would not make it based on the fact that they "should've been in CCLP4." Despite this, 60 levels from my realm set made it, which is more than the 51 from BUR that made it in CCLP4. Also, notably there were 2 levels from BUR that made it in CCLP5. These realm sets are for meme purposes but they were so much fun to make and you can check them out if you so choose. (They are on gliderbot. BUR.dat (Bowman's Unlikely Realm) was compiled with CCLP4 in mind, BUTTS.dat, (Bowman's Unlikely Trial, The Sequel) CCLP5)
Then CCLP5 officially came out and I started playing right away on March 1. I had planned to take sort of a hiatus from the game as I had become burnt out on CC from playing the voting packs with a time crunch. So I was in no rush to complete CCLP5. But it was the perfect thing to get me back into enjoying the game immensely. My progress through the set hit many lulls and sometimes I would go weeks, maybe even months without playing, as summer is the busiest time of the year for me. But my breaks were never because I was not satisfied with the set. If anything, playing at my own pace enhanced my enjoyment of it. In December 2024, I started to spend more time on the game again, completing the set sometime in January, which I did in the Clubhouse on Discord, with a few people showing up to watch my experience, which was a lot of fun.
Now, let's get into it. I love the set. The quality of levels continues to go up from CCLP4, which is amazing. For the longest time I was still saying there is not a single level in CCLP5 I don't like, but as I got to the end of the set, I was able to refine my opinions on some levels that I would've liked to have seen and a few that I could've done without. That being said, I still don't blame the staff or the voters for the levels that made it. Even the ones I'm not the fondest of are still genius levels and I can see why they were so well liked. This is easily my favorite CC1 level pack. Even CCLP3, my next favorite, has a handful of levels I really don't like. Also, CCLP5's best levels rival my favorites ever in any official pack. The only thing keeping this out of the top spot for me is the sheer perfection of CC2LP1.
I did like the secret hints. They made for a fun extra thing to achieve since CC1 doesn't have bonuses. Now to post my thoughts on the individual levels. Please note, any levels not mentioned here I still very much enjoyed. I just have some comments on levels that were either my absolute favorites, or I just had something else to share about them.
Level 12 - Vault Line: This is one of the few levels that I did not get to in voting, but I had played it before because I have beaten Trading Places. I still didn't remember this one at first but I knew it felt familiar. In my opinion, the level its walls are from, Josh Lee's Prison Hall, is much more memorable and I would've rather seen that one in its spot. I'm curious as to others' opinions on this, but the staff has spoken and ultimately, I have no problem with its inclusion.
Level 18 - Press Any Button to Continue: Love this one, glad I wasn't alone.
Level 25 - Drops of Jupiter: I still wish there was some reason to reach the area where the hint is, but the rest of the level makes up for this nitpick.
Level 31 - Sealed Chamber: This is one I kind of missed the mark on. I think I gave it a 4 in voting, which means it didn't even qualify to make my realms set, which I regret because I do think it's deserving of its spot.
Level 41 - The Dividing Line: This level is really cool.
Level 47 - The Toggle Station: I like this one. A surprise entry since I had never played nor seen it before, but I like that it's in the set and it's cool that Eric Schmidt gets to continue his CCLP streak.
Level 50 - The Unwinding: This is a unique case where I gave a level a 5 without actually having beaten it at the time. Since it fell after level 40 in its respective voting pack, I did not play it right away, as I skipped to the next pack, but I heard a lot about this level. So, in the last days of voting I went and played it a little and while I didn't complete it back then, it did feel like a level I would love to play. It also feels like a spiritual successor to Spiral which is cool. It ended up not being as hard as I would have thought. It was level 136 in my realm set lol.
Level 55 - Dauntless Extraction: Another one I didn't get to in voting. It's fine. I like it.
Level 58 - Warehouse of Lost Hopes and Dreams: I have previously said that this level may be my favorite level in all of CC. I may have cooled on it since then but it is still super fun to replay. Yeah, if this level didn't make it, I was done with the game.
Level 64 - Condemned Facility: It's still Condemned Faculty to me lol. I know "Facility" is the name it's supposed to be, but something about the "wrong" title was appealing to me. I don't know why, it just grew on me and I kind of wish it could've stayed, like one of those words that people say wrong long enough that it becomes part of the vernacular.
Level 66 - Tornado Alley: Favorite level from Trading Places. Glad to see it here.
Level 67 - Manhattan Stoplight: A nice puzzle from Andrew M. and the next level that I had never seen before. I would've voted highly on it.
Level 74 - Dark Hollow: I love this one. This level is deceptively hard and always seems to stump me.
Level 79 - Drawn and Quartered and Quartered: The brown button puzzle always stumps me!
Level 81 - Numbskull: I am so glad this level made it.
Level 86 - Phantasmal Stalkers: Really cool concept to be in a CCLP.
Level 100 - The Most Interesting Block in the World: I do like this level. However, I've found that it's not the most fun level to replay which I often had to do. Get gud I guess. I wish Block Buster 3 in 2D would've made it over this.
Level 101 - Barefoot Bandit: Now we're talking. I absolutely LOVE this one.
Level 110 - Another Perspective: Another one that is a must-include.
Level 111 - Aquatica: The next level that I had never seen before. A nice maze.
Level 114 - A Love for Puzzles: Super well-designed puzzle. I really like this one.
Level 116 - Sho Sheng Shui: I'm a big fan of this.
Level 122 - Expanding Warehouse: I have always liked this level, but said in the past that I didn't think it was CCLP-worthy. I think I could be wrong. I definitely do not hate playing it. It's a unique take on the concept and for that I like it here.
Level 128 - Fahrenheit Frenzy: This is where I picked up the game again after a pretty lengthy hiatus.
Level 135 - Crux of the Matter: This was my favorite level in all of voting. It had to do with my first experience in solving it, kind of like the first time I solved Plug in Baby back in the day. It was just so satisfying and I didn't require any outside help. I'm hesitant to say if it is still my ultimate favorite level here but it's definitely a contender.
Level 137 - Gravelways: Perhaps the only level in the whole set I'm not really a fan of. So, for a while I had seen this level making different chipsters' realm sets, and I was thinking, "Have I played this?" And yes, I had played and beaten it in CCLP4 voting and again in the voting for this set. But it never really stuck out to me as to why so many people loved it. I gave it a 2 each time. As I was attempting it again for CCLP5 proper, I could not for the life of me solve it. It killed me, but I resorted to checking my solution from the voting packs and, sure enough, the level had been changed! Clearly, my solution was a bust and it was more than a little demoralizing to realize that I had never truly solved this level all these years. The solution I had achieved never really felt like a bust though, which is why it never occurred to me. Maybe my dislike is due to the fact that I was never able to fully wrap my head around why certain actions were necessary/impossible. It really is brilliantly constructed, but it was frustrating for me to have to stoop to ask for help. So yeah, it's not the level's fault, but this is probably my least favorite level in the set. Maybe I will come to appreciate it more the more I play it, but it's definitely not one I would replay for fun. Later, watching Markus explain it in his LP made it seem so simple. I guess it just comes down to: this is a level I just don't "get."
Level 138 - Eternal Engine: Another level I had never beaten before. For this one, I called up Jeremy, the level's designer, on Discord when playing it. Fortunately I was able to solve it without any help and that was a fun experience. It made me want to play the rest of the set like that, with company and a nice back-and-forth, hence why I played the rest of my CCLP5 run in the Clubhouse. The level itself was intimidating to me at first, but eventually it unraveled itself into a nice, reasonable puzzle. I felt like it hit a good balance and I can see why it was voted in.
Level 139 - Udassa: Much like Sho Sheng Shui before it, I like the challenge of levels like this. I even enjoyed playing to get all the chips after I initially beat it. I probably like the former a bit more overall, but a fun level nonetheless.
Level 140 - Yet Another Perspective: This is where I'm glad the set diverges from my realm set, as I included Another Perspective but not this level. I am so glad they are both here. I was kind of worried the similar themes might be seen as too similar for both levels to make it, so I wanted to vote higher on Another Perspective. But I do really like both. This one, in particular, was super hard for me this time around. I beat it in voting with help, but had a harder time this time around beating it, and actually needed help on another aspect of the level than last time. The staff made the right call here and I love the Totally Fair/Totally Unfair aspect of both the levels making it.
Level 141 - World Revolution: Not much to say here. A fun, hard level. The only part I'm not the biggest fan of is the force floor section in the NW, but that's only because I'm not too good at timing those kinds of things. Also, I kind of wish there was something to do with the block at the end.
Level 142 - Crown Jewels: I have mixed feelings on this level. On the one hand, it's brilliant and definitely CCLP-worthy. On the other hand, it's hard. Really, really, really hard. Why is that a bad thing? It's not. This is just a personal issue. I hate when I need help with a level, and I just could not figure this one out on my own. I had beaten the original four block version of this level, which makes sense because that was much easier. The fact that another block could be added and the level was still possible I think is awesome. I would be disappointed if JB didn't change the level to make it reach its highest potential. However, when I first played the new version, (I don't remember if it was in voting or sometime before that) I eventually cheated after I, in my mind, had exhausted all possible moves. I wish that wasn't the case. I just felt trapped. But once I had seen the solution, I haven't needed to consult it again. At least I was able to beat it without help again, with a lot of time elapsed since then, but that just means I vaguely remembered what the solution involved. I can't unknow the trick. So once again, not the level's fault, but I both like and dislike this level. I feel like the set is better for it though.
Level 143 - Lagoon of the Low Tide: Wow. What a level. This is exactly the kind of level I don't like to solve, upon initial viewing anyway. This level really intimidated me, as it felt like everything I did was a part of some grand puzzle that I couldn't see yet. I really don't like that. It felt like in order to explore the level fully, I had to make moves that probably cooked me in some way but I couldn't be sure. I wasn't too concerned about looking for my solution in the voting pack this time, but it was notably missing. I straight-up skipped this level in voting lol. So I was on my own. Because I felt like playing the level in a 9x9 window was unreasonable and frustrating, I resorted to playing the level in SuperCC, which I feel was warranted. There, it was reasonable to map everything out, and I was able to solve the level without help. That was a good feeling. But CC isn't a game where the whole map is viewable at once. I know, this is subjective. I'm sure some people were able to beat the level in Tile World and didn't think not being able to see the whole map was a problem. This level was the first time that a CCLP reached CCLP3 difficulty since that set. With all that being said, figuring out the solution was extremely satisfying so I did end up liking the level in the end. And if it did remind me of some of CCLP3's insanely hard levels, at least there's just one of them. CCLP3 had like 4.
Level 144 - Culmina Crater: I kind of thought this would be level 149. I don't know if it should be 144, it's definitely not the hardest level here. Maybe this one and Lagoon should've swapped places. I do like the level, though I always seem to struggle with a different part of it each time I play it. The fireboots section at the end is very deceptive.
Level 145 - Pardon Our Dust: A surprise pick for me, but I really like this one. Just a fun puzzle to unravel.
Level 146 - Broken Paradise: Josh's hardest level and one of his best. This level is intimidating but in a way that I like. I can't even pin down why it is so hard, but it is. I love how everything is laid out for you to see, so it is 100% fair. The fact that it gets its difficulty from ordering everything correctly and it can still stump you is very cool. One of my favorites for sure.
Level 147 - Lounge Act: Ah, this level. For previous CCLP's I gave it a 1. But this time I was like, you know, it's time. I gave it a 5. Similar to Crown Jewels, I used a solution for this level once and know what I'm doing now every time. But that was many years ago. It's a really cool puzzle, except I don't know how reasonable it is to solve for the first time. You can't unring that bell. But for a level to be so notorious outside of an official set, I'm happy to see it here.
Level 148 - Brute Force: I don't make many levels. In fact, this is still the most recent one I've made, but the way it came together was really cool. A level called Brute Force was originally in my first set, Bowman1.dat. That level is not very good. It's pretty bad, actually. But it had one part that I liked. So the idea was, if I could make that one idea into an entire level, it could be good. I literally copied and pasted that room from the original level and that became the starting room in this level. From there I made a second, similar room. At this point, I was like, if I just keep doing this for all the rooms, this is going to get old very fast. So I just made an ice path throughout the rest of the level, gave the player ice skates, and created the rooms individually with their own concepts. The final room does also borrow an idea from the original Brute Force, but the new one is implemented much better. I thought about just having the player teleport back to the start to exit, but I liked the idea of a victory lap back through the level better. Finally, I saw an interesting way that the blue button could be used at the end and made a slight change to the starting room. I was really happy with the final results and it cannot be overstated how thrilled I am that other people liked it as well.
Level 149 - Shadow of the Day: Ok this is a nice pick actually. Just a fun, not too hard level to cap off what was a really fun set. I kind of miss the blob/glider section from the original but it's whatever.
Thanks so much to everyone who voted and to the staff for knocking it out of the park as has become the norm. As for levels I wish could have made it, I feel like my own Ramifications went underappreciated. To me, it even felt like a spiritual sequel to Stratagem. So that would've been cool to see. Other ones I would've liked to make it were VT's Lead Salad and Makings of a Crime Boss, JB's Blink Block Blitz, Block Fort (my 2nd favorite from voting!) and the aforementioned Block Buster 3 in 2D, Josh Lee's The Internal 3D Dungeon and Disintegrated Canyon, and my own Key Party. Also, when will people learn that Plug in Baby needs to be in a CCLP?
If you made it this far, thanks for reading!
~Bowman