Late coming to the party. Agree with many of previous posters' impressions. Highly polished and unique logic puzzler. Extraordinary clever mechanics. Regarding the mathematical principles used by this game, I think the levels I played so far can be represented as finding ways of creating "integer partition" (as in number theory) for each herd of sheep (and other creatures) by moving them between islands of different sizes. The possible partition schemes are then determined by the size of the island (and configuration in some cases) and the rank of the partition. I am not far enough into the game to see how far these mathematical principles are leveraged by this game. Suffice to say, it is entirely possible to generate some extraordinary complex partitioning that will be very difficult to discover manually (by trial and error). One odd bit that struck me so far is the efficiency of solutions. I only played a few levels thus far, but there is already one case I observed in which some herds are entirely unnecessary to complete all of the level's objectives. An example is 1-7, in which the two sheep in the bottom (one on each island) are entirely unnecessary to partition the remaining sheep into herds of 6, 3, and 2 sheep. Why is this the case? Is this intentional so to allow for other but less efficient solutions?
When there is an odd number of sheep to bounce on the trampoline splitting them in two herds, how is it determined which herd gets the higher number of sheep?
Check the flashing arrows, the first flash is where the larger of the two halves will go. The smaller half goes in the other direction.
Can someone explain the rules when you are merging two herds of sheep, one of which have some or all of the sheep cut in halves? At first, I thought the decision is based in part on the matching position of the squares between the target island and source island. But this does not appear to be the case. Likewise, when I am flinging a herd of sheep from a larger-sized island to a smaller-sized island, with some sheep cut in halves already, what are the rules in determining which sheep or sheep parts would be discarded? I don't see a consistent pattern.
That's what I thought too. Thanks for the confirmation. So it does not matter the exact cells occupied from the sheep or sheep part being occupied? What about downsizing to a smaller-sized island? If the herd has both whole sheep and halved sheep, how does the game determine which one stays?
I haven't noticed that, my guess would be that new sheep overtake the current ones and then overflow falls off. Will check when I play next time.
Do check. Thanks. In my observation, the sheep or sheep part that is being thrown off is NOT necessary determined by the matching cells between the source island and the target island. Obviously, if the herd is a mix of whole and halved sheep, what gets thrown off will be very important.
On sale for .99 Anybody that loves puzzle games and doesn't have this (what's wrong with you, anyway?) should buy this immediately. Heck, for a buck, anybody who only kind of likes puzzle games should get this, because it is one of the best ones on iOS. An amazing, delightful (yes, I just described a game that has you cut sheep in half with laser grids delightful...what's your point), App Store gem that deserves WAY more attention.
I only kind of like puzzle games and was tempted before but for this price I'll get it regardless now.
+1 to Misguided's strong recommendation (yes, I recognize the irony here because of Misguided's alias). A lot of hidden depth to the core mechanics. While some levels can certainly be challenging, the developer was wise enough not to over-complicate the level design. Additionally, many levels have multiple solutions (though some solutions are more efficient than others), thus making it easier to complete the levels and not get stuck on some of the game's tricker levels.
I beta tested this. It was a good game. Good sale for those that haven't tried the game yet. Creative puzzles that get harder as you advance levels. I didn't complete the game because beta testing was over before I could. But I did enjoy what I played. Too bad, I would have liked to complete it. Oh well....
Easily worth the sale price and more. I'm glad I picked this up. I hope I can teach my dad how to play this one.
I agree, but why would I if I beta tested? I hope others will buy it. Edit.. Never mind.. I purchased it anyway.
I am enjoying this game. Forgot how fun Maths can be! I have two issues though- 1) it's not starting on the iPhone 4s- just gets stuck on a blue screen after initially showing the title of the game with a pink background. 2) why are the life boats always the same size? If it can rescue 3 animals, wouldn't it make sense to have a graphic of a life boat with 3 empty spaces?! Perhaps use the standard life boat but pre-fill it with items (eg a sack of grain) that would then visually explain why we can't put more sheep aboard. Or just create a new graphic of a smaller raft. So, (2) is just a design niggle, but any help on (1) please?
Can someone explain the rules concerning flinging into an island with BOTH sheep and pigs? I can't figure out the replacement rules. In some flings, the sheep would be first to get thrown out. In other flings, a pig would be among the herd/flock to get thrown out. Can't see any consistent rules the game uses...
If sheep are jumping onto the island, they will always target empty spaces, then sheep, then pigs. If pigs are jumping onto the island, they will target sheep, then empty spaces, then pigs.
Thought I'd come back to rate the game, I'm not too far in yet but I've had a few goes at it as when things have levels like this I like to just do a few at a time to make the game last longer although I'm sure I'll be very stuck at some point anyway. Already had a few levels where I had to think for a minute and was like ah ha that's it. It's a good game that makes you think and also has a nice graphic style. Certainly worth anyone's money at the price it's at, I'm not even a big puzzle game fan and I am no maths genius and I'm still enjoying it and finding it fairly easy to figure things out....at the moment.
