Mysterious Puzzle
Add ideas, spading notes, anything related to the mysterious puzzle box and the puzzle box puzzle here.
Basic Information
Most of the information on this page is for people who are curious about exactly how to 'map out' their puzzle, unlock and use its various abilities, and continue to spade it. This short section is for more casual players, who are curious about what the puzzle does. In summary, there are four forms of the puzzle, and with enough manipulation each one can provide a beneficial effect, or allow you to alter or gain items:
Employing several of the above mechanisms of the Mysterious Puzzle in the proper manner will lead to a greater understanding of the Mysterious Puzzle in the form of the skill Secrets Of The Cube.
Move Symmetries
- All "Fail" moves line up. Eg. if option 2 in one form doesn't accomplish anything, then option 2 in every form will accomplish nothing.
- If option 3 (e.g.) in one form turns the puzzle into a different form, then option 3 in that form will turn it back.
- When in box form, the three moves that change to other forms are always in the order rod, tablet and then pyramid, in that order. So the move that turns box<->rod is always near the top and box<->pyramid is always near the bottom.
Terms
Move
These are all the options you have when using the cube. They are always available except where noted.
Basic use messages
These always appear when a given move is attempted. They don't signify any effect, but rather preface the actual (randomized) effect message.
Effect messages
This message follows the basic use message and tells you what exactly has taken place. Almost all are randomly assigned between each forms available moves, so far as we know. Because of this, they appear in a separate section below the following tables.
Possible effects
These are all the effects various individual boxes have associated with each move. Hopefully more spading in this regard will tell us whether the configuration is entirely random or whether there are some hidden tricks and shortcuts to discover (i.e., are there set configurations, does each move only have a certain # of possibilities, etc.). The effects in the table are abbreviated according to the list of effects appended below.
NOTE: I haven't been updating this column rigorously. Feel free to add additional discoveries, whether they logically follow from the patterns discovered, show up in the configurations at the bottom of this page, or were discovered from original research.
Box Form
| Move | Basic Use Message | Possible effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotate the top | The top of the puzzle box rotates smoothly. You fiddle with it for a while, trying to see if any positions do anything interesting. | Brod, Btab, Bunlock, Bfail, Bspecial | |
| Twist the sides | You grab the left and right sides of the cube and rotate them without moving the center. It's a little challenging, but seems like it might do something interesting. | Bfail, Bspecial, Bunlock | |
| Swivel a corner | One of the cube's corners is separated by a visible crease. Judging by the universal law of puzzles, that means it must do something, so you spend some time twisting at it. | Brod, Bfail, Btab | |
| Pull at a crease | You pry at one of the more obvious creases with your fingernails for a minute. Eventually, it pops open, revealing more complex workings beneath. | Btab, Bunlock, Bpyr | |
| Push at the center | You hold the cube firmly in one hand and press down on a suspicious plate in one side with the other. | Bpyr, Brod, Bfail | |
| Look for another catch | You carefully search over the cube, finding one tiny bump that might be a button. You press it a few times, then try to push it back and forth. Eventually you hear a "click" but you're not sure which part did it. | Bpyr, Bunlock, Bspecial,Btab | |
| Stop and listen | You listen to the cube's gentle, alien rhythms. After a while, you start to sway along with whatever strange time it's keeping. | Bbuff (always) | move unlocked by Runlock; each Runlock adds 5 uses of this move |
| Leave it be | You set the box down and get back to business. You've got things to do other than work on puzzles, after all. | No effect | No energy of Puzzled Out |
Pyramid Form
| Move | Basic Use Message | Possible effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twist the bottom | You twist the bottom of the pyramid until the sides open to reveal finer inner workings. | Ptab, Punlock, Pfail, Pbox | bigalphillips found another move, but it's not clear what it is. Pfail? Punlock? Pspecial? |
| Slide the faces | You twist the faces on the pyramid until they click, letting you rotate the top and bottom more freely. | Pfail, Prod, Ptab, Pspecial | |
| Rotate the top | You twist the top of the pyramid, hearing a series of clicks as different sections of the pyramid unlock. You get to work trying to figure out what they do. | Pfail, Punlock, Pspecial, Pbox | |
| Try to open a side | You search over the pyramid for a crease and eventually find one that lets you open it lengthwise and fold it. You take a while seeing what you can do with it from there. | Pbox, Prod, Ptab | |
| Work on the middle layer | Although it's a little awkward, you can push the pyramid down and hold it with one hand, then move the central section with the other. | Pbox, Prod, Ptab | |
| Reach for the eye | Being the most obvious and prominent feature of the pyramid, you reach for the gemstone "eye." It takes a few attempts to get over the vision of your hand reaching down to twist it, but eventually you set about twisting the gemstone "eye" in various directions to see if it does anything interesting. | Pbox, Punlock, Pspecial, Prod | |
| Stare into the eye | You stare into the eye-like gem and from the gem back at yourself until your vision is completely consumed by red light. When you eventually realize you've phased out and start paying attention to the world around you again, your vision seems crisper and your mind faster. | Pbuff (always) | move must be unlocked by Bunlock; each Bunlock adds 5 uses of this move |
| Leave it be | You decide the puzzle is just too creepy to worry about at the moment and go back about your business. | Cancel puzzle use. | No energy of Puzzled Out |
Rod Form
| Move | Basic Use Message | Possible effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turn the left side | You hold the puzzle firmly and twist the left side. It slides smoothly, but takes a fair bit of force. | Rspecial, Runlock, Rfail | |
| Twist around the axis | Holding on to a central segment, you rotate the rest of the puzzle around it. It feels a little strange, but it's not immediately apparent whether it's doing anything. | Rpyr, Rfail, Rspecial, Rtab | |
| Work on the right edge | There's a crease near the far right edge of the puzzle, so you move that for a while, trying to find somewhere it'll unlock more movement. | Rbox, Rtab, Rfail | |
| Pull at another crease | It takes some serious effort, but you open one of the creases in the side of the rod. With that separated, you get access to the more complex inner-workings. | Rpyr, Rspecial, Runlock | |
| Fold in the middle | Perhaps the rod is broken or perhaps the people making it through it needed a test of raw physical muscle, but it takes some serious raw power even though the rod was obviously intended to fold in half. Once it's done, you take a short breather and come back to see what you've uncovered. | Rtab, Rbox, Runlock | |
| Search for a latch | Running your hands over the puzzle, you eventually happen upon a small bump. Sliding it along frees up several pieces and you begin experimenting with them. | Runlock, Rtab, Rpyr | |
| Pull apart the segments | You haul at both ends of the rod as hard as you can. It feels like your shoulders are going to dislocate, but the rod separates into long segments instead. (normal use) You haul on the puzzle with all your might. For a second before you black out, you think you can hear tendons ripping. When you come too, you feel better rather than worse. Either way, you're pretty sure that was more difficult than last time. (last 4 uses before option disappears) |
Rbuff (always) | option must be unlocked by Tunlock; each Tunlock allows 5 uses of this move |
| Leave it be | Yeah, hauling at that thing is hard work. You're surprised you don't get more tired, but there's no time for it now. | <no effect> | <no energy of Puzzled Out> |
Tablet Form
| Move | Basic Use Message | Possible Effects | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Twist the left side | You grab the left side of the tablet and twist so it rotates lengthwise. Oh yeah, that seemed to free up a lot more pieces to move. You go ahead and start fiddling with those. | Tpyr, Tbox, Tfail, Tspecial | |
| Separate the layers | Putting one hand on the front of the tablet and the other on the back, you're able to slide the faces away from each other. They rotate pretty freely, but now to find what other pieces they've freed up. | Tfail, Tunlock, Tpyr, Trod | |
| Start from a corner | Hmmm, one of the corners of the tablet looks like it could rotate. You twist it for a bit to see if anything interesting happens. | Tunlock, Tfail, Tbox | |
| Find a crease | There's a crease hidden among the etched runes on the tablet. You take advantage of it to fold the tablet in half and reveal the inner workings. | Tbox, Tpyr, Tunlock, Trod | |
| Fold the corners in | Carefully taking all four corners of the tablet, you fold them towards the center. It's beautiful, really, how smoothly they move. | Trod, Tspecial, Tpyr | |
| Look for a latch | You run your fingers along the runes, admiring the craftsmanship that went into this puzzle box. Ah, there, right at the one that looks kind of like a Z, a small button clicks into place. | Tspecial, Trod, Tbox | |
| Read the tablet | You look over the runes. They don't mean much to you, but… there's something deep in your mind that they call to. (if Tbuff effect takes place) Maybe you're bored or maybe you actually can read them, but the runes seem played out somehow. If it were a book, you'd just turn the page, but no such luck. (if buff depleted - replaces entire use+effect message) |
Tbuff (always) (if depleted, no effect and does not trigger Puzzled Out) | Move does not require unlocking, but begins with 5 uses before depletion. Each Punlock adds 5 additional uses |
| Leave it be | You decide to leave the tablet alone for now. It's creepy enough without you messing with it. | <no effect> | <no energy of Puzzled Out> |
Effects
NOTE: This assumes each form has a set of moves, so you'll never activate the pyramid gem in tablet form, for instance. Let's hope this is true.
Box Form
| Effect | Message | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Fail to do anything (so far as we know) | You twist and turn it, but all it seems to do is turn back into a cube. | Bfail |
| Change to pyramid form | You twist the cube experimentally until a gem is revealed, staring at you like a baleful red eye. From there, it's easy to flip out that piece and slide together the pyramid underneath it. | Bpyr |
| Change to rod form | You twist it experimentally until you hit just the right spot, then it folds down into a strange prism or rod. | Brod |
| Change to tablet form | You twist the cube until it hinges open and folds out into a tablet covered in strange writing. Cool. | Btab |
| Music of the Cube (10 turns); has 5 uses/Runlock until depletion; if depleted, triggering move disappears | You listen to the cube's gentle, alien rhythms. After a while, you start to sway along with whatever strange time it's keeping. | Bbuff |
| adds 5 uses of Pbuff? Unlocks 5 uses/day? Unlocks permanent use with right trigger? I have no idea? | A faint red glow seeps through the cracks in the puzzle box. (first use) <something about glow becoming more pronounced> (second use) You twist and turn the cube, but the glow within it cannot grow any stronger. (Didn't keep count, but apparently there's a limit to how far you can build up charges of the buff.) |
Bunlock |
| Open chamber; see Powder Pouring; must have Tspecial plate in 2nd position | A tiny section of black metal trembles on the side of the cube, like it's trying to open but is held back somehow. (if locked) A tiny section of black metal hinges open, revealing a small chamber within the cube. Now, the cube is confusing sometimes, but you're positive that chamber couldn't possibly fit inside it. Do you have anything you'd like to pour in there? It looks like it couldn't fit much more than a pinch of powder. (if unlocked and empty) A tiny section of black metal hinges open, revealing a small chamber within the cube. Now, the cube is confusing sometimes, but you're positive that chamber couldn't possibly fit inside it. The chamber empties itself into your hand. (if unlocked and full) |
Bspecial |
Pyramid Form
| Fail to do anything (so far as we know) | Try as you might, it doesn't seem to turn into anything other than a pyramid. The gemstone eye glares at you mockingly. | Pfail |
|---|---|---|
| Change to box form | Eventually enough pieces are free to turn the pyramid back into it's original form. It's definitely easier going in reverse. | Pbox |
| Change to rod form | From one corner, you work along, methodically folding the pyramid into a long prism. | Prod |
| Change to tablet form | Eventually, you turn the pyramid upside-down and fold the other pieces around it, creating a flat tablet. | Ptab |
| Puzzle's Gaze (10 turns); has 5 uses/Bunlock until depletion; if depleted, triggering move disappears | You stare into the eye-like gem and from the gem back at yourself until your vision is completely consumed by red light. When you eventually realize you've phased out and start paying attention to the world around you again, your vision seems crisper and your mind faster. | Pbuff |
| ??????? | The runes slide into a different configuration. You still can't read them, but they seem pretty interesting. | Punlock |
| Open chamber; get red flakes; must have Tspecial plate in 1st position | A small metal plate at the base of the pyramid trembles but just won't seem to open. (if locked) A small chamber clicks open at the base of the pyramid and strange red flakes fall out, smelling strongly of blood. (if unlocked, first use of the day?) The small chamber that opens at the base of the pyramid seems to be empty. You did just clear it out a little while ago, after all. (if unlocked, later uses the same day?) |
Pspecial |
Rod Form
| Fail to do anything (so far as we know) | You twist at the puzzle as hard as you can, but can't force it to change into anything other than it's present shape. Eventually your muscles and your brain both give up. Best to try again later, probably. | Rfail |
|---|---|---|
| Change to box form | You wrench at the rod as hard as you can. After a bit of effort, it collapses back into its original shape. Neat. | Rbox |
| Change to pyramid form | After a bit of effort, you find a gem hidden among the many moving pieces. From there, it's easy to fold it out into the rest of the pyramid. | Rpyr |
| Change to tablet form | There's a soft click and a seam at the side splits open, letting you roll the prism out into a strange tablet. | Rtab |
| Black Metal Strength (10 energy); has 5 uses/Tunlock until depletion; if depleted, triggering move disappears | You faintly remember a crackle of energy, then wake up a few minutes later feeling energetic but… different. | Rbuff |
| add 5 uses of Bbuff | You hear a clink from somewhere within the rod. You hope you didn't break anything, but the rest of the mechanism seems to be okay. (first time) Interesting… the harder you pull here, the more metallic tinks you can hear. It's almost like tiny bells or gears rubbing against each other. (second time) |
Runlock |
| Grind powder; see Powder Pouring | With powder in the chamber: You can hear a loud grinding noise as you twist the puzzle. Maybe something's happening to the powder you put in there. Otherwise: The rod moves surprisingly smoothly. You can hear gears grinding against each other, but nothing seems to happen. |
Rspecial |
Tablet Form
| Fail to do anything (so far as we know) | As hard as you try, you can't find anyway to turn it into anything but a tablet. | Tfail |
|---|---|---|
| Change to box form | After fiddling with it for a while, you discover the tablet folds down into quarters. You then slide them back into place, returning the box to its original shape. | Tbox |
| Change to pyramid form | After several tries, you find a large red gem mounted in a small pyramid. From there, you fold in the rest of the pyramid underneath it. | Tpyr |
| Change to rod form | After several false starts, you realize the tablet has segmented enough to roll it into a prism. | Trod |
| Runic Puzzle (10 energy); has 5 uses before depletion; if depleted, no effect and does not trigger Puzzled Out | You feel connected to an inner strength you weren't aware you had, like a memory of being a god among men. | Tbuff |
| unlock 5 uses of Rbuff | There's a strange click and several segments of the tablet seperate. They don't seem to free up any more movements, though. Perhaps its somewhere else in the puzzle. (first use) You unwind some more gears, allowing the segments to separate further. (subsequent uses) |
Tunlock |
| Shifts plate between position 1 and 2 (begins in position 1). When plate is in position 1, Pspecial is unlocked and Bspecial is locked; the opposite is true in position 2 | You hear a tinny note as metal slides against metal. Sounds like a small plate moved a short distance within the box. (odd uses) You hear a tinny note as metal slides against metal. Sounds like that plate slid back to its original position. (even uses) |
Tspecial |
page revision: 112, last edited: 13 Jan 2013 03:08