Welcome to the FAQ of Puzzle for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Puzzle is a pretty fun puzzle game (obviously), which is executed very simple,
yet is strangely addictive and fun tp play if you're bored for a few minutes.
It's single player only, onfortunately, as it would be a great game to compete
in. Well, enough with the chit-chat, let's go.
As always, if you spotted a mistake, have something to contribute to the FAQ
or simply want to ask me a question or tell me something, e-mail me at the
following adress: Kaas(dot)Bink(at)GMail(dot)com.
I wrote this FAQ after reading a topic on the GameFAQs boards about the NES.
In it, people were trying to write a FAQ for every single NES game there is.
So, seeing as I just finished my last FAQ, I decided to help out. I liked this
game, there wasn't a FAQ for it yet, so I picked this game to write about.
Use the Quicksearch to go to a section of the walkthrough fast. Just press
"Ctrl+f", then type in the three letters next to the section you want to go
to. Press enter (twice, because the first time you're taken to the Content
section) and you're there.
Introduction.............aaa
Content..................bbb
Version History..........ccc
Controls.................ddd
Game Basics..............eee
Puzzles..................fff
Puzzle Tips..............ffg
Example Solutions........ffh
Rock, Paper, Scissors....ggg
Legal Stuff..............hhh
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/ /
/ Version History /
/ccc__________________/
Version 1.0 - 5/31/2005
Wrote the complete FAQ, and submitted it. I think it's completely done, but if
someone mails with some nice ideas, I will add them.
The controls of this game couldn't be easier. Well, they could, but not much.
D-Pad(+): Use the Directional Button to move your hand around. Pressing left
causes the hand to move one tile to the left, etc.. Hover it above
a tile, then press A to select it.
A Button: This will be your friend throughout the game. Press it to select the
tile above which your hand hovers. When you move the tile, you're
free to select another tile. If you want to de-select the tile,
press A again. You'll know you have selected a tile when the hand
blinks white. When it's completely black (the hand), it hasn't
selected any tile. This button is also used in the rock, paper,
scissors mini-game, which is explained later on.
B Button: Press this while you're puzzling to open up a new screen. In it, you
can play a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors! Press Select to choose one
of the three, then press A to make the CPU roll their turn, then
press A one more time to show the result. Then press B to return to
the game. More of this is explained later in the FAQ.
SELECT: Press Select in the main menu (with the green caterpillar) to turn
the sound on or off. When you're puzzling, you can press Select to
bring up a screen with the correct solution of the puzzle. You can
only do this 5 time, however (look at the hearts to see how many
more times you can do this). The Select Button is also used in the
rock, paper, scissors mini-game (explained in it's own section).
START: Press this in the main menu to start the game. Press it while
puzzling to pauze the game, and press it again to continue.
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/ Game Basics /
/eee__________________/
The game's idea is pretty simple. You've probably even played it before, as it
was quite a popular game (in real life then)back in the days, even before
computer games (I feel really old now...). You're shown a picture, then you
must go and recreate it. The original picture consists of 12 tiles (the
pictures getter bigger later on it the game). Those tiles will be shuffled,
then it's up to you to remake the original picture. Slide the tiles around
until the original picture is back. There's room to shuffle the tiles on the
right side of the screen (the three empty spaces). Move unwanted tiles to the
right to create some room to navigate the other tiles around. You have a set
amount of time to complete each puzzle (the amount is different per puzzle).
When you leave the Main Screen (with the caterpillar) on for a while without
touching any buttons, you'll get a quick preview of the game. They'll show a
bit of a level (level 2.2), the rock, paper, scissors mini-game and the pauze
screen.
This is obviously the main part of the game, In it, you'll need to solve
various puzzles. You can't save the game, so every time you start the game
you'll begin with puzzle 1.1 again. After you've finished a puzzle, you'll be
rewarded with a score. Try to break the High Score! There's no real use for an
high score, as it gets erased when you turn your NES off.
There are multiple solutions for every puzzle, and every time you play a
level, the puzzle is randomly assembled. Seeing as there are 12 tiles in the
puzzle (randomly assembled), there are literaly thousands of solutions!
Obviously, I'm not going to list them all (this gets even more obvious when
there's an even bigger puzzle consisting out of 25 tiles later on in the
game), as it would take way too much space and time, not to say very hard to
navigate here. I will give hints and tips on how to solve puzzles, and some
example solutions.
When you start a new puzzle, the end situation should look like below:
This is your goal to recreate. The tiles get shuffled and you're ready to go.
Remember, the only puzzle looking like this is the first puzzle. After that,
the tiles form a big picture (like a tiger in puzzle 1.2), and are a bit
harder to solve, as it is sometimes hard to see where which tile should go to.
Seeing as it is near to impossible to give every possible solution for the
puzzles, I'll stick to giving a few hints and just hope you can work it all
out for yourself. It's not that hard, so you'll be just fine; don't worry.
Hints & Tips
- Take your time: every puzzle comes with a time limit, which is pretty big.
You'll have plenty of time to complete it, so don't go all out and rush your
way to the solution. Think first, then shuffle those tiles. You don't want
to screw up your solution.
- Try to solve the highest numbers first: as the empty squares are in the up-
right corner, it is best to place the high numbers in their correct place
first. It is easier to shuffle the low numbers, because they are closer to
the empty squares.
- Remember the minigame: the Rock, Paper, Scissor minigame, that is. It's
really usefull if you're a bit stuck, or just need to move one tile. It can
really help you out. Also remember time will be deducted if you use this.
- The Select Button: pressing causes the correct solution to show on your
screen. If you're working with pictures (you will be from puzzle 1.2), this
can help you find out where every tile should be located. Remember this
option isn't ongoing; you can only use it five times.
- Last Resort: if you're low on time (ie under 1 minute), and you're far away
from completing the puzzle, you can play the R,P,S minigame for free! This
way, you can easily complete the puzzle, because you can now win the
minigame and relocate any two tiles, without getting any time subtracked!
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/ Example Solutions /
/ffh__________________/
There are different starting positions, so I'll just give a few of them as
example (I've encountered these puzzles, so I know they're real). The starting
position of the puzzles are random, so you'll never know which variation
you're going to get.
The way I'll give the example solutions will consists out of the moves
necessary to complete it. I'll write it down like this: A1->A2. This means
you'll need to select the block on A1, then move it to A2. Look below to see
which tile has which name (the bigger puzzles, containing more than 25 tiles
appear later in the game, so I put them down here too). These descriptions
(A1, D2 etc.) can't be found in the game; I made them up to show you the right
solution in a easy manner.
When you're busy solving a puzzle, you can press the B Button to open up a new
screen. In it, you can play the exciting game of rock, paper and scissors
(R,P,S)! Most of you will already know the rules of this little game, but I
will explain it nevertheless for those few who never heard of it before.
R,P,S is an old little game, which can be played with two players. Both
players shake their hand up and down, then choose one of the three options
(rock, paper or scissor) to show with their hand. The rock is shown with a
closed fist, the paper is an open hand and the scissors look like the peace
sign (the V, made with your index and middle finger). You can only choose one.
When both players have shown their choose, it's time to see who has won the
game. Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper and paper beats stone. So, for
example, if you've picked paper, and your opponent chose rock, you've won the
game. If both players chose the same option, it's a draw and nobody wins.
Now, how do you play this little game in Puzzle? First of all, press B while
puzzling. This opens the R,P,S game. You'll see two people dancing, and two
blocks (each with a white hand in it). Now, you're the left guy, and your
opponent is the right girl. You should try to beat her. Press Select to select
an option (rock, paper or scissor). Once you've made your choice, press A to
make your opponents choice start spinning. Press A again to make her stop, and
determine who has won the game. If you don't like P,R,S, you can always throw
some dice to win the game. Simply select the one-eyed die (just press Select a
few times to see it come up), and press A to throw it. If your die roll is
higher than your opponent's, you've won (it ahs the same results as R,P,S). If
you lose a game, press Select to choose an option (R,P,S, die) again, or press
B to return to the game. Once you've won, you can't continue playing, and you
must press B to return to the puzzle.
But why should we play this minigame? What use is it? Well, if you lose,
nothing happens. But should you win (and you should, after a few tries), you
get a nice option in the puzzle game. This could help you out if you're stuck.
Basically, what happens when you win, you can select any two tiles, and swap
their places. You can also select one tile and an empty tile, and swap those
(basically moving the tile to an empty space). Suffice to say, this can be
very useful when you're a bit stuck.
The only drawback of playing this game, is it costs time. When you're playing,
time will stop, but when you're done, time will be subtracted of your total
time. Every play session will cost you one minute, so when you're a bit short
on time, it can prove to be fatal... When your total time is under a minute,
you can play as much as you like, as it won't subtract any more! Remember
this!
This walkthrough, and all it's content (including the ASCIIs), is Copyrighted,
2005 by Jaap van Zon. This walkthrough is only allowed on www.gamefaqs.com. No
part of this walkthrough can be used without proper quoting and/or
recognition. Any person(s) found violating this copyright is/are punishable by
law and will be to the fullest extent. If you see this walkthrough on another
site, please alert me.
