You Are Games:
Letters In Boxes #9
Humble Indie Bundle Edition
A brand new Humble Indie Bundle has been released, featuring five fantastic indie games all for the price of "whatever you want to pay"! Hits such as And Yet It Moves, Crayon Physics Deluxe, VVVVVV and more are available, representing some of the finest work the independent gaming scene has to offer. Can't do better than that, can you?
Maybe you can! If you want to win one of these snazzy Humble Indie Bundles, here's your chance! All it takes is a little wordplay wizardry. We've got a special five-part Letters In Boxes challenge for you, with a theme that should become clear rather quickly. Solve all five puzzles, and you could win yourself five great games!
As usual, here's how to play: Click on the image to the right to bring up the first puzzle in a new window. When you've formulated an answer, shift your gaze to your browser's address bar (which will read "https://jayisgames.com/images/lettersinboxes/humblebeginnings.gif"). Change the filename (specifically, humblebeginnings) to your answer, and hit enter to send your browser into action. If you're right, you're one humble step closer to a bundle of a prize! If you're wrong, you'll get an error message, but you can always take a step back and try again.
This batch of puzzles contains five puzzles to solve. On the fifth puzzle, you'll find the email address for sending your final answer. We'll hand out a Humble Indie Bundle to the first correct entry we receive, plus ten additional randomly-selected correct entries. Please include your Casual Gameplay account display name with your entry. You must be at least 13 years of age to enter. Only one submission per participant, please. Offer void where prohibited. Your deadline for submitting your answers is Monday, August 1st at 11:59 PM (GMT-5:00). Good luck, and enjoy!
Update: Congratulations to these 11 winners! :D
All eleven winners were given a Humble Indie Bundle #3! Congratulations and thanks for playing with us! Look for another Letters in Boxes again soon!
- kdausman ...First!
- han519
- bubblecamera
- jakebaker
- Apartmento
- arikiko
- jakramer75
- Tweetheart
- snowmoon
- nqeron
- Persona
I was so sure I was right on the first one, but I actually was wrong somehow. I seem to have hit a brick wall. Here I was thinking it was easy.
Up to the third one, and completely stumped.
For the first:
Did you get the name of one of the games on the top row? Well, perform an action frequently done in that game.
I got the first thanks to Bob's hint and I was surprised that my first instinct was the answer to the second, but the third has me completely stumped!
Still stuck on #1.
I have been playing the game for a few minutes now, and so far the action I've done most is die. That is not the answer to the puzzle, I checked. I have also tried several different words which I seem to be doing a lot of in the game, but none of them work.
Though I'm only playing the demo. Do I have to have played the whole game to know this? Kind of seems silly, since I"m supposedly competing to win the game.
nerdypants:
That's not quite what Bob meant. The solution is still in the puzzle.
On number 4.
#3:
You can figure out the first row without needing the second.
I'm on #4 as well. I'm sure I'm on the right track, but I'm getting nothing but gibberish!
I now have the first row of number 3, courtesy of bluemoose19, but I can't see how it relates to the bottom row at all.
For number four, I'm thinking that the letters
Need to be hammered in a direction? And they have wrap around?
Or am I just clueless?
Got it now! Thanks, bluemoose and Bob.
Hint for #3:
Once you've figured out what should go in the top row, consider what it has in common with the bottom row, and how the word that's already there could tie into that.
#4 was pretty clever. For those that need a hint:
Both words from the game's title are needed to solve it.
They aren't needed in the same way
Now I'm stuck at #5. This time, nothing is jumping out at me at all.
Number 4:
You can cross off a certain pattern repeatedly.
i have worked out the words from each cog on #2, but I don't see where to go from there...
Whoo, number five club. Thanks, bluemoose.
childofsai:
You're on the wrong track. Just think of how connected cogs behave when rotated.
Also, I still haven't a clue for #3.
I think that the fact that both rows have the same amount of boxes is important, but I don't know where to go from there. I've thought about letter rotation, but to no avail.
Any help?
i am soo confused on the first one i need a hint
Stuck on #1 (I'll try not to give away too much):
I understand the first row, and if I apply it in the way Bob Bobson says I get another six-letter word, but it's not the answer. Am I missing something obvious at this point?
for #4,
does the pattern that needs crossing off have to be the full set?
How much do you plan to pay for the pay-what-you-want bundles? :P
For #5, has anyone tried to
Cut out the box yet? Like in crayon physics?
I'm not getting anything with it.
Am at #5 too. No ideas yet.
still stuck on #4
"hammering" off all letters of the word "FIGHT", but cannot make any word with the remaining letters...
Stuck on #4 at present. As for the rest:
#1:
Each word begins with a particular letter.
It's the last letters of each word you need, though.
#2:
The answer appears if you turn the cogs.
Adjacent cogs rotate in opposite directions.
You can actually read off the answer by alternating up and down.
#3:
The top and bottom rows will contain the exact same letters when you're done.
The name of one of the games fits into the top row.
Delete the letters in "STOVE" and anagram the rest. BOOM!
childofai -
On the right track but you are removing too many letters:
Only remove the letters "FIGHT" when they appear in "hammer" shape
#4 solved!
it's not just a pattern in terms of letters that you're looking to cross off...
Strike that. Got #4.
It's not just the letters you need to look for, but the shape.
Think: what's the most basic shape recognizable as a hammer?
Delete every instance of those letters in that shape. They'll be in the same pattern each time (but not always in the same orientation).
oh never mind, baileydonk spelled it out :)
Thanks, you guys, I'm up to 5 with the rest of you.
I'm struggling to figure out how it could relate to the last game remaining, though.
Power of posting!
All of these were extremely easy this time, once you got the idea. And that idea in each case came beautifully from the game in the bundle. Well, with the exception of #4. I got the right answer, but I'm not sure why it's the right answer.
@kdausman:
Delete the hammer-shaped arrangements of the letters "FIGHT." This will reveal the sequence "FINAL IS SPOILER."
Anyway, I'm clueless at #5. Do I need to know how the game plays in order to solve this one?
Alright, kdausman. Give us a hint for no. 5. XD
I think I figured out how #5 works
but I end up with two possibilities. One's an actual word and one's not.
Made it to #4 without too much trouble, but got stumped there. Got it a few minutes ago thanks to baileydonk, but now truly stuck on #5, altough I've had a few ideas about it that I thought would work... for about 5 seconds each. Hoping PoP will kick in, but if not, HINTS WANTED BADLY!
Tell me, someone, for #5 - is the game:
Crayon Physics Deluxe? And if so, do you need to play the game to understand the puzzle?
@baileydonk:
Yes, it's that game.
Totally got the last one.
You need to use the name of the last missing game. Look carefully! It's easy to only get part of the name.
The solid line is a big hint, if you use the first spoiler with the solid line you should spot a very important pattern.
Use a paint program, it will help.
There are two ways to solve the puzzle, but only one will give you a real word. Both start out the same - once you have the method you'll know immediately where the two 'solutions' diverge. If you're wrong, go back and try the other way.
Great puzzles, love the theme! Hats off to the puzzle maker!
Stuck on #5 and the lead I have is that
all the letters of crayon physics deluxe are in the outer box and leave 9 other letters
but that's all I have =( any help? Am I on the right track?
@hhii8888
Think about how the game itself works, and then do it.
Maybe even use a crayon.
Of course the final solution would be...
...a previous HIB game.
Clever, that last one.
@SirNiko: Thanks for clearing that up!
I was surprised to see that the method diverged at one point. So I thought it was the wrong method.
hmm, I got a word for #5, but I'm not sure it's right. Can someone confirm--if I go to /.gif, will I get a "yup!" screen as in the last LiB? Because my answer right now isn't doing that, and I'm not exactly confident in it...
#5:
I'm using a method that makes sense and seems to diverge at one point, but neither path leaves me with a real word. One of them sounds like it might be a real word, but it's not. :-\
*slaps forehead*
Of course, it would help if I knew how to finish spelling a word. I knew I was close.
@metacom:
There's no confirmation page. But I can tell you it's the name of one of the games in a previous Humble Indie Bundle.
@Ryusui I was unaware of that game, but some googling suggests that the answer I have is correct. Thanks!
Made it all the way up to the last one without any difficulty, so feeling good so far. Just the break my brain needed from sloughing through airports all day! :D (Still mid-slough at the moment, though. Booooo. :[ )
i'm stuck on 5. i've marked the letters contained in the title of that game in the outer, marked the others in the inner, and i'm stuck.
Completed, and wow #5. I feel like an idiot for having taken so long on that.
@Stinkoman:
Draw lines linking the letters.
There's a branch at one point where you'll have two different "e"s to choose from. Be warned.
When you're done, the final answer will be five letters long.
For #5,
All the letters in the name of the remaining game can be removed from the outside square
but I don't know what to do with the resulting string.
And if I'd refreshed the page before I left that comment, I'd feel a lot less superfluous.
Really stuck on 5.
I did this:
marked the letters of the last game on the outside frame
I tried this:
noting the 9 letters left on the outside frame and marking them in the inner square, two of them appear twice so 11 marked squares in total
I also tried this:
marking in the inner square the letter J, X, Q because they don't appear in the name of the last game
And this:
Connecting lines between the missing letters of the frame, creating rectangles between them. imagining that squares over these letters all fall to the bottom of the screen and seeing which letters they reach when stacked and other strange things
None of these helped me in any way.
I tried to use the hints given here and work backwards:
others wrote that the answer is a previous game with 5 letters so I looked up all of the names of previous games with 5 letters but they all have letters in them that are part of the name of the last game from the current bundle
In summary I don't know:
What should I actually mark in the inner square?
Stuck on #2. What do people mean by
Turn the cogs alturnately?
I sort of did it but still didn't get it.
It's weird. Neither Disco Balls nor Drag Queens fit in box # 3
Stuck on #5:
I completed the puzzle,
joining letters in a game title in a tidy and systematic way,
but I finished up with
a 5-letter word that happens to be the title of a game in an earlier Humble Indie Bundle, but it leads to nothing.
?!?
I probably went down a perfectly plausible yet somehow still wrong path.
Ruufy, from what I understand reading the other posts, typing the answer to #5 does not lead to a "Yep!" or something like that. You must hope it's the correct answer and email it in xD
As for me, I'm on #2, cursing my inability to visualise the cogs
rotating
and wishing there was a paint program that could do that for me.
Woohoo! Done.
Thanks raddaya,
I did know I wasn't going to be told if I was right, but your comment made me go back and re-re-read the instructions: I had been expecting the email address to be seen on the answer for #5, not the question! And I'll even admit I was staring at it for quite some time while scribbling all over it, and still didn't notice the email address. For the sake of people like me, the next JIG competition had better be colouring in...
raddaya, forgot to say,
if you are still on #2,
as someone else commented, you don't really need to rotate the cogs visually or in a paint program, just read up and down in a serpentine fashion.
Kinda stuck on 2.
I rotated the cogs(on paper) but I didn't get anything from it....is there a certain direction you must rotate the first cog in?
Yeah, they've only provided a final confirmation twice - first time was because the final puzzle was insane, second was because there were several possible correct answers (all of them common synonyms for the same thing, mind).
Anyway, here's another hint for #2:
Ignore the letters forming a horizontal line across the middle.
Read up, then right, then down, then right. Rinse and repeat until you get to the end.
Alternately, turn the first cog clockwise, the second counterclockwise, and continue in this fashion to the end.
It may still be confusing, but persevere and you'll succeed regardless.
When I first saw the theme of this game my spirits sank, since I have never played any of the Humble Indie Bundle games. Much to my surprise, I actually found this bunch to be the easiest of all the LIB so far. Go figure.
For those still stuck:
#1
the game in question involves turning things upside down
#2
just make the cogs do what cogs do until you have a word
# 3
Once you know the name of the HIB game, subtract the word that's already there and anagram the remaining letters.
#4
Again, the name of the game is your clue. How would you make F**ht look like a H***er? Do that, then cross off all the letters you just used.
#5 This one gave me the most trouble. But once I knew that the answer was
the name of a previous HIB game
it was easy.
does the humble frozenbyte bundle count as a hib?
For #5, I think I intuited the answer, but the actual method for properly solving has me stumped. None of the hints given make any sense to me.
Someone said to draw lines from one letter to another, but be careful because at one point there are two E's to choose from. I must be doing it entirely wrong, because I have more than just multiple E's to choose from, and thus many points of divergence.
I've already
marked certain key letters along the outer perimeter. I'm just having difficulty proceeding from there.
Regarding the actual answer,
someone said it was a previous HIB game, and someone else said it was five letters long. That narrows it down to two games it could be, without even looking at this puzzle. One deciding factor could be whether the letters that spell it out appear in order.
Some hints for #5 (trying not to really spoil):
I see that some people, like me, were thinking of the correct method, but also think there are too many options. There aren't because:
in most steps trying to connect isn't possible whilst keeping the connection type consistent, either on that same step or during one of the following steps. It seems that there are only 2 options to fully complete this method (and it is indeed a case of two "E"s with one leading to a wrong answer)
@ray9na:
The lines you draw will only ever be along the horizontal, vertical and diagonal axes.
A couple of hints for #5:
You can only make 90 and 45 degree turns.
You won't use all the letters you have left over.
OK, I've narrowed down the possible answers for #5 to two possibilities. I honestly have no clue which one to choose, so I'm going to ask for a bit of help.
Does the first letter of the answer come before or after P in the alphabet?
Thanks, Ryusui and nerdypants. That little detail did make a difference.
@bubblecamera:
I doubt you'll find more than one possible answer that is also the name of a previous HIB game.
#4 was the hardest to figure out what I was supposed to do without consulting the hints here. The rest were pretty straightforward once it was clear what needed to be done.
So I've been looking at all the hints, but I STILL can't see how to solve #5. Here are my thoughts.
It seems somewhat the case judging from the comments, especially the one about being able to recognize a pattern which I don't, that you have to have played the game in question before having a chance to figure out the method needed, which, if true, isn't exactly fair. So I really hope that is not the case.
I've read the spoilers and get the valid turns the line can take, and I gather that it must one continous line being made, somehow connecting the 9 letters that are left in the outer rim.
But that's where my brain comes to a halt. I really can't see any possible way to do that. So could someone please just post a major spoiler instead of all these small hints? Just label it as such and there will be no problem.
ThemePark:
To the best of my understanding
Do I really have to spell it out for you? Just connect the dots.
...
(That was cleverness, not rudeness!)
Thanks ray9na, that DID give me a push in the right direction.
Major spoiler:
Only read this if you're absolutely sure you want the answer, as far as I understand it.
The outer rim shows me which letters to ignore from the inner grid. And then I have to spell out the name of the game, connecting lines from one letter to another.
But...
If I only have to use the inner grid for that, I get a problem when I get to A, because there's no way I can get to Y with one straight line, and if I need more than one line, I won't know which path to take.
Big, big spoilers for ThemePark:
Connect the dots
that lie along the outer perimeter
and when you're done
the criss-cross lines you've drawn
should reveal something
in the inner grid.
@V2Blast: Thanks for the help. One of my possible answers was indeed a previous HIB game, but I had no idea how I could have gotten it from the puzzle. My other answer (which, by the way, was SKULL) was the answer I found by doing the puzzle. I checked, found that there has never been an HIB game called Skull, realized I was approaching the puzzle the wrong way, figured out what I should have been doing, and solved the puzzle correctly, which gave me the other, correct, answer.
@Puzzlers stuck on #5: The answer is not SKULL. Or SGKULIL. Or anything that even remotely sounds like SKULL.
@ThemePark:
Not every line will cross the bordered box in the center.
However, only the letters in the bordered box will spell out the answer.
Thanks to all these hints, for the first time ever I managed to complete the whole LiB. And I'm pretty sure of my answer being correct, so I'm pretty happy!
With the help of the hints, I got to #5. Now I'm completely stuck, and none of the hints for #5 make any sense. some of them even appear to be contradicting.
I understand I need to cross off the letters of the final game around the edges, leaving nine letters.
That leaves the center. I read something about ignoring the letters left in the outer rim, and connecting the letters of the games's name? But that doesn't make any sense, because with the 9 leftover letters crossed off, there is no path to spell out the name using straight lines.
Am I just dense? What am I doing wrong?
Callidy:
For further help with #5:
paste the image into a Paint or similar program that has the straight edge option
ignore the 9 letters on the outer rim that don't appear in the last game's title
connect the dots
Kinda big note
it is important to see that there are multiples of some letters, so don't choose the wrong path
You will see the answer not crossed through
Hope that helps some without giving TOO much away
Got through 2(I was spinning the cogs the opposite way, silly me) and three was a super-breeze(a gale?) and 4 was also a breeze.
And then there were 5.
The hints are...really confusing. OK, I crossed off the letters from the game in the outer rim. Do I cross off anything in the inner rim? If not, well, there are millions of possibilities to connect the dots.
A piece of meta-advice for number 5:
Things written in spoiler tags aren't always correct.
That...doesn't really help.
Whoo, I finished! Thanks to all the people that posted hints, especially. It's been quite fun.
Raddaya, I'm in the same spot as you. The hints are contradicting each other so much that I'm lost and about ready to give up.
I guess I'm as thick as they come. Managed quite well until I got to #5. And now, after reading all the (sometimes conflicting) hints, I am completely without any idea of how to approach the puzzle.
The hints are a bit maddening:
Cross off the letters in the outer square that contain the name of the game. -OR - Ignore the letters in the outer square that *do not* appear in the name of the game.
And,
Connect the dots.
Um, well yes, but where to start?
Could some helpful soul please post just the first one or two actual steps (like, start with this letter in this square, and draw a straight line to this letter in this square)?
And no, I've never played the game in question, so I haven't any working knowledge of its mechanics. Any help appreciated.
This is how you solve #5:
Start with the "C" in the border, then draw a line across the grid to the "R".
Then draw a line from the "R" to the "A."
Continue through "Y", "O", "N", and so forth until the puzzle is complete.
You'll only be making straight vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines.
Note that there are two "E"s that can be reached at one point - one is correct, and the other incorrect. Trial and error is the only way to figure out the proper sequence here, but it's close to the end.
There will also be a few instances where a line connecting two letters will not cross through the bordered section of the grid.
The final answer is five letters long, and it is a word.
For those on #5:
When you have two paths to choose from, go down.
I also would like to repeat, about #5:
You can only make 90 or 45 degree turns, which means that if you go diagonally, you will go through the corners of the boxes.
That had me stuck for a while.
Without further ado, we humbly present this week's answers:
Puzzle 1
Puzzle 1 Answer
The words to fill in the boxes (vertically) were VIRUS, VIOLET, VAMPIRE, VAPOR, VASE, and VOLCANO. And whad'ya know, the letters in the top row spell out VVVVVV, one of the games in this Humble Indie Bundle! But that's not the answer we're looking for. So what do we do? Flip it upside down! The last letters in each word spell out STEREO.
Puzzle 2
Puzzle 2 Answer
To solve this puzzle, you needed to pretend that each cluster of letters was a cog (as in the game Cogs). If you rotate the first cog a quarter turn to the right, the second cog will turn a quarter to the left, the third will turn a quarter to the right, and so on. The resulting word down the center of the cogs after a quarter turn to the right is REGARDLESS.
Puzzle 3
Puzzle 3 Answer
Hopefully by this point you realized that the titles of the games in this Humble Indie Bundle were directly involved in the puzzles themselves. The top row of boxes had a 3-3-2-5 pattern, which should have suggested AND YET IT MOVES. The letters in that title could be anagrammed to multiple two-word phrases, but given the starting word of STOVE, the remaining letters could only spell out DYNAMITE.
Puzzle 4
Puzzle 4 Answer
In case I never get to make another MC Hammer reference in a puzzle again, let me say that you can't touch this puzzle without first recognizing that the game referenced here is Hammerfight. In this puzzle, the letters FIGHT appeared repeatedly in a hammer-shape (like a capital T), and always in the same positions within the shape, though the shape may be rotated. After all seven hammers are removed, the remaining letters spell FINAL IS TRAFFIC.
Puzzle 5
Puzzle 5 Answer
The only game in the Humble Indie Bundle (before the addition of Steel Storm) that hasn't been used in this puzzle set is Crayon Physics Deluxe. All of the letters in that title can be found in the outer ring of boxes (with some extra letters thrown in as red herrings). If you trace a path connecting the letters in order (preferably using a crayon), most of the letters in the inner box will be crossed out by one or more lines. There are a couple of incorrect paths if you trace the letters out of order, but only one path results in a valid word. (The full path is not drawn out in the picture, as it would be a tangled mess, but it's started so that you can understand the gist of the puzzle.) That word is BRAID, your final answer, as well as a former Humble Indie Bundle game!
Winners will be announced soon!
Woot, got the right answer :) This is the first time I sent in an answer, hope I win! When will you announce the winners?
Oh, wow. I... I actually won something. That was unexpected.
where are the winners?
[The winners are now posted. :) -Jay]
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