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Kinetic Prism: Quiet Machines

Write the tape. Run it. Hear the cave play your tune.

Puzzle

Pro

Tap the tiles to build a tape of commands. Space runs it. Watch plays the last run slowly.

A dark cave floor of flagstones and pale ice where a small brass crawler stands between four kinds of glowing crystal, a tower, a fan of spikes, a shard and a geode, each ringing under a shaft of light.

Quiet Machines

Kinetic Prism: Quiet Machines

Write the tape. Run it. Hear the cave play your tune.

About Kinetic Prism: Quiet Machines

Kinetic Prism: Quiet Machines is a calm programming puzzle set in a cave of resonant crystals. A small brass crawler called Ticker lives there, and it does exactly what its tape says: step forward, turn left, turn right, or strike the crystal it stands on. You never steer it live. You build the tape, press Run and watch it work.

Every room asks for a tune: a short run of notes shown on a card. Four kinds of crystal ring four notes, each its own shape and colour: an amber tower, a rose fan of spikes, a teal shard and a violet geode. Ticker must strike the right crystals in the right order, and a wrong note stops the run with a flat clunk, so you see exactly where the tape went off-key.

Twelve hand-ordered caves bring in one idea at a time. Rock walls turn a straight line into a route. Loops repeat a few blocks two to four times and make a long tune short. Pale ice carries Ticker on until something stops it. An echo crystal rings twice for one strike, so the tune has to leave room for the double. Each cave has a par, the fewest blocks the game's own solver proved, and the tape only has room for a few blocks more. When the tune rings out, the cave plays it back as a small recital. There are endless deep caves and a daily cave that is the same for everyone. Nothing is timed. Your progress stays in this browser.

How to play

  1. Make Ticker ring the tune on the card, note by note and in order.
  2. Tap the tiles on the shelf to build a tape: forward, turn left, turn right, strike. Strike rings the crystal Ticker is standing on.
  3. Run the tape and watch. A wrong note stops the run; fix the tape and run it again as often as you like.
  4. Loops repeat their blocks two to four times (tap the count to change it). Ice carries Ticker on until it hits rock or dry floor. Echo crystals ring twice.
  5. Par blocks earn three stars. There is no clock.

Controls

  • Tap or click a tile of the shelf — add that block to the tape; tap a block of the tape — take it back
  • Arrow keys, WASD or D-pad — add forward, turn left, turn right, strike; L — open or close a loop; Backspace — take the last block back
  • Space, Enter, Ⓐ or Run — run the tape; R or Watch — watch the last run slowly; Z or Undo — undo; H — a hint
  • P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

What does a strike do?

It rings the crystal Ticker is standing on, in that crystal's note. Striking where there is no crystal does nothing. If the note is not the next one of the tune, the run stops there as off-key.

How do loops work?

A loop block repeats the blocks you put inside it two, three or four times. Tap the count on the loop to change it, and use the loop tile again to close it. Loops come in from the fourth cave.

What do ice and echo crystals do?

Ice carries Ticker forward until the next cell is rock or Ticker reaches dry floor. An echo crystal, drawn with a dotted ring, rings its note twice for one strike, so the tune has two of that note in a row where it is struck.

Is anything timed or scored against me?

Nothing is timed and runs are free. Stars compare the blocks on your tape with par, the fewest the solver needs, and a solve after a hint earns at most two. The notes of the tune add a few points.

Can I tell the crystals apart without colour?

Yes. Each note has its own shape (tower, fan, shard, geode) and its own name (Dawn, Dusk, Tide, Frost) and rings its own bar.

Does the game save?

Yes, in this browser: solved caves, stars, and the cave you were working on with its tape in place. Nothing is uploaded.

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