Lucid Pendulum: The Missing Axis

About Lucid Pendulum: The Missing Axis

Lucid Pendulum: The Missing Axis is a sliding puzzle set in a laboratory high in a tree canopy at dawn. Each room is a specimen deck: a woven grid of pale planks inside a rope-bound rail, with wooden crates lying on it, dew drops beading the planks and a glass seed pod hanging on a cord from a brass trolley overhead. Round the rail are lantern hatches, each with a value.

A move slides one piece one plank. Crates slide only along their length, two or three planks long; the pod goes any way and gathers every drop it passes over. The pod leaves through a hatch with the hatch's value plus its drops, and a hatch opens only when that total reaches the room's target. So there are several right answers, each with its own score: a near hatch after a detour for drops, or a far, rich hatch behind a wall of crates. The craft is the fewest moves.

Every room withholds one axis. On a one-way rail the pod's trolley runs east and west only, or north and south only, so the crates must clear its line. Under a leaf veil you see where a crate starts and which way it lies, but not how far it reaches: you reason it out from what stands round it, or find out when the crate first moves or the pod bumps into it. There is no clock and undo is free. Each room has a par, the fewest moves proved by the game's own search over every state of the deck. Twelve hand-ordered rooms climb from the first light to the crown observatory, then endless rooms higher in the crown and a daily room that is the same for everyone. When the pod leaves, it swings out on its cord through the glowing hatch, sunbeams fan through the leaves and fireflies spiral up. Your progress stays in this browser.

How to play

Swing the seed pod out through a hatch. A hatch opens when its value plus the dew drops the pod has gathered reaches the target.
Tap a piece to pick it, then tap the plank beside it or a round arrow to slide it one plank.
Crates slide only along their length. The pod goes any way, unless its rail runs on one axis only.
Leaf-veiled crates hide their length: reason from what stands round them, or move them to see.
Par moves earn three stars. There is no clock; undo is free.

Controls

Tap or click a piece to pick it, then tap the plank beside it or a round arrow to slide it one plank
Q and E — pick the previous or next piece; arrow keys or WASD — slide it
Z or U or Undo — undo; Y — redo; R or Reset — start the room again; H — a hint
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do I win a room?

Swing the seed pod out through a hatch in the rail. Each hatch has a value, and the pod adds one for every dew drop it has gathered. A hatch opens only when that total reaches the room's target.

Why is there more than one answer?

Several hatches can be open, and drops change the total, so different routes leave with different scores and cost different numbers of moves. Par is the fewest moves to leave by any open hatch.

What is the missing axis?

Each room withholds one dimension. On a one-way rail the pod moves east and west only, or north and south only. Under a leaf veil you cannot see how long a crate is until it moves or the pod bumps into it.

Does bumping a veiled crate cost a move?

No. The bump does not move anything and is not counted; it only shows how long the crate is. Solving a veiled room without a bump earns a badge.

Is anything timed or scored against me?

Nothing is timed and undo is free. Stars compare your moves with par, and a solve after a hint earns at most two. Leaving with more than the target earns a few extra points.

Can I tell the pieces apart without colour?

Yes. Crates are square-cornered and banded, the pod is a round glass bob on a cord, drops are teardrops and hatches are arched doors with a bar across them while closed. Every piece is described for a screen reader.

Does the game save?

Yes, in this browser: solved rooms, stars, and the moves you had made in the room you were working on. Nothing is uploaded.