Tesseract Workshop: Quiet Machines

About Tesseract Workshop: Quiet Machines

Tesseract Workshop: Quiet Machines is a calm contraption puzzle in a silent machine hall on the sea floor. A dynamo holds a store of glowing pearls, jellyfish lamps wait to be lit, and between the shell docks of the hall you lay glass belts that carry pearls one way. When the machine is built you press Run and simply watch it work: nothing is timed and nothing can be missed, because a run is the same every time.

The rules of the run are simple and exact. Each moment a dock that holds pearls sends one down one of its belts. A dock with several belts hands its pearls out in turn, taking the belts in the order north, east, south and west, so a fork shares fairly but in a fixed order you can plan around. A pearl needs as many moments to cross a belt as the belt is long. A lamp keeps every pearl that reaches it, and lights once it holds as many as it wants.

Every belt is fragile. Each one carries a stress limit, the number of pearls it can take in a whole run, and the first pearl past that limit cracks it and ends the run. So the puzzle is to find the fewest belts, laid the right way round, that bring each lamp what it wants without letting any belt carry more than it can bear.

When the machine is right the hall hums: the lamps wake one after another, rings of light spread over the frosted floor, the ribs of the dome glow and jellyfish drift upward. Twelve hand-built halls from a first belt to a hall where every belt is close to cracking, each with a par the game's own solver proved, then deeper halls and a daily hall that is the same for everyone. Undo, redo and hints are always there, and your progress stays in this browser.

How to play

Make every lamp light. The dynamo holds pearls, and each lamp wants the number written on it.
Tap a slot between two docks to lay a belt one way, tap again to turn it, and once more to take it up.
Press Run and watch. A dock with several belts hands pearls out in turn: north, east, south, west.
A belt cracks when more pearls than its stress limit cross it. Use par belts and no hint for three stars.

Controls

Tap or click a slot — lay a belt, turn it, take it up
Arrow keys, WASD, D-pad or stick — move the cursor; Enter or Ⓐ — lay, turn or take up
Space, R, Ⓧ or Run — run the machine; Z or Undo — undo; H or Hint — a hint; C or Clear — take every belt up
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

Why is it called quiet machines?

Nothing is timed and nothing can be missed. You build the machine at your own pace, press Run, and watch. A run is exactly the same every time, so you can learn from a failed one and change a single belt.

How do the pearls choose a belt?

A dock that holds pearls sends one at a time, and a dock with several belts hands them out in turn: first the belt leaving north, then east, then south, then west, then north again. A pearl needs as many moments to cross a belt as the belt is long. A lamp keeps every pearl it receives.

What is a stress limit?

Each belt can carry only so many pearls in one run, shown as small rings on the belt. The rings fill as pearls cross during a run. The first pearl past the limit cracks the belt and ends the run, and the cracked belt stays marked until you change it.

How are stars and par worked out?

The game's own solver searches machine by machine and finds the fewest belts that light every lamp: that is par. Par belts with no hint earn three stars, one more two, any hall made right one. Using a hint caps a hall at two stars.

Can I make it calmer or clearer?

Yes. The watching speed has three settings, the jellyfish and the pearl trails can be turned off, and the kit's own settings cover colour-blind palettes, reduced motion, fewer flashes, large text, sound and music.

Does the game save?

Yes, in this browser: halls made right, stars, and the hall you were working on with its belts in place. Nothing is uploaded.