Vector Labyrinth: Quiet Machines

About Vector Labyrinth: Quiet Machines

Vector Labyrinth: Quiet Machines is a calm momentum puzzle set in a cave of resonant crystals. An echo stone is let go in a set direction, and it never slows: it rolls until something turns it. The rock is springy, so the stone ricochets off every wall and comes straight back, and your job is to raise a few mirror crystals and stalagmites so that a single run carries it into the heart crystal at the cave's centre.

Then you simply watch. Every crystal the stone touches rings a note of a slow pentatonic ladder, low on the left and high on the right, so each run plays its own little tune and a strip beside the cave draws it as it sounds. Rune plates lift stone gates, cold drafts push the stone along, chimes hang in its path and fissures swallow it. Nothing is timed, a failed run costs nothing, and you can run the same cave over and over to listen again.

When the stone finally docks, the Cave Choir answers: every crystal it touched sings again in the order it was met, rings of light running across the floor, and the heart crystal blooms. Ten hand-made caves, each with a par worked out by the game's own solver, then endless deeper caves and a daily cave that is the same for everyone. Undo, redo and hints are always there, and your progress stays in this browser.

How to play

Bring the echo stone to the heart crystal. It never slows, it rolls until a mirror crystal turns it, and the rock throws it straight back.
Tap open floor to raise the chosen piece. Tap a mirror crystal of yours to turn it once, and again to take it back.
Press Run and watch. Every crystal the stone touches rings a note, and the tune strip draws them. Run again to listen again.
Rune plates lift stone gates, cold drafts push the stone along and fissures swallow it. A failed run costs nothing.
Dock with par pieces and no hint for three stars. Chimes rung and a first-run dock add resonance.

Controls

Tap or click the cave — raise a piece, turn a mirror crystal, take it back
Arrow keys, WASD, D-pad or stick — move the cave cursor; Enter or Ⓐ — raise, turn or take back
Space, R, Ⓧ or Run — run the stone (again to watch it again); Z or Undo — undo; H or Hint — a hint
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

Why does the stone bounce back off the walls?

In this cave the rock is springy: a wall throws the stone straight back along the way it came and costs it nothing, so it never runs out of momentum. That is what a mirror crystal is for: it turns the stone before the wall can send it back, or after.

What do the notes mean?

Each crystal, chime, gate plate, draft and the heart crystal rings a note when the stone touches it. The note depends on where it is: low on the left of the cave, high on the right, and a step higher in the upper half. The strip beside the cave draws the run as a tune.

What happens when I fail?

Nothing is lost. The stone may circle forever, fall into a fissure or roll on for a long time; the game says which. Change a piece and run it again, as often as you like. Pressing Run while the stone rolls watches it faster.

How are stars and par worked out?

The game's own solver finds the fewest pieces that carry the stone home: that is par. Par pieces with no hint earn three stars, one more two, any dock one; a dock after a hint earns at most two.

Can I make it calmer or clearer?

Yes. Watch speed has three settings, the tune strip and the echo trail of your last run can be turned off, and the kit's own settings cover reduced motion, fewer flashes, large text, sound and music.

Does the game save?

Yes, in this browser: docked caves, stars and the cave you were working on with your pieces in place. Nothing is uploaded.