Vector Pendulum: Quiet Machines

About Vector Pendulum: Quiet Machines

Vector Pendulum: Quiet Machines is a calm contraption puzzle read on a sonar scope in a silent machine hall under the sea. Each room is a stretch of the hall with intakes that release glowing floats, bulkheads that stop them, kelp cushions that throw them back, sumps that swallow them, sand beds that drag them, current plates that turn them and docks that hold them.

The hall also obeys physical rules, and a rack on the console lists the ones this room lets you change: bulkheads hard or springy, water clear or thick, vanes true or mirrored, currents running or slack, docks open or gentle. You may turn exactly one dial at a time. Run the hall as it stands first and the dim ghost line of that run stays on the glass; turn a dial, run again, and read what that single change did to the whole machine. In many rooms the right dial is the whole answer; in others you set one or two of your own vanes as well.

Twelve hand-ordered rooms bring in one rule at a time, each with a par that the game's own solver proved, and each with exactly one dial that gives the shortest answer. Then come endless deep halls and a daily room that is the same for everyone. When the last float docks the hall goes quiet: the music falls to a single toll of the pendulum while the sweep redraws every route in light. Nothing is timed. Your progress stays in this browser.

How to play

Dock every float: when the machine runs, each float drifts from its intake and glides until something turns or stops it.
The rack lists the rules you may change in this room. Turn one dial (tap its card, or press Q); turning another puts the first back.
Run the hall as it stands, read the dim ghost line, then change one rule and run again to see what that change did.
Tap the scope to set a vane, tap it again to turn it and once more to take it back. Watch plays the last run slowly.
Par pieces earn three stars, and a dial alone can be a perfect answer. There is no clock and runs are free.

Controls

Tap or click a dial card — turn that one rule (tap again to put it back)
Tap or click the scope — set a vane, turn it, take it back
Arrow keys, WASD, D-pad or stick — move the ring; Enter or Ⓐ — set, turn or take back; Q — next dial
Space, L, Ⓧ or Run — run the machine; R or Watch — watch the last run; Z or Undo — undo; H — a hint
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

What does a dial change?

One physical rule of the whole hall. Bulkheads turn from hard to springy so a float bounces back; water turns from clear to thick so a float slows by a cell of drift per cell; vanes turn from true to mirrored; currents go from running to slack so arrow plates stop turning floats; docks turn from open to gentle so only a slow float is held.

Why only one dial at a time?

So you can see what that single change does. Turning a second dial puts the first back. The dim ghost line left by your previous run shows the difference between two settings.

Is anything timed or scored against me?

Nothing is timed and runs are free. Stars compare the pieces you set with par, the fewest the solver needs with the best dial, and a solve after a hint earns at most two. Sparks swept up on the way add a few points.

Can a room be solved without any piece?

Yes. In several rooms the right dial alone sends every float home, and that earns three stars and a badge.

What does Watch do?

It plays your last run again slowly, with each float's route lit in its own colour and number, so you can see exactly where a float went astray. Changing a dial or a piece ends the replay.

Does the game save?

Yes, in this browser: solved rooms, stars, and the room you were working on with its dial and pieces in place. Nothing is uploaded.