Vector Pendulum: The Missing Axis

About Vector Pendulum: The Missing Axis

Vector Pendulum: The Missing Axis is a physics puzzle set in a laboratory high in a rainforest canopy. Rigs of lashed planks are strung between the branches, and on each one a liana pendulum knocks a golden seed pod along a course of bark branches, waxy leaf mirrors, acorns, moss and vine arrows towards a woven nest. Gaps in the planks drop to the forest floor far below.

You never touch the pod. You change the rig’s physics, one dial at a time: the branches can be firm or springy, the bark slick, rough or sticky, the leaf mirrors true or turned, the vine arrows pulling or slack. After every change the liana swings and the pod runs again, so you watch what that one change did.

The missing axis is the law you cannot see. In every rig one law is hidden under the leaves and locked: maybe the bark’s grip, maybe which way the leaf mirrors lie. Its setting is never shown, but the pod obeys it, and the right dials depend on it. Watch where the pod turns and where it stops, and reason it out. When the pod settles in its nest a gust shakes the canopy and the leaves part to show the hidden law at last. Twelve hand-strung rigs, each with a fewest-change answer proved by the game’s own solver, lead to endless rigs of the upper canopy and a rig of the day. Nothing is timed, undo and hints are always there, and your progress stays in this browser.

How to play

Bring the seed pod home to its nest by changing the rig’s physics, one dial at a time.
Choose a dial and a new setting, then run: the liana knocks the pod along the rig.
One law of every rig is hidden and locked. Work out how it is set from what the pod does.
Undo takes a change back; reset puts every dial back as you found it.
Par changes with no hint earn three stars. A long journey and no undo add findings.

Controls

Up and down — choose a dial; left and right — choose its setting; or tap a dial
Enter, Space or Run — make the change and run the pod
Z or Undo — undo a change; R — reset; H or Hint — a hint; N — hear the notebook
P, Escape or Start — pause

Frequently asked questions

How do I move the seed pod?

You do not. You change one law of the rig (a carved dial in the field notebook) and the liana knocks the pod along the rig again, so you can watch the whole run with that one change. Bring the pod to rest in its nest to solve the rig.

What is the hidden law?

In every rig one law is wrapped in leaves and locked: the branches, the bark’s grip, the leaf mirrors or the vine arrows. You cannot turn it or see its setting, but the pod obeys it, so you work out how it is set from where the pod turns, bounces and stops.

Do I ever find out?

Yes. When the pod settles in its nest a gust shakes the canopy, the leaves blow off the hidden dial and its setting is shown, and the results list it too.

How are stars and par worked out?

The game’s own solver knows the hidden law and finds the fewest dial changes that bring the pod home: that is par. Par with no hint earns three stars, one more change two, any solved rig one; a hinted rig earns at most two.

Can I calm it down?

Yes. The pod can roll at an easy or quick pace, its trail 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: solved rigs, stars and the dials of the rig you were studying, replayed when you come back. Nothing is uploaded.