MazezaM Longplay Part 4

The final eight levels of MazezaM, and each one of this bunch is hard enough to keep even the most dedicated puzzler busy for a good long while.

Level 34 (Zen Garden) is where many solvers get stuck: on earlier levels, trial and error could bring you a long way towards the solution, but here it is not even easy to gauge whether you are making progress. The manipulation of the lower rows is similar to Duck Commander, but each step can only be achieved by getting around the awkward yellow row. The solution ends up being longer than that of any previous level.

Level 35 (Inside Out) has a much shorter solution, but it is extremely difficult to spot, since the level is so different from any other! It is very tempting to try to use the right-hand gap in the white row, and this red herring had me stuck for a good few days; it was only when I reasoned that the other gap had to be there for a purpose that I solved the level.

Level 36 (The Wumpus Room) is the last and hardest of the levels contributed by programmer Kian Vincent. It is similar to Through & Through, but depends on the well-hidden trick of moving the bottom row left at a key point by returning to the left-hand side of the level. This level is also one of the hardest to complete a second time after solving it once, since the solver is very likely to have stumbled about in the maze for some time, perhaps making the key move without realising why it would work, and on playing the level again is likely to get stuck again at precisely the same point!

Level 37 (Double Decker) is two levels in one. The upper half is extremely difficult, as it requires a long series of steps to get the red and yellow rows into favourable positions, but the solution is a logical extension of previous themes. The lower half is far easier if you get off to the correct start, but unfortunately it is also very easy to get into an impossible position!

Level 38 (Back to Front) is something of an oddity, as there is no reason why the gimmick of extra top and bottom rows, making the level have to be solved backwards, should have been applied to this level in particular. Still, the content of the middle section is a very nice puzzle that may well look impossible at first as it does not seem there is very much you can do!

Finally, Level 39 (The Beast) builds on previous themes to create a real monster of a puzzle, though I am not sure whether the solution shown here is necessarily the quickest. It looks impossible to even get started, until you see the starting move of pushing the bottom row; and even then, you can easily end up stumbling around for quite some time without having any idea whether your moves are bringing you closer to or further away from a solution.

The music for this video is "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• BBC
• Micro
• MazezaM
• yt:crop=off

[malxon1]

As the original designer of MazezaM (and many of the levels) I thought I'd add a few things:

Firstly, I must commend Kian for his excellent port to the BBC micro and for creating some really nice mazezams.

Secondly, I must congratulate you on solving all of those levels. I never really thought that anyone out there would have the patience to solve The Beast (level 39). I actually felt a bit guilty for using it (...ok: I also felt some sadistic pleasure too).

[SentinelProxima]

@malxon1

Good to hear from you, and thanks for creating such an awesome game and puzzles :)

To be honest, the first time I solved the levels I didn't find Level 39 nearly as difficult as 38, but when it came to the second time (in preparation for making these videos) I couldn't remember or reconstruct my solution at all, and I feel it's quite likely the solution shown here is a lot more complex than the one I first came up with, though I could easily be wrong. An excellent final level, anyhow!

[reptongeek]

Level 35 was interesting. All that pushing just to move one square that was blocking the exit!