Exit the Game Advent Calendar 2023 Day 5: The Silent Storm

[@erict.517]

That was a very enjoyable puzzle. You picked up on the “Not needing numbers” hint very quickly. I got hung up on trying to convert the new shapes back into numbers for the decoder. Great work Garett.

[@drgareth]

Because I didn't immediately realise I could work out a number rule for the shapes without numbers, I started from the assumption that I must therefore have unnumbered shapes for the solution too - which was lucky, because by the time I realized I COULD work out the numbers after all then I already had the idea that I was just using the shapes on the decoder! :)

[@mystemo1980]

I love watching how different people tackle these puzzles and get from A to B, so to speak

[@antonella_1221]

This puzzle was so creative! I loved the complexity of determining the numbers for each of the entries in the shelf. You solved it like a pro!

[@drgareth]

Oh bless you, thank you! I wasn't entirely sure how to interpret everything, but I thought I'd give it a go and see what happened. :) First time lucky on this occasion! ;)

[@lxmon_654]

My box was missing its left wall so it was generally impossible:(

[@drgareth]

@@lxmon_654Oh no! You should contact Kosmos - I realise it may be academic now but they will send you the missing part.

[@ms_hansel]

My daughter solved this one so fast that my husband and I couldn't follow all of her reasoning. Now I finally understand what she was doing!! Neat puzzle!

[@nicoles7126]

This was a fun one! I was glad to have a partner who is good at coding language and he was glad to have a partner who taught geometry so the "number of sides" thing came to me quickly! For what it's worth we did look at the solution after we finished and it notes that x is the number of corners, not sides, but it renders the same solution.

[@RebeccaAdeney]

Ingenious little puzzle! I get more and more impressed by these Exit the Game calendars every year.

[@drgareth]

Me too, because just for Advent calendars alone there are already 50+ ideas they've already used up. :) Then when you add on all the many other Exit rooms and puzzles, it must be more like 500+.

[@RebeccaAdeney]

@@drgareth I can't wait to see what they came up with for the final door!

[@drgareth]

@@RebeccaAdeneyIt will be hard to top last year's though!

[@RebeccaAdeney]

@@drgareth There are not many ways to do it - but I think the unmarked triangular door in the middle of the calendar may play a part.

[@drgareth]

@@RebeccaAdeney Ooh, interesting. Do you mean the dashed-line hexagon, or is there something I'm missing? :)

[@aliciastraub3477]

I had a hard time with this one. My mind REALLY wanted numbers to put into the decoder. Even though they clearly stated that numbers weren't needed! I just couldn't see any other way. Well done seeing immediately that the symbols were what needed to be entered into the decoder!

[@drgareth]

I don't know if it came across on the video, but I had a sudden realisation when I noticed that the colours of the shapes matched the colours of the sliders - and because I hadn't yet worked out how to find out the numbers, I made the assumption about selecting shapes right at that point. I think I was a bit lucky, to be honest!

[@Randomelectiontopic]

Fantastic riddle.

[@slydog75]

The numbers on the blocks really through us for a curve.. We had to get the clue to tell us to count the sides.

[@drgareth]

Yes, it confused me for a bit too! It's a whole separate bit of deduction to the rest of the puzzle!

[@Lavitz916]

Probably was not number of sides or straight edges but rather number of vertexes.

[@drgareth]

Ah yes, thank you. I’m sure you’re right, and I realised that only after I finished recording. :) Luckily it doesn’t affect the puzzle.

[@DevilboyScooby]

I assumed the missing numbers would be the ones matching those symbols on the other side of the decoder... Number of sides is much simpler (except for the crescent, apparently... I'd call it 2 but the box seems like it would call it 0?) I think they designed the puzzle so that once the shapes changed in the machine, the sides were still less than or greater than 6, rather than coincidence. I get the impression the EXIT games are very tightly designed, even their advent calendars!

[@TheFootballguy_123]

yeah it was a great puzzle i love how much detail there is in the puzzles and it is always very fun figuring it out

[@drgareth]

Yes, they're usually surprisingly involved for individual daily puzzles - and I don't know how they manage not to repeat themselves all the time!

[@Cadentotaldrama]

Wow you solved this 1 much quicker than I did- Tbh this was my least fav so far as it just did not make sense to my brain lol. I figured out the counting vertexes rule fairly quickly and got the shapes but my problem was I just didn’t understand how to convert it into a code. I tried converting it back to number of vertexes, I wasn’t sure if the code went left to right or if it was based on the colors themselves. The thought of making the code with symbols instead of numbers never crossed my mind as I was so focused on how the code was traditionally entered. Glad you were able to enjoy it though!

[@stevemarks]

Really did not like that the initial game instructions clearly say that each day’s solution will be a 3 digit code. Today’s solution in fact wasn’t a 3-digit code at all, but instead jumped straight to symbols. Our family is new to Exit games. Do they often change the overarching rules they gave you to begin with? Should we be on the lookout for more mechanics like this, where the instructions presented as absolute guidelines can actually sometimes be changed?

[@drgareth]

Oh wow, you're right. The instructions are actually definitively wrong. They say "The solution to every riddle is always a three-digit code." Clearly that's not the case, so I entirely sympathise with you. That's really bad, since that's very unfair. As for whether Exit games 'break the rules' in general, I'd say that generally they don't - BUT they nearly always break the game world immersion by requiring you to use something from outside the game world (such as something on the box or in the instructions) as part of a solution, which can be extremely jarring if you are following the story. The real culprits for breaking rules are the Unlock series (from a different company), whose instructions are exceptionally misleading - the games simply do not work like their instructions say they do, and almost none of them can be solved if you follow the rules as given.