Time Tunnel

Type Difficulty

Trophies

In their adventures across the planet of Kreludor, Gorix and Cylara uncover a mysterious door covered with symbols. They don't know what is inside, it could be treasure, or more importantly - clues that will help them find the secret of Kreludor and defeat the evil Dr. Sloth.

The Basics

Using the mouse unlock the massive stone door by decoding twelve stone tablets. Each of these tablets holds four colored stones which, depending on the level, can be one of up to six different colors.

There are only twelve tries for each tablet and a two minute time bonus, making strategy important. Change the colors of the stones by clicking them, and submit by clicking the large, yellow stone labeled "unlock".

Once the door reads a tablet, it will either accept it (if all of the stones are the correct color and in the correct order) or spit it back out (if either the color or the order is wrong).

An incorrect tablet will then slide into one of the twelve empty slots around the door's border, with a four circle key to help determine what was wrong (more on that later).

When the door finally recognizes a correct slate, it accepts it and opens one of the twelve locks on the door, making that lock light up. Each tablet is worth 25 points, plus whatever time bonus remains. After each correct tablet a new one will slide out, and the process continues until all twelve locks are opened.

For the first five levels, the stones can be white, grey, blue, or red, creating sixteen possible tablet combinations. That number goes up to 20 when orange is introduced in level six, and 24 when purple is added in level 10.

Strategy

The key to winning Time Tunnel is to find a concise, effective strategy and put it to good use. After that, it's simply a matter of practice and luck to shave off those extra seconds and take the high scores table by storm.

The first and most important thing to do when starting with a fresh tablet is to send it. Just as it is, all the stones blank. The door will take the tablet, scan it, and either accept it or spit it back out.

If it accepts, congratulations! If not (and you'll very likely not have it accepted), it's time to begin working out the correct combination by changing the colors of the stones.

Each tablet, once spit out, will have a series of four circles attached to it, like this:

Here's a break down of the colors and what they mean:

White - One of the stones is not a correct color.

Orange - One of the stones is the correct color, but not in the correct place.

Green - One of the stones is both the correct color and in the correct place.

It is VERY important to note that the order of the circles does not correlate with the order of the stones. Rather, green are always put first, then orange, then white.

After the door has given out the four circles, take a moment to study them. For every green circle, leave a stone untouched. For every white circle, change the color of one of the stones by clicking on it once. For the example above, the changes should look like this:

When the lock spits the tablet back out, the code changes to reflect the alterations made to the tablet.

In this example there are now two correct stones, and two incorrect ones. Taking a systematic approach, the next combination would look like this:

So far the examples have dealt only with green and white circles, meaning that all of the correct colored stones have been in the correct place. But what happens when the circles are orange? Here's the result of the example submitted above:

All of the colors on the tablet are correct, but two of the stones are out of place. It's now time to begin the process of determining which stones go where. The next logical submission would look something like this:

When determining how to arrange the stones, it is very important to keep all of the past submissions in mind. In this example, the first two sends clearly show that the white stone is in the correct place. Because two of the stones are the same color (blue), it is easy to see that one of the blues must go where the grey stone is. From this point, it is simply a matter of determining whether the grey stone goes in slot three or slot four.

But that was an easy example. Let's take a look at a more complicated lock:

Like every lock, it begins with a blank send, followed by all grey stones.

When the tablet is returned, one stone is correct and, because all of the stones are the same color, one of them is obviously in the correct place. The next step is to replace three of the stones with a new color.

When the return reveals that only two of the stones are the right color, it should become clear that this tablet is going to be rather complicated. When this becomes obvious (usually if three or more colors are involved), It's a good idea for a beginner to take out a scrap piece of paper and start charting.

To do this, draw four circles, evenly spaced across the page, with enough room under each to write the names of the colors. The trick is to write the name of a color under each slot every time that color is eliminated as a possibility. For example, in this particular combo, each stone would have the word "White" written under it.

Thanks to the previous return, one more color can be added to that list. Because one color in the return was wrong, and blue is in three of the four spaces, grey CANNOT be the first stone.

So, grey is moved to another spot, and a new color is added.

At this point, the final color is added in. While looking for all four colors, try to make a concentrated effort to place the stones in spots still open to them. By making notes of combinations that are no longer possible, it becomes easier to see which ones are still available, and helps to speed up each round.

From here, it's just a matter of eliminating possibilities for the final combination. Sends in which all of the stones are in the wrong place can actually be very helpful, as they eliminate four possible stone placements at once. Added to the notes already taken for the round, the above send is enough to figure out the right combination:

When the door finally accepts the tablet, three things happen:

One of the locks around the door clicks and lights up
The score from the previous tablet is added to the total score
The old tablets are cleared and a new one slides into place.

From there, the process begins over again, until all twelve locks are opened.

Tips

• Make sure to remember which colors were used and the positions they were used. This will help in deciphering which codes to use before the time bonus is up.

Trophy

A score of 1880 is usually enough to secure a bronze trophy, but it takes a score of about 1905 for the gold... Just remember, practice makes perfect, but luck never hurts!

Credit:
This guide was sritten by Shorea exclusively for NeoLodge.com.

Edited by Georgie.

2007-05-27