disclaimer: not forcing you to actually use pen & paper or google, for that matter, heck, maybe even a search engine of your preference, i'm not judging, but i know i really needed em while making this...

i've seen number of such great train/event ideas come to life here on SG in recent times, so i decided to use up one thing that's been on my mind for a while now.

yes, it's made so you have to put in some extra effort in it, and yes, there's a flow to this, so technically it IS A TRAIN clarification for all you puritans!

the spin special emphasis on this word, you'll realize why later is that the ride through it is a game of connect-the-dots that will spell out, brace yourselves: the code for the FINAL GA ba dum tsss! yeah, i know, a kind of a lame cliffhanger, and it's not that good of a game anyway...

additionally, no next/previous left/right what/not links for you on the ride, figure em out on your own if google has you have the knowledge for it, just pay attention to a) where you're going; b) where you've been; scribble it down, maybe? on a piece of paper? with a pen...? and all's well, them trash bundle games are within your reach!

also, there's no specific reason for this other than fun, duration of the GAs is 4 days as it's the most i have patience to wait, there are 25 games in total, mostly from fanatical bundles, i do wish they were a bit better, yadda yadda...

i'll let the >> TRAIN << speak the rest for itself...

5 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

reserved

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

hint: final GA format is X0XXx

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

little incentive, final GA is for Styx: Master of Shadows and nobody got that far just yet not true anymore

5 years ago*
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 5 years ago.

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

blatant self-promotion bump #2

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

for whom it may concern

or: what you've never asked for, yet i delivered

solutions for the GA code riddles:

  • Mount Godwin-Austen alternative name (format: x0) k2
  • Software company credited as responsible for FPS genre (format: Xx) Id
  • Method of radio broadcasting capable of better sound quality (format: xx) fm
  • (3 + (4 x 4) ? 2 - 2) x 0 (format: 0) 0
  • ISO Alpha-2 country code for Sweden (format: Xx) Se
  • Frequent act of greeting (format: XX) HI
  • Internet slang for "I'm outta here" (format: XXX) IOH
  • George Bush Senior middle name initials (format: xx) hw
  • Naval signal meaning "Well done" (format: xX) bZ
  • Ranking system used by Japanese martial arts organizations (format: xXX) dAN
  • German "People's car" automaker (format: xX) vW
  • Last two letters of the English alphabet in reverse order (format: xx) zy
  • Term used in labeling years prior to the estimated birth of Jesus (format: Xx) Bc
  • First word of Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?" (format: XXX) QUO
  • Title character in Kung Fu Panda (format: xx) po
  • Symbol of the chemical element with atomic number 39 (format: X) Y
  • Musical recording that contains more than a single, but less than a full album (format: xx) ep
  • First five characters from the name of crustacean-like alien with a doctors degree from Futurama (format: xXXXx) zOIDb
  • Literal pronunciation of the 23th letter of the English alphabet (format: XX) UU
  • 9th prime number, the smallest odd prime that is not a twin prime (format: 00) 23
  • Someone with whom a person was once associated, often romantically (format: Xx) Ex
  • Predictive text input technology for mobile phones with 3x4 numeric keypad (format: X0) T9
  • Roman numeral for number 6 (format: xx) vi

solution on how to get to the final GA code:

  • orientation of the compass is not all that important, it only paints a clearer picture if all compasses are turned so that North is up
  • if you follow the path from one GA to another, applying the connect-the-dots logic, following pattern will appear
L L ➡ 9 9 9 ➡ B B B ➡ H H H ➡ y y y
⬇➡ ⬅⬇➡ ⬅⬇➡ ⬅↙
⬇⬆ ⬆➡ ⬅⬆↙ ⬆↗⬇↘ ⬆⬇➡ ⬅⬆⬇➡ ⬅↘
⬆➡ ⬅➡ ⬅↗ ⬆➡ ⬅↖➡ ⬅⬆ ↖⬆↙
  • when format X0XXx is applied to the pattern final GA code spells out

    L9BHy

thanks a lot to everybody that took part in the event, that were persistent enough to take a puzzle ride with me, and congrats to all the winners!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bump, that was a fun series of riddles. Perfectly doable even for people like me, who are usually hopelessly lost when it comes to ITH and similar quizes :)

Didn't find the code for the final giveaway because I wasn't paying enough attention, but that's ok. Enjoyed the ride!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

that is so nice to hear, Thirteen13, im glad you liked it! well, you still have couple more days to revisit this, everything it lining up for GAs not to have that many entrants...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

An educational train :)
Good job in combining fun, learning and a reward.

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

thank you, Atrushan, good luck out there. in all honesty, its not that i planned to teach you anything specific, it was more of necessity to make your life harder in the constraints of random GA links i was given, so to say, heh...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

awesomely crafted one.

huge, huge congrats, man.

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

thanks, icaio, it means a lot coming from you! hope you had your share of puzzle solving on the ride. in hindsight, i feel i might have made it a tag too hard... 4 hours in, and nobody figured out the final solution...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

also, 3 hours and 9 comments, here.

we shouldn't look at those numbers, tho.

when you get (luckily, cause ga creator needs luck too) a happy winner, you're doing it right. maybe he'll play it, even enjoy it or wishlist the new coming one of the same dev... those kind of things, are something, imo.

so, in a few days, you'll see how much you've been lucky. if you ask me, you already are :D

4 hours? a lot of time, but we've seen something new, i really had the impression i was seeing a -functioning- compass.
and, i've only made first two steps... i'll try to go on, but i'm also sure there's plenty of peeps way more clever than me, here... ;-)

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Just as a small hint for others: It is not relevant which part of the "compass" is currently facing upwards.

As soon as I found that out, my drawings started to make sense and the first alphanumeric characters were forming.

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

well, you've beat me at my own game, sir, didn't even thing about it that way... just figured it made more sense to turn it correct way round before going forward...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Thanks for the puzzle :)

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bump

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bumpbump

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

thanks, gegeru! good luck out there!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bump !!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I feel too dumb for this train. walks off despondently

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

c'mon, MayaYingu, get back, we need ya, and there a prize on the end and everything!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

lol, I don't mind trains, but I'd rather know if there's anything I want before wracking my brain XD

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bump!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

thanks for the train! and for puzzles as well. and for.. errrmm.. chance to touch a pen and a piece of paper 💙

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

its been a while, ay... i know, for me too! good luck out there, krolik7!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

This is really cool. I think I have neither the time nor brain power for this, but it's really clever regardless. Well done.

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

jump in, Timobkg, it only looks hard on the outside and kinda broken on the inside, khm...!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Wow! Great puzzle train! Already have all the games in it, but I had fun solving the puzzle itself, especially the last piece

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

man, i knew i should have picked better games, it kinda s*cks to take out the entering-on-GAs experience when you found the time to go through the ride...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 10 months ago.

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

blushes khm... stutters runs off the stage....
thanks, veebles!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

interesting

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

hop on, hot2ice, plenty of good chances in there, i promise!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

third step done! (i know, i know... imma simple and slow man)

but kinda stuck cause language used for next hint is Martian to me...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bump and meow

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Great train. Thank you

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

youre welcome, venturercatt , glad you enjoyed it wish you extra luck out there, especially for the last GA!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bump

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bumpin' & rockin' :)

you made a great thing bitterguy, now I need to brag everywhere that we're high scool mates :P

;)

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

hei, dont withhold the facts here! not only that, we were bench buddies... and that thing means a lot! thanks, bud!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bump!

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bump

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Very nice!
pen and paper bump

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

bump

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Very nice. Made it to the end. But not the final (own it anyhow).
I have no idea how to properly use a compass other then simple "what way is north". lol.
Once the event is over. Please post a quick "How To" on the compass use in the puzzle. Thanks.

Fun event. Nicely done. :)

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

congrats on getting almost all the way to the end, cals7 i totally get it why you didnt bother with the compass, i realize i should have picked a better prize as incentive, that is the only regret i have about the whole deal...
yeah, good idea on the how/to, im sure to leave a path-through-to-the-solution after the event is finished if you maybe still want to figure it out on your own, this message spoiler might help...

5 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Closed 5 years ago by bitterman4020.