Flash developer ttursas has already made a couple of games inspired by Super Stacker and 99 Bricks (which are, in turn, very similar to ngmoco's iPhone game Topple). While the physics engine ttursas has been using seems very solid and reliable, with none of the bounciness of similar games, they were still just regular old free-form stacking challenges without much personality. That changes with Perfect Balance, a game so confident in its influence, it constantly reminds you to breathe.
"RELAX," Perfect Balance says, as your fragile tower yields to the chasm. "TAKE A DEEP BREATH," it says, as you foolishly balance a circle on a triangle, hoping that the law of gravity will be distracted by pretty lights for five seconds and let you get away with it. "HEY, MAYBE THAT ISN'T AS STUPID AS IT LOOKS. OH, DANG, I GUESS IT WAS. TRY AGAIN, MORON." Okay, it doesn't say that last one.
But you know that's what it's thinking.
Perfect Balance is an 80-level puzzle game that asks you to… wait for it… balance a collection of shapes… wait for it… perfectly on a tiny jutting spire, or maybe a slanted line, or a sprinkle of floating cubes. It never looks easy, although some of the really hellish-looking levels turn out to be rather straightforward, and some of the relatively simple-looking ones are fronting for explosive migraines.
To place a block, just pick it up with a click of the mouse, then click somewhere else to drop it. Rotate a block you're holding with [A] and [D]. You don't get to replace a block once it's chosen, or move it once you've put it into play, so no touchies unless you mean it. This is a thoughtful game. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. RELAX. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. RELAX.
Analysis: What really sets Perfect Balance apart is the atmosphere, which has sort of a heavy-handed salvation/damnation theme. The first half of the game, "Harmony," comes with a random microscope-assisted picture of some skin cells (correct me if I'm wrong) in the background, spacey music, and tinkly zen sound effects that are supposed to be calming but start to sound like mockery after you've watched a few doomed triangles tumble serenely off into nothingness.
Once you defeat the first 40 levels, you get to try them in "Inferno" mode. That means the blocks are more numerous and difficult (not to mention blood-stained), the music turns into a surreal industrial caterwauling, and the background becomes an equally random red-tinted hotel room. Inspired by Sartre's Huis Clos, I hope. It looks pretty comfortable, for an inferno.
I enjoy how the puzzles ask you to understand different properties of physics, including friction and inertia. It was while stacking eight isosceles triangles on a 45 degree slope that I realized most physics games would never ask such a thing of me, and I felt the broadening vistas of transcendence that come with performing a seemingly-impossible feat without violating any natural laws. Like juggling. Or playing a minor chord. Or flirting. And then it's all RELAX. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. TINKLE TINKLE ZEN ZEN ZEN and I realized I was just playing a game. But it was a magical moment.
And if you want more Perfect Balance levels, try Perfect Balance: New Trials!
Wow, I can't even get past 4, and my blood pressure is skyrocketing.
Not the game for me I guess :(
I can't even get past 2. :( It makes me feel so stupid...
Well, I've gotten up to level 29 but I'm not sure what to do with a bunch of triangles... maybe I'll come back later.
don't feel stupid, Redmess. I can't get past 2 either. >.<
I can't pass level 2 with this laptop trackpad. Maybe if I had a mouse, I could place the pieces fast enough.
never mind. now i'm stuck on 5.
i loved this game. until i got to level 34 and got stuck. now i hate it.
Remember you can rotate with a & d
Sweet! I'm up to 20!
Any help on 29?
wow, super frustrating... someone please explain 2 for me?
I'm stuck on 2 as well and starting to wonder if my balance-pan approach is wrong. If I place the circle juuuuuuuust so, can I stack them?
Here's how I did 2 (it took me a while too):
1. Balance the square in the middle.
2. Balance the long stick on top of the square (make sure it's in the exact middle)
3. Put the 2 circles next to each other on the stick (somewhat quickly, or they'll roll off)
4. Put the square in the dent between the circles. If you did it right, the square should stop the circles from rolling off.
Sorry about level 2, guys. It's easier than you think. You don't need any speed, just a leap of logic:
Wedge the long block into the right side of the main pole. There's a notch there.
Then stack the two square blocks on the other end of the long block you just placed. The block won't go anywhere, because it's wedged in.
The circles should go easily between the stacked blocks on one side and the main pole.
thank you, thank you!
Wow. I know several people have said this, but I didn't know you could rotate. That helps so much.
Psychotronic: Thanks for the tip on level 2, yes the game seems much easier now ;) I've been conditioned poorly from playing too many simple stacking games in the past.
Finished 1st 40!
I went through around 15 levels before realizing I could rotate. After that it was pretty simple.
I didn't like how it wouldn't let you put a block back into the holding space, though. Many times I clicked the wrong block and had to restart.
My only complaint is that once you pick up a block, you're stuck with it.
Other than that, it's great.
And frustrating.
I cannot figure out level 7 on Harmony.
But, I've just barely begun!
I'm stuck on 29 -- the one with the triangles. Any hints?
Also, I've accidentally reset a number of times because I hit "R" to rotate.
Level 29 - Triangles
First one, long side against bar. Rest stack one by one on top in a tall column. You have to be very careful on each placement as otherwise they all slide, but I guess you have found that out already...
help on 34?
I found it absloutely frustrating that I can't put the piece I picked back. Other than that, great game!
But I'm stuck in level 18.
This game is too buggy for me to play. Reminds me of the topple app, except not as pretty.
can anyone help on level 3? i feel like i've tried everything...
Any help on level 3? i'm stuck.
nevermind on 3! i didn't realize you could
place a piece over an existing piece which automatically slides it into a place you couldn't put it
I'm stuck on 5 on inferno. >.<
[Edit: Fixed your angle bracket smiley. Please use < and > instead of typing just the angle brackets, because in HTML they have special meaning and can mess up the page. Please use Preview to be sure your comment appears as you expect. Thank you! -Jay]
Nice balancing game.. and yes, very zen xD
for 5 inferno,
you need to place the pieces as wide apart as possible without making it collapse. that way you should have enough space to put the smaller circle next to the small circle thats on the red piece in the middle
Stuck on 11... everything falls when i use the biggest ball... any suggestions or hints....
I found this game REALLY frustrating!
I there was a lot of trial and error the whole way through, and I really would have liked a skip button or something, or the ability to unlock smaller level sets after a certain number are completed. I also found it slightly frustrating that some of the angles bars you stack on arent at the same rotation as some of the shapes, so every peice has to fall just a little, but that can end up knocking everything off...
Overall: 4/5 because I still really like it.
I thought my solution for level 37 was so weird and hilarious that I would share it with you all.
http://img291.imageshack.us/my.php?image=funnysolutionxi9.png
I don't know if that link will actually work. I'm kind of stupid when it comes to that kind of stuff.
I'm up to lvl 21 on inferno so far and on inferno you need to take advantage of the fact that the game does not limit you to only placing blocks on top of other blocks ;).
Any help on level 18? I feel like I have tried everything.
Stuck on level 7 on harmony. Can somebody write a walkthrough?
I'm not stuck on 7 anymore. I forgot I could rotate. But still, a walkthrough would be nice!
Very fun game, but very processor intensive. Pretty hard to play while my computer's doing some heavy lifting in the background (which it is today).
Also, I kept having mixed success with turning off the sounds & music.
Level 39 on Inferno is killing me. It's another only triangles one. I've been trying the same strategy as the Harmony level, but they keep sliding. Any tips?
Level 18 help -
Start with the pink one - place it with the "small v" facing up.
Lay a long blue one off-center on the "small v" - the middle line of the long blue is right on top of the top left point of the "Small v"
Lay another long blue one on top of the first long blue one. This one should have its middle line in line with the top right point of the "small v"
Drop the square in to the left of that long blue.
Drop another long blue on top of the last long blue
Drop the final long blue on top of the Square. On mine, the long blue overhangs the square shape on the left side by about 1/5 of the long blue's length.
Hopefully you left enough room from after dropping the final long blue so you can drop the green L on top of the two long blues - the L should be in an "L" direction
drop the crosses in - you should be able to drop them to the left of the L - one on top of the other
Good luck!
@Melewen: Lvl 39 on inferno http://jayisgames.com/images/hs_pam_perfectbalance_level39.jpg
Are you sure it's lvl 39 because your description doesn't seem to match.
Wow... finally got the triangles (not level 36, not 39) after dozens of tries. The rest of the levels didn't seem nearly as difficult.
Also, sorry about the double post.
34 -- I did it in the following order
long bar horizontally
L shaped piece ~1/2 way between the left end and the middle of the long bar; long side of the L down
big ball in the middle of the long bar
next step needs to be kind of quick
plus in the X orientation ~1/2 way between the right end and the middle of the long bar
ball nestled in the L
ball resting on the middle ball and the X
Everything was wobbling the whole time, but from step 4 on it was all stable enough.
got stuck on harmony 34 for a while, left it, came back, and solved it in 30 sec. Played inferno to 3, but was too tired of it. i'm done. i can't relax.
stuck on level 25. :/ help please?
I found it to be an awesome game. One problem that I have is that the Inferno levels don't really have any consequence for loss. In the first set, you can't go on to the next level without beating the current one. In Inferno, you can skip to whichever level you want. For some reason, that irks me.
I got completely stuck on level 3. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to set the pieces. Fortunately I realized that
you can stick the pieces into the middle of the solid block and they get stuck there.
Only a couple of levels later did I notice that you can actually rotate the pieces, D'oh!
huh, I don't know why but I found this game almost laughably easy on Harmony. I generally would just wedge the blocks in so they didn't move- done! If there was any kind of level design or progression going on here, I definitely missed it? Maybe because I wasn't trying to stack? I think level 38 and 39 were some of the easiest by far though. Inferno is giving me way more trouble, stuck on 5... :)
For anyone having trouble with the first 40 levels, I've posted screenshots of my solutions here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Jimbog09/PerfectBalanceWalkthrough
I'm sure more elegant solutions are possible, but this might help if you're stuck!
J
Another solution (non-wobbly) for 34:
Place L shape, upside down (i.e., lower-case 'r') 45 degrees counter-clockwise from dead center.
Rest long bar across top of L shape and circle, with noticeable tilt to the right hand.
Rotate X to a proper 'X' shape, then place it on right hand of bar.
Place first circle on left side of X, with minimal space between circle and X so it doesn't roll.
Place second circle next to first circle. Repeat with third circle.
That background music on infermo sure is unsettling...
jimbog: thanks so so sooo much. that really did help!
now if only someone could do that for inferno.... haha. :]
Thanks to a nice quiet day at work, here are the solutions to the inferno levels:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Jimbog09/PerfectBalanceWalkthroughInferno
Aside from the Inferno atmosphere being a bit silly and out of place, this is a very good game. Though it might be appropriate if it were retitled "Perfect Wedge."
Those of you who have made it through the majority of the inferno levels understand what i mean.
Finished it in one sitting in a zen-like state of mind... But I bet that's just because I'm supposed to be doing something else.
Kind of disappointed, after beating every single challenge both on Harmony AND Inferno, I got no congratulatory message or acknowledgment for my efforts. It felt like a flat and hollow victory. "Shows over, don't care where you go but you can't stay here" sort of thing...
I really liked this: Great physics, just gotta love that friction going on.
Agreed for a while with the general dissatisfaction about not being able to de-select the pieces, but later on it didn't matter, it sort of made me think a bit harder, so to say, before I made any decision as I progressed: And that is almost always a good thing.
Thanks a lot to jimbog for showing off his solutions! Helped me a couple of times when I was absolutely stucked, and brought me a different joy when I had it solved all by myself and – in my own opinion – in an much more elegant manner ... :)
Just one thing, I don't see the point in this: You can get stucked in "Harmony", and suddenly you are free to skip levels in "Inferno" - why?
Great game. I love it! However, I don't like how it has a slight glitch that lets you "morph" pieces together but besides that this is a great physics based puzzler. :)
Played through the first 40 levels with relative ease and enjoyment. I liked a lot of the level designs, since there was usually only one way to balance things easily and properly.
My favorite part:
you can "cheat" physics by putting a small ball in a hole created by other blocks!
Deselecting was a minor annoyance, but it was easy enough to reset.
For some reason I completely lost interest once I started with Inferno. It didn't really add anything for me, and just got harder without getting more interesting.
24 is killing me. anyone know how to do it?
Anyone think of Blade Runner when they first heard the music? Sounds like the Vangelis.
Awesome
Hello!
Could someone help me with 22?
sjdhalkjfgs and NerdE - There are links above to screenshots for both Harmony and Inferno, thanks to jimbog.
If all you want is a hint...
On 22
There are multiple approaches here. Try starting by wedging in a blue line so that the triangle can sit on it to the right.
On 24
This one is about timing. Any one of the objects alone will fall through, but maybe if you drop one right after the other?
Just finished both difficulties, and it's actually possible to do so without jamming shapes into the initial "supports"
You can insert pieces between already placed ones
I can't bet lv3 on inferno mode y.y
I had to do 1-12 on harmony w/o rotating! i should've read the directions
Someone please help me with lvl 6 it seems impossible
I really enjoyed the Harmony levels, but being able to skip levels freely in Inferno somehow makes the game lose some of its charm. It also seems a bit counterintuitive--in a set called "Inferno," you would think you would be forced to solve each level before progressing.
Anyway, I think there is something to be said for keeping levels locked until you've solved the previous levels. It creates a sense of achievement.
As for the gameplay itself, it seems spot on to me, minor glitches aside.
Level 29...
If you guys need a picture of the level 29 solve, it's here: http://www.singledip.com/images/pb29.jpg
Enjoy
I need some help with the Inferno levels. Anyone making a complete picture walkthrough?
i need help with 12
Somebody please help me with level 35!
Excellent game...
Just completed all 80 levels (whew).
Total score: 60612
p.s. As noted by hyperkinetic (jan 29th) there should be (at least) a "good job" when all levels are solved.
Haha! I completed level 5 by
balancing the blue ball on the small red ball!!!
Here's Level 34
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1484/68146479hj1.jpg
Well, I've gotten to level 25, and I can't work it out.
And I'm normally good at logic :|
34 on Inferno is almost impossible i cant even come close to finishing it.
I'm stuck on 29 ><
I love this game now. I didn't know that you could rotate the shapes with a&d. That made thinGs so much easier, even though I'm using the mousepad on my computer :-)
Level 33 please! I cannot figure it out!
Here is Help for those stuck on 33
1. place the square one the lower circle
2. place the long bar over the the square
your stack may tip to the right "perfect"
3. place the triangle onto the long bar
4. palce the ball next.
done.
[Edit: Spoiler tags added. -Pam]
Casual game at its best. Great diversion.
Interesting physics, managed to create perpeetuum mobiles on some levels. Had some chores to do, so I left my latest one, on level 34, and now, about 40 minutes later it is still moving :D :D :D
(Nice to see positive game-designing mind at work: though the bonus keeps counting down, it stops at 1, so you'll never go away without earning a bonus :D)
One more thing: great to see many of the levels designed to allow more good solutions. I managed to solve levels with creations that triggered the "it just cannot be the solution the designers had in mind" feeling - an inevitable feeling with really great puzzle type games :)
The very first day i played the game I completed all 80 levels. This game is darn addictive. I am more into the word games.. this game made me think I should try others too. :)
I was on the level with the triangles and my page disapeared --' Damn...
I can't get past Level 10 on Perfect Balance: Inferno! Any hints, guys?
I can't get 26 of harmony! Help me!!!:o
For help on 34...
its kinda like cheating just put the yellow piece straight in the center of the long grey piece and they should go together http://jayisgames.com/images/bob_hs_perfectbalance_lvl34.jpg
Bob!! Thank you sooo much!! 34 was driving me crazy and none of the other ways worked for me. I don't care if it's cheating, clearly we all looked at this page for a reason...lol
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