Entanglement, from Gopherwood Studios, is a simple puzzle game that will remind you of a tonypa release both in terms of visual and conceptual design. Your job is to create an unbroken path that weaves around the hexagonal grid and touches as many pieces as it can. You do this by rotating hexagons one at a time, setting each one into place and extending the orange line with every click. If you bump into a wall, the game ends, so all you have to do is drag things on for as long as you can.
Controls are handled with either the [arrow] keys and [spacebar] to rotate and set pieces, or a combination of the mouse and scrollwheel. The keyboard is more accurate, but the mouse feels more natural. Points are scored for each hexagon you draw a path through. This means that even after you set a tile in place you can still earn points from it by connecting to a path that wanders its way.
Now available for iPad!
If you can beat the game with a score higher than 75, you'll unlock the Two Tile mode that allows you to work with a back-up hexagon you can swap with the current piece. There's also a local multiplayer option that lets you bring in as many as five friends. Now, not only do you have to avoid touching the walls, but you can't cross another player's line, either.
Entanglement isn't a new idea by any means, but its implementation is so smooth it will pull you in without hesitation.
Fiendishly simple but very addictive. I can see myself spending a lot of time playing this when I should be working!
You tagged this one as Java, but from what I can tell, this is html5. No plugins required! Welcome to the future of the internet ;)
[You're right, of course. I've fixed the review. -Jay]
What a fun game! I'm a fan.
I'm a little lost on the controls. I click Go and come to a screen with two hexagons, one orange and the other with a gray border. What do I do?
Upon closer inspection (in my Firebug console), there's a script error: "gameBoard.context.fillText is not a function"
Kudos for making a Javascript-based game, though. I have my own in the works :)
[What browser are you using? Make sure you use one that supports HTML5. -Jay]
Oh, I guess I'm not on the latest Firefox. I have 3.0.19 :)
I love this game! no surprise, since I also loved Pipe Dream as a kid. Got to 127 points on the Two Tile mode.
Best thus far is 60 on solitaire. Addictive little thing.
I'm going to play around on the multiplayer and see how many are online.
I really really like this game. It is quite a simple idea, but very well implemented. I also LOVE the multiplayer option, in my opinion there are far too many games which call themselves "multiplayer", only to disappoint me by being online-only. You may as well be playing a super smart computer by that point.
My one qualm is when a tile comes up that makes you instantly lose. Every once in a while a tile will come up with all the paths identical to each other, giving you only one option. When that option is a game-over path, it really sucks. I would imagine this would be remedied in the two-tile mode, (if I could manage to unlock it :P ) which I think should be available from the start. Great game overall though.
This is quite fun. It's good to see more HTML5 games here. This one is especially nice in that it recognizes my Magic Mouse's touch-scroll as scrollwheel input, although it's too fast to be useable. Fun anyway, though, with arrow keys!
Updating firefox fixed any HTML5 errors for me, and it was well worth it.
Also, highscore of 111. Took a fair bit of luck though.
This is an awesome game. I have a real life version of this, it goes up to ten hexagons and the color of the number on the back is the color you have to connect
@Trish, I have that game too, so fun :)
At first, I thought this was gonna play like "Loops Of Zen". It's somewhat similar but different(I'll call it Loops of Zen "Mokiki") lol.
Big strategy tip:
Pay less attention to your orange line, and more attention to the lines that connect to a wall. If you can make their open end also connect with a wall, it will be impossible for you to pull a piece down the road that will connect that dead-end line with the orange line, since it won't have any open edges.
The easiest way to do this is to place pieces along the edge of the play area so that small loops connect to the wall on both ends.
Arrgh! I have IE and when I try to play, it says I need Google Chrome to play!
Apparently I need Google Chrome to play this game. Therefore, I won't be playing it.
Thanks for the review, JohnB and Jay! I'm glad everyone is enjoying it -
@trish/jonny - what's the name of the real-life version? I've seen Tsuro, which has similar mechanics, but uses square tiles.
@nick - You can use any browser that supports HTML5 (latest versions of Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Safari). I just posited "Google Chrome Frame" as an option for Internet Explorer users, requesting a plug-in install instead of a new browser.
I was half done, and it like froze up on me. :( When I clicked for the next piece it just paused for a minute, so I clicked again. Then it went to the next tile and then showed me my score. I was so good at it too..
What's up with the solitaire part? I get two tiles, and can't do anything with em... I started playing the multiplayer quick enough, but can't figure out the single player... what am I missing here?
Wow. Simple, easy and addictive. I'm so going to play this during the week.
Also,Entanglement would make a great iPhone game. Or an iPad game :D
My only issue with the game is that once you unlock Two Tile Mode, the spare tile obscures the lower left portion of the playfield and apparently cannot be moved. This means that if you end up working in that area, you're effectively working blindly.
(Granted, this gets better once the playfield zooms out once or twice, but this can be really annoying early in the game.)
So far I can only manage 66 points in Solitaire mode.. ARGH.
This thing is ever addicting though.
107 was my best so far.
Not sure if it's a bug, but it sure is annoying: Even if you top the 75-score-requirement for opening Two-Tile mode, if you close your browser window, you lose the ability to access Two-Tile mode unless you again reach a score of 75+.
This is the first really good HTML5 game I've played. Tippy-toeing into the future! XD
136 with the extra tile helper,
92 without it, solitare
Here's another strategy tip:
When building your line, try to build another line at the same time more or less parallel to the working one. When you run out of room or options, try to connect the end of your working line to the second line, and that can add a lot to your score.
You people are obviously medicated or something. There is clearly no way to get to 75 points.
I have yet to ever see more than 1 point per tile awarded, no matter what choices I make. I thought maybe you had to get to 50 by filling out the whole screen, but it's just as impossible -- you always always always get a "screw you" tile that sends every line to the wall.
Fun, but unwinnable and ultimately frustrating.
@ The guest claiming its impossible, you have to loop back upon yourself.
Got 101 on my first try in Solitaire mode. Beginner's luck?? I think I screwed myself over in a couple of spots and wasted a few tile spaces.
BTW, the maximum possible score is 170, which is calculated by counting the number of non-terminating edges (including the starting edge) and multiplying by 2. This requires a good deal of luck to attain--it also requires that the path begin and end on the same edge of the same starting tile.
Made 150 in two tile mode. If 170 is the theoretical max, I think it's going to be hard to beat, ie always perfect tile offers, which never quite happens, given the variations of tiles which exist.
I agree with both spoilers above.
And I think the game you folks are thinking of is Tantrix. And there are online options to play that too.
157 in two tile mode... closer and closer to 170...
Can't... stop... playing...
It turns out that the way the tiles are counted, the maximum score is actually 169, not 170. My top score is 161 in two-tile mode (had to discard eight crossings). It all really boils down to luck, but one basic strategy for maximizing your score is to keep certain types of tiles as backup for the edges, especially those types that can be placed in corners, as those are the rarest. Also watch out for loops. Plan ahead by creating paths that can use the backup tile, rather than relying on luck to give you a compatible tile.
I DID IT! Perfect score! ^.^
and for proof, here is a screenshot:
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7994/perfectv.gif
Wow atomic! That's incredible! Do you mind if I post that screenshot on our blog?
Absolutely, go for it--thanks for making such a fun and addicting game! ^.^
I've been hooked on this game for a few days now. (its aweeesome by the way) I dont know what you guys are talking about with the 170 pt max. My record is 224 pts, I think using the two-tile mode. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a screen shot when it happened, but luckily it saves your highest score in the top corner, so I have a screen shot of that.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b13/freid/Picture3.png
My high score as of today.
https://jayisgames.com/images/hs_jonesdc3_entanglement.jpg
I ranked at around 64, but consistently see high score rankings of 1.5K+. How do they do it?
-jonesdc3
@Fran and jonesdc3 - Sorry for the confusion. We've updated the game quite a bit since this review, including the scoring system. The 169 maximum "score" is actually the maximum number of line segments possible. So in your screenshots, look at the "Longest Path" value, or the center rock, for the older scoring system that consisted only of line segment length.
The new scoring system gives you incrementing bonuses for connecting to longer dead lines. So 1000+ scores are possible by connecting to really long dead lines.
In any case, I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Too addictive!!
When are we getting an iPhone app of this game? :D
Why are so many people asking for an iPhone app? It's written in HTML5; doesn't the iPhone have a web browser?
There is a iOS version coming soon! Should be out within a couple weeks hopefully.
Oh my gosh, I love this game. Don't have a Google account, nor am I really willing to pay for the extra features, but still. I could play this for hours. And the music is absolutely gorgeous. One of those games that make me smile.
love the game..very addicting! a run of fourteen tiles and high score of 333, my best after four days. still looking for a real strategy.
Yes, the score value increases by 1 for each successive tile included in the newly created path. Linking to an existing path of substantial length can yield higher scores than achieved from simpler connections, so the calculation of 170 limit is... well... maybe just a little short-sighted. 205 so far, for me ;)
!!!!!!!
YOU GUYS MUST BE PSYCHIC!!!
XD I've been looking for this game again but had forgotten the name completely! Happy, happy dayy...
*goes off to play*
will there be an app for android for this? We're dying over here!
309 with a path of 80 ;)
335 with a path of 96. I found comments from Keith and Octochan very helpful, made it much more enjoyable too.
muffins!!!
this is taking forever to load!
On the iphone app, my best so far for Classic is:
347 / 109 / 17
So I'm still looking forward to breaking the 500 mark. Seriously adictive.
Update:
403/96/19/33
Ok, broke 500...
568
114
24
35
But still looking for that elusive 'perfect' game!
My strategy is to make all the paths that touch the wall "closed". Then, I will automatically get long paths that should theoretically connect with each other until they form almost the longest path possible. Since all the wall paths (but one) are "closed", I'll automatically get something like 40 in a row at the end.
Theoretically.
This is hard to do in practice, and I've been able to get 351, using this "perfect" strategy. It gets especially hard at the end, and I had about 5 to 10 "unclosed" wall paths, which led to my downfall.
Still working on getting a better score...
Ok I love this game.... there are lots of people here expressing complaints about certain browsers not working for them. Well OK, All browsers work for me. used IE, Flock(even though it is outdated), Mozilla, Chrome, Opera, & Safari. and had no problems. it may not the browser it could be your comp... I know that my comp does crazy stuff like that too. it may also very well be the settings for your browser not recognizing the link to the game. I wouldn't know how to fix that off the top of my head. you may have better luck typing the problem and google search it to see Why your browser is not responding with the game.
I am so sorry I could not be of help to all those that like this game, hopefully you can find a way to fix it. have a nice day Everyone
in 2 wks I'v gotten my score to 419, but on the scoreboard I see scores in the thousands. How is that possible? (I'm not good at math.)
Update