Vines meandering without concern along the stucco walls, moss graciously carpeting the ground, a lyrical enchantment guiding the way as scattered clues unfold. The last time we saw this peaceful plot of paradise, it was in The Seeds of Eden. Since then, more surreal magic has infused this fantasy world and new puzzles have sprouted up. Perhaps it would be a welcome escape to merely hide away from the world in this protected little garden, but it's just as relaxing to engage with the artifacts and solve a little riddle as long as you're here. At first, Robamimi's The Song of Flowers might seem pretty typical, with nothing you haven't actually seen or done in one form or another before, then something really cool happens...
To play, use the usual point-and-click to navigate, gather inventory and examine interactive zones. Throughout this mini-respite, messaging steers you away from futile efforts and a changing cursor points toward useful objects. If you do happen to get stuck, the "Hint" feature can unstick you. You might even start wishing for more challenge. The upside is nice, though—you get to relax and dreamily lull your way through the pretty scenes. To make your escape well-earned, the last task is more difficult, or at least more tedious. It's yet another familiar puzzle, seen in other games including a recent three cats episode, but it provides a refreshing turn toward thinkier endeavors. You can use "Skip Puzzle" if you'd like, but then you'll miss that grin-pulling instance, the one when you realize you're one step from success? It's even better than the one after you've escaped. However you make your way out the door, Robamimi's creativity and visual delights make The Song of Flowers well worth every moment.
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Thanks to Cyberjar88 and WillHu for sending this one in!
Walkthrough Guide
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The Song of Flowers Walkthrough
GENERAL INFO
The 4 main walls of the room/garden/temple/thingy I have called (listed going clockwise from start view) signpost wall, gate wall, door wall, and crate wall. It might get a bit confusing because all the views are so similar.
I have bolded all inventory items the first time they appear and put all collected items into the titles of the sections to make it a bit easier to scan the walkthrough for something.
L=Left, R=Right, and C=Center. This just makes it easier to type out the solutions to a couple of puzzles.
Exploration and Things of Interest
Signpost Wall
There are a couple of things of interest here: a big stone panel, a signpost which says 'SECRET' in bold letters and 'incantation' in unbolded letters, and a piece of paper on the floor which says that north is direction you are facing now.
Nothing else to see here; turn right.
Gate Wall
Here we have a locked wooden panel, a decorative gate, a pedestal marked with a star (it seems as if we could put an object in here later), and the door to the alcove behind the gate.
The door needs a two-button sequence though... we'll come back to this later.
For now, turn right again.
Door Wall
In this view we have a tree painting, a locked box, another star pedestal, and a stone door with lots of symbols.
The box needs a three button sequence, and has the clue 'UNDERLINE'. Hmm...
The stone door is seemingly impenetrable, and we can't make sense of the markings on it.
Turn right once more.
Crate Wall
This view is pretty busy; there's a shiny object in the ivy at the left, some purple flowers, a crate, a locked box, a third star pedestal, and a blank pedestal.
We can't reach the object in the ivy, but perhaps with a long instrument we could.
The crate seems to need a crowbar.
The locked box needs a 8-letter word. It has a picture of a signpost and some erratic numbers.
The blank pedestal has indents for four tiles.
With that barrage of clues, peculiar objects, and a lot of pedestals, it's time to start solving some puzzles.
The Gate Door
Remember the locked door on the gate wall? It had a picture of the gate decorations on it. Perhaps this is the key to solving the puzzle...
The way that the gate decorations curl is the code for the door.
The sequence is L R L R R L R L.
Success!
Go forward into the alcove.
Wind Tile and Crowbar
In the alcove there are a few items of interest.
There is a grey panel in the wall etched with a mysterious 'song', a locked box, a jar, and a stick under the table. Turning around also reveals a series of strange symbols on the wall.
You can collect the stick; our first inventory item!
Taking a closer look at the jar reveals that there is a wind tile inside. A close-up view reveals that the letter W is in a different color.
The locked box needs a four-number code and has a picture of a branch on it.
We'll come back to this box in just a moment, but now that we have some inventory items we should find out what we can use them on!
The stick seems very useful for reaching objects too far away...
Go back to the crate view, and zoom in on the shiny thing in the ivy. Use the stick to push it out, and find the object among the purple flowers. It's a key!
We've only seen one thing with a keyhole so far, so the use of the key should be obvious.
Go to the locked wooden panel on the gate view. Open it with the key to find a crowbar.
We've found and used some inventory items already, so let's start work on all these locked boxes.
4 Number Box (Leaf Tile)
The four number box in the alcove has a picture of a branch on it. Where have we seen some branches similar to this one?
The plant painting on the door wall looks like the right clue for this puzzle. What is there on the painting that could relate to numbers?
Count the leaves on each branch. From top to bottom, the branches have 5, 3, 2, and 7 leaves.
Enter these values (still from top to bottom) on the 4 number box.
Once you've got the box open, get the leaf tile. In close-up, look at the back to see that the letter E is in a different color.
Time to tackle some more boxes!
8 Letter Box (Moon Tile)
The 8 letter box had some numbers on it: 3 4 5 1 3 5 2 6. It also had a picture of the signpost... how could it be related to the numbers?
The numbers point to certain letters in the signpost words. The number is the position of the letter, and the bold/unbold tells you what word to get the letter from. So the first number, an unbolded 3, points to the third letter in the unbolded word (incantation), which is C.
Repeat this process with the rest of the numbers to get the word CRESCENT.
Entering in the correct word presents you with a moon tile. Quite fitting, huh? The back of the tile reveals a colored letter N. Am I the only one sensing a pattern here?
2 boxes down, one to go!
The Underline Box (Sun Tile)
The underline box had three buttons on it which needed pressing in some sequence. Have we seen three squares anywhere before, perhaps with underlines?
In the alcove, facing the center of the room, you will have noticed some markings on the right wall. Taking a closer look revealed some symbols and underlines. These symbols look familiar... what do underlines usually mean?
The symbols are numbers, some turned upside down. An underline at the top shows that that number has been rotated 180 degrees. Looking at it this way should give you first square: 4,6 second square: 2,5 third square: 1,3.
Do these numbers give you the sequence?
These numbers tell you what order the buttons should be pressed in (the first square has 4 and 6 in it, so it is the fourth button pressed and the sixth button pressed).
The button sequence is R C R L C L.
Inside the box there is a sun tile, with a colored S.
We now have all the element tiles, ready to solve another puzzle!
4 Tile Pedestal Puzzle (Ballet Shoes)
Remember that blank pedestal with 4 blank slots? That is where you need to place the element tiles. But any old arrangement won't do; we need the correct arrangement.
To the colored letters on the tiles have any significance?
The four colored letters a N E S W. Hey, that looks familiar! Now we know we need to place the moon in the north position, the leaf in the east position, etc. But which way is north?
Take a look again at the piece of paper on the ground near the signpost wall; north is that direction, meaning the rightmost position on the 4 tile pedestal.
So the correct arrangement is (going clockwise from the uppermost position) Wind, Moon, Leaf, Sun.
Once you have the correct arrangement the pedestal will open to present you with... ballet shoes????
It seems as though we've solved most puzzles around here now... time to get some more inventory items!
Drum and Song
Hey, we still haven't used the crowbar on anything. There are two places to use it; one obvious, one slightly less obvious.
You can use the crowbar on the crate to get the drum, and on the dark stone song tile in the gate alcove to add it to your inventory.
Hey, did you notice the stars on these items? Three starred items, three starred pedestals... I think we have enough items to solve the next puzzle.
The Song Puzzle
The song on the song tile looks suspiciously like a clue. How could it relate to the positioning of the starred objects?
The first line mentions rhythm, so we can assume its talking about the drum.
The second line mentions dancing, so that's probably about the ballet shoes.
The next line mentions a song, so it's our last item, the song tile.
The last line doesn't relate to any of our items...
So we've associated sun=drum, wind=ballet shoes, and plants=song.
Which pedestal is sun, wind and plant?
Remember the element tile puzzle? Well, moon was north, leaf was east, sun was south and wind was west.
The three pedestals are placed at the east, south, and west sides of the room.
So the east pedestal is plant, meaning the song tile goes into it.
The south pedestal is sun, so the drum goes there.
The last pedestal is wind, and we can place the last remaining item in there, the ballet shoes.
If you have the correct item placements, the room will go dark and the big stone panel opens... I think we're nearly there!
The Chest (Ocarina)
When the room went dark the 'moon' above the stone panel began to 'shine', revealing numbers on the left and right. Could these numbers relate to the code for the chest underneath?
The numbers are L: 1, 5, 6 and R: 2, 3, 4.
The hint works the same way as the underline clue, meaning the code for the chest is L R R R L L.
Inside the chest is an ocarina. Man, these items are just getting weirder and weirder.
With no real further leads, it appears that the ocarina itself is our next puzzle.
The Ocarina Puzzle
We can play notes on the ocarina... are there any clues as to what sequence we should play them in?
The symbols on the door. Every line has one moon, and its position tells you what note to play on the ocarina.
Reading down the door, the positions are (numbered 1-4 from left to right) 2 3 3 1 1 4.
Press the holes in these positions (in that order) on the ocarina.
The stone door opens!
Let's see what's inside.
The Dreaded Jug Puzzle
While in the antechamber turn around to see a jug. Collect it.
I'm sorry, but it's now time for the dreaded jug puzzle.
Head back to the bench with the jugs on it, and put your jug in the center.
I don't think I need to explain what needs to be done here... here's a step by step solution!
By the way, X>Y means pour x into y.
R>C
C>L
L>R
C>L
R>C
C>L
L>R
C>L
L>R
C>L
R>C
C>L
L>R
Done!
Collect the two 7 liter jugs.
Go back to the antechamber, and pour the jugs into the two basins either side of the stone door.
CONGRATULATIONS! You escaped!
Goofs (unrelated to game)
When you put the song tile into the star pedestal, the text turns into chinese.
The stars on the drum and ballet shoes disappear when they are put in the pedestals.
Posted by: thegreatescaper
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June 19, 2014 7:24 AM