A Short History of the World
I think that everyone, if only for a second, has considered the possibilities of traveling through time. Sadly, we don't have the budget for a DeLorean. So it's up to State Of Play to offer us the next best thing: the fast-paced reflex-testing microgame-fest that is A Short History of the World, a beautiful game with finicky mechanics.
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Way too hard to do with a trackpad.
Fun but very glitchy. More than once when I clicked back on the screen from having paused, the "game over" title came up, but the game was still running in the background. I could not click "replay from checkpoint" and the game just continued on in the background, forcing me to restart. I really wanted to reach the end of the game but that's happened enough times I don't think I'll be able to. Oh well.
A Short History Of The World Walkthrough
10000 BC
Click each of the blocks of ice to free the mammoth. It may help to start at the top and work your way down.
8000 BC
Click the stick of wood in the middle, and drag it across the other stick as quick and as many times as possible. Flame will come.
3200 BC
Click the outline of the wheel and trace around it, ending at the red circle where you started. This requires a steady hand, so don't think about the time limit too much. Also, make sure you release the mouse... otherwise it won't register.
2600 BC
Click and drag the stones onto the center of the henge below it. They'll stones will be easier to control if you grab them near their center dot.
2200 BC
Just like 2600 BC: grab the blocks in the middle and drag to complete the pyramid. Don't be afraid to smash them into each other.
1200 BC
Drag and drop the men in the Trojan Horse. Be quick. In the current version you can grab one of the soldiers before the countdown starts. This is probably a bug, but it doesn't mean you can't use it. :-)
766 BC
Click the exact center of the crosses on the screen to guide your torch carrier. This one is unforgiving.
500 BC
Drag your solidier around and swing your sword by clicking. Furious clicking might be better than precision here.
200 BC
Drag the jugs of water, and release them at the top of Archimedes' bath.
220 BC
Huh... we've gone back in time. Anyways, click and draw the great wall in one good motion that hits points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
780
Click the red circle and drag it around in a clockwise circle to bring the vikings to shore. No shortcuts: the movement must be circular.
1462
Isn't this off by 30 years? Like the torch-carrier level, click the x's to sail Columbus across the ocean. Time it to avoid the sea monsters.
1592
Paint by number Mona Lisa! Click the paint points, then click the appropriate area on the painting. This can be done in any order.
1595
Remember Shakespeare? Click and drag the woman to the balcony and the man to the stage.
1643
Clicking and drawing the Taj Mahal is only easier than building it. Just do your best, and don't stray too far from the outline.
1687
Click the apples and they'll fall on Newton's head. Work from right to left.
1700s
Just like the Vikings, grab the red circle and turn the crank 10 times. Be quick!
1810
Play Fur Elise! You know? Da-da-da-da-da-do-da-da-da. Click the lit key in order to play.
1861
Click those two rows of cannons down the line: left, right, left, right, left right.
1876
Drag/draw the telephone wire through the underground tunnel. This one is very unforgiving about straying off the path, so watch out.
1879
Click on each of the lights to turn them all on. They won't stay on for long though. This may be one you have to tab-spacebar to get by without losing a life.
1889
Grab the pieces of the Eiffel Tower in the center and stack them out. The tower will be especially wobbly.
1908
Yep, ten more clockwise drags of the circle to start the car. Except now with less time.
1911
Click on your flags to make your way to the south pole. Time it to avoid the polar bear, and only click the flag by the ice bridge when it's there.
1912
Click and drag the telescope circle around, and click on the iceberg when you find it. Sometimes it can be small and far away, and other times up close.
1933
Click Kong's left and right hands to smash all ten planes out of the sky. Each fist will take a little to reset, so be sure to time it right. If you let one plane pass you by, it's all over.
1940
Hold down the mouse to shoot, and drag the plane up and down to take out 20 eneimes. Keep moving.
1956
You can do anything, but stay off of those blue suede shoes... by keeping the mouse in constant movement and clicking.
1962
Again, keep the mouse away from the nuke button. But, being the cold war, it's even harder to keep away from than those shoes.
1969
Click the moon footprints as they appear. There are only 8 steps to click, but they get smaller and smaller.
1972
Space Invaders! Click and move to take them out. Try to wipe out the shields with your bullets before they show up... they'll only block you otherwise.
1989
Mr. Player... tear down that wall! By clicking like there's no tomorrow!
1990
With a single dragged line, connect the dots. Make sure you release the mouse when you make it to the last one.
1994
Like many other levels, digging the chunnel requires fast clicking. However the target keeps moving to the right. Don't stop until the all the lights are up.
1996
Sheep will start appearing all over the place, and you must click 20 of them. Look for the red as soon as you've clicked the one before.
2010
Just like 1996, but faster. Click those solar pannels as they come up... Now you can look to the future!
The game is mean it told me to "Lose a Life" XD
The is good but yeah it's sometimes glitchy, only thing is... Mochi!!
I'm on a tablet, which I use to DRAW on, which means I've got decent hand-eye coordination and I'm still having a lot of problems. Interesting concept and good art, but needs tweaking.
I get nothing but a progress bar on a black background. It gets stuck right at 100%.
Cool game! I used my tablet too. I don't think I could beat it with a mouse.
Whenever I try to go back and play from the last checkpoint I just get a black screen and then LOSE A LIFE after however many seconds that level was.
From the other comments it seems they need to work a few other bugs too. I love the concept and game play though.
Won't load for me? Just get a black screen with a loading bar going nowhere.
I also get the purple loading bar on the black screen. The browser (Firefox) says it is "Done" loading, but nothing happens.
It isn't even working on mochigames.com, but I managed to find a site.
I simply cannot get Archimedes' Bath, the Wheel, the Olympic Torch, then I die on Columbus' Journey.
There's checkpoints? Where!?
A very badly executed game. The precision is TERRIBLE.
1/5 because I can't figure out how to give 0/5
This is the first game I've ever ragequit on! Aarrgh! So many of the minigames make you lose lives even if you've completed them...like the great wall one.
Nice concept and graphics, but the the menu and sensitivity of the game are AWFUL! Why doesn't it allow you to begin from a checkpoint from the main menu?
I like it but too glitchy. And as a history lover I think the author of this game forgot some eras of world history. Where's Charlemagne when you need him?
Ummm, there seems to be some minigames listed in "Tips and Tricks" that I did not encounter in the game. Namely, the defending England one and the Pop-Art one. What's up with this?
JIG, your ads really should be moved on this game. More than once I've died because of the bad placement of ads so close to the screen, and I accidentally clicked them.
That makes me hate your advertisers and never use their product so think about that :3
[Thank you for the feedback, and I'm sorry for the annoyance. The ads are so very important to the site, though. Without them we wouldn't be able to exist. -Jay]
@SkylerF: The Bath one isn't that hard.
The Great Wall is impossible, Columbus' journey doesn't give you enough time, the rowing one is wayyy to sensitive, the taj mahal is really hard in that little amount of time...composing Beethoven's piece in five seconds and starting the Industrial revolution in five, too? Really?
Actually, the great wall isn't that tough with some practice. Sorry bout that. But the checkpoints should definitely be closer together.
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Walkthrough Guide
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A Short History Of The World Walkthrough
10000 BC
Click each of the blocks of ice to free the mammoth. It may help to start at the top and work your way down.
8000 BC
Click the stick of wood in the middle, and drag it across the other stick as quick and as many times as possible. Flame will come.
3200 BC
Click the outline of the wheel and trace around it, ending at the red circle where you started. This requires a steady hand, so don't think about the time limit too much. Also, make sure you release the mouse... otherwise it won't register.
2600 BC
Click and drag the stones onto the center of the henge below it. They'll stones will be easier to control if you grab them near their center dot.
2200 BC
Just like 2600 BC: grab the blocks in the middle and drag to complete the pyramid. Don't be afraid to smash them into each other.
1200 BC
Drag and drop the men in the Trojan Horse. Be quick. In the current version you can grab one of the soldiers before the countdown starts. This is probably a bug, but it doesn't mean you can't use it. :-)
766 BC
Click the exact center of the crosses on the screen to guide your torch carrier. This one is unforgiving.
500 BC
Drag your solidier around and swing your sword by clicking. Furious clicking might be better than precision here.
200 BC
Drag the jugs of water, and release them at the top of Archimedes' bath.
220 BC
Huh... we've gone back in time. Anyways, click and draw the great wall in one good motion that hits points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
780
Click the red circle and drag it around in a clockwise circle to bring the vikings to shore. No shortcuts: the movement must be circular.
1462
Isn't this off by 30 years? Like the torch-carrier level, click the x's to sail Columbus across the ocean. Time it to avoid the sea monsters.
1592
Paint by number Mona Lisa! Click the paint points, then click the appropriate area on the painting. This can be done in any order.
1595
Remember Shakespeare? Click and drag the woman to the balcony and the man to the stage.
1643
Clicking and drawing the Taj Mahal is only easier than building it. Just do your best, and don't stray too far from the outline.
1687
Click the apples and they'll fall on Newton's head. Work from right to left.
1700s
Just like the Vikings, grab the red circle and turn the crank 10 times. Be quick!
1810
Play Fur Elise! You know? Da-da-da-da-da-do-da-da-da. Click the lit key in order to play.
1861
Click those two rows of cannons down the line: left, right, left, right, left right.
1876
Drag/draw the telephone wire through the underground tunnel. This one is very unforgiving about straying off the path, so watch out.
1879
Click on each of the lights to turn them all on. They won't stay on for long though. This may be one you have to tab-spacebar to get by without losing a life.
1889
Grab the pieces of the Eiffel Tower in the center and stack them out. The tower will be especially wobbly.
1908
Yep, ten more clockwise drags of the circle to start the car. Except now with less time.
1911
Click on your flags to make your way to the south pole. Time it to avoid the polar bear, and only click the flag by the ice bridge when it's there.
1912
Click and drag the telescope circle around, and click on the iceberg when you find it. Sometimes it can be small and far away, and other times up close.
1933
Click Kong's left and right hands to smash all ten planes out of the sky. Each fist will take a little to reset, so be sure to time it right. If you let one plane pass you by, it's all over.
1940
Hold down the mouse to shoot, and drag the plane up and down to take out 20 eneimes. Keep moving.
1956
You can do anything, but stay off of those blue suede shoes... by keeping the mouse in constant movement and clicking.
1962
Again, keep the mouse away from the nuke button. But, being the cold war, it's even harder to keep away from than those shoes.
1969
Click the moon footprints as they appear. There are only 8 steps to click, but they get smaller and smaller.
1972
Space Invaders! Click and move to take them out. Try to wipe out the shields with your bullets before they show up... they'll only block you otherwise.
1989
Mr. Player... tear down that wall! By clicking like there's no tomorrow!
1990
With a single dragged line, connect the dots. Make sure you release the mouse when you make it to the last one.
1994
Like many other levels, digging the chunnel requires fast clicking. However the target keeps moving to the right. Don't stop until the all the lights are up.
1996
Sheep will start appearing all over the place, and you must click 20 of them. Look for the red as soon as you've clicked the one before.
2010
Just like 1996, but faster. Click those solar pannels as they come up... Now you can look to the future!
Posted by: Tricky
|
March 2, 2011 12:55 PM