Spot the Difference
Maybe the most important thing that games teach us is to think critically and examine everything we see carefully. That's the strength of Spot the Difference, the latest offering from the dream team of Brian Mooney and Sean Hawkes. The game's story is subtle and engaging, communicated entirely through differences in the images you're given.
Read More60 Comments
Spot the Difference Walkthrough
First, some general tips:
-
Examine every picture carefully. You never know what almost-hidden object might be different or even absent.
-
Careful where you put your mouse. It's easy to lose things underneath it. I found my keys while playing this game.
-
The ads are provided as a training session for the game. Be sure to inspect each one carefully.
-
If you go out for Halloween, don't spend your time in a clock tower. People get the wrong impression.
-
Good luck!
Walkthrough
Ball Pit
-
This is a somewhat challenging beginning, so don't get frustrated if you stare at it for ten minutes or more, like I did.
-
Here's a hint: the difference is in a grouping of balls that is a prime number.
-
It's also next to a purple one.
Moving on.
Pinwheel
-
The key difference in this one is in the shadows. Scrutinize them carefully. It will lead you to the hotspot.
-
If you're colourblind, get a friend or pet to help you.
-
Another hint: the fan expresses the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is a ratio found throughout nature, and some scientists say it's mostly responsible for our perception of beauty. Is the pinwheel beautiful?
Cardinal
-
This one should be obvious. Look at the skyline.
-
Still don't get it? Ask your pet to look at it again.
-
Another hint: George III once shook hands with a tree.
Barren Landscape
-
This one's tough. Something to think about: Mars lacks the electromagnetic field to have a proper blue sky. Theirs is kind of mauve.
-
Something strange about that mountain? Remind you of a certain Stephen Spielberg film?
-
Last hint: It's on the ground behind the Mars Rover.
Paris Cafe
-
Okay, this one isn't that bad. All you have to do is remember one thing: People who drink coffee are insanely consistent. Breaking a coffee fiend from his routine is more dangerous than baiting a tiger. Also, this page is optimized for the reflexes of a caffeinated person; click each difference as fast and as often as possible, like checking Facebook and Twitter.
-
Cafes are generally very diligent about keeping their seats from being replaced with banana crème pies.
-
The sound system is not according to fire code.
-
That family has one too many members. (two clues)
-
The transdimensional mirrors are not working properly, instead functioning as the more prosaic reflective mirrors.
Riverbed
-
There are four thousand rocks in this picture. The hotspot is one of them - and not the one you'd think at first. I fell into that trap too.
-
Follow the Fibbonaci method of counting. Breed some rabbits and use them to predict the hotspot.
-
If you don't get this after ten minutes, Alana shows up for the first time. Follow her instructions and you'll bypass the level.
Government Lab
-
After the riverbed scene, Alana connects you to the feed outside of her room. Listen carefully to what she says.
-
The key here is the difference between the fingerprints on the keypads. There's a pattern to the guard's code.
-
After freeing Alana, it's a short but difference-filled ride to the exciting conclusion. The differences from here on are fairly obvious, so I'll leave it to you to find them. Feel free to email me if you're still stuck.
Happy gaming!
Wasn't expecting it to get so story-heavy at the end... Also kinda short, but what was there was fun.
I had a LOT of trouble on the barren landscape puzzle, the difference detail was far too inconspicuous. Usually if I have trouble finding the difference I can look for imperfections in the Photoshop work, but this one really had me baffled.
Ok, I'm sorta lost. The thing is, after Alana contacts you,
why does she insist that "the girl from ipanema" is the key? I don't see how that song is related at all to the obvious differences in the moon landing scenes, or how it ties back into the quiz about endangered wildlife in sri lanka.
Any thoughts, guys?
so i started playing and i thought "nice. no timer. no pressure." then i get to the lunch counter and things start changing back if you don't click fast enough. that was more than enough to make me stop playing. there is nothing casual about a spot-the-difference game if some kind of timer is involved. i like being able to take my time with them and not feel rushed.
Ive waited for well over 10 minutes for the river one and nothings happened and i cant find the hotspot :(
any help please?
Hillarious
Is this by any chance an April Fools joke? :P I see no difference whatsoever in the river level xD
That was quick!
erghhh im stuck on the first level!
The counter reset is so incredibly annoying that this must be an April Fools joke. Well played.
That. Was. Awesome.
After 10 minutes I used gimp to find the difference in the riverlevel.
The perfect game to begin April.
You know, I really get tired of things that are labeled walkthroughs that are nothing more than hint throughs. If I wanted oblique clues to finish a game I'd read what someone else posts as a response to my query on here, but to pin a collection of those responses and call it a walkthrough is a misnomer IMO.
I don't think there is an answer to the river level....april fools joke?
Okay, I have officially been April Fooled by the river level. Been staring cross-eyed at that puppy for almost 20 minutes, which makes the differences jump right out on the other levels, but...nada. WTF?
Nice walkthrough, at any rate.
Spot the Difference Walkthrough
General Information
-
The number in the upper left corner indicates the number of differences left to find.
-
Each section in this walkthrough will also let you know the number of differences.
-
The differences can be subtle, so look closely.
-
The rounds become more difficult as they progress.
-
A few of the differences are color based, so there will be directions for the colorblind.
-
Have fun!
Round 1
-
Differences: 1
-
The candies are in rough "columns".
-
Third "column" in from the left, fourth candy down. One candy is blue, the other green.
Round 2
-
Differences: 1
-
One of the petals in the artificial flower is different.
-
The petal in the 9:00 position is blue in one picture, violet in another.
Round 3
-
Differences: 1
-
On the branch in the foreground is a bird.
-
The bird on the left is yellow, the bird on the right is red.
Round 4
-
Differences: 1
-
In the foreground on the left, there is an object just below the horizon on the right. This is a mars rover.
-
In the same position on the right picture is a child.
Round 5
-
Differences: 5
-
This one is on a timer, so click quickly.
-
The five differences are:
-
There is an extra chair at the table at the lower left of the picture.
-
On the table in the lower left of the picture, there is an extra coffee cup near the corner.
-
At the bar, the chair farthest to the right has a different colored seat.
-
Above the mirror behind the bar is a circular mirror, which is blacked out in the picture on the right.
-
Above the bar mirror, there is an extra speaker in the right picture, just to the right of what looks like a CD player.
-
I told you to click fast.
-
Faster than that.
-
As fast as is humanly possible.
Round 6
-
Differences: 1
-
This one is subtle, so look closely.
-
Look closely in the upper left of the left picture.
-
You are looking for the symbol Eka derived from the Devangari numeral system. It's faint, but it is there.
-
The symbol came to modern usage originally from India to the North African Arabs, and finally to Europe.
-
That would be the number 1.
-
But you don't press the 1, it is just a clue, since there is a 1 in both pictures.
-
Think Fibonacci, since the number 1 is the only number in the Fibonacci sequence that repeats twice.
-
Apply a Fibonacci spiral to the picture, it should lead you to the hotspot.
-
If you can't find the spot, remember to wait 10 minutes for Alana to show up, and she will point out the hot spot.
Round 7
-
You do know it's April Fool's Day, right?
Username -
I just posted a comprehensive walkthrough, hope that helps.
Based on the comments I figured there was still a chance I was still missing something in the river bed. I even did a screenshot and overlayed the two in photoshop and kept flipping layers. Damn you JIG!!! Nice one tho.
This game will change your perception of reality. All of my preconceived notions of Existence have been shattered. I am a changed woman...thank you, Spot the Difference!
For a moment there I really thought it was a joke! :O
Normally, I look around here for games that will be fun, but what was with all the screamers around stage 12? Thanks a lot for nothing, now I'll never trust anything I find on the internet again ever!
I hate you all. Is this an April Fool's joke or not? I've looked up Fibonnaci spiral and it's no help at all. Curse you Riverbed. Curse you.
OH MY GOD.
THAT WEASEL FREAKING SCARED ME! When it sprung from Alana's chest and buried itself into the alien's head I nearly fainted!
I see that nobody, including the reviewer, tried click-and-dragging with the mouse on the river level. I won't give it away, but it's pretty obvious.
What's most hilarious is that it took some people until the riverbed to realize it.
I guess the fact that in one picture it was a small child and in the other was a moon rover wasn't blaring enough... ;)
Although, I wish before getting to the end there were more hilarious ones like that...
I had a tear.
Finished the game. For all of you who think there is no real solution to Riverbed then the joke is on you. Took me a whole lot of pixel by pixel clicking but it's there, I'll post a screen shot of the right place tomorrow. If you find it then you'll see the message, post it here to prove you found it.
Hey, this is Brian, the photographer...
I wanted to list the locations of all photographs used:
Level 1 - candy - Mother In Law's kitchen in Butte La Rose, Louisiana :)
Level 2 - Pinwheel - Kite Festival in Port Allen, Louisiana
Level 3 - Cardinal (female) - A tree in Spanish Town, Baton Rouge Louisiana
Level 4 - ShipRock, New Mexico - featuring my son Max Mooney
Level 5 - Cafe - The Old Firehouse, Creed, CO
Level 6 (and title screen) - Downtown Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Level 7 - Finale Room - 3D rendering with 1997 build of 3D Studio Max (which i refuse to upgrade!) - with Ancient Acer Laptop stock photo
After spending ten minutes on the river level with nothing happening, I opened up Photoshop and used the difference tool to see what was the difference between the two, and found nothing. I kinda figured it, since it is April fools, and the spoilers didn't tell me what the difference was either.
How is it possible that none of you guys noticed the obviously sarcastic review? Seriously,
"innovative dual-screen interface"?
"Often I found myself staring at the screen for hours, eventually clicking on a pixel that seemed to move before realizing that it was the reflection of my own face in my monitor."?
"Bioshock's influence is really obvious at times, as Spot the Difference is just as ethically complex"?
For a freakin' SPOT THE DIFFERENCE game? Suckers!
The fifth level is kind of cool. But if you made it through the first four without realizing what this is, you must not think very highly of the JayIsGames staff!
Mars Rover was hilarious.
Also, I really liked that music. If someone does make a find-the-difference game that completely subverts the genre and bends some minds, I certainly hope it would use catchy, upbeat-yet-relaxed music like that.
I figured out that this was a joke at the Mars Rover stage, though I have to admit the cafe thing was actually pretty challenging and fun.
Also I have to admit that I cannot in any manner get past level six (the riverbed). I put the images into GIMP, and while I did find that the "1" is several pixels shifted over from one image to the other, clicking all over the "1" didn't help. To soothe the nerves of those of us who already spent way too long on this, could someone post an actual hint eventually? Please and thank you?
Bug? Get to the 5th board (room where people are sitting and eating).
I click on the first item, then click on the second item and it loops back to the first item. Click the first item again and in a few seconds it re-highlights the same item again. Seems to be stuck in a loop.
Running Linux.
You must swallow the red pill to find the difference .....................
..............................
............................
.........................
.......................
....................
.................
..............
...........
.........
......
...
.
Wow, it would have been a fantastic april fool's joke... if it was even marginally funny. But it wasn't.
Sorry guys, it may be that my sense of humour is kinda worn off, or I just got used to jokes that are actually funny and not simply time-wasting.
A suggetsion for next time: a good joke is always revealed. Maybe after ten minutes. But not by
the walkthrough entry for the next level.
However, I kinda enjoyed the ball level and the café level before
I realized that it was on a timer
As others noted above, the joke was surely revealed by the mars lander level. If that didn't make you laugh, then maybe your sense of humor is indeed worn off.
I thought the first 4 levels were hilarious, especially the Mars lander one. The 5th level was fun.
I hate the 6th level. There's a clear difference in the house about 3/5 up on the right. The vertical boards are almost invisible in the picture on the right. I've clicked on it a zillion times.
Speaking of a zillion times, I hadn't noticed the "Walkthrough" sign at the bottom before, so I thought maybe that was the difference. Not being one to learn a lesson quickly, I clicked on various letters in "Walkthrough" about 100 times. And then had to close about 100 tabs on the other window.
No fun. I'm sure it's been over 10 minutes. Is "Alana" a joke? I don't get it. Do I have to actually be on that window for 10 minutes?
Whine, whine, whine. Whine, whine.
The whole thing was a joke, the game, the review, the walkthrough(s).
Who could have taken that review seriously? Or the walkthrough? Come on people!
So, are there really screamers? I hate those things >.> All I wanted to do was to enjoy an April Fool's joke D:
[No screamers, promise. I hate those, too. -Jay]
JOKE? No WAY! There is a man opening a door in the right panel (albeit he is very tiny and in a tiny house.) I have clicked it gazillion times and nothing happens. I know if I click it just right, I can finish this thing and go to sleep.
Jay, you're still stuck on this whole "we read the reviews" thing. Most don't, most skim and click on the game and rely on the in game tutorial to help us out.
I get it, this was a joke, just not a very well played on IMO.
[It was the best we could do this year. -Jay]
@HolyMythos: HOLY CRAP! The Photoshop difference tool is for spotting differences!! Why did I never think of this?!
Thanks JIG!
You guys made me giggle-snort at the rover/little boy difference in level four.
I really looked forward to seeing what April Fool's joke JIG had in store for us and wasn't disappointed.
Also,I can't possibly be the only one expecting this right?
Hahahahahahahaha
heheheehehehe
aahh.......
That just made my day.
The responses from irate gamers were teh bestest. This is the difference between a joke and an April Fools joke. A normal joke is funny for virtually everyone, whereas an April Fools joke is funny for all of those watching others be the brunt of it. :)
The fact that most people (myself included) skim over the review and then go straight to the game just made it that much better, and maybe this will teach us a lesson for the future. I can proudly say, however, that I realized it was a joke far before I got to the point where I was using photoshop. :) Well done Jay & Co.
Wait, so is there really a difference, or is it really an April Fool's joke?
I used photoshop and the only difference I found was idiotic. Yes, there really is a difference on the sixth picture, believe it or not.
The problem with an April Fool's joke with an impossible level is that we are all VERY competitive. We want to win. Denying us our win is like denying rabid dogs the gentle fawn cowering in front of them.
Oh you guys! Hilarious and diabolical. All the things I love about JIG.
Shake off the haters, Jay. I thought it was funny. The Mars rover especially so.
Thanks, BuenoCabra. :)
It's tough to do sometimes, I'll admit.
I comfort myself with the knowledge that I did not sink so low as to use Photoshop on the riverbed picture.
I used the Gimp instead.
Sorry guys, but this kinda destroyed my faith in jayisgames. April Fool jokes are good and fun, but making people wait for hours to find a nonexistent Alana is not.
[Sorry you less than thrilled with our prank. Apparently you haven't been around for our previous April Fools jokes. Best advice for the future: Never trust anything you read on the internet on April 1st. On April 2nd the review was modified to read "April Fools" at the end, so if you read the review you might have expected something was up. -Jay]
that was fun ^^ enjoyed twisting my eyes to see a nonexistent difference.
Best advice for the future: April Fool's Jokes are for commercial internet sites. April Fool's Pranks are for your drinking buddies.
Anyway, we still love you, JIG. :-)
ugh this was stupid, I didn't find it funny at all. I was upset from the time I saw that there was a timer for finding all the differences let alone to find it's some stupid joke. I could have been doing better things with my time. I'm very disappointed.
If you love games, you likely enjoy TV game shows. Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy pulled their own shenanigans April 1st... oddball moments throughout the shows. (BANRUPT was misspelled... for a brief moment, Pat and Vanna were wearing name tags, like the contestants... 10 "spot the differences" in all. i couldn't help but be reminded of JIG because I'd already "tried" to play Jay's "game" earlier. the next day, Pat reviewed what the 10 "goofs" were. Yes, I caught Vanna's momentary replacement at the letter board, announcer Charlie O'Donnell, LOL!)
Related note: my son came home from work that day and got me good. "Did you hear who died today? Alex Trebek." He didn't realize i had just watched a Jeopardy with "now you see Alex, now he's replaced with a random celebrity." Imagine my horror! (Alex is fine. he's able to sit up and take nourishment)
JIG's bit of whimsy was just as inspired as those 2 shows. My thanks to all involved putting this together!
The best I ever pulled was to put a fake medical record in a doctor's door. She came out and called out to a crowded waiting area, "Ms Fuller?" she repeated it, no answer. "Is there an April Fuller here? April Full-er!" The patients busted up! I later truthfully shared with her, of all the docs, I picked her because she was our favorite. That was 1980, exactly 30 years ago.
Since I do read the reviews... they're essential to me in deciding how to waste my time next... and most are so well written, they're a pleasure to read... I knew something was up from the get-go, as did "M" above. (Bioshock's influence?!? Can my old, trusty, back-up computer be able to handle the graphics of a spot-the-difference game?)
I especially enjoyed the members who played along. (Photoshop, "John"? Cle-ver!)
Thanks again, Jay. Let's do this again next year! Perhaps a full-length, "impossible to complete any task w/o a walkthrough" version of Riven. Wait, what am I thinking, that's already been done. >; )
Would have been a great game, but the timer spoiled it immensely. Rating of 2 mushrooms from me.
Wait, is it April 7th already? I wish I had gotten here just about a week earlier. I was expecting JIG to have something up its virtual sleeve for April Fools, but a "Find the Difference" game? You guys really went all-out this year!
Though I gotta say, for anyone who read the (awesome!) review, it was kinda obvious that this was a prank (aside, you know, from the line that said "April Fools"). The last time I saw a review so soaked in sarcasm, it was for the Quest For The Crown, and I'm guessing we all remember what that turned up to be :D
Wait, so there is not a 7th level and the walkthrough was part of the joke or am I missing somthing if there is no level 7 you should make one the plot sounds like it would be fun
Leave a comment [top of page]
Game of the week
Walkthrough Guide
(Please allow page to fully load for spoiler tags to be functional.)
Spot the Difference Walkthrough
First, some general tips:
Examine every picture carefully. You never know what almost-hidden object might be different or even absent.
Careful where you put your mouse. It's easy to lose things underneath it. I found my keys while playing this game.
The ads are provided as a training session for the game. Be sure to inspect each one carefully.
If you go out for Halloween, don't spend your time in a clock tower. People get the wrong impression.
Good luck!
Walkthrough
Ball Pit
This is a somewhat challenging beginning, so don't get frustrated if you stare at it for ten minutes or more, like I did.
Here's a hint: the difference is in a grouping of balls that is a prime number.
It's also next to a purple one.
Moving on.
Pinwheel
The key difference in this one is in the shadows. Scrutinize them carefully. It will lead you to the hotspot.
If you're colourblind, get a friend or pet to help you.
Another hint: the fan expresses the Golden Ratio. The Golden Ratio is a ratio found throughout nature, and some scientists say it's mostly responsible for our perception of beauty. Is the pinwheel beautiful?
Cardinal
This one should be obvious. Look at the skyline.
Still don't get it? Ask your pet to look at it again.
Another hint: George III once shook hands with a tree.
Barren Landscape
This one's tough. Something to think about: Mars lacks the electromagnetic field to have a proper blue sky. Theirs is kind of mauve.
Something strange about that mountain? Remind you of a certain Stephen Spielberg film?
Last hint: It's on the ground behind the Mars Rover.
Paris Cafe
Okay, this one isn't that bad. All you have to do is remember one thing: People who drink coffee are insanely consistent. Breaking a coffee fiend from his routine is more dangerous than baiting a tiger. Also, this page is optimized for the reflexes of a caffeinated person; click each difference as fast and as often as possible, like checking Facebook and Twitter.
Cafes are generally very diligent about keeping their seats from being replaced with banana crème pies.
The sound system is not according to fire code.
That family has one too many members. (two clues)
The transdimensional mirrors are not working properly, instead functioning as the more prosaic reflective mirrors.
Riverbed
There are four thousand rocks in this picture. The hotspot is one of them - and not the one you'd think at first. I fell into that trap too.
Follow the Fibbonaci method of counting. Breed some rabbits and use them to predict the hotspot.
If you don't get this after ten minutes, Alana shows up for the first time. Follow her instructions and you'll bypass the level.
Government Lab
After the riverbed scene, Alana connects you to the feed outside of her room. Listen carefully to what she says.
The key here is the difference between the fingerprints on the keypads. There's a pattern to the guard's code.
After freeing Alana, it's a short but difference-filled ride to the exciting conclusion. The differences from here on are fairly obvious, so I'll leave it to you to find them. Feel free to email me if you're still stuck.
Happy gaming!
Posted by: Karl
|
April 1, 2010 11:43 AM
Spot the Difference Walkthrough
General Information
The number in the upper left corner indicates the number of differences left to find.
Each section in this walkthrough will also let you know the number of differences.
The differences can be subtle, so look closely.
The rounds become more difficult as they progress.
A few of the differences are color based, so there will be directions for the colorblind.
Have fun!
Round 1
Differences: 1
The candies are in rough "columns".
Third "column" in from the left, fourth candy down. One candy is blue, the other green.
Round 2
Differences: 1
One of the petals in the artificial flower is different.
The petal in the 9:00 position is blue in one picture, violet in another.
Round 3
Differences: 1
On the branch in the foreground is a bird.
The bird on the left is yellow, the bird on the right is red.
Round 4
Differences: 1
In the foreground on the left, there is an object just below the horizon on the right. This is a mars rover.
In the same position on the right picture is a child.
Round 5
Differences: 5
This one is on a timer, so click quickly.
The five differences are:
There is an extra chair at the table at the lower left of the picture.
On the table in the lower left of the picture, there is an extra coffee cup near the corner.
At the bar, the chair farthest to the right has a different colored seat.
Above the mirror behind the bar is a circular mirror, which is blacked out in the picture on the right.
Above the bar mirror, there is an extra speaker in the right picture, just to the right of what looks like a CD player.
I told you to click fast.
Faster than that.
As fast as is humanly possible.
Round 6
Differences: 1
This one is subtle, so look closely.
Look closely in the upper left of the left picture.
You are looking for the symbol Eka derived from the Devangari numeral system. It's faint, but it is there.
The symbol came to modern usage originally from India to the North African Arabs, and finally to Europe.
That would be the number 1.
But you don't press the 1, it is just a clue, since there is a 1 in both pictures.
Think Fibonacci, since the number 1 is the only number in the Fibonacci sequence that repeats twice.
Apply a Fibonacci spiral to the picture, it should lead you to the hotspot.
If you can't find the spot, remember to wait 10 minutes for Alana to show up, and she will point out the hot spot.
Round 7
You do know it's April Fool's Day, right?
Posted by: grinnyp
|
April 1, 2010 2:03 PM