We hold these truths to be self-evident that all squishy bouncy blob thingies are born with certain inalienable rights, including those of life, liberty and the pursuit of hat-iness. The hero of Pursuit of Hat, a puzzle platformer from Anton Rogov, is willing to risk all manner of life and limb for his head-covering... mainly limb though, since his are detachable. Literally tearing ones self apart over a head-covering may seem a little extreme. In all fairness though, it's a very nice hat.
Use the [arrow] keys to move and jump yourself around the cliffs, making your way to your lost chapeau. Hitting the [spacebar] will pull one of your limbs off and chuck in front of you, and fortunately, they happen to be just the weight to activate those switches scattered about. Gnawing enough will reduce you to a bouncing ball, just the perfect things for ducking into low-ceiling caverns. [Down] will reattach limbs to your body, and [R] will reset the board. There are 20 levels to beat, and thus 20 hats to find. It's haberdasheriffic!
Half the joy of Pursuit of Hat is just watching how the protagonist moves. Whether he's scraping his way onto a ledge or rolling around as a limbless ball of goo, it's simply a joy to see him schlepp his way from point A to point B. The limb-chucking mechanic is also quite unique. While it seemed a little morbid at first, the hero follows the rule of cartoon logic and easily "pulls himself together" when he needs to. This definitely keeps things light-hearted Some of the levels are quite similar, which does lead to a little monotony. It would have been nice to see the gimmick explored a bit further in more complicated puzzles, though that may have detracted from the work's gorgeous simplicity. In any case, whatever flaws Pursuit of Hat may have are more than outweighed by its prodigious charm. It's something that deserves the ol' tip of the hat.
Walkthrough Guide
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Pursuit of Hat Walkthrough
Maneuvering:
[left arrow] = go left
[right arrow] = go right
[up arrow] = jump up
Being attached to body is needed to jump gaps from one ledge that's level with another.
Having at least one attached limb is needed to jump/climb up to ledges and cliffs higher than your current level.
[space] = Pull off a limb or body
First limbs come off, then finally body comes off.
[down arrow] = re-attach dismantled body and limbs IF you are standing on them.
Body attaches to head, then limbs attach to body.
Limbs will not attach to a bodiless head or a headless body.
[R] = Reset the game (you'll need to reset any time you get stuck)
Walkthrough by Level:
Level 1
Move left to the hat.
Level 2
Move right, using [up arrow] to jump cliffs.
Level 3
Move left to the edge of the hole.
While facing hole, use [space bar] to pull off a limb.
Your limb will fall into the hole, depressing the button, lowering the orange-striped bar.
Move right to the hat.
Level 4
Move right, using [up arrow] to jump cliffs until you reach the tiny cave.
Use [space bar] to pull off all limbs and your body until you're just a ball.
Roll right into the hole and get the hat.
Level 5
Go right slightly, to edge of the mesa.
Pull off your limbs and body while facing toward the tall wood block on the right.
It will land on the wood platform, causing it to sink.
This will cause the wood platform on the left to rise, opening a passage to the hat.
Roll left through the passageway and to the hat.
Level 6
Move to the orange button on the left edge and, while facing the orange button, pull off a limb.
The limb will depress the button, causing the orange bar to shift right.
Move to the green button and spit another limb onto the green button.
That will cause the green bar to lower (the orange bar prevents the green bar from pressing the blue button).
Hop right over to the hat.
Level 7
Stand at the edge of the cliff and spit a limb onto the orange button.
Jump down to the orange-striped bar.
Spit a limb onto the blue button.
Climb up the blue-striped bar.
Spit a limb onto the green button
(note, you need at least one arm left at this point, so if you pulled off too many, hit [R] to restart)
Climb up the green-striped bar.
Hop up the cliff to the hat (you need to be slightly back from the cliff to be able to hop up and grab ahold of it).
Level 8
Move left to the orange button and spit a limb onto it.
Go back to the hole on the right.
Spit a limb onto the blue button.
Go back to the orange button and retrieve your limb: press [down arrow].
Move to the hole on the left and spit a limb onto the green button.
Hop over to the hat.
Level 9
Jump over to the left mesa.
Spit a limb onto the yellow button.
Then spit a limb into the cannon.
Hop back to the middle mesa.
Jump down onto the orange button.
The cannon will fire, sending a limb across the gap to the yellow button in the right mesa.
Move left to the hat.
Level 10
Jump over to the middle mesa then turn to face the low wood block on the right.
Spit out a limb onto the wooden platform.
Hop down onto the platform on the left.
Spit two more limbs onto the wood platform so that, when you move off it, it stays down.
Move over to the green button.
The green-striped bar will shift left, forcing your first limb to fall into the hole, pressing the orange button.
Move left to the hat.
Level 11
Climb up to the top right side of the mesa.
Spit a limb into the tube so it lands on the seesaw below.
Pull off all the other three limbs, but don't let them fall into the tube or cannon.
Jump down to the ledge by the cannon.
Facing out toward the left edge of the seesaw, pull off your body and quickly roll into the cannon before it fires.
You'll be propelled to the hat.
Level 12
Jump down to the yellow-striped bar.
Pull off a limb, leaving it behind on the bar.
Hop down to the yellow button to press it.
The yellow-striped bar will open, causing the limb to fall on the orange button, lowering the orange-striped bar.
Move left to the hat.
Level 13
Go left to the cannon; spit all your limbs and body into the cannon.
Roll over to the orange and blue buttons.
Quickly roll over the orange button and land on the blue button immediately afterwards.
Timing it correctly, the cannon will fire and the blue-striped bar will lower in time for your body parts to fly over to you.
Reattach your body and limbs then climb up the ledge to the hat.
Level 14
Climb up to the cannon and spit a limb into its barrel.
Hop back down to the original level and press the orange button.
The limb will fire out of the cannon and land on the wood elevator on the right, causing it to lower.
The left platform will rise, pressing the green button.
Climb back up to the cannon; spit the other three limbs into the cannon so that only your head and body remain.
Hop back down to the first level.
Spit out your body onto the blue button, lowering the blue-striped bar.
Roll over and down to the platform on the right.
Continue left to the other orange button (in the center mesa).
When you press that orange button, the three limbs will fly over to the platform on the left, causing it to sink again.
This will raise the platform on the right, revealing a passageway for your head…
Quickly roll right over to the hat.
Level 15
Spit a limb onto the blue-striped bar.
Hop down and spit two more limbs into the green cannon.
Turn and spit a limb into the hole with the blue button.
QUICKLY turn and spit your body into the green cannon and then your head.
(This takes careful timing… You must have every dismantled body part in the green cannon before the blue-striped bar has shifted all the way to the right, causing the first limb to press the green button).
Once you reach the far ledge, reassemble your body.
VERY QUICKLY spit your body onto the orange button and roll your head into the orange cannon.
If you time it correctly, your head will fly over to the hat.
Level 16
Spit out a limb onto the blue button.
Then, spit out a limb onto the green button.
Finally, spit out a limb onto the orange button.
Standing at the far right edge of the mesa, spit your last limb out onto the orange-striped bar.
Return each of the buttons and retrieve your other three limbs in reverse order: orange, green, then blue.
Keep moving left…
All the striped-bars will shift back into place, causing the last time to eventually fall onto the yellow button.
Move left to get the hat.
Level 17
Spit out a limb into the orange cannon.
Go right and hop up to the orange button to fire the orange cannon.
Next, hop up to the blue button to fire the blue cannon.
Go back to the orange cannon and spit another limb into it.
Return to the orange button and hop up to fire the orange cannon again.
Now hop up to the green button, causing the green cannon to fire.
That should cause a chain reaction of cannon fire.
Go back to the orange cannon, pull off the rest of your limbs.
Roll your head into the orange cannon and eventually you'll be volleyed back over to the hat.
Level 18
Spit out all four limbs into the orange cannon.
Spit out your body onto the green button.
Roll your head to the orange button to fire the cannon.
IMMEDIATELY roll back to your body, reassemble, and move off the green button so the green-striped bar shifts right before the limbs land on it.
Your limbs will land on the blue button, lowering the blue-striped back.
Move left to the hat.
Note: You could also try simply rolling over to the orange button immediately after spitting body onto the green button if that timing works for you.
Level 19
Spit a limb into the orange cannon.
Go over to the green button and press it, causing the orange button to fire the limb over to the blue cannon.
Now, spit a limb into the center hole so it lands on the green-striped bar.
Return to the orange cannon, spit another limb into it.
Go back to the green button and press it.
The limb flying out of the orange cannon will collide with the limb flying out of the blue cannon; they'll both land on the yellow button at the center of the high mesa.
Go left and hop down to get the hat.
Level 20
Spit out a limb onto the green button.
Go over to the orange cannon and spit a limb into it.
Move left and position yourself to the left of the orange button;
quickly spit out a limb onto the orange button and hop onto the blue button.
The orange cannon will fire the limb straight into the air; when the limb has passed the blue-striped bar, immediately hop off the blue button.
Timing it correctly, the blue-striped bar will close before the limb falls back down. The limb will land on the blue-striped bar.
Now climb up to the top of the mesa second from the left.
Pull off a limb and leave it there (where the blue-striped bar would push it when shifting left).
Hop back down and pull off your remaining limb.
go over the orange cannon, carefully positioning yourself before the blue button next to it.
Pull off your body so it lands on the blue button and roll your head into the cannon.
The blue-striped bar will shift left, the limb on top of it will fall on the orange button, firing the cannon; when the blue bar passes over the limb on the left, it will land on the blue button, causing the blue bar to close again. Your head will land safely on the blue bar.
Roll over to the hat!
Posted by: elle
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November 2, 2011 8:59 PM