Cardinal Chains Daniel Nora Cardinal Chains is a minimalist puzzle game centering on the concept of non-decreasing sequences. Each puzzle begins wi… $2.99 Buy Now Watch Media DetailsCardinal Chains is a minimalist puzzle game centering on the concept of non-decreasing sequences. Each puzzle begins with a monochrome grid of numbers, plus a few colored cells marked with an X. Starting at these cells, you must link up numbers in non-decreasing order until the whole grid is filled with color. • 500 unique, carefully handcrafted puzzles of varying difficulty, each with a single solution • Beautiful, lengthy chill-out soundtrack created by accomplished professional artists • Minimalist, elegant design without timers, ads, purchases or other hassles - just pure gameplay • Several built-in color themes, including colorblind options. Or... • ...make your own color themes - right from within the game! • Features achievements and cloud saves Information Seller:Daniel Nora Genre:Puzzle Release:Mar 20, 2018 Updated:Apr 11, 2022 Version:1.1.1 Size:120.6 MB TouchArcade Rating:Unrated User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal Beth likes this. y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #2 y2kmp3, Mar 29, 2018 Daniel, Curious about the mathematical principles behind this game. How do you guarantee that each layout has a unique solution? Saw the screenshots but did not quite grasp the game's mechanics. Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #3 Daniel Nora, Mar 30, 2018 Hi, thanks for asking! Maybe the video can clear it up a bit. The game itself introduces the mechanics in a way that is simple to understand. Basically, you start filling up the board from the cells marked with an X. From an X, you can link up to any number, e.g. X -> 2. From a number, you can link up to any other number that is NOT inferior, e.g. X -> 2 -> 2 -> 3 -> 5 (but not X -> 2 -> 1). You do this until the whole board is linked up. Eventually the rules become second nature. As for guaranteeing unique solutions, I made my own automatic solver which is basically an heavily optimized recursive backtracker. So I can just make/edit a puzzle by hand and immediately check how many solutions it has. All puzzles have exactly one solution, except for two specific puzzles which were intentionally designed to have multiple solutions (puzzles 145 and 383). Apart from the solver, making puzzles is a manual process, something I set my mind on from the beginning because personally I prefer handmade puzzle games to autogenerated ones. Making a puzzle can take anything from 10 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size, number of holes, etc. They were also tested multiple times (in different days) to verify that the difficulty conforms to my intentions and that the tricky spots remain tricky long after I forget how I made the puzzle. Beth likes this. Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #4 Daniel Nora, Apr 7, 2018 Hello again guys! Just wanted you to know that you can try out the first 100 levels for free on your computer. The demo is up on itch.io and plays right on the browser! Happy chaining! gamingaficionado Well-Known Member Aug 9, 2017 69 1 8 #5 gamingaficionado, Apr 7, 2018 i actually bought the game on itchio where i discovered it. then nabbed it on android for portability and will definitely grab it again on ios down the line. fairly simple premise but so addicting. good luck with your game. Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #6 Daniel Nora, Apr 7, 2018 Thank you so much! By the way, check your PMs TheGreatEscaper Well-Known Member Oct 10, 2014 1,025 22 38 #7 TheGreatEscaper, Apr 8, 2018 150 levels in! As a logic puzzle fan, what drew me to this was the promise of unique solutions to every level - I consider this really important for logic puzzles and not enough games out there do this. It’s really awesome that this is something you’ve included in the design philosophy for this game! It’s definitely addicting and the difficulty is starting to ramp up - can’t wait to see what the later parts of the game are like! Huge amount of carefully made content. I like it! Beth likes this. gamingaficionado Well-Known Member Aug 9, 2017 69 1 8 #8 gamingaficionado, Apr 8, 2018 ok you guys, you better support this dev! he is genuinely really nice and dropped me a nice pm just like that. here is his itch.io page: https://danijmn.itch.io/cardinalchains i bought the game 2 weeks ago there and haven't stopped playing the game since. Beth likes this. Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #9 Daniel Nora, Apr 8, 2018 Hey, I remember you... you were one of the first people who left me some feedback about Flip Grip! Thanks a lot for the kind words!! Keep playing and you might find a little surprise Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #10 Daniel Nora, Apr 8, 2018 A huge thank you... this makes me really happy! Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #11 Daniel Nora, May 8, 2018 Got recommended by NerdCubed a few hours ago... and since then lots of really nice people have been trying out the game and sending very positive feedback. Thanks a lot for the support, guys! Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #12 Daniel Nora, Jun 19, 2018 For those of you who would like to kick off the summer with a fun puzzle game, Cardinal Chains is 50% off until June 26th at just $0.99. You can get it from the App Store, Google Play and itch. Have fun! y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #13 y2kmp3, Jun 20, 2018 How are the levels' difficulty determined? I found the difficulty level is somewhat uneven, though I am not certain if this is intentional to give the player a break. Also, what is the "largest" grid size used for a level? I presume that much of the difficulty lies on the size of the grid and how many chains the player needs to make? Daniel Nora Member Apr 29, 2017 19 3 3 #14 Daniel Nora, Jun 20, 2018 Yes, the difficulty ups and downs are intentional and are pretty common for puzzle games with many levels. Normally you get a hard puzzle every 10 puzzles or so, and the ones in between have varying degrees of difficulty. The largest grid size is 7 cells wide by 10 cells tall, which is the most you can comfortably interact with on a phone. Some of the difficulty lies in the size, but also in the way the numbers are arranged which can really mess up your expectations! y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #15 y2kmp3, Jun 20, 2018 Thanks, Daniel, for the explanation. Very interesting to know that hard puzzles are being populated every 10 levels or so in the game. I have been tracking the level numbers of puzzles which I deem to be tricky, and the sequence indeed forms a pattern with a gap of about 10! Beth Well-Known Member Patreon Bronze Jan 29, 2014 126 8 18 Professional do-nothing'er Eastern usa #16 Beth, Jun 20, 2018 I’m also sold on each level having Unique Solutions ....I love that you made your own solver /tool...that kind of innovation I admire , if it doesn’t exist create it The video on the AppStore helped me understand the mechanics better, Imma visual learner y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #17 y2kmp3, Jun 21, 2018 Can you explain why level 145 and level 383 are intentionally made to have multiple solutions? I am at level 145 right now, and I don't see why this level is meant to play differently than the others. If I had not known ahead that it has more than 1 solution, I would not have looked for them. Is there some unique mechanic I am supposed to learn from this "special" level? Also, how many unique solutions do these 2 levels have? y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #18 y2kmp3, Jun 29, 2018 Finally finished game! All 501 levels. The last few levels were quite tricky indeed! Overall, quite an enjoyable experience though a bit too mechanical near the end. Still did not understand why the developer chose to craft level 145 and level 383 to uniquely have multiple solutions even after completing the entire game. Too bad that the developer is not posting here to explain this little mystery... gamingaficionado Well-Known Member Aug 9, 2017 69 1 8 #19 gamingaficionado, Jun 30, 2018 i don't get what's your main problem with 2 levels out of 500 having more than one solution. what does it take away from your life and enjoyment? the developper explicitely mentioned those two levels have more than one solution in the achievements. i know because i have the game on google play and the achievement list is very clear on that. it was fun for me to approach the puzzles in a different way and find other solutions than the one i came up with. there is no mystery, you won't find the key to it by analyzing the da vinci code or entering the pyramids created by aliens. so that's that. y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #20 y2kmp3, Jul 3, 2018 Actually, I was unaware that the multiple solutions in these two levels were left in the game explicitly to be used for achievements. Had I known about this beforehand, I would not have asked the question in the first place. My question was not meant to be antagonistic, certainly not toward the developer. The sarcasm in your reply is not warranted and is entirely out of place. (You must log in or sign up to post here.) Show Ignored Content Page 1 of 2 1 2 Next > Share This Page Tweet Your name or email address: Password: Forgot your password? Stay logged in
Daniel, Curious about the mathematical principles behind this game. How do you guarantee that each layout has a unique solution? Saw the screenshots but did not quite grasp the game's mechanics.
Hi, thanks for asking! Maybe the video can clear it up a bit. The game itself introduces the mechanics in a way that is simple to understand. Basically, you start filling up the board from the cells marked with an X. From an X, you can link up to any number, e.g. X -> 2. From a number, you can link up to any other number that is NOT inferior, e.g. X -> 2 -> 2 -> 3 -> 5 (but not X -> 2 -> 1). You do this until the whole board is linked up. Eventually the rules become second nature. As for guaranteeing unique solutions, I made my own automatic solver which is basically an heavily optimized recursive backtracker. So I can just make/edit a puzzle by hand and immediately check how many solutions it has. All puzzles have exactly one solution, except for two specific puzzles which were intentionally designed to have multiple solutions (puzzles 145 and 383). Apart from the solver, making puzzles is a manual process, something I set my mind on from the beginning because personally I prefer handmade puzzle games to autogenerated ones. Making a puzzle can take anything from 10 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size, number of holes, etc. They were also tested multiple times (in different days) to verify that the difficulty conforms to my intentions and that the tricky spots remain tricky long after I forget how I made the puzzle.
Hello again guys! Just wanted you to know that you can try out the first 100 levels for free on your computer. The demo is up on itch.io and plays right on the browser! Happy chaining!
i actually bought the game on itchio where i discovered it. then nabbed it on android for portability and will definitely grab it again on ios down the line. fairly simple premise but so addicting. good luck with your game.
150 levels in! As a logic puzzle fan, what drew me to this was the promise of unique solutions to every level - I consider this really important for logic puzzles and not enough games out there do this. It’s really awesome that this is something you’ve included in the design philosophy for this game! It’s definitely addicting and the difficulty is starting to ramp up - can’t wait to see what the later parts of the game are like! Huge amount of carefully made content. I like it!
ok you guys, you better support this dev! he is genuinely really nice and dropped me a nice pm just like that. here is his itch.io page: https://danijmn.itch.io/cardinalchains i bought the game 2 weeks ago there and haven't stopped playing the game since.
Hey, I remember you... you were one of the first people who left me some feedback about Flip Grip! Thanks a lot for the kind words!! Keep playing and you might find a little surprise
Got recommended by NerdCubed a few hours ago... and since then lots of really nice people have been trying out the game and sending very positive feedback. Thanks a lot for the support, guys!
For those of you who would like to kick off the summer with a fun puzzle game, Cardinal Chains is 50% off until June 26th at just $0.99. You can get it from the App Store, Google Play and itch. Have fun!
How are the levels' difficulty determined? I found the difficulty level is somewhat uneven, though I am not certain if this is intentional to give the player a break. Also, what is the "largest" grid size used for a level? I presume that much of the difficulty lies on the size of the grid and how many chains the player needs to make?
Yes, the difficulty ups and downs are intentional and are pretty common for puzzle games with many levels. Normally you get a hard puzzle every 10 puzzles or so, and the ones in between have varying degrees of difficulty. The largest grid size is 7 cells wide by 10 cells tall, which is the most you can comfortably interact with on a phone. Some of the difficulty lies in the size, but also in the way the numbers are arranged which can really mess up your expectations!
Thanks, Daniel, for the explanation. Very interesting to know that hard puzzles are being populated every 10 levels or so in the game. I have been tracking the level numbers of puzzles which I deem to be tricky, and the sequence indeed forms a pattern with a gap of about 10!
I’m also sold on each level having Unique Solutions ....I love that you made your own solver /tool...that kind of innovation I admire , if it doesn’t exist create it The video on the AppStore helped me understand the mechanics better, Imma visual learner
Can you explain why level 145 and level 383 are intentionally made to have multiple solutions? I am at level 145 right now, and I don't see why this level is meant to play differently than the others. If I had not known ahead that it has more than 1 solution, I would not have looked for them. Is there some unique mechanic I am supposed to learn from this "special" level? Also, how many unique solutions do these 2 levels have?
Finally finished game! All 501 levels. The last few levels were quite tricky indeed! Overall, quite an enjoyable experience though a bit too mechanical near the end. Still did not understand why the developer chose to craft level 145 and level 383 to uniquely have multiple solutions even after completing the entire game. Too bad that the developer is not posting here to explain this little mystery...
i don't get what's your main problem with 2 levels out of 500 having more than one solution. what does it take away from your life and enjoyment? the developper explicitely mentioned those two levels have more than one solution in the achievements. i know because i have the game on google play and the achievement list is very clear on that. it was fun for me to approach the puzzles in a different way and find other solutions than the one i came up with. there is no mystery, you won't find the key to it by analyzing the da vinci code or entering the pyramids created by aliens. so that's that.
Actually, I was unaware that the multiple solutions in these two levels were left in the game explicitly to be used for achievements. Had I known about this beforehand, I would not have asked the question in the first place. My question was not meant to be antagonistic, certainly not toward the developer. The sarcasm in your reply is not warranted and is entirely out of place.
