PixelLinkr #181: The Story Behind the Puzzle
Spoilers ahead: for the puzzle and the movies/games
This post assumes you've already solved the puzzle. It reveals all categories and their connections, and discusses plot details, endings, and spoilers for featured movies/games throughout.
Apotheon borrows the flat black-figure look of ancient Greek pottery and makes it move. It resembles a museum vase that got tired of standing still and chose violence.
🟢 Easy: Action adventures steeped in Greek mythology
Games: Apotheon · Hades II · Asterigos: Curse of the Stars · Titan Quest
Hades II moves the family feud to Melinoë, witch of the Underworld, and sends her against Chronos. Olympian gods still supply blessings because even an immortal war needs relatives offering unsolicited build advice.
Titan Quest begins in ancient Greece before traveling farther afield. Asterigos mixes Greek and Roman inspiration in a fictional city. The myths provide monsters, architecture, and a very deep bench of gods with grudges.
🟡 Medium: Sequels officially styled with Roman numeral II
Games: Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings · StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty · Quake II · Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
These sequels keep the Roman numeral in their official titles. Age of Empires II and Warcraft II wear it like a history-book heading. Quake II attaches it to a game that barely continues the first one's story.
StarCraft II arrived in 2010 with Wings of Liberty, the first part of its campaign trilogy. Four I-shaped marks do a surprising amount of work once the Arabic 2s leave the board.
🔵 Hard: Drawing directly changes play
Games: Different Strokes · Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter · Line Rider · Magic Touch: Wizard for Hire
Line Rider started as a browser toy by Slovenian student Boštjan Čadež. Draw a line, press play, and watch a tiny sledder expose every lazy curve in the plan.
Drawn to Life turns sketches into usable game objects. Magic Touch asks for spell symbols under falling enemies. Different Strokes makes collaborative drawing the whole social space. The mark is the input, not the reward screen.
🟣 Tricky: Tactical combat can pause for commands
Games: Door Kickers · X-COM: Apocalypse · Tower of Time · Aliens: Dark Descent
X-COM: Apocalypse lets players choose turn-based or pausable real-time tactical combat. That option feels like the designers handing you two different kinds of panic and asking which calendar works better.
Door Kickers freezes raids while routes and orders are drawn. Tower of Time pauses its party battles, and Aliens: Dark Descent can convert its tactical slowdown into a full stop. The shared trick is control: stop the clock, distribute bad news, resume.
The drawing group asks for the cleanest leap from title to mechanic. Today's CineLinkr puzzle has another kind of performance problem, with actors cast opposite their own faces.