The screen displays only one clue. Your goal is to type this clue exactly as shown. However, your keyboard is behaving cryptically...

All puzzles can be solved with logic, experimentation and creative thinking, sometimes aided by pencil and paper. Solving a puzzle usually requires two steps: discovering which rules are in place, then using these rules to write the clue. Rules don't change nor ever rely on timing, so relax and take your time!

After beating certain puzzles, some people will enjoy replaying them, trying to write even harder clues or simply push the rules to their limits, perhaps even using the interface as a learning device. All levels were designed with this possibility in mind.

If at any point you feel overwhelmed by too many possibilities or like brute-forcing your way, that is a telltale sign you may be missing critical information! The pictograms below may steer you back to the right path again.

Controls

Type any of the 26 letters of the latin alphabet. Some levels may forbid certain characters, or allow spaces, digits and/or arrows.

To open the translucent on-screen keyboard simply (tap) the input area or (keyboard). To close it, press (keyboard) again or × (close).

Tip: (long tap) or (long click) on any key for a burst.

To undo an action, press either (backspace), (delete), Ctrl/⌘Z or (undo).

You may also (swipe left) on the input area.

To redo an undone action, press either ⇧ (shift+backspace), ⇧ (shift+delete), Ctrl/⌘Y or (redo).

You may also (swipe right) on the input area.

To restart a level, press either Ctrl/⌘ (ctrl+backspace), Ctrl/⌘ (ctrl+delete), Ctrl/⌘R or (restart).

To quit a level, and return to the title screen, press Esc.

Temporary characters, sometimes coloured in a lighter tone, may be transformed when certain conditions be (or fail to be) met.

The arrows and indicate you may press the arrows (left) and (right).

Level difficulty is indicated by the number of stars, in a scale of 1 ✲ - very easy - to 5 ✲✲✲✲✲ - very hard.

♫ The musical note symbol will appear in any level where turning on sound will be hintful.

The magnifying glass symbol means it is probably a good idea to use a search engine, unless you happen to be an expert on the level topic!

The eye symbol means the level requires visual/spatial thinking. Sometimes it may be a good idea to draw a diagram or a map.

The dictionary symbol means the level requires some knowledge of a particular language (English included). Online dictionaries, translation and word-search tools may be useful.

The mathematical symbol suggests it may be advantageous to imagine numbers.

The architetural symbol hints that the level may need careful planning before building a solution brick by brick.

(swipe right) on the level clue area, or press Ctrl/⌘ (ctrl+right).

(swipe left) on the level clue area, or press Ctrl/⌘ (ctrl+left).

(tap) on the level clue area, or press Ctrl/⌘L. You may also use the Level selector button in the game bar.

The most recent playtests indicate that a relaxed puzzler may enjoy 6h to 9h of Puzzle type, spread across multiple sessions, while puzzle veterans may be able to speedrun Puzzle type in a intense two-hour session.

Puzzle type was tested and runs well with the desktop versions of Chrome (78-81.0), iOS Safari (12) Firefox (65.0-74), Opera (65), Brave (1.5) and Edge (80). ^OK

Puzzle type does not run on Internet Explorer.

Although Puzzle type runs on Android Chrome, Android Firefox and iOS Safari (12), the marked slowness would prevent a good game experience. ^Problem

With a physical keyboard, Puzzle type was designed to display well on all screen sizes, from extremely small (e.g 300px by 200px), to very large (e.g. 1280px by 1024px and above). ^OK

Typing with the on-screen keyboard may be cumbersome on very small screens, because the keys become quite small. So this combination is not recommended.

Puzzle type by Pedro PSI, 2019-2021.

Sound effects made with MuseScore (pre-recorded) and Tone.js (live synthesis).

Made with vanilla JS and CSS, including the Game Bar!

Pedro PSI wishes to express deep gratitude to all playtesters that helped shape Puzzle type.

Patrick Collin Eye, for a fantastic ongoing sequence of insightful and detailed video playtests which generated many new ideas and enhancements!

Kristian Hedeholm, for a tremendous ongoing series of video playtests which produced many important changes! Also for very detailed feedback on the game trailer!

minotalen, for frequent feedback and ideas plus the first video playtest!

Deusovi, for playtesting the entire game, suggesting improvements, and finding bugs & brilliant solutions to the hardest levels!

Plurmorant for an enlightening beta video playtest which revealed many needed improvements, plus a second playtest at a later stage!

Daniel Hurtado (knexator) for alpha playtests which resulted in useful, actionable suggestions!

Builder17, for a quick playtest of level 29 and for suggesting the "hangman-style" keystroke list.

Blubberquark, for a longer playtest of level 29.

If you're new to videoplaytesting, please check the Videoplaytesting Tips.

Puzzle type is an inductive typing game. Inductive means you must explore to deduce the hidden rules of the system (in each level). Exploration happens through a beautiful and minimalist typing interface.

Thus Puzzle type could be placed near the puzzle hunt genre, since it can be seen as a collection of puzzles, albeit interactive!

So don't be fooled: Puzzle type is not a riddle because it lacks obscure cultural references, nor a word game as it never reuses a base mechanic on long word lists, nor a typing game, since time does not matter and the keyboard deceives!

Puzzle type contains mathematical, language, visual, scientific, programming, geographical, musical and other elements - so it is inspired in the world around us.

With respect to other puzzle games, minotalen minotalen keenly observed similarities with Cinq Mars Media's Devil's Calculator, while the interface is as minimal as the one found in Dimitris Chassapakis's riddle game "NONE".

It shares some ideas with string rewriting games like Jeff Wu's Send a damned message and others.

An indirect source of inspiration was Stephen Lavelle (Increpare)'s 3BYTEENKODER and Philipp Stollenmayer's games with a strong focus on typography like Supertype and Sticky Terms.

Puzzles sharing a theme or broad way of thinking are often grouped together.

Puzzles combining ways of thinking are not shown before each way of thinking is presented individually. Simpler before complex puzzles.

Sharp changes in ways of thinking may occur between and within themes. Usually a pleasant surprise.

Creating a word game without language-dependent content. The vast majority of the levels (22) can be enjoyed anywhere in the world, equally, by anyone who is acquainted with the latin alphabet. ^Done

Making a compelling enigma with minimal interface and decoration. No repeated ideas. ^Done

Extending the Game Bar to any javascript game. ^Done

Making sound effects and music. ^Partly

A particular word is desired. What is the essence of this word? How could this become a puzzle?

Multiple puzzle iterations.

A particular mechanic is desired. What letter patterns must be present in the word to ensure a solvable puzzle? How about a good puzzle?

Programmatic word search. Manual curation of words with clue potential. Minor adjustments to word/mechanism until a match is found.

A particular theme is desired. Gather an extensive list of words that cover the theme. Which mechanisms fit with and enable full word list exploration?

Multiple clue and mechanic iterations.

A finished puzzle is improved and/or totally redesigned after playtester feedback. Possible reasons: too easy (unintended solution), too cryptic (after a fair amount of experimentation), too cumbersome, requiring more visual feedback, unforeseen possibilities, novel ideas, etc...