Josh Hendrickson
It’s become a yearly tradition for Google to release a puzzle to announce the next I/O developer conference dates. This year is a little different, though; we’ll have to solve the puzzles together. Google set up a game that will only reveal the conference dates when enough people beat it. But don’t worry, the answers are already out there.
To start playing the game, head over to Google’s mission site and prepare yourself. The opening screen should give you an idea of what you’re in for—abstract puzzles themed as a space adventure. The lower-left corner shows the progress the world has made towards unlocking each level of the game.
When you’re ready, click the Accept Misson button. You’ll be greeted by some satellites and a command prompt like interface. You can click the satellites to learn more about them, and type “help” (without the quotes) to learn commands.
The object of each level is straightforward, name the cluster of satellites, then set each satellite to a correct frequency. Level one is an easy introduction: the satellite positions form a hexagon, and that’s the name of the cluster. You’ll type cluster --name Hexagon to pass this stage of the puzzle. Next, you need to set satellite frequencies. You have two choices on this stage: 240 MHz and 600 MHz.
It’s a simple solution; you’ll alternate the frequencies, so you have no repeats around the edges of the hexagon. Just keep in mind, the satellites aren’t in alphabetical order. You’ll use a command like satellite A --frequency 240 to set the frequencies. Here’s what it should look like when you finish:
We’re not going to hold your hand through the rest of the game, but thanks to the exceptional minds at 9to5Google, we can give you the rest of the cluster name answers.
- Stage 2: cluster –name OLYMPICENE
- Stage 3: cluster –name OPHIUCHUS
- Stage 4: cluster –name BYZANTINE GENERALS
- Stage 4: cluster –name SIERPINSKI TRIANGLE
- Stage 5: cluster –name ICOSAHEDRON
So go ahead, solve all the puzzles. Tell your friends you figured out on your own, we won’t tell. Hopefully, we’ll know when the developer conference is a little sooner, thanks to your efforts.
via 9to5Google
