| Purble Place | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Oberon Media |
| Publisher(s) | Microsoft |
| Release date(s) | January 30, 2007 |
| Platform(s) | Windows Vista Windows 7 |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
Purble Place is a computer game that was developed by Oberon Media for Microsoft. It was publicly introduced on January 30, 2007 in Windows Vista build 5219, and was also included with Windows 7.
Purble Place can be played on all editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, but needs to be enabled using the Control Panel in the Business and Enterprise editions of Windows Vista.
Overview[]
Purble Place is a suite of three games. Although designed mainly for children, each game has stages of difficulty that can be set for different levels of challenge. The collection has a single home screen that directs the user to the three games: Purble Pairs, Comfy Cakes, and Purble Shop.
Purble Pairs[]
Purble Pairs is a pattern recognition and memory game similar to Concentration. The object is to clear the table in the fewest number of turns. As the skill level progresses, the game becomes timed, the grid size increases, and more similar pictures are used.
A sneak peek coin bonus allows the player to expose all remaining cards for a couple of seconds, but every card exposed in this way is counted as a turn. Up to three sneak peek coins can be saved for use anytime in the game.
Beginner[]
The Beginner level has a 5x5 grid. The player starts with two sneak peek coins. One joker card is present on the board; when matched with another exposed card, it automatically finds the match of that card.
Intermediate[]
Intermediate has two levels, each with a 6x6 grid to solve, per game. The player starts with one sneak peek coin. Two pairs of special cards are present on each board: clock cards, which add more time to the timer, and Master Chef cards, which automatically finds and matches a random pair of cards containing cakes. If the option “Play with timer off in Intermediate, Advanced” is checked, a pair of joker cards will replace the Master Chef cards. Clock cards will also have no special effect when matched.
Advanced[]
Advanced has four levels, each with an 8x8 grid to solve, per game. The player starts with no sneak peek coins. All four types of special cards can be present on each board: joker cards, clock cards, Master Chef cards, and cards of the batter machine from Comfy Cakes, which shuffle the board when paired. If the option “Play with timer off in Intermediate, Advanced” is checked, no joker cards will appear.
Comfy Cakes[]
Comfy Cakes is a hand-eye coordination game. The object is to fill orders in a bakery by assembling a layer cake to match the one shown on the television screen on the top-right, by controlling a conveyor belt that brings the cake to various stations. Elements of the cake include shapes (square, circular, or heart-shaped), flavor of batter (strawberry, chocolate, or vanilla), filling (pink, yellow, or brown), optional icing (same flavors as used in the batter), toppings (gumdrops, heart, smiley, or clover), and other decorations (sugar may be sprinkled on top of the cake, or flames are applied to iced cakes to create a smooth glaze).
If the cake does not match the specification, the player is penalized and the cake gets thrown in the trash. If the player sends three incorrect orders, the game is over. After a certain number of correct orders are shipped, the player wins the game, and the score is tabulated. The final score depends upon the number of cakes baked, the number of incorrect orders sent and the efficiency of the player in baking. At higher levels the specifications become more complex and multiple cakes must be manufactured in parallel on a single conveyor belt. The player makes about 5 or 6 cakes in one of the difficulty levels.
Beginner[]
In Beginner, only one cake is on the conveyor belt at a time. Additionally, requested cakes only have one layer. The cake shape, batter, icing, and toppings are available to use. Five orders must be correctly completed to win the game.
Intermediate[]
In Intermediate, more than one cake will appear on the conveyor belt. However, all cakes follow the same order shown on the screen. Cakes two layers. In addition to the elements seen in Beginner, filling is also available to use. There is also a timer on the machine that will automatically move the conveyer belt forward if the player does not move it. Five orders must be correctly completed to win the game.
Selecting the option “One cake at a time in Intermediate, Advanced” will cause the game to assume the behavior of the Beginner difficulty, sending only one cake on the conveyor belt at a time and changing the order for each cake made, but still utilizing the elements specific to the Intermediate difficulty (two layers, with filling).
Advanced[]
In Advanced, more than one cake will appear on the conveyor belt. However, all cakes follow the same order shown on the screen. Cakes have three layers. In addition to the elements seen in Intermediate, other effects are also available to use. The timer appears as with Intermediate, but it will take less inactive time before moving the conveyer belt forward. Six orders must be correctly completed to win the game.
Selecting the option “One cake at a time in Intermediate, Advanced” will cause the game to assume the behavior of the Beginner difficulty, sending only one cake on the conveyor belt at a time and changing the order for each cake made, but still utilizing the elements specific to the Advanced difficulty (three layers, with effects).
Purble Shop[]
Purble Shop is a code-breaker game. The computer decides the color of up to five features (hat, eyes, nose, mouth and clothes) that are concealed from the player. Any color may be used for any feature, and a color can be used once, several times or not used at all. The player then attempts to deduce or guess the correct colors for each feature in a limited number of moves.
Beginner[]
Beginner uses three features (eyes, nose, mouth) in three colors (red, purple, yellow) for 9 different parts to use. 3^3 = 27 different possible solutions in total. It largely acts as a guessing game; after each move, the computer tells the player which items were correct using tip dialogs, and automatically applies check and cross symbols to the items in the wardrobe, so there is little scope for deduction.
Intermediate[]
Intermediate uses four features (hat, eyes, nose, mouth) in four colors (red, purple, yellow, blue) for 16 different parts to use. 4^4 = 256 possible solutions in total. As with Beginner, the computer tells the player which items were correct or incorrect using tip dialogs. However, it encourages the player to apply check and cross symbols to mark items by themselves.
Advanced[]
Advanced uses five features (hat, eyes, nose, mouth, clothes) in five colors (red, purple, yellow, blue, green) for 25 different parts to use. 5^5 = 3125 solutions in total. The computer does not tell the player which specific items were correct, reporting only the count of picks in the correct color and position, and the count of picks in the correct color but the wrong position. This level is similar to the colored peg game Mastermind where success requires logical reasoning (although, there is a small chance of succeeding through lucky guesses).
Notes[]
- An odd number of special cards can appear in the Advanced difficulty with the timer turned off, which will render the game unsolvable.
External links[]
- Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 (included games) at MobyGames
- Purble Place at the BetaWiki
- Purble Place at Wikipedia