Game:

Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (2004)

Duration: 0:48

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1

Phew, so how about we make this description about a game instead of about me for a change of pace? I think that's possible... although it's been so long, I don't think I know how it feels, so let's just roll with it and see what happens. (Maybe it'll actually be a short one to match the brevity of the video itself, and we can all dismiss class early!)

Hopefully you're starting to get a feel for the nature of what Lumines considers to be a puzzle for this mode. It's actually far more lenient than the Challenge and Vs. CPU modes if you ask me, but I guess it's not really fair to ask me, given how I'm apparently an alumnus of far more puzzle-oriented puzzle games, even more puzzling action-puzzle games.

So it's nice to have a good ol' relaxing and recreational puzzle experience for a change. It's not quite as absent-mindedly meditative as zen-style freeform puzzle piece clearing all around the board, but it's definitely far less taxing to accompany the fact that I'm not all "there" when it comes to Lumines pattern recognition.

Oh wait, I was supposed to talk about Lumines, not myself... uh... can I get a half-off credit for that one? I promise I'll do better next time!

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Puzzle Mode
Puzzle 6: Giraffe

Okay, so we're back on animals! I wasn't totally making things up before, see? I can say that there will definitely be some more animals in the future, but I consider them to be the warm-ups for even more complicated shapes and even a couple of wacky curve balls to be sent in to trip up anyone who starts to get too complacent and convinced of their own constructive capabilities.

The giraffe introduces us to a particularly useful concept for the remainder of our puzzling Lumines careers: in order to make truly complex and interesting constructs, we'll need to get the hang of managing negative space. The giraffe's long neck is in line with what we're used to, but something else is going to have to be just as tall to support the rest of its head.

We've already been using that a little bit already with how we've needed some single pieces to create spaces within shapes, but this sort of working in both colors will be our bread and butter for most of the remaining puzzles.

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