Shenkuu Tangram

Introduction

On warm summer days, you lay down on the grass and make out shapes in the clouds... well now, thanks to Neopets, you don't even have to go outside! Drag and drop smaller shapes into the tangram puzzles in the clouds over Shenkuu.

Controls & Instructions

There are three levels, each with five tangrams for you to complete. You are given two minutes per tangram. Once you complete each one, it will display the Neopet or Petpet the tangram is representing. Yay! As for scoring, your score depends on how fast you can complete each tangram- the faster, the better.

You are always given the same seven shapes for all 15- a square (blue), two small triangles (pink and green), one middle-sized triangle (yellow), two large triangles (purple and red), and a parallelogram (light blue). Each tangram uses all seven, and only seven, so you will never need more or less.

Most of the time you will need to rotate the shape. You can do this by either using your spacebar or your left and right arrow keys. If you can't seem to fit the shape anywhere, it's most likely you haven't rotated it to the correct position. This can get frustrating so I suggest putting it in the grey box and trying another shape.

Sometimes, the parallelogram needs to be flipped. Pressing your up arrow key will do it! To flip it back, press your down arrow key. It may need rotating too, in which case treat it the same as any other shape.

Tips & Strategies

Take advantage of being able to store shapes down the bottom left corner- this is very useful if you're stuck. If you can't seem to fit the shape, put it in the grey box and the next shape will appear for you to have a go at. You don't loose any points for doing this and when you want them again, simply drag them back out.

You get two minutes to complete each tangram, if you get stuck, don't panic, you do actually have quite a bit of time. Once you're familiar, it only takes 15-20 seconds to complete each tangram so two minutes is plenty of time even for a beginner.

You get three hints throughout the entire game. Not per tangram- per game. So use them wisely. A hint will draw a white line around a random shapes position on the tangram. This may not necessarily be the shape you are currently trying to fit. It's still helpful though, shows you where your shape DOESN'T go, as well as where another does. Also, you may as well use them up on level one as they don't seem to work on levels two and three unfortunately.

Possibly the most frustrating part of the game is the actual fitting of the shape. Take a look at the screen below to see what I mean.

Clearly this space is the only space for the green triangle to go. Everything else has been correctly placed. So, why won't it fit? As you can see, it's not completely covering the space it will end up in. You pretty much have to get the alignment spot on. This is annoying as you may have your shape in the correct spot, just off by a few millimetres. It can use up precious time and if you haven't done the tangram before, can be very confusing. Keep trying- it WILL fit. It has to. The game won't beat you!

Hard Mode

Is, well, hard! You don't get any of the normal mode perks. You don't get to store shapes down the bottom left corner, you don't get hints. However the tangrams are the same as in normal mode so you don't have to figure out a whole new set.

The screenie above is of the game in hard mode. You'll notice a bar in the bottom left corner - this is displays how many mistakes you've made (this one shows two). Once you get four, it's game over. You need to be VERY careful placing shapes. Referring to the green triangle above, if you misplace a shape on hard mode, this counts as a mistake and you will have to try again. This is annoying if you know had the shape was in the correct place- it was just off a little bit. As I've said, it helps to know exactly where the shapes go. Hopefully you won't make more than four mistakes.

You don't have a two minute timer like on normal mode. The way hard mode works is your shapes fall (one at a time) down the left side of the screen. Act fast! You can't decide to wait for the next shape, if the current shape gets to the bottom of the screen, this counts as a mistake. Shapes fall slow, and get faster as you progress. You can't sit around and try to decide where the shape goes. You must already know where they go. If not, you're going to lose the game. Fast.

If you find you're having trouble, you may want to go back to normal to build your confidence and ability. Solutions are below to help you out, too. If you want to go for a high score, you need to keep these open in another window so you can readily see the solutions.

Solutions - Level One

Solutions - Level Two

Solutions - Level Three

Conclusion

This is a fun little game, and relatively easy (unless you play on hard mode!). As with any game, practice! Spend time getting familiar with each tangram, you'll get faster over time. You can always practice on Zen mode too- no timer, no stress! It doesn't award any points but is an effective way to get your head around the tangrams. If you're after the trophy, you should attempt hard mode, as playing normal only gets you 3,000+ points. Give it a go either way!