Talk:Strange cube

Hmm, the cube is a simple 4x4 sliding puzzle, of a snake with a black and white diamond pattern... Not too hard to solve, really. I solved it, and it opens to reveal a Dense Meat Stack. The box was used up, and I'm not sure if anything else happens. So far, 100 twinkly wads for a Dense Meat Stack hardly seems worth it. (My thoughts, at least.) -- Excellente 04:36, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

If you back out of the puzzle it does not consume the cube. It also leaves it in the same position as when you exited it. it gives the message "You pull out your strange cube and starting playing with it again." edit: I got the meat stack as well edit: using a second one resets te puzzle to a different immage it seems. it also give the "You pull out your strange cube and starting playing with it again." one the first use of a second cube. --Lord nknn 04:58, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

second cube done. Still just a dense meat stack... --Lord nknn 05:34, 24 February 2011 (UTC) third cube done: message: You slide the last tile into place, completing the picture of the snake, and hear a little click as the lid unlocks. You take a moment to savor the thrill of success, then open the box and look inside...

...Oh, huh. It's just a dense meat stack. That seems pretty anticlimactic. You take the meat and chuck the box away in disappointment.

dense meat stack You acquire an item: dense meat stack--Lord nknn 05:51, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

There are definitely several variations of the puzzle. I've seen one with a tail coming from the bottom, but mine comes from the top. Comparing other pieces of the puzzle show that this isn't just a vertically flipped image either. And finally, the coloured sections are important as well - I've assembled a completed 'snake', but it hasn't completed. --Garlyle 05:04, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

--i agree. I have seen 3 different puzzles so far.--Lord nknn 06:02, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Solved five so far now and dense meat stacks on all three. I'm done for now.  :( --Rahmuss 05:57, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Solved eleven... Dense meat stack every time. One was done in under 3 minutes, and also nothing special. No new trophies unlockable.

I've noticed a lot of patterns for the snakes to be in, but always with the same pattern of diamonds, from head to tail:

Head, 2 large black diamonds, 3 large black, 4 large black, 2 large black/2 large white, 4 large white, 3 large white, 2 large white, 1 large white/1 small black, 2 small black, 3 small black, 4 small black, 2 small black/2 small white, 4 small white, tail.

For reference, large diamonds reach to the edges of the snake's body, while small diamonds do not. --Maledictis

If you hover over the head, it says 1 and then some letters. The next piece is the hover text with a 2, the next the piece with a 3. Just keep connecting them that way. Not sure if the letters designate the locations of the tiles. I'll check when i'm done.--EvilBear 17:41, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

ok, here was the order of mine, i'll leave out the numbers. hr-lr-lb-tl-rl-rb-tb-tr-lt-br-lb-tr-lt-bt-be.

That is how they connect. Head/right-left/right-left/bottom-top/left to right/left to right etc, etc.

For the most part, i think all people need are to write down 1-15, draw the squares next to each number (straight line, curve) then connect them 1-15 so they fit in the grid.--EvilBear 18:07, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Thought! Maybe it needs to be solved in least turns. Figure out the final picture, number all the final pieces 1-15, and there must be a slider solver out there that will tell least turns from beginning to end...--EvilBear 19:14, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

What Jick probably had in mind

This item's description appears to be telling us we are supposed to resist using the item by playing the puzzle. Losing the item for a dense meat stack is obviously not the full-potential of the item Jick had in mind. I believe this item is Jick's way of controlling the wad market but couldn't think of an item he wanted us to have yet. So he's probably trying to buy time here like he did with the strange shiny discs. Even the word "strange" in both their names here is obviously a reference to each other. Don't be afraid to invest into this item. The TT will probably return again in search of strange cubes. Even if that's not the case, at least the market prices will go up as curious people attempt to spade this item resulting in consumption. --Annoying nerd 07:02, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

• ...Or maybe it's that both the strange shiny disc and this just happen to be strange. By that logic this item is also a reference to the hellion cube and the cube of billiard chalk. I have my doubts that this will ultimately behave in the same way as a strange shiny disc. Last year's skill manuals and quantum consumables notwithstanding, the one thing the Trader is consistent about is inconsistency.--Jett 17:01, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Here's another thought - could this be a precursor to Rene C. Corman's next visit? The last time we saw him he said we'd see him soon... Maybe if we resist opening these cubes they'll be more rewarding and/or involved in his defeat.--Feliks 13:05, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

• Or, flipping that on its head, maybe he'll return when a certain number have been opened.--Feliks 13:08, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
  • Or there might be an ultra-rare drop from them, or the prizes might get gradually better the more of them which have already been opened, or there might be a unique prize for the 1,000,000th cube opened, or the prizes might get better the longer you wait to open them, or there might be a leaderboard starting tomorrow for who has opened the most, or they might exist for nothing more than the reference, or there might be a purpose for them I can't think of.--Yiab 15:04, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Isn't there still a missing trophy?--EvilBear 17:55, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Forum threads giving new info for us: http://forums.kingdomofloathing.com/vb/showpost.php?p=3884018&postcount=135 So it's confirmed that there's something else available. Later on in the thread, he said that can be accessed immediately. In addition, I believe that someone found a demon name as a result of using the numbers of the images instead of the visual images, or something along those lines. Ruduen 19:26, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Image of the puzzle

Here it is:

Feel free to use, split, rename or convert. --BuZZ-T 19:43, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

There appear to be multiple images for each segment, depending on the orientation. Furthermore, there are a total of 150 images, so uploading all of them would probably be counterproductive (especially since it's totally lagging the wiki to hell every time I upload OR delete an image). --Quietust (t|c) 20:34, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, you're right, there must be way more images than can be displayed. But one example is better than 16 Pieces of "image not found" images, in my opinion. --BuZZ-T 10:48, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

How about uploading one or several gif animations that cycle through a number of the possible images and placing them there instead of nopics? --Hrag 19:45, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

KoL has had some decent mechanics overall, and I enjoy the game, but this seems lamer than old sweatpants. Even if you find the super-secret answer, I can't see that the demon name would really be worth >=100 wads. It seems a decent bonus, but one I could get from various other items:
Ben-gal_Balm
Glittery_mascara
Hair_spray
(all seem comparably useful at a 15% bonus [flat, not decrementing] for 3 adventures at 24 meat each. Even if the pleasures of the flesh lasts 30 turns, that's a X% bonus decreasing each turn burned. Why not instead grab the above three items times 10 each for 720 meat for a comparable bonus? Perhaps the hell is that I, aka my multi, was actually momentarily tempted to use one of these damnable cubes... --Cspark 21:22, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Do it right before rollover one day and right after rollover the next, and you get +60%. Not too shabby if you need a stat gain for a quick task (fight Ed, for instance). One thing to think about is that the various buffs can be combined to create enormous bonuses. I've got a non-adventuring multi with over 500 buffs giving me this:

• Muscle: 10812 (219)
• Mysticality: 9875 (226)
• Moxie: 10596 (300)

That character doesn't have this buff yet (no luck yet with Knob Göblin lòve potions, but it will likely happen). Combine with the Bag o' Tricks (have) or Platinum Yendorian Express Card (will buy someday) and The Pleasures of the Flesh will be a nice bonus eventually. --Club (#66669) (Talk) 03:14, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

To be fair, it seemed useful, just not monetarily valuable by comparison, but then Club mentioned stacking. Are there any other percentage-based (i.e. fractional) boosts that stack? Also, I should have been more fair than to compare the cost of a skill-based buff with an instant-use item. Still, I do hope they end up being tradeable for something besides meat. --Cspark 20:42, 17 March 2011 (UTC)