I think this game is wonderfull, and I got stuck a number of times. I was so desperate that I made a map on paper with all the pasages of the game.

This is the clue:

Easily my favorite game of the competition. And actually, I don't think it is all that much like Nifflas, despite some minor plot and gameplay similarities. If I was to compare it to any game I have ever played, it would be the old Commodore game Below The Root (still one of my favorite games of all time). In any event, it is a great game that gave me twice as many minutes of fun as every other game in this competition combined. I would love to see a sequel.

Still buggy, even if the game-ending ones have been fixed. Still has dead ends, you just can't save anywhere in them.

And there's little that annoys me more in video gaming than being expected to find the completely random "magic trigger" that must be found to continue the game. I've seen plenty of breakable blocks, I've found the creatures that can break blocks, why can't I learn how to break them myself when faced with a choice between breaking blocks and jumping into lava? Is my character that much of a halfwit?

It makes me think the game would be better off if the world were disassembled and reassembled into one big straight line, since it falls apart anyway when players' paths diverge from the magic, invisible developer-intended line.

Blah. It's a pretty game, sure, but it's far too bothersome to actually play it. Next...

I had a hell of a time finding the 'trigger' for the float ability.

The reason was I had already gotten the ship piece from that room, (via careful jumping) and had no reason to go back. I would recommend putting in a few more blocks there to ensure that piece can ONLY be gotten via the float ability.

I said it before, and I'll say it again: awesome game.
That's about it :D

Hey guys, any help? I'm stuck after getting like the third upgrade,

thanks

Yeah, I'm looking for that one too, Tara.

Looks neat, but I can't get jumping to work.

I have 859 yellow gems. Anyone have more?

Jumping is accomplished with the [Z] key, but only after you learn how.

In other words, jumping is disabled when the game first starts. When you find the creatures that know how to jump, you will learn from them and then be able to jump, yourself.

Like previous commenters, I can't really tell which way to go after getting the double jump -- I can reach the area with the block-breaking dudes, from both directions, but neither triggers anything, and if I come from the right I end up trapped and have to commit suicide to get out.

Aaaand then I found the place with the cutscene that told me I needed to "learn to tunnel". I went far left and down, and then worked my way up to the surface and left further than I'd been before.

Hope that helps folks.

I encountered a bug while playing this on my laptop. I had just got to the part where she learned how to jump and she says to jump I should press 2. I tried this but nothing happens. I even plugged in my usb keyboard and tried using the 2 keys and the num pad on it but to no avail. Without being able to jump I only have access to the 5 beginning screens and can no further.

Ooh I can answer this one.
ElliotM-- try a letter that looks like a two.
I had the same issue!

Upon reading the comments, I have since learned that its supposed to be a Z and not a 2, so I guess there is no bug. However, I don't appear to be the only one confused by this so a font change or something might be a good idea.

@Tara/dotcomlarry:

I have all the parts, 1092 coins, all the herbs...and yet, when I go to the "finish" screen, nothing happens.

I *so* wanted to like this game, but little things like that managed to get in the way.

Basically this is Knytt. The minor changes from the original game include higher resoluion graphics (but by no means better graphics), less direct controls (especially the left/right movement keeps me going beyond the intended point) and nintendoesque music (where Knytt was cool and Knytt Stories was pure genius). Pieces could use a lot more of those triggers... or it could skip the triggers and simply have different dialogues, like "Hey... those creatures use fans to float through the air! I ought to try that, too" or something like that.

It's an ok game, but if I need a Knytt fix I usually simply play Knytt over again. Or I click on the "Knytt Stories" playlist in my Winamp player and just listen to the music.

i tried to make a map (it really helped), but it was massive. i mean like 2000px wide, and i wasn't even done. it was getting to big to work with, since it slowed down my computer and filled up my hard drive, so i gave up.

but making a map helps a ton. try making a pencil and paper one like Anton.

Help? Where do you find the double jump ability?

I'm having a glitch where, after a period of time playing, I suddenly can't jump. It's not my keyboard, "Z" works just fine. I just stop jumping.

Is this something that can be corrected?

sam, you have to go down almost as deep as you can and go to the left.

what do you do after you get digging?

WORLD MAP FOR PIECES

Okay, I've put together a map that covers pretty much the entire game world. (That was a whole heck of a lot of screen captures, let me tell you!)

This is a rather big spoiler (it's effectively a graphical walk-through), so don't download unless you're sure you want it!

After further (torturous) attempts at playing:
Once I can no longer jump, I can no longer save (possibly a good thing)
"I" still works, as does regular walking.

I feel really silly, but I've tried to play this game a handful of times, and I keep getting stuck at the double jump area. It says that I know how to jump higher, but it doesn't tell me how. I end up furiously pressing the 'Z' key, and no higher jumping. I must be missing something.

This skill-learning open-ended platformers are one of my favourite genres of games (my favorites probably being Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie and most recently Untitled Story.) As popular as Knytt is, I never find it THAT exceptional - it's a bit too benign for my taste.

As for "Pieces", well, it is initially cute, but the skill-getting mechanism is significantly flawed and ultimately breaks the game. As one of the comments already said - if I see a bunch of breakable blocks and I meet a creature who breaks block, I think it's bad game design I still have to find some invisible magical trigger that will make my character suddenly decide it NEEDS to learn the block-breaking skill...and when I reach that point I am most likely already too annoyed to backtrack some more.

Also, level design could be better. Fewer screens with more stuff to do is better then more screens with the same long jump over and over again (especially with so much needless backtracking).

However, I choose to see this as an early, a bit flawed attempt of a gifted game designer who is bound to make some really great games in the future. Less Knytt, deadlier animals and a main character that isn't so hopelessly daft and you've got a hit on your hands.

sam, to get double jump, you have to go almost as far down, and then as far left as you can go.

what do you do after you have burrowing?
also, where do you find out how to dig down. I have the starter for it, where she says she needs to learn how to dig, but I cant find where to find out how to work it.

Pieces lacks the ambiance that Knytt has. Part of the joy of Knytt was the thrill of exploring. Somehow Nifflas made it so that it never felt tedious to find a part or piece.

Pieces made it a chore. I wanted to just get to the next scene. Also, since, as other people mentioned, there is a set linearity to exploration, it makes the expansive world a little meaningless since it is full of forced backtracking.

I've managed to save in a dead end, and one that was mentioned earlier (in the comp entry comments) but must not have been fixed yet. It's in a long lava tunnel: going forward leads to a pit too wide to jump; when i try to go back I get pushed down by a waterfall or tangled in a vine and can't make the jump that got me in there.

Or maybe i'm missing some other way to get out?

* First, I had an enjoyable few hours playing the game, in total it was really a nice experience.

* Secondly, I have nothing against people taking ideas from other games, You have to view it as flattery than as stealing. I think this game might have had a far better start in the community if it from start would have said: "Hey look, I got this new knytt-inspired game, flashbased with upgrade theme" and paying more honor to knytt, like a link from splash screen, instead of the feeling it was supposed to be hidden that another game like this exists.

* Of course because of the similarity it will be compared to knytt, makes much more sense than comparing it to tetris or pacman :). While I would like to see even far more knytt-style games, please make it another story. Pieces has even the same story as Knytt (starcraft pieces drop on planet, crash, get them back), only man turned to woman. Please next knytt-themed game make another story.

* @Jay, I just got an idea for the next competition, how about "cute" :-)

* This world feels a lot more sterile than Knytt, except the animals you need to find to learn something, it only has one kind of animal goiong around. Compare that to knytt, where you go to the village, all kind of animals, see people fishing, werent there birds also? etc.

* Lava is the only way to die, IMHO the game could be enhanced by making a few (FEW!) agressive monsters.

* I'm generally interested in how games transport cultural values. Whenever I point something out, people say, "but, its just a game, I don't go really shoot somebodies head because...", you know it. But it is IMHO important which games a culture plays, and what values it transports, one has to take it more subtle than the direct approach. Like CS you need to team up to beat another team.. something you will do in your whole life, just call it "company" then instead of "team".
** So in the game, when the girl says, "I need to find out how to make my body lighter"... OUCH. Transport of classic values :-)

* I think there is a general consens among players the game would be better, if you immediatly learn things when seeing the animals, instead of "finding out", you need to learn something. @author If you want to make cool improvements outside the competition, take this seriously.

* In total, this game was *my* favorite of the competition, I hope to see more knytt based games in future (@jay: hint: CUTE :-) . well now talking so much about knytt and being a year since I played it, excuse me, I got something to replay :))))

umm... where do i learn how to triple jump?

How do i walk?

Hehe I liked your comment, fuzzyface.

Ahh! How do you trigger/obtain the next upgrade after burrowing?

...I've beaten this game, but not 100%. And though this is unusual for me, the urge to go for triple digits doesn't reach me in this game. One thing that will really irk 100%-ites is this:

Interesting counterpoint: I played this yesterday and then when to play Knytt for the first time based on the recommendations here. Shockingly, I didn't like it nearly as much as pieces. It's very similar, yes, but is missing the whole metroid-esque upgrading system that makes Pieces interesting! I found just wandering around Knytt's vast landscape got tedious pretty quickly, and only kept playing the game because I assumed there'd be more to it eventually. There wasn't.

There are 2 upgrades hidden in knyt.

Also you might want to play "knitt stories". lotsa upgrades there. (I just played through the 5 "official" stories...)

Okay, I can't figure out how to get to the

I have opened the walkthrough, but I don't see how to get there.

I happily committed suicide at the lava pit.

Pieces has one huge advantage over Knytt: I can play Pieces on a Mac.

I really enjoyed this game, but my computer wasn't crazy about it, it kept pausing between screens. And the first time I played:

so I had to stop and start over

HR

I really wanted to like this game, but it just has so many game-breaking issues. Aside from the ones the other commenters have mentioned, i'm also getting the same bug as JuryRigged, where jump suddenly stops working for no reason. (But walking and inventory still work)

I've restarted the game several times, but it happens eventually and then i'm stuck. Such a shame...

I seem to be stuck...I think because according to the game I only have 9 blue flowers. I have collected every blue flower (according to the excellent map and legend provided by mrputter - THANK YOU VERY MUCH - without which I would have given up long ago) but still when I press I it says I only have 9. Am I right in thinking that without all the blue flowers I don't have the skill I need to get the last piece of the spaceship which seems to be in an inaccessible area (like many of the gold nuggets)? The game certainly got more fun and interesting when I got all of the obvious skills. But it looks like you need the flowers as well.

Can someone post the keys for each upgrade. I have an old browser here that I can't update.

catsmith: if I remember correctly you don't need to get all of the blue flowers just to get the spaceship parts. I think you do need the blue flowers to get all of the pink flowers, but the spaceship parts can all be reached with just the abilities you get by watching animals.

I'm guessing that

Where do I find the float ability? I got the trigger, but I can't find where to actually receive it. Thanks!

I'm a little stuck. I have entered the area to get the

but haven't gained the ability. Is there a certain key to press to tunnel?

Possible spoiler. I can't the jump ability to work.

[Edit: That's because it's not the "2" key that you press to jump. See the note following the review above. -Jay]

How on earth do you get to the floating areas on the left?!?!
there arent any power-whatchamacalits there, and jumping doesn't seem to work since the nearest accessable cliff is at least 2 screens away..

The controls on this game are just too wonky to make it any fun.

can someone help? i'm stuck on getting the last piece of the ship, the one on the floating platform thing

To paraphrase the famous quote: this game has good, original elements. Unfortunately, the original ones are not good, and the good ones are not original. :)

Upgrading, the only addition to what's essentially Knytt in Flash, suffers from the same bad design that destroyed the immersion factor in early RPGs. Like others have noted, the learning trigger feels arbitrary and just out-of-place.

Maybe Pieces used a lot more upgrades than other entries, but it sure didn't implement the idea in a clear, gamer-friendly way.

Finally, I agree with fuzzyface's comment: the authors should've been more forthcoming about the origins of the game. Copying can be viewed as a form of flattery, but only when the source of inspiration is clearly acknowledged.

AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!

I got all ten blue herbs (yes, I looked at the map), and it STILL says 9! That's it, until this is fixed, I give up!

Does anyone know if there is a significance to the green vines hanging around everywhere? Or are they for decoration?
Because I thought those energy things were for decration too..initially..

I keep seeing something about a compass - I assume that I picked it up because I have almost all the jumps and float but how does one activate the compass. The "I" key just says next piece "unknown"

How do I learn how to jump further?

I've read comments that say to go as far down as I can, and to the left to reach the double jump area. I haven't had any luck so far. Could somebody please help me, and tell me what I'm doing wrong?

I had so much fun!
totally enjoyable

Wow. that was a ton of fun. The map really helped, thanks! Once I got all the purple plants, it was great going on a coin collecting spree. I managed to get

coins, which is suspicious because it's not a neat number, but I got a pretty damn high score so I dunno.

Hey, i've gone everywhere i can and have no idea how to double jump!
i just read every single comment left here, and i've gone almost everyhwere i can, but can sombody please tell me where the double jump animals are?
Thank you so much!

First off, i absolutely LOVE this game!!!
Second, what are the black columns? there like, everywhere and they have little white flecks that rise up in them.

could someone please give me a way to put this game on gamemaker? I promise I won't claim it's my own! I just want to make it easier on myself!!!

Also, I LOVE this game. I just don't have time to play it!

Two things, first, I finished it in a day, yay! Second, The game is pretty cool, since you don't have to get all skills or gold to finish, but, if you want to play it, that's really all you need. I would give a 5 out of 5 for this game.

I have invested over 4 hours into this game and enjoyed it. I have collected 22 pieces of the ship.

I know that my last piece is located at

I have attempted

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

wow!
what a great game!
i loved it
: ]
and according to janil, i missed 2 coins!
i thought i had them all!
but i still got

and my score was

so, like i said, loved this game!
p.s. i think proo is pretty darn adorable!
>.<

I loved this game as soon as I tried it, which was a couple months ago, and I used the map to help me this time, which makes it much faster.
To get on the floating platform:

Also, to Kimm,

Omg I loved this game TO DEATH!

I did cheat with the Map/Key, but i still didnt find all 15 Pink herbs...

What do you get for all 15 pink herbs?

well I DID get all the 15 herbs (check the map and make sure you saved after each plant) and...

many of these unreachable gems are now avilable. the closed caves opened.

To find double jump,look on mrputter's map,then find the building that looks like a square.

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