Alright, just downloaded the hold. Let's get this bad boy going.
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1N: Great room! I dreaded this at first, but it turned out to be not bad at all. As a bonus, you never need to move diagonally either.
1N 1E: Again, not as hard as expected. You could make this room so much harder by making the room larger and having a another lemming ring. But maybe not. The room is al dente already.
1N 2E: Unintended solution? It felt way too easy for a secret room, since I didn't really have to do anything. Demo attached.
2N 1E: Okay. Mad props. Full stop. That puzzle was brilliant! I felt such a rush of joy when I finished it! And that's exactly what a good architect should be able to do.
2N: Pretty good. Once I gauged just how far I could move the mimic, everything fell into place. I'm interested in seeing how other people solved the room, I'm sure there are quite a few solutions.
3N: Another great room! I didn't use the ice, but I'm not sure how I could have. If there was a second patch, this room could be a lot easier. But I couldn't think of a solution where using the ice would be easier than leaving it alone. Either it went unused, or it wouldn't have helped anyway.
2N 1W: A little bland compared to the other ones on this level. Otherwise, not too hard, and not trivial either.
3N 1W: This room was even quicker than the last (0:37 seconds of ~3:30), but somehow, it was quite a bit more fun. Putting a trapdoor in Beethro's area put quite a twist on things. Sure, you didn't need to use that space anyway, but it just being there made me rethink my strategy. I like that a lot!
2N 2W: I didn't really like this one so much. It felt too chaotic to formulate a real strategy. Maybe I'm not too good with this type of puzzle, but I just guessed my way through it more than anything else. At least it was short enough to not frustrate.
1N 2W: Neat idea. Like the last room, I kinda guessed my way through this one. But that was more my fault than yours, since I was being lazy.
1N 1W: Pretty fun. Not as original as some of the other rooms, but still pretty fun.
1N 3W: I gave up on this room. Maybe it's easier than I'm making it out to be.
1W: Very fun!
1S 1W: This room was trivial. But I don't know how you could improve it. :/
1S: Nice! Mirrors are such great elements, and rooms like this illustrate why.
1S 1E: I really liked that room. Don't know why, just a ton of fun.
1E: Not a challenge, but too fun to be trivial.
2E: Done in 24 seconds. I didn't like this secret as much since it used the exact same strategy as the last room (stay in the center, keep four brains around you).
2S 1W: Hoo boy, you turned a really easy room into a really good one, with that one little extra section. My demo says 2:04, but I bet I took at least thrice as long figuring everything out. Thank goodness for unlimited undo!
1S 2W: I don't suffer from claustrophobia, but I think I might after that room. Also, very interesting solution. I was about ready to give up a few times! It just seemed impossible.
2W: This was more annoying the first time I visited (I went and solved a few other rooms first), but then I came back with a bit more patience. I had just one golem that I couldn't reach quite a few times which was very bothersome. Good room.
3W: Again with the unreachable golems! My record so far is five left standing, I'll keep trying later.
Hold conquered, 62% secrets.
This was a really great hold. Like you said, it was fairly easy, but that was one thing so great about it. Also of note was how cleverly you built rooms as variations on a theme. And by limiting yourself to just two versions, the gimmick felt played out just long enough. Yeah, sometimes the secret was easier than the required version, but they were all great fun anyway.
One thing I especially liked was how my mood changed in the middle of most rooms. In certain rooms (like 3N 1W), the puzzle seems straightforward until you realize that little trick that changes everything. I love feeling surprised like that. Unfortunately, it also makes rooms like 2N 1W (which are straightforward and have no tricks) feel all the more boring.
I'd rate this at least an 8 for sure. Again, great work!
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