Th!nk Cross

Th!nk Cross

Game No.	333
Voting	7.23 points, 13 votes
Developer	unknown
Company	Ascon Software
Musician	Markus Schneider
HVSC-File	/MUSICIANS/S /Schneider_Markus/Think_Cross.sid
Release	1991
Platform	C64
Genre	Brain, Puzzle
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

Think Cross is one of the many Puzznic clones, that there are for the C64. It is always about pushing together stones with the same symbol. If this is done, they dissolve. The stones are subject to gravitiy, i.e. if you push them over the rim, they will fall until there is ground below their flat surface. The clear aim is to clear away all labelled stones within a time limit. There are 150 levels to fight through, with level sections. A level section consists of 5 levels. Each section differs graphically from the other and at the end you get a password to be able to enter the game again at this level. Different items facilitate or aggravate your task, as e.g. moving bridges, lifts, fragile floors, etc...

Design[edit | edit source]

Looking at the effort necessary the team of programmers was probably not under time pressure, which has a very positive effect on the game. As it contains many nice graphic sets, it has to load very often, but this takes not much time. The controls are also important, they are fluent and soft, you can set three speeds F1 - slow, F3 - standard, F5 - fast. The sound is probably more a tootling - but does not disturb. There are more superior compositions by Markus Schneider. It is very good that you are able to go on playing from the last level that you could not solve. In each level section you can jump one level (F7 ), if you think you cannot make it. Each fifth level is a bonus level and does not need to be solved. Here you get 200 points per eliminated item. Rumour has it that there are also secret levels where items behave totally different than in normal rooms. But whether this is only a rumour ...

Hints[edit | edit source]

The cursor square follows the joystick movements / . If the cursor is placed over a brick and the joystick is moved with the pressed fire button / , the brick will follow the cursor square.

Some explanations for the displays on the screen: At the far left, the bricks are listed with their number that are in the current room. At the upper left there is the score, in the upper middle the time limit and at the right the current level. At the far upper right there are two numbers - the first shows the number of help functions. With the key H you can restart a level, but the countdown is not reset. The second number shows the number of bombs that you can gain in the course of the game. There is a bomb each 30.000 points, with which you can bomb away stones that are left (with Space ). There is also a pause function, use key P . With Run/Stop you can abort a level.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Tips

Most of the time you need to eliminate pairs or triplets. Do not destroy all pairs at first, because you might need items to be able to eliminate triplets.
Allegedly, doors open to secret levels if you bring items or marplots to certain places in the room. Is this only a rumour...
Items disappear instantly as soon as they get in contact with each other! Do not hesitate to let an item drop into the fire if it touches a twin before that.
Shooters and bridges have periodic action intervals.
Study the conveyor belts closely, as their behaviour often does not correspond to the laws of logic. These loners have their own logic.
When there is a big collection of items, chain reactions often happen. Act foresightfully to not release unwanted reactions.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Levelcodes

level 005 custom	level 055 wizard	level 105 armada
level 010 master	level 060 catgut	level 110 estate
level 015 future	level 065 firing	level 115 gopher
level 020 dorado	level 070 ladder	level 120 kernel
level 025 greece	level 075 firkin	level 125 jumper
level 030 flames	level 080 sphinx	level 130 groove
level 035 animal	level 085 typist	level 135 hiphop
level 040 epopee	level 090 voyage	level 140 offset
level 045 jaguar	level 095 palace	level 145 suineg
level 050 matrix	level 100 decade

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.23 points at 13 votes (rank 367). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
64er	7	Issue 5/92
C64Games	10	19th November 2007 - "Highlight" - 1111 downs
Lemon64	7,5	19th November 2007 - 2 votes

Reviews[edit | edit source]

H.T.W: "A basically simple but intelligent game idea that really challenges concentration and mind, and this in a good technical realisation. Unfortunately, the highscore list is not saved. Nevertheless a good puzzle game with many extras and tricky levels, needs to be tested absolutely.. ".

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Unfortunately, the highscore list is not saveable in the original version
In the version by "X-Ray (Ignorance)" the highscore list is saved, but there is a crash after loading level 50 !!

Cover