Like Duck to Water, thats how I have taken to life :). This blog is the saga of love and adventures of a small duck in a large water body called LIFE....

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Saturday, April 01, 2006

Addicted to notpron :-D


Hey hey wait. Don't go!! Read the title again! I am not addicted to porn :-p. Nor is this an April fool's day post :-p (though I really thought of continuing the tradition from last year and posting one ;-) :-D). I am addicted to notpron. Does it mean that I am addicted to anything that is not porn? Hehehehee. Though, Pron is slang for porn, "Notpron" is an online riddle game and yup, I'm totally hooked. I just can't get enough of it :).


What's Notpron?

Notpron is not a point and click game, as the creator David Münnich says. It is about 138 levels(!!!) of pure riddling fun. You can learn more here.


How exactly do you play it?




This is how most levels look like. A picture in a webpage. The above is the first level by the way and no, the above picture won't lead you to it ;-). If you really want to play, the first thing I'd suggest you to do is check out the Notpron official forum and read the FAQs first.

The main aim of the game is to get to the next level, no matter what (as if other games have other aims :-D). Each level is a riddle which you have to solve. Only then can you make it to the next level.


Tips and etcetera...

This paragraph is only for those people who are a bit interested in this. Sri saw me solve the first few levels and he was plain not interested ;-) :-D. Yaara huchchu avarige (this means people have their own madness and notpron has become mine for now) :-D. If you are interested, then go on :).

Again as David says, don't give up too early. Its damn hard, accept it and move ahead.

Basically in a level, the Picture itself, the URL, the Title and the Source of the html will have clues (lets call it PUTS). So the first thing to do when you see a level, would be to do a scan of these :-D. Sometimes its good to check out a level page for other hidden stuff too ;-).

If there is a google bar in a level, it means that you may need some help through search. One thing to remember is that there are spoilers all over the internet for this game. And a spoiler is no fun, believe me. A spoiler spoils all the fun of you solving the riddle, the game will then become just crossing levels which is precisely not the point of the game!! The fun is when you solve a level on your own. Thats when you have a sense of accomplishment and can appreciate the genius mind of the creator :). So be sure that you add "-notpron" at the end of the search criteria whenever you are searching for anything in google :-D. This makes sure that all the sites with a notpron mention in them are eleminated.

If the level requires an userid and password, then you need not register anywhere. In fact the userid and password are automatically revealed if you solve that level, i.e you get 2 words instead of 1. First word will be the userid and the 2nd one will be, obviously :-p, the password :-D. Well, if there's no userid and password in a level and you do end up getting 2 words then the combined word will lead you to the next level ;-).

Next thing is that you might require to download a software for solving a level. Study the PUTS first and they might let you know which software you might require. Again read the FAQs in the forum.

Each level has a background music. Sometimes, even the music might turn out to be the clue ;-) :-D.

Another very important tip is, please note down how you cross each of the levels, the urls and userids/passwords if any, after you solve a level. You never know when you might require those ;-) :-D.

If you need more hints/clues even after studying the PUTS (basically, if you are totally jammed), then you can check out this thread at the official forum again. But be sure again, not to search for clues on internet without the "-notpron", cause you might again end up getting a spoiler you don't want. The official forum usually has hints given by the people who have already solved notpron completely. It might contain some spoilers, but it is monitored closely and spoilers are removed asap.


Where am I?

Darsh first introduced me to the game and I have been totally hooked ever since. If I am stuck in a level, I think about it day and night. So my brain is literally working overtime :-D. I think about it during my work hours and sometimes even solve a level :-D. I've tried out 100 different things for each level and chided myself after solving it. Because thats when I usually discover how wrong my previous attempts would have been and how foolish :-D.




I am right now in the 36th level and going strong (Darsh and me are not collaborating, so he is on a different level. Moreover he's not as much addicted as I am :-D). I have an idea on what to do currently, but I've decided to take it easy today on account of April fools' day. Just for one day, let me be a fool and enjoy my foolishness :-D. Not that I'm a genius the other days :-D. Just that unknowingly I might have been a fool many times, today let me do it knowingly :-D.

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. " - Douglas Adams

Hehehee. As for you, what are you waiting for? You can start playing the game here. Go on, get addicted!!

10 Comments:


Vanditha retorted...

Interesting. Started to play it.

I had played a similar one for the IIM Lucknow fest sometime back. I remember, how much chaos we created in office for that. :D


Harish Suryanarayana retorted...

We started off sometime last sem and were pretty hooked .. i dont really remember the level we were on , but then quit during exams due to academic pressure . Its really cool . A similar thing was launched by IIM Ahmedabad junta too .. Ill get you the site soon . Take care . :)


Sachin retorted...

Amazing stuff!
I finished first three levels in like 2 mins. But really got stuck in 4th level.. I am still stuck actually... have no clue how to go fwd :(


Deeps retorted...

>> Vandu >>

Hehehe, such games will always be fun if you are trying to solve them in a group..

>> Harish ..

Sure, I'll look forward to a link from you. But I'll probabaly attempt it only after I'm done with this. No space for any more riddles in my brain :-D.

>> Sachin >>

The first 3 are child's play. 4th is when things start getting interesting. I was stuck in 4th for sometime too until I read the PUTS (in this case should I say picture specifically..oops looks like its a hint ;-) :-D) and finally figured out what I should have :-D. Good luck!!


LovingAndLosing retorted...

You are SO mean. What did I ever do to you????? My finals start in a week, and you've got me addicted to this game!!! I sat up all night and got to level 15 and it's 5 in the morning and I really should be sleeping but I'm stuck and I can't sleep because it's eating my brains and I keep telling myself that the next level is the last for the day but I'm so addicted I can't stop!!! I think I need a doctor! *wail*


Deeps retorted...

>> Vids >>

Hehehehe I warned you, didn't I? You had to go ahead and start playing it, though you have exams :-p. Tut, tut!!

Oh my!! You are brilliant. Level 15 already? Thats really wonderful. If you have managed to cross 10, thats a huge accomplishment :-D. 15 is a bit difficult, I can't really give any clues, because anything is a spoiler for that level. All I can say is concentrate on the PUTS :).


LovingAndLosing retorted...

Thanks! Stuck at 21 right now. It's so frustrating to get stuck!!! I'm hoping to catch up to you soon ;) Unless of course I get myself together and start studying, which is what I should really be doing!!! :p


Deeps retorted...

>> Vani >>

Yup you ought to try it. And yup, its gonnu be difficult for you with Sachith around, so I guess you shouldn't start it :).

>> Vids >>

God!! you are fast and looks like you'll catch up with me soon :). I'm in 41 now and taking it a bit easy.

"It's so frustrating to get stuck!!"

Tell me about it!! Its even frustrating to know what to do but not finding the right thing to download or the correct search criteria :-p.

BTW 21 sucks, so try reading the forum help if you haven't already. That has the max no. of clues.


LovingAndLosing retorted...

32 is driving me insane! *pulling hair out*


Viky retorted...

It was neither IIML nor IIMA. A watered down version of this game was made a pre-cursor to the IIM-Indore fest.

The link is www.iimi-iris.com/iris/irising/klueLESS/. I think it is closed now, though they were planning a sequel.

The winner was from IIMA :-)