The summer holidays are getting to an end and it’s finally time for a new release 2018.0.6817 of Masters of Puzzle. There are quite a lot of new features we’re introducing with this one and we really hope you’re going to like them. As usual, we will be happy to hear your thoughts and impressions about it either here or in the Steam community hub.

Let’s take a look at what’s new or changed in this release:

• Gameplay: Added Puzzle Tile Containers to the game. These allow you to sort the puzzle tiles in a convenient way and come with a lot of gameplay functionality. Make sure to check out the help pages for detailed information on how to use them
• Gameplay: Added full localization in German to the game
• Gameplay: Added in-game Hints System. Helpful hints will be displayed to the player at appropriate times. The hint system can be disabled completely (recommended only for veteran players) and each hint can also be disabled individually
• Interface: Applied the new GUI v2.2 to all game interfaces
• Interface: Added new game mouse cursors. The mouse cursor is now contextual and will change based on the current action attempted by the player
• Interface: Added new Pause Game Menu that is accessible by pressing the F10 key on your keyboard or by clicking on the new button with a cog icon located on the action bar on the top left
• Interface: The Save & Exit button has been moved from the action bar to the new pause game menu

You can find the full release notes on our website here.

Puzzle Tile Containers

The major new feature of this release is, of course, the puzzle tile containers. In the future, these will be obtainable in various shapes and colors only from the in-game store, but in Early Access, each player has been granted 2 basic containers for free. Please keep in mind that the containers will not appear in games saved with a previous version of the game. To get them you will need to start a new game.

For each container you have, there will be a horizontal ribbon in the new GUI controls located on the left side of the screen just below the action bar. Each ribbon will display several important things – the container label-modifier, the current number of puzzle tiles in it, the keyboard shortcut for sending puzzle tiles to it, and a button used to empty the container. You can change the label of each container with the label-modifier and most containers will also be able to display their label on their physical object located on the game board.

You can put a puzzle tile inside a container in two ways – you can just drop it inside by using the standard controls for puzzle tile manipulation, or you can throw it in the container by using that container’s keyboard shortcut. You can see each container’s shortcut key on the corresponding ribbon in the GUI, but it’s always a key from 1 to 6, where 1 would be the first container in the list, 2 will be the second, and so on. Using the shortcuts is a much faster way of sorting the puzzle tiles especially at the beginning of the game. Make sure to prepare your containers accordingly by labeling them and moving them to convenient locations on the game board. These two approaches also work, when you have grabbed multiple puzzle tiles in your fist.

When you want to remove puzzle tiles from a container, you can simply pick them up or grab them using the standard controls for puzzle tile manipulation. If you want to empty the entire container on the game board, you need to use the corresponding Empty Container button located on that container’s ribbon. When you have activated the button, you will have to click with the Middle Mouse Button anywhere on the game board. This will move all the puzzle tiles from the container to that spot. You can also cancel this operation by clicking the Esc key.

You can also move the puzzle tile containers anywhere on the game board regardless if they are full or empty. To do that, click with the Left Mouse Button anywhere on the container (be careful not to click on a puzzle tile inside it). This will pick the container up and then you can move it around with the mouse. To put it down click with the Left Mouse Button again. Just keep in mind that you won’t be able to drop the container if it intersects any other game object, so you will have to select a good empty location. While you’re holding a container, you can also rotate it clockwise and counterclockwise.

The full information on working with puzzle tile containers can be found in the game help menu. Additionally, we will be releasing a short guide video in the next few days for your convenience.

Known Issues

• The puzzle model inspections lens can get its parts detached if you move it too fast around the model. This should not prevent you from using it, but if you want to reassemble it simply save and load the current game.
• If you are loading a very old saved game (especially the Belfast puzzle) the puzzle tiles might “explode” in a shower. This is due to the changed size of the puzzle tiles in the recent builds which causes them to appear in overlapping positions when you load old saved games and thus forcing the physics engine to push them apart. This should happen only the first time you load such a game. Just wait for the tiles to get to rest then save and re-load the game. Any tiles that might have accidentally left the game board will be returned back into the puzzle box.
• New interface labels in localized languages that have not yet been translated will be displayed in English. This will be resolved once we have received the proper translations for each individual language.