Free watering flowers game
Mindful Business Services has always been in favour of both colour and flowers!
So this almost gardening card design from Dissent Games seemed perfectly aligned with our favourite things.
It can be played on your own, or you can race others. If you don’t have the gears you can use any round objects as stand ins.
Welcome!
These are the instructions and answers for our cogs puzzle card. There is a video showing how to play below, and written instructions below that. The answers are at the bottom of the page, so scroll down if you need those.
How to play
Your objective is to direct drops of water all the way from the taps at the top of the picture to the flower pots at the bottom. The drops are really little pieces of scrunched up envelope which “fall” along the dotted lines, and which you “catch” on the plastic cogs. You need to move the cogs so that the drops fall in the right places.
Before you play you need to do these things:
- Lay the card flat on the table, so you can see both the front and back.
- Take your three plastic cogs, and place them on top of the named cogs, making sure that the teeth match up.
- Tear off five or six tiny bits of the blue envelope, and scrunch into balls to make “drops”, which should go on the table above the taps.
- Find a pen or pencil, as you’ll be writing down your answers – why not use the rest of the envelope.
How do the pieces work?
As you’ll see in front of you, there are three plastic cogs, seven numbered cogs interacting with them, and two small cogs attached to the taps.
If you want a cog to turn, then use the number. So, if you want cog 4 to turn, write down “4”.
Cogs numbered 1 and 2 let out a drop of water each time they are turned. So, if you decide to turn cog 1, then write down “1” and push a drop of water (scrunched up paper) down from the tap until it rests between two teeth on the top of the Red Cog.
Cogs numbered 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, and 6 are all turned specific ways. Rather, you only have the ability to turn them the way indicated on the arrows! You’ll notice that each plastic cog is connected (via belt or directly engaged) to two numbered cogs — one of which turns the plastic cog clockwise, and one anti-clockwise. Each turn moves the plastic cog one tooth clockwise. Obviously you can physically move the plastic cog (hopefully with a drop of water held in its teeth) but you’ll need to use your imagination for the numbered cogs.
Here’s the tricky part: numbers 3 and 5 each relate to TWO cogs. If you use cog 3 then BOTH cogs labelled 3 turn, which means that BOTH the Red Cog and the Green Cog will turn. The same is true for cogs 5, which will move the Green Cog and the Orange Cog at the same time. This is very useful for the harder puzzles, but can potentially catch you out!
Let’s try an example: send one drop to plant pot B.
To send one drop of water to B (the Aspidistra), then you’ll need to:
- Turn cog 1 to release a drop. That falls on to the red plastic cog — use a bit of scrunched up paper.
- Turn the red cog clockwise twice, using cog 4. (Cog 3 turns the red cog the other way!)
Write down which cogs you turn. The answer to this example is 1, 4, 4.
The answers to the puzzles are just below….
ANSWERS!
(Don’t read any further unless you want to know the answers.)
Send one drop of water to plant pot A (the tulips), furtherest to the left.
Which numbered cogs would you turn, and how many times?
Answer: 1 3 3
Send one drop of water to plant pot C (the rose).
Which cogs do you need to turn, and how many times?
Answer: 2 3 3 6 6
Send one drop each to plants pots A, E, and D.
If it doesn’t matter in which order the plants are watered, then what is the most efficient method with the least number of turns?
Answer: 1 2 3 3 2 5 5
Send one drop of water to the plant pots in this order: A B D E.
What’s the most efficient solution with the least number of turns?
Answer: 1 2 3 3 1 4 4 2 5 5
Can I play my puzzle again? Or with a friend?
Make up your own combinations of letters, and see how many turns it takes to water the plants.
Why not make it trickier and use your card with dice? Either find a six-sided dice, or roll dice on your phone. (Type “roll three dice” into your browser and it should come up with some online dice rolling pages.)
Now, roll the three dice. Use at least one of the dice to turn a cog. (You can add, subtract or multiply the dice together to get a range of answers.)
Can you get a single drop in each plant pot? How many turns did it take?
If you want to play with a friend, then each choose two plant pots. Or challenge each other with a combination. Who can get water their plant pots first?
What now?
If you’ve had fun with this puzzle card why not check out some of the other cards by Dissent Games at www.dissentgames.com.
There are Christmas cards, birthday cards, cards with racing games, cards you colour in, and even cards which require jellybeans to play!
Dissent Games also does bespoke designs, like this one. If you’d like a special design for a wedding or celebration, just let us know at dissentgames@gmail.com.
If you’ve scrolled down looking for answers, then they are a bit above, so scroll up!
Dissent Games
You can see other games and cards designed by Dissent Games at their website: https://dissentgames.com/