CASTLE OF DOCTOR BRAIN, THE (Sierra On-Line) (?)

Hints & Solve:

1 - THE CASTLE DOOR, ELEVATOR MAZE:

PROBLEM:

How do I open the castle door?

HINT:
When you press the doorbell, notice which stone flashes and plays a tone. Click the hand cursor on that stone. Now two stones will flash and play tones. Click the hand cursor on these stones in the same order they flashed. Now, three stones will play, etc. Try it, it's fun!

PROBLEM:
Help! I'm lost in the mazes of the Stone Elevator!

HINT:
A really fun way to get through these mazes is to just explore. Try punching through as many walls as you can! Each maze has four levels to it. You start at the bottom and work your way up to the top. Sometimes you have to go up and then back down again to get through. If you get really stuck, you may wish to sketch out each level to help you keep track of paths you've already explored.

2 - FIRST FLOOR:

PROBLEM:
The Math Marvel Puzzle Room has me stumped - Novice.

HINT:
Eleven plus twenty-two equals thirty-three, ninety minus eighty equals ten, forty-two times two equals eighty-four, and sixty divided by twenty equals three.

PROBLEM:
The Math Marvel Puzzle Room has me stumped - Standard.

HINT:
Twelve plus twenty-three equals thirty-five, ninety-nine minus thirty-three equals sixty-six, twenty-two times four equals eighty-eight, and fifty-six divided by eight equals seven.

PROBLEM:
The Math Marvel Puzzle Room has me stumped - Expert.

HINT:
Twelve plus eighteen equals thirty, sixty-five minus twenty-one equals forty-four, five times fifteen equals seventy-five, and eighty-eight divided by eleven equals eight.

PROBLEM:
Magic Square Puzzle solution - Novice.

HINT:
Arrange the numbers from left to right. The numbers in the top row are two, nine, and four. The numbers in the middle row are seven, five, and three. Finally, the numbers in the last row are six, one, and eight.

PROBLEM:
Magic Square Puzzle solution - Standard.

HINT:
Arrange the numbers from left to right. The numbers in the top row are sixteen, two, three, and thirteen. The numbers in the second row are five, eleven, ten, and eight. The numbers in the third row are nine, seven, six, and twelve. Finally, the numbers in the bottom row are four, fourteen, fifteen, and one.

PROBLEM:
Magic Square Puzzle solution - Expert.

HINT:
Arrange the numbers from left to right. The numbers in the top row are thirty-one, three, five, and twenty-five. The numbers in the second row are nine, twenty-one, nineteen, and fifteen. The numbers in the third row are seventeen, thirteen, eleven, and twenty-three. Finally, the numbers in the bottom row are seven, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, and one.

PROBLEM:
15-Sliding Tile Puzzle solution - Novice.

HINT:
Start with the top row and work your way down. One useful technique is to snake tiles into position. Let's say you want to place the first two numbered tiles. First, move the one tile just under the two position, and the two tile right under it. Then move other tiles so that the empty square is in the two position and slide both tiles up. Finally, empty the one position square, slide the one tile over, then the two tile up. Work your way down the puzzle this way.

PROBLEM:
15-Sliding Tile Puzzle solution - Standard and Expert.

HINT:
For starters, begin with the Novice solution. On the Standard and Expert Level puzzles, the last two rows are a little trickier. Think of those squares as points around a circle. Let's say you have most of the third row, but the ten tile is out of order, like so -- nine, eleven, ten, and twelve. Move the bottom row pieces until the empty square is underneath the ten tile. Then slide the ten tile down and rotate both rows together, clearing the square between the nine and eleven tiles, with the ten tile underneath it. Slide the ten tile into position and rotate the pieces back into their correct rows. When you complete the Expert Level puzzle, you'll form a picture of Dr. Brain's Castle.

PROBLEM:
I've run out of time in the Clock Room!

HINT:
Did you notice the remote-control panel beside Dr. Brain's favorite cuckoo clock? Press the top button to make the toy Elf start dancing. Press the second button from the top to turn the clock off and the alarm on. Press the third button from the top to start the clock once again and put away the cuckoo bird. Finally, press the second button from the top to stop the clock, followed by the bottom button to turn off the alarm, and then the top button to stop the Elf from dancing. You'll have plenty of time now.

PROBLEM:
Acme Time Clock sand measurement - Novice.

HINT:
Wait until the 25-second hourglass runs out of sand, then immediately flip the 15-second hourglass. Click the open button and the drawer will open.

PROBLEM:
Acme Time Clock sand measurement - Standard and Expert.

HINT:
Flip the 15-second hourglass three times. Flip it the first time after the sand runs out of it. Flip it a second time when the sand runs out of it again. Finally, flip it once more when the 35-second hourglass runs out. Click the open button and the drawer will open.

PROBLEM:
What times do I punch in the Clock Room?

HINT:
The time to punch on the first card is four forty-eight. The time to punch on the second card is eleven o'clock. The time to punch on the third card is one forty-five.

3 - SECOND FLOOR:

PROBLEM:
I can't fix the circuit in the computer room!

HINT:
Starting from the lower left-hand side, place the battery in the first position, the switch in the second position, the resistor in the third position, the coil in the fourth position, and finally the capacitor in the fifth position.

PROBLEM:
How do I use the binary conversion computer?

HINT:
One fun strategy is to just twiddle each of the zeros to ones until you get the light on right-hand side of each row to turn on. If you examine each position in a row from right to left, you'll notice the numbers increase by a power of two. This means when you change a zero to one in the right-most column it's worth one, then increases to two in the next column, then four, then eight, then sixteen, then thirty- two, then sixty-four, and finally one-hundred and twenty-eight in the left-most column. The total to the far left is simply a sum of these values.

PROBLEM:
How can I get through the robot maze?

HINT:
To get through this maze, you'll need to go all the way around the outer edges of the maze, moving from left to right. If a swirling circle sends you back to the start of the maze, turn it off by first running the robot over a plus symbol. As you move the robot around the maze gather as many answer cards as you can.

PROBLEM:
Which robot head do I use in the robot design room?

HINT:
You may wish to use Iron face since it's the honest robot head and will follow your program exactly. If you choose the dishonest Saucer head, it will disobey your program exactly. Propeller head is dishonest half the time and will disobey every second line of your program.

PROBLEM:
What is the program listing to get the blue book?

HINT:
Program listing using the Iron-faced robot head and the fork-shaped robot arm:

1. Begin         7. Move backward  13. Move right
2. Move right    8. Move left      14. Move forward
3. Move forward  9. Move left      15. Move right
4. Move left    10. Move forward   16. Move forward
5. Turn on      11. Move forward   17. Turn off
6. Move right   12. Move forward   18. End

PROBLEM:
What is the program listing to get the green plastic clue sheet?

HINT:
Program listing using the Iron-faced robot head and the dart-gun robot arm:

1. Begin          7. ???           13. ???
2. Move left      8. Move right    14. Move forward
3. Move forward   9. Turn on       15. Turn off
4. Move forward  10. Move left     16. End
5. Move forward  11. Move left
6. Move right    12. Move forward

PROBLEM:
What is the program listing to get the gray iron plaque?

HINT:
Program listing using the Iron-faced robot head and the electromagnetic robot arm:

1. Begin          7. ???           13. ???
2. Move left      8. Move left     14. End
3. Move forward   9. Turn on
4. Move forward  10. Move right
5. Move forward  11. Move right
6. Move right    12. Move forward

4 - THIRD FLOOR:

PROBLEM:
I need some tips on the Word Search Puzzle!

HINT:
All of the words in this puzzle can be found in the section of your game documentation entitled Dr. Brain's Ultra Top Secret Decoder Grid. Here's a few to help get you started. Moving from left to right, in the top row you'll find TicTacToe; in the second row, Golf; in the third row, Jacks; in the eighth row, Chess; and in the tenth row, Cribbage. Moving from right to left, in the second row you'll find Football; in the third row, Dominos; in the fifth row, Poker and Hearts; in the seventh row, Blackjack; in the second to the bottom row, Checkers; and in the bottom row, Horseshoes. Now you try. Examine each column, both from top to bottom and bottom to top. Finally, look for any words spelled diagonally.

PROBLEM:
I can't figure out the Acrostics Puzzle.

HINT:
You're trying to spell Parlor Games. Therefore, from top to bottom, select these games: Spades, Hearts, Cribbage, Blackjack, Poker, and Bridge to spell Parlor. Then select these games: Backgammon, Tic-tac-toe, Dominoes, Checkers, and Chess to spell Games.

PROBLEM:
I'm stumped by the Tangram Puzzle.

HINT:
Arrange the tangram pieces to spell the word Enter.

PROBLEM:
I need a clue to solve the Jigsaw Puzzle!

HINT:
One way to solve jigsaw puzzles is to look for edge and corner pieces first. If a puzzle piece has a flat edge on the top, left, or right side, place it along the edges of the screen. Then you can also look for like colors or patterns and assemble these pieces right in the middle of the screen, then place them into their final position. If your screen gets too cluttered, you can always place pieces back into the box.

PROBLEM:
I keep hanging the Hangman Dummy!

HINT:
Did you notice the chart on the wall? The most common letters to guess are E, T, and A -- so you're usually better off to guess these letters first. Some other common letters are O, I, N, S, H, R, D, L, and U. Some of the words you'll encounter in this puzzle: honest, antelope, entrance, train, session, pattern, doctor, resistance, rental, password, brains, complete, editorial, newspaper, magazine, western, and dentist.

PROBLEM:
How do I open Dr. Brain's Safe?

HINT:
You can solve this puzzle by a process of elimination and trial and error. On the first line, start by guessing all the same symbols, for instance, all hearts. If you get one right, on the next line guess one heart and two of another symbol, such as two oranges. If you get two right, then guess one heart, one orange, and one of the remaining symbols. Now just keep working with the symbols until they all fall in place.

PROBLEM:
Cipher Monitor message - Novice.

HINT:
The Novice level message is 'Your mind is the key to every door. When you set your mind free, no lock can hold you, no bars restrain you.'

PROBLEM:
Cipher Monitor message - Standard.

HINT:
The Standard level message is 'Free from every earthen tide, past stars and planets you must ride, until you reach the farther side.'

PROBLEM:
Cipher Monitor message - Expert.

HINT:
The Expert level message is 'The elevators of the mind only operate for those who keep their minds open to new possibilities.'

5 - THE BASEMENT:

PROBLEM:
Where is Perseus?

HINT:
Perseus is the constellation on the far left-hand side of the screen and is made up of nine stars. If you examine closely the illustration of Perseus on the Novice level setting, you can see which nine stars you'll need to choose.

PROBLEM:
Where is Ursa Major?

HINT:
Ursa Major is just to the right of Perseus and is made up of fifteen stars. If you examine closely the illustration of Ursa Major on the Novice level setting, you can see which stars you'll need to choose.

PROBLEM:
Where is Cancer?

HINT:
Cancer is just to the right of Ursa Major and is made up of seven stars. If you examine closely the illustration of Cancer on the Novice level setting, you can see which seven stars you'll need to choose.

PROBLEM:
Where is Orion?

HINT:
Orion is on the far right side of the screen and is made up of nineteen stars. If you examine closely the illustration of Orion on the Novice level setting, you can see which nineteen stars you'll need to choose.

PROBLEM:
What are the alien's homes?

HINT:
Geoids live on Magma 4. Mastons live on Graviton. Winged Icarians live on Aerios. Mechroids live on Metallica. Webbed Amphitons live on Oceania. Giras live on Veldta. Strigers live on Stroud. Moleri live on Hollucidar.

PROBLEM:
How do I place the planets where they belong?

HINT:
Remember the cosmic scroll from the Hangman safe? Consider the first letter of each word in the clue: My Very Energetic Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pies. Each word starts with the same letter as the planets orbiting the sun, from nearest to farthest--Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

PROBLEM:
How do I open the desk drawer in Dr. Brain's Private Office?

HINT:
Use the red key from the Mastermind Safe to open Dr. Brain's desk drawer. You'll find Dr. Brain's Secret Decoder Ring.

PROBLEM:
How do I use the job skills board?

HINT:
Match the Memory card to the picture of the Simon Puzzle Pieces. Match the Logic and Deduction Card to the picture of the Mastermind Safe. Match the Follow Instructions Card to the picture of the Circuit Board. Match the Mathematics Card to the card with the equation 2+2=4. Match the Pattern Recognition Card to the picture of the Puzzle Piece. Match the Programming Card to the picture of the Robot. Match the Language Card to the card with the letters A-T-E, T-E-A, and E- A-T arranged on it. Match the Timeliness Card to the picture of the Hourglass. Finally, match the Cosmic Consciousness Card with the picture of the Stars.

PROBLEM:
Which books should I get from Dr. Brain's Private Bookcase?

HINT:
Did you crack the Mastermind Safe in the Doce Amor Room? Inside the Mastermind Safe was a step-by-step code sheet and a red key. Use the red key from the Mastermind Safe to open Dr. Brain's desk drawer. You'll find Dr. Brain's Secret Decoder Ring. Click Dr. Brain's Secret Decoder Ring on the code sheet to decipher the message. Now you'll have a set of instructions explaining how to arrange these books.

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