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PBF - Exit the Game: The Polar Station (Escape your ignorance!)

MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
edited June 2018 in Critical Failures
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A wonderfully mild morning in the Arctic -- just -15 Celsius!
You are part of a large team of researchers divided into several groups. In Group IMB-Q-12, you are researching climate change at the North Pole. It's all top secret, and you have no idea what the other groups' missions are. You have seen and heard nothing from Group IMB-Q-13 for example, for weeks.

Suddenly, the evacuation alarm goes off! You run to the door, but it had already locked automatically. Through the window you can see your colleagues from the other groups racing to the helicopters. You are the only ones left behind...
you are able to climb through a ventilation shaft into the neighboring section. here, there, the door is already locked. The laboratory is absolutely destroyed, and you wonder what could have happened here. Then you find a notebook and an odd disk.

Everything in the room is secured with combination locks. And you realize: Only if you can crack all the codes in time will you be able to escape.

If not, this will surely be your end!


The Polar Station is an entry of the Exit The Game series, an Escape the Room experience in a box! Players are presented with an initial puzzle. Solving puzzles will unlock more components or puzzles to progress until the final puzzle unlocks the main door. If you a puzzle cannot be solved, you may have to hunt around different puzzles for more components.

Out of all the Exit games I've played so far, this one seems like it would work just fine as a forum game. The goal of every puzzle is to eventually come up with a 3 digit code number that you then "enter" on the code disk by rotating the three wheels until the code number lines up under the puzzle symbol for it to tell you which number card to draw which says if the solution is correct. Since the physical disk cannot be emulated here, players will simple tell me which number they are attempting.

All necessary visuals will be provided. All visuals will be presented in the same size ratios relative to each other that the physical components are. Puzzle may involve moving components around each other. This can be done with any image editing program, but a player who does not have access to that may request for the host to manipulate images for them and present the results.

Rules

There are no hard rules for this. The 1-2 hour time limit is obviously out. There is no player number limit. Anyone can contribute as well as jump in or out at any time. The only restriction is requesting that players have not played this module before and do not know the solutions already, as well as an honor code that nobody will look up the solutions. I can provide hints if group consensus requests one.

As there's no player limit, there's no real need for official signups. I'll just let this thread bake for a little bit for people to take notice before beginning.

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Notebook
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MrBody on
«13

Posts

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    jdarksunjdarksun Struggler VARegistered User regular
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    CythraulCythraul Registered User regular
    Colour me intrigued!

    Steam
    Confusion will be my epitaph
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    HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    Neat idea. I'll definitely follow, and maybe contribute.

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    FryFry Registered User regular
    Dial 911

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    AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    I'll probably mostly be here to make sarcastic commentary, but sure, I'll see if I can't be helpful.

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    You open the notebook:

    March 19th
    We have made an extraordinary discovery deep in a crevasse:
    A remarkable black substance which remains highly fluid in spite of the sub-zero temperatures.
    It seems to react to life forms, slowly flowing towards us. It is deeply unnerving and fascinating at the same time.
    We have taken a sample.

    August 3rd
    The tests with the liquid have shown astonishing results.
    It is unlike anything known.
    The substance alters human tissue. The results of our experiments with flakes of skin and strands of hair are unmistakable.

    October 1st
    How could this have happened?
    This accident - Samantha has caught it.
    She is changing. her eyes are black.
    What have we done?
    We are all going to change.

    November 23rd
    Unfortunately, we are not able to warn our colleagues in Department IMB-Q-12, who remain clueless.
    There is an encoded emergency release that was designed so that it could only be opened with unaltered human logic. Let us hope that our colleagues can manage to solve the puzzles and flee. One final evacuation helicopter will be coming soon. Then the station will be destroyed, so none of the samples can escape.


    (notebook pages added to OP)

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Card P
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    You may begin!

    MrBody on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Help.
    MrBody can't see my posts and I wish to make a phone call

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    ?

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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    I can't send you PMs.
    I'm not sure if you want me to send solutions to you or post in thread

    discrider on
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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Thread posting is fine.

    Helps for everyone to see how the solution was arrived at.

    Let's do it this way. If you think you definitely have the answer, put it in a spoiler box. Then we'll test answers the next day. Give everyone a chance to solve on their own if they want. Try to include a blurb on how you got it.

    Open brainstorming is fine.

    MrBody on
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    HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Try entering '129' on the code disk under the L shape. If that doesn't work, try '621'.

    Nope, try discrider's, below. I see the trick now.

    Hedgethorn on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    ... and then 432
    You gotta connect the lines

    discrider on
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    HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    Hadn't looked carefully at the notebook pages yet. Should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Okay, the agrees seem to mean a lot of people wanted to look at the answer, so we'll proceed.

    Outstanding! The drawer opens!
    You are not interested in the folders in which data about the mysterious phenomena from around the world are collected. You just want to get out of here and reach the helicopter.

    You find riddle cards F and H.



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    MrBody on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Card F: (3 spoilers here)
    We got an Ancestor page
    COD is also on that notepad page
    694 against triangle

    discrider on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    I don't think we have enough info yet to solve card H.
    Not enough to paint the grey at least

    discrider on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Let's try the heating system while we're at it:
    We've got instructions on what to spin on the dials
    361 against like square and hexagon because we don't know what symbol correlates to the heating system.

    discrider on
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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    I gotta be getting to bed.

    How about this for solving:

    Place a spoiler box with a hint on what got you solving it, to give a nudge to people who want to look for a hint without totally giving up, then your answer in a spoiler within the spoiler.

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    HedgethornHedgethorn Associate Professor of Historical Hobby Horses In the Lions' DenRegistered User regular
    edited June 2018
    discrider wrote: »
    I don't think we have enough info yet to solve card H.
    Not enough to paint the grey at least
    The notepad sheet tells us what color to paint the grey.
    "GRay nEEds to be paiNted" = GREEN
    Would filling in the grey with that color reveal any numbers or anything else? (I'm color blind, so can't really tell what's what on that page, nor what filling in the grey would create.)

    Hedgethorn on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Hedgethorn wrote: »
    discrider wrote: »
    I don't think we have enough info yet to solve card H.
    Not enough to paint the grey at least
    The notepad sheet tells us what color to paint the grey.
    "GRay nEEds to be paiNted" = GREEN
    Would filling in the grey with that color reveal any numbers or anything else? (I'm color blind, so can't really tell what's what on that page, nor what filling in the grey would create.)

    I think you're right
    but there's no grey on card H, and only like
    8 green
    circles so I assume there will be more cards like card H that we composite onto the grey notepad page

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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Hmm.
    There's some snow bits as well.
    I don't think we can solve it, but we have half a solution there.
    The box at the back of the room has three snow settings that match the three icons on our code wheel.
    And the protractor shows how we should align the wheels as soon as we can figure where the protractor should go.

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    ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    discrider wrote: »
    Hmm.
    There's some snow bits as well.
    I don't think we can solve it, but we have half a solution there.
    The box at the back of the room has three snow settings that match the three icons on our code wheel.
    And the protractor shows how we should align the wheels as soon as we can figure where the protractor should go.
    I think it goes like this:
    Align the protractor so the center of the wheel is in the middle of the line from A to F, which should line up the half circle around the upper edge of the wheel coder.
    Spinning the different layers so the snowflake on each lines up with the line for that letter gave me the following: (unless I messed up something)
    New Snow
    107
    Artificial Snow
    816
    Granular Snow
    743

    Blue Window
    I don't know if what's in the blue window changes based on the rotation code? Might give us some extra numbers or a code card for each of those codes?

    I got the same as Discrider for Card F.

    ArcSyn on
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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    The heating system answer is incorrect.

    The triangle answer is correct!

    What was that? You hear strange noises. Something seems to be moving through the ventilation system...and getting closer all the time. Or maybe you're just imagining it.

    Either way, the code is correct and the drawer opens. You find riddle cards C, N, and S.


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    MrBody on
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    ArmorocArmoroc Registered User regular
    Ok! I am getting the hang of this.
    For Card P (full solution):
    Seems simple enough I think.
    You place card P on the corresponding notebook page and see which numbers show up.

    Card F (full solution):
    I was really looking for a cod fish :P
    Did not notice the borders of the portraits make out letters that you have to count.

    Card H: I am stumped.

    I will probably just sporadically follow along since I most likely will forget to check back here. Cool game!

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    ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    Card S: Tri-wing shape
    This is a wild guess based on the shape of things, and removing the left part of the card based on the black line. Looks like a number.
    417 - anything in the code wheel when lined up with the tri-wing shape?

    Card C:
    That's got me stumped good. I don't see any correlation with the letter/number combos to anything we currently have.

    Moon shape
    Based on the snow chart on the wall, and the faint moon shape on the A-E half circle tool, I would try my three numbers from earlier on that moon shape of the decoder.
    107, 816, 743

    Card N
    I think we're removing enough squares so once it's finished it can be folded into a D6 shape, and we'll need to figure out what numbers are on the cube. Or maybe count the number or lines of each color.

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    The tri wing guess is incorrect.

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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Arcsyn has Moon mostly right but to complete you need to use card C
    .. don't let me spell it out for you
    Card C spells Artificial Snow. Use that three letter code on the far wall with the protractor and codewheel with the Moon symbols aligned, and the snowsymbols aligned.

    discrider on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    That isn't complete though..
    Wait, no it is. Aligning the symbols on the codewheel with the other symbols will get a code

    discrider on
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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    So yeah @ArcSyn I agree the code should be
    816 under Moon

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    The moon code is correct.

    The lockbox is open!

    The sounds of skittering and hissing keep getting closer though. It doesn't sound human.

    You have found cards G, J, O, and Q


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    Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    One terrible misuse of office supplies later...
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    Star - 149

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    discriderdiscrider Registered User regular
    Yeah, that should be the net effect.

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    That is correct! Will update later.

    Card C threw us for a long time
    The letters are all there to spell "artificial snow", but we couldn't ever spot any logic to the pattern of their jumbled order nor any of the numbers. It's also a bit silly since you don't even really need it since you can just try out all 3 rows really quick. We got stuck a long time figuring we needed one letter from each row and had to figure out which.

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    The drawer opens!

    You see a brief shadow scurry by the far end of the ventilation shaft. You're not sure if it's a good thing you now have a shape to put to the noises you've been hearing.

    You receive cards A, E, U, and the strange object.


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    Jam WarriorJam Warrior Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Circles look too much effort for me to think about right now.

    Squishy green blobs with aliens seems fairly simple though:
    If you squint the blobs can kind of be forced into a digital display number as hinted by the last card above. So putting them in size order as also hinted on that card...

    Tri-pointed briefcase symbol - 690?

    Jam Warrior on
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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    Incorrect

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    ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    MrBody wrote: »
    The drawer opens!

    You see a brief shadow scurry by the far end of the ventilation shaft. You're not sure if it's a good thing you now have a shape to put to the noises you've been hearing.

    You receive cards A, E, U, and the strange object.


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    Are there actual holes in this card?

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    MrBodyMrBody Registered User regular
    Yes, sorry. Those are holes. The brown wood grain is just the table underneath.

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    ArcSynArcSyn Registered User regular
    edited June 2018
    Figures, I think I know what to do but I'm on mobile and can't do it.

    Tri-wing guess at solution from eye-balling it.
    690

    ArcSyn on
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