********************************
***** Marble Drop FAQ v1.4 *****
********************************
By: Derek Kisman
E-mail: dkisman@acm.org
Date: April 26, 2001
(a billion years after the game came out ;)
Here are efficient, high-scoring solutions to all
of the puzzles in this challenging, but rewarding
game. Experiment with a puzzle for a while before
consulting this guide; but if you're truly stuck (and
there are some extremely difficult puzzles), here's
something to help you out. If you've already solved
the puzzle, feel free to compare your solution with
mine. E-mail me at dkisman@acm.org!
Updates
-------
1.1 - Added two solutions (#16,#36) by Kyle Zingg,
including one beating 5000-efficiency (#16)!
- Jeffrey Howell answered my pleas on #38 and
gave a solution saving that last green marble.
1.2 - Added comments from Patrick Poon on #50.
1.3 - Added Maurice Alberts' solutions to #30, #49
1.4 - Added comments from Tony Dercola on #40, #48
Solution format
---------------
Most solutions will involve two rows with n entries
each, where n is the number of marbles you'll need to
drop in the solution.
The first row gives the number of the basket you
drop the marble into; they are numbered from left to
right on a puzzle.
The second row gives the colour of the marble:
R - Red
Y - Yellow
B - Blue
O - Orange
G - Green
P - Purple
Bl - Black
S - Steel
Timing may be important in the solution to a
puzzle. Unless otherwise noted, you should wait for
all effects of a marble to cease before you drop the
next one. Where possible I've tried to make the
puzzle solution require no timing.
So a solution like this: 1 3
Y S
means you should drop a yellow marble into the
leftmost basket, wait for everything in the puzzle to
stop, then drop a steel marble into the basket that's
third from the left.
If you have problems reading my solutions due to
font (rows aren't aligned properly), try opening this
file in Notepad.
Scoring
-------
All of my solutions (except a couple of cases where
a bonus puzzle is being unlocked) score 5000+ on
efficiency; usually, a 5000 efficiency means you have
used the fewest number of drops possible to solve the
puzzle. (Note that on a couple of puzzles I've
managed to beat the 5000-efficiency limit! If you
find any other solutions which do this, PLEASE send
them to me!!)
The scores corresponding to the solutions include
a subtraction of -100 for each steel marble used in
the solution, which makes sense; you need to buy them
sometime, why not in the same puzzle?
If you have a solution with a better score than
mine, please send it to me! Note that it's always
possible to "beat" these puzzle scores by buying a
bunch of marbles in an earlier puzzle, then wasting
them in the puzzle to rack up points. I am NOT
interested in these kinds of solutions. As a general
rule, I am only interested in solutions with 5000+
efficiency scores, and any steel marbles you use must
include the -100 purchase price. Also, using
coloured marbles instead of steel marbles (to avoid
the price) is silly and wasteful.
Keeping track of marbles
------------------------
I've also stored a list of marbles that are
required for my solution to work, and whether you gain
or lose any marbles in doing my solution. Whenever
possible, I try to trade steel marbles for coloured
marbles; for instance, on puzzles with many coloured
marbles trapped in glue, an "optimal" solution grabs
as many as possible and replaces them with steel
marbles.
Of course, if you're reasonable, you could always
just buy any marbles you need for a puzzle... but
where's the fun in that? :)
Puzzle solutions
----------------
"1 Thales of Miletus"
Solution:
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
Y R R R Y R Y B B B Y B
Score: 11,590
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
4 4 4 0 0 0 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"2 Tarquinius the Elder"
Solution:
1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3
G G P G P G Y P P Y Y Y
Score: 11,535
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 4 0 0 4 4 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"3 Priscian"
Solution:
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2
O G S O S P G P
Score: 8,025
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 2 2 2 0 2
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -2
"4 Xenophon"
To unlock the tumblers, do the optional solution
below, but it costs points.
Solution:
(without bonus)
2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
B O R G Y Y G R O B
(with bonus)
2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
B O R G Y Y G R S S O B
Score: 11,105 (without bonus) or 9,335 (with bonus)
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0/2
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/-2
"5 Galileo"
The first bonus puzzle... pick 6 of your coloured
marbles and convert them to black ones!
Note that getting all the score triggers does not
give the maximum possible score, because some marbles
must be destroyed to do it. Don't be greedy.
Solution:
1 1 2 2 2 2
? ? ? ? ? ? (any coloured)
Score: 10,450
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- 6 -----^ 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- -6 -----^ 6 0
"6 Aristotle"
Solution:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Y R O P B G Y S B
Score: 9,990
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 2 2 1 1 1 0 1
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1
"7 Archimedes"
Solution:
2 2 2 1 1 2 1 2
O B Y P B G O R
Score: 9,370
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 1 2 2 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"8 Euclid"
Solution:
3 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1
R B G Y O P R B G
Score: 9,620
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 1 2 1 2 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"9 Eratosthenes"
Solution:
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2
O Y R B G P O Y
Score: 10,740
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 2 1 2 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"10 Polybius"
Solution:
2 2 1 2 2 2 1 2
B R G B Y R Y G
Score: 9,430
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 0 2 0 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"11 Ctesibius"
Solution:
2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
B R O Y G B P O
Score: 10,120
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 1 2 2 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"12 Ma Chun"
Solution:
1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2
G S P R B O P S G Y S S S O S
Score: 9,275
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 1 1 2 1 2 0 6
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -6
"13 Hero of Alexandria"
Solution:
1 1 2 2 2 2 2
Y O R G B P R
Score: 8,705
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"14 Speusippus"
Note that timing matters here, and that you cannot
fire the first cannon without losing a marble to the
flames.
Solution:
2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2* 1 2 1 2*
B Y O P Y R S B S O S G S
* Drop marble as soon as previous marble hits top of
tube
Score: 10,755
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 2 2 2 1 1 0 4
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -4
"15 Democritis"
This is the first puzzle in which you can actually
gain coloured marbles by expending steel ones.
Solution:
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
R Y B Y R S S S
Score: 9,510
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 1 0 0 0 0 3
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 -3
"16 Brunelleschi"
A big windfall in coloured marbles here, at the
expense of some steel ones.
Thanks to Kyle Zingg, who found a way to save
the extra ball on this puzzle!
Solution:
**************************************************
Solution is 1 marble better than game's "optimal"!
**************************************************
1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2
R B S S S S S S S
Score: 13,650
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 0 1 0 0 0 0 7
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 0 1 2 2 0 0 -7
"17 Archytas of Tarente"
It helps to run this on a slow speed, especially
if you want to unlock the tumblers, which takes some
timing.
Solution:
2 2+ 1* 2+ 1* 2+ 1*$
S Y G Y O G O
* Drop marble while lower diverter is pointing down.
+ Drop marble while upper diverter is pointing down.
$ Drop soon after the tumbler connected to the
crossbow switches to "off", so that it's "on"
when the marble finishes - use Slowest speed!
Score: Infinity (as large as you want, since that
steel marble's in a perpetual loop scoring points!)
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 2 0 2 2 0 0 1
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1
"18 Christiaan Huygens"
The second bonus puzzle; another chance to
nab black marbles.
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- 7 -----^ 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- -7 -----^ 7 0
"19 Philo of Athens"
Another puzzle best solved at a slow speed; you
must continually drop marbles to reset the pendulum
to the right side, or else your cannon-firing marble
plummets to oblivion.
Solution:
1 1 1 1 1 2 1* 1* 1*
B R O R B S O B O
* IMMEDIATELY when the steel marble hits the pendulum
- use Slowest speed!
Score: 10,350
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 0 3 3 0 0 0 1
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -1
"20 Cato the Elder"
Solution:
1 1 1* 1 2 2 2* 2
B R R R R B B B
* Right after the previous marble - use slowest speed!
Score: 9,380
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"21 Philo of Byzantium"
Solution:
1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1
Y R P Y B G P B O P O R G Y
Score: 15,025
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 3 2 2 2 3 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"22 Hipparchus"
Another 6 coloured marbles are to be had here for
the low price of 8 steel ones.
Solution:
1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 2
S S S R R G O S S S S P Y S
Score: 10,260
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 1 0 1 1 1 0 8
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 0 0 2 2 0 0 -8
"23 Shao Ong"
Solution:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
G B Y O Y O P R
Score: 10,640
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 2 1 2 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"24 Dionysus Thrax"
Solution:
1 1 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 1
R R Y G G G O O Y R Y O
Score: 11,400
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
3 3 0 3 3 0 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"25 Geminus of Rhodes"
Solution:
1 2 1 1 1 1 2 2*
B R P B R Y G Y
* Right after the previous marble - use slowest speed!
Score: 11,790
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 0 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
"26 Plato"
This time unlocking the tumblers is easy.
Solution:
2 2 1 2 2 1 1
P R O G R G O
Score: 9,400
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 0 0 2 2 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
"27 Sripati"
The third bonus puzzle, and an opportunity to
convert 12 coloured marbles into blacks!
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^---- 12 ----^ 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^---- -12 ----^ 12 0
"35 Isidore of Seville"
Solution:
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
R G B P B R P O G R Y B
Score: 11,800
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
3 1 3 1 2 2 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"36 Chang Hsu-hsun"
Thanks to Kyle Zingg for increasing the score
slightly on this one.
Solution:
3 1 2 1 3 2 2 1 1 3 2 2
G P B R Y R O P G Y B O
Score: 12,350
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"37 Gerbert d'Aurillac"
Solution:
3 4 3 1 1 4 2 3
B Y O R S O Y R
Score: 9,500
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 1 2 0 0 0 1
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 -1
"38 Pi Cheng"
This solution is from Jeffrey Howell, and is far
superior to mine. (I never could figure out how to
get the green out of the glue) Thanks Jeff!
Solution:
1 2 2 1 1* 1 1 1*
B S S O S G S S
* Right after the previous marble - use slowest speed!
Score: 9,410
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 1 1 1 0 0 5
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 0 1 1 1 0 0 -5
"39 Gui d'Arezzo"
Solution:
1 x 3 3 x 1 2 x
? G ? ? O ? ? P
x means that the perpetual motion machine generates
these - be sure to time your drops so that the
marbles all fall in this order.
? may be any coloured marble.
Score: 9,480
(although you COULD just wait while the marble
racks up points, resetting the puzzle and
starting again afterwards)
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- 5 -----^ 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 1 2 1 1 1 0 0
^--- -5 any ---^
"40 Su Sung"
This puzzle is fast and furious! Have patience
while you're waiting for it to settle down; it
generates quite a lot of orange marbles. Set the
speed to Fastest while waiting.
This puzzle is a good example of chaos theory...
no way are you gonna predict states in advance. :)
Note from Tony Dercola: If you have trouble
timing the marbles just AFTER the first crossbow
fires, instead time them just BEFORE the first
crossbow fires. If you do this, the last two
marbles must be reversed (ie, Y R instead of R Y).
Solution:
**************************************************
Solution is 1 marble better than game's "optimal"!
**************************************************
2 1* 2 1* 2 1* 2 2
R Y P B G B R Y
* Drop marble IMMEDIATELY after first crossbow fires
- use Slowest speed! This timing is VERY
sensitive; you should be able see the two marbles
contact near the center of the visible portion of
the leftmost tube if you do it right.
Score: 14,560
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 0 1 1 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"41 Guido di Vigevano"
Solution:
2 2 1 1 1 2 2 1
G Y B G Y R B R
Score: 9,705
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 0 2 0 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"42 Salvino degli Armati"
This puzzle includes its own timer: a steel marble
in a perpetual circular loop. To solve this puzzle
you must pay careful attention to the timing of this
marble.
Tumblers also must be unlocked: yet another thing
to think about!
Solution:
(without bonus)
1 1 2 2 1 2 2 1
? ? Y R ? O O ?
2 7 16 19.5 24 29.5 36 47 <-- time
(with bonus)
1 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
? ? Y R ? O O S ?
2 7 16 19.5 24 29.5 36 48 57 <-- time
Time is measured from 1, when the steel marble first
hits a switch, and ticks up every revolution.
So you must drop the first marble when the marble
is at the bottom after 1 revolution, and the
fourth when it's at the top after 18 full
revolutions.
You can tell the time to the nearest 5 by looking
at the 5-position switch; the steel marble clears
that switch just after every 5th tick.
? may be any coloured marble.
Score: 10,520 (without bonus) or 9,620 (with bonus)
(although you COULD just wait while the marble
racks up points, resetting the puzzle and
starting again afterwards)
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0/1
^--- +4 any ---^
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0/-1
^--- -4 any ---^
"43 Albertus Magnus"
The fifth bonus puzzle, with 9 valuable and (by
now) badly needed black marbles!
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- 9 -----^ 0 2
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- -9 -----^ 9 -2
"44 Leone Alberti"
Solution:
1 2 3 1 1 2 2 3 3 1 2 3
G R B G Y O P B Y R O P
Score: 12,750
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"45 Timdeharis"
Another innately "timed" puzzle. The given
solution is my best, but it doesn't win until
after the 37th marble generates! If you want
to speed it up, replace the last steel marble
with a coloured marble.
Solution:
**************************************************
Solution is 1 marble better than game's "optimal"!
**************************************************
2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 2
S ? ? ? ? ? S ? S ?
0 0 1 1 2 8 9 9 10 10 <-- time
Time is measured by number of marbles generated by
the black one. So you must drop the first two
marbles before any are generated, etc.
? may be any coloured marble.
Score: 14,755
(although you COULD just wait while the marble
racks up points, resetting the puzzle and
starting again afterwards)
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- 7 -----^ 0 3
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 0 1 2 2 2 0 -3
^--- -7 any ---^
"46 Giovanni"
Solution:
2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1
Y R R B S Y B S
Score: 10,530
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
2 2 2 0 0 0 0 2
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 -2
"47 Kiddinu"
Solution:
2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2
S R S G O R R R O O Y S G
Score: 10,420
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
4 1 0 3 2 0 0 3
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
-2 -1 0 0 1 3 0 -3
"48 Thabit Ibn Quarra"
Lots of fun to watch, not so much fun to figure
the $@!#ing thing out. :)
Thanks to Tony Dercola for pointing out that
the 9th marble can be Steel.
Solution:
1 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1
S O R Y B B R O S B R
Score: 16,250
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
3 1 3 2 0 0 0 2
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
1 -1 0 1 0 2 0 -2
"49 Gutenberg"
Thanks to Maurice Alberts for providing a much
easier, better solution for this one.
Solution:
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
R R O R B O Y G B P P O
Score: 12,190
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
3 1 2 3 1 2 0 0
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
"50 Copernicus"
This is it: the big finish... I won't spoil it for
you, but I will laugh insanely and dance on your grave
after you kill yourself in a fit of frustration.
(Actually, it's kind of an easy puzzle, especially
compared to the preceding ones, but hey, it's still a
neat finish. :)
Thanks go to Patrick Poon, for pointing out that
this is, in fact, the same puzzle as #8! D'oh!
Solution:
3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2
? S ? S ? S ? S ?
? may be any coloured marble.
Score: 9,220
Marbles required:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- 5 -----^ 0 4
Marbles lost/gained:
R Y B O G P Bl S
^----- -5 -----^ 5 0
Credit
------
Thanks go to the following people for contributing:
Kyle Zingg
Jeffrey Howell
Patrick Poon
Maurice Alberts
Tony Dercola
Copyright (C) 2001 by Derek Kisman
Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are welcomed!
Send to dkisman@acm.org.
