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400 Years
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  Information
Link: Pixel Love
Developer Scriptwelder
Released: Newgrounds
February 6, 2013
Featured: March 4, 2013
Platform Flash
Control scheme: Keyboard
Data saved: None
Genre(s): Platform, Puzzle
Website(s): Newgrounds
Development time: 3 weeks[1]

400 Years is a puzzle-platform game released on February 6, 2013. It was featured on Pixel Love the Monday of March 4, 2013. The player controls a stone idol who leaves his spot next to the sea to help stop an oncoming calamity.

Controls[]

  • Left.png Right.png Left and right arrow keys - Move the stone idol
  • Up.png Down.png Up and down arrow keys - Move up and down (on trees, netting, etc.)
  • Space.png Spacebar - Wait

Gameplay[]

The player, using the arrow keys, helps guide the stone idol along its path to stop the approaching calamity. Using the spacebar, the player is able to "wait" through seasons and years progressively to help the stone idol pass over obscured paths or reach higher heights.

Walkthrough[]

When the stone idol awakes, the player is required to guide him towards their right, stopping at the second pool of water they encounter. From here, the spacebar becomes functional, and the player must cycle through to the winter season for the water to become ice so that the stone idol can cross without getting stuck.

Next, the player comes across two ladder trees, one which has fully grown, and another which is only a seedling. After climbing the first tree, the player must wait about ten years so that the tree can grow tall enough for the stone idol to climb.

Once the stone idol climbs the tree and continues right, he will come across a climbable tree a distance away from the ledge the stone idol must climb. The player is then instructed to plant a tree. To plant a tree, the player should cycle through the seasons until they reach autumn, then use the E key to pick up a chestnut and place it next to the tall ledge. When about ten years have passed, the stone idol can climb up the ledge and continue right, pausing to wait for winter so that he can cross the pool of water close to the newly grown tree.

The stone idol, after walking all the way to the right, will eventually fall off the ledge and land in the midst of a village. Noticing that the people in the village are hungry, the player should guide him all the way to the right, past the body of water to a field. Once the season is autumn, the field becomes wheat grain, which the stone idol can pick up and bring back to the village to plant.

As soon as the grain is planted when the stone idol returns to the village, he must wait for about thirty-five years. Over this period of time, the grain will grow, and the village starts to change in appearance. Other houses are also built around the field the stone idol took the grain from. This change results in the villagers building a bridge, which allows the stone idol to cross the next body of water to the right of the grain field he originally took the wheat from.

Once the stone idol crosses the bridge, he will come across a larger body of water. If the player has him walk underwater, they will notice a gap in the middle of the water that the stone idol is prevented from passing through because of the ledge. To fall through this gap, the player must first set the season to winter in order to position the stone idol over the approximate middle of the water, then melt the ice.

As the stone idol walks along the guided path, he will encounter a cave-like area with several stalactites and stalagmites. To climb them, the stone idol has to wait for them to grow. The wait takes about fifty years.

When in the summer or autumn season, the stone idol will see a fishing boat with a net trailer into the water. Setting the season to summer, the stone idol can travel through the village and pick up a chestnut, but should change the season to autumn before doing so. This allows the stone idol to successfully plant a tree next to the out-of-reach ledge, which he should climb up to proceed.

After walking a short distance, the music changes, and a volcano appears in the midst of the stone idol's path. The player is then required to guide the stone idol down the volcano, and press the E key at the bottom to have the stone idol block the flowing lava and successfully stop the calamity.

Click [show] to view this video


Ending[]

This navigational box contains a spoiler. Click [show] to open.

When the player presses the spacebar as the stone idol is sleeping, the screen moves up to the silent volcano and fades to change scenes. A blue sky is then seen, with the caption "Winter 2013". A plane is then seen flying across the sky. The player can view the credits or play the game again.

Easter egg[]

This navigational box contains a spoiler. Click [show] to open.

400years-gravestone

The hidden gravestone.

If the player goes back to pick up a chestnut from the village again, the stone idol can plant it on a ledge to the farthest right of the volcano. When the tree grows tall enough, the stone idol can climb it and wait while another tree seedling gains enough height to journey up over the second ledge. There, a gravestone is seen, with some text appearing on screen when the stone idol crosses over it:

Here lies a traveler between worlds, whose name is unknown.
May his curious soul find a way home, like you have found his resting place.

Interactive objects[]

  • Villagers - Villagers become frightened when they see the stone idol and run away from it when it approaches them.
  • Seeds - Seeds, when picked up from the ground, can be used to grow plants. If the player waits while holding a seed, the seed will disintegrate and become unusable.
    • Chestnuts - Grow trees that the stone idol can climb on.
    • Wheat Grain - Helps feed the villagers.

Seasons[]

Each wait cycles through the four seasons before adding on another year. Each season has different effects that help the stone idol reach paths that are otherwise unreachable during other seasons.

  • Spring - Trees and other plants typically grow higher around this time.
  • Summer - The parked fishing boat of the villagers is moved to one end where the villagers are.
  • Autumn - Wheat grain and chestnuts are available to pick up from the ground.
  • Winter - The stone idol can move across water as though it were ground.

Soundtrack[]

400 Years' main track.

400 Years has two music tracks, both by Kevin Macleod. One track, Healing, plays in the main portion of the game, while the second, more ambient track, plays as the player approaches the final area of the game.

References[]

  1. 400 hours after creating 400 years on the Wayback Machine (archived March 7, 2013 from the original)

External links[]

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