Penned: Basic tips to help you with this new, minimal game
Draw your way to victory.
Penned is a new game that has an extremely simple concept. There is an ant running around on your screen (no, it's not real so don't slap your phone). The goal here is to help the ant reach a goal which in this case is a little yellow dot.
You do this by drawing lines to force the ant to walk in the direction towards the goal. Now you know why the game is called "Penned". You're trying to pen in the ant until it finds the yellow dot. Immediately after it is found, it's on to the next level.
The dot will then change location, and it's rinse and repeat. See how far you get in the game. It's a really casual game that's in very early stages so there aren't many "tips" to give per se, but we can certainly give you a few reminders as you get drawn (see what I did there?) into this game.
Pay Attention to The Clock
Sometimes in Penned, it's easy to not notice the clock that is in the corner of your screen. You have a minute to make your moves and direct your little friend. Even after you notice the clock, you'll still sometimes lose track and forget about it.
And as we know, when we forget about the time limit, we run around in a circle in a panicky mode, not knowing exactly what to do. You then let the clock hit zero and wonder what just happened. Now now, don't worry, this happens in many games. Just try your best to avoid such an embarrassing situation.
There's No Erase Button (Not Yet Anyway)
Penned is a very simple, and straightforward game. However, there isn't much room for error. when drawing your lines, boxes, circles, etc, make sure they are drawn to a point where the ant can still reach the goal. This is important because there isn't an eraser button in the game.
Sometimes you can accidentally draw a line that may block the goal for the ant so definitely try and be careful. And again, the game is in a very early stage, so it's possible that you could see an eraser button sometime down the road. Either this or at least a "game over" message if you accidentally block the ant from getting to the yellow dot.
In the meantime, just be a bit cautious. Just because the game seems pretty easy, don't let get too comfortable because sometimes that can lead to us making a mistake. So have your wits about you, as they say.
Draw A Circle Around The Ant And Dot
Ah, yes, there is a "tip" for you after all. One thing that's good to do is to draw a nice circle (or square) around your ant and the goal. This will allow the ant to have less room to work with, forcing it to find the goal with a bit of ease.
You'll still need to draw a bit more, but if you're lucky and the ant is already pretty close to the goal. This will then "trap" the ant with the yellow dot. This is a great way to start out on each level you play. Utilize this strategy and continue to tighten up that window to the goal.
