Chaos Theory Flash Game

August 31, 2006 3:53 PM

Chaos Theory is a simple but highly addictive Japanese flash game where 50 blue orbs get launched into the air, and you have a single explosion you can trigger by clicking anywhere on the screen. Each orb caught in the blast explodes itself, creating a chain reaction. The goal is to catch as many of the blue orbs before gravity pulls them back to the ground. Each game lasts 3 rounds, with a maximum score of 150 total points. Click the dark blue Kanji script to begin the first round.This game is old, but I've not seen it posted here before
posted by jonson (58 comments total)

A good average score is in the high 30s. The best anyone at our office has done is 123 for a 3 round game. Strategically, it makes sense to wait until as many orbs are on the screen as possible, since proximity is the key to the chain reaction.
posted by jonson at 3:54 PM on August 31, 2006

COOL!!
posted by carsonb at 3:56 PM on August 31, 2006

103 for me on first go - which was greeted with "cool!!" by the game. I suspect this could become quite addictive.
posted by greycap at 3:56 PM on August 31, 2006

i got 127 my first try, and now i suck :(
posted by sergeant sandwich at 3:58 PM on August 31, 2006

Anyone who beats 123 is requested to imageshack a screenshot of the score. Anyone who beats 130 is required to. Anyone who beats 140 is lying, and won't be believe no matter how many photoshopped images they post.
posted by jonson at 3:58 PM on August 31, 2006

MIRACLE!!!
134
posted by carsonb at 4:01 PM on August 31, 2006

oh, boo. hold on. *prt scrn*
posted by carsonb at 4:01 PM on August 31, 2006

posted by carsonb at 4:05 PM on August 31, 2006

MIRACLE! 132.

I've almost got you carsonb...
posted by quin at 4:07 PM on August 31, 2006

I got 146 on my first try before I read the stuff in here, otherwise I would have done a screengrab or something. I thought it was very easy, otherwise I would have jumped at the chance to rub something in everyone's nose. I'm never good at these things.
posted by MrZero at 4:09 PM on August 31, 2006

Soooo... MrZero is a liar.
posted by jonson at 4:10 PM on August 31, 2006

like a lo-fi clone of every extend.
(also there's the psp port every extend extra)
posted by juv3nal at 4:11 PM on August 31, 2006

*rubs flowers in everyone's noses*
posted by carsonb at 4:11 PM on August 31, 2006

Awesome... totally awesome

(whisper2000 guy voice)
posted by Flashman at 4:19 PM on August 31, 2006

anyone come up with any more strategies?

I've tended to click near the center of the width, and to wait for the first round of dots to apex and start coming down before clicking. also, low seems good for the origin factor and gravity effect.
posted by carsonb at 4:20 PM on August 31, 2006

Alright, jonson, I'd retort with something incredibly witty and involving the phrase "my blue balls," but I don't have a sock puppet and I'm really hoping that this MeFi Jobs things pays off soon.
posted by MrZero at 4:30 PM on August 31, 2006

Hey, jonson's office sounds like a neat place to work, I mean hang out, well, you know..
posted by imperium at 4:36 PM on August 31, 2006

posted by brain_drain at 4:46 PM on August 31, 2006

GOOD!

My best for one round is 48.
posted by furtive at 5:03 PM on August 31, 2006

requirement fulfilled
posted by pokermonk at 5:19 PM on August 31, 2006

I got 126 after a few tries. I have a screenshot if anyone cares, but since there are already better up, I figured I wouldn't bother.

126 is "Great!", by the way.
posted by Malor at 5:30 PM on August 31, 2006

Can't get enough of them chain reaction games. Think I basically agree with carsonb on strategy; aim low-middlish, as the first wave falling meet a strong rising wave, basically aiming to get both sides going. The key I think is that its easy to get all of one side: since often one side comes up first, I think the trick is in getting one side first whilst being sure to trigger the other side. And wait longer than you think, relying on under-the-screen explosions that slowly permeate upward.

My best so far is 135 (40, 46, 49) but I haven't been able to get very close to that since I started thinking about tactics. I suspect it requires either some kinda zen intuition, or luck, or a mixture of both to get much higher.
posted by MetaMonkey at 5:33 PM on August 31, 2006

I feel like it has more to do with the pseudo-random distribution of the balls than anything else. Timing and placement will get you a little bit, but if the gaps between clusters of balls are too big, you're just screwed.

(Perhaps I'm just bitter because I can't get over 123...)
posted by chrisamiller at 5:40 PM on August 31, 2006

Probably a mix of both. I got 129 with 50 in one round. But I've found that a gap in spacing can pretty much wreck a round.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 5:41 PM on August 31, 2006

i was mostly aiming for dead center, but timing to hit the first dot to drop with a chain. seemed to get pretty consistent scores of 40+ or below 10.

frustrating when you get a lousy toss after a couple solid rounds.
posted by pokermonk at 5:46 PM on August 31, 2006

Bah. On Linux the scores are not displayed. How will I judge my relative worth, damn it?
posted by IshmaelGraves at 5:52 PM on August 31, 2006

Is that Kanji? It's been ten years, but it looks like Katakana.
posted by sohcahtoa at 6:08 PM on August 31, 2006

My scores were displayed IshmaelGraves. Perhaps its your distro?

And johnson, just to nitpick, the dark blue text you click to start the game is in katakana, not kanji. It says "Game Start". The lighter blue text, which does include kanji, says "Game Explanation".

Fun game. I totally suck at it, but fun.
posted by sotonohito at 6:08 PM on August 31, 2006

sohcahtoa Great minds think alike it seems....
posted by sotonohito at 6:12 PM on August 31, 2006

The first two times I played (well...the *first* two times I played I clicked the explosion right as it started, completely missing the point and thus just sitting there, waiting for all the tiny blue balls to finish) I scored exactly one hundred points. Which made me think I had completely misunderstood the whole thing.
posted by redsparkler at 6:16 PM on August 31, 2006

It's probably not going to get better than that for me. I've noticed that it's fairly easy to get in the high 30s to mid 40s by just looking for the bigest gap near the top of the screen about the time most of the dots reach their apex, and then try to get a blast in that will get two dots. But even then, it takes a good run to get above the mid 40s on three of them.

Did anyone manage a perfect 50 on a round?
posted by weston at 6:17 PM on August 31, 2006

For a fun alternative, try aiming very low, i.e., bottom of screen, when the dots first launch. If you get lucky, you catch a bunch of them as they enter the screen, and just as the explosions die down, the first wave starts to fall offscreen and sets them off again. Or it doesn't. It's a total crap shoot, really, but I got 46 on my last round.
posted by herichon at 6:40 PM on August 31, 2006

Did anyone manage a perfect 50 on a round?

I managed it, once. The best I've been able to achieve since is 48, a couple of times.
posted by cerebus19 at 6:49 PM on August 31, 2006

Aim for the red balls... They don't explode, but they're worth 5 points.
posted by qvantamon at 6:51 PM on August 31, 2006

well, I got one 'Miracle!' that's about where it's gonna end for me. I did get one 49. That was pretty awesome.
posted by lumpenprole at 6:53 PM on August 31, 2006

they could've picked a lighter red though... this one is hard to tell from the black background...
posted by qvantamon at 6:57 PM on August 31, 2006

I was actually going to post this tommorow, on flash friday. Pff.
posted by delmoi at 7:13 PM on August 31, 2006

Hey mister, save that kinda talk for Whining Wednesday.

Damn, this thing is addictive.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:40 PM on August 31, 2006

I have my laptop connected to my stereo and I think I just basically gave my neighbors a heart attack.

A lowly 92. Grumble...grumble...@#$%^&*(.
posted by Skygazer at 8:00 PM on August 31, 2006

I'm not sure exactly how much I hate you people who got 140 or higher, but I'm pretty sure it's A LOT.
posted by jonson at 8:37 PM on August 31, 2006

If it makes you feel better jonson, I just tried it at home on my Mac, and it's almost a different game. The dots seem to be launched over a wider period of time and reach a wider variety of heights for their apex. I'm lucky to break 100.
posted by weston at 9:26 PM on August 31, 2006

My best was 129, with a single-round best of 47. I'm finding that there are a couple of different strategies to use depending on the way the balls come out.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:32 PM on August 31, 2006

there are a couple of different strategies to use depending on the way the balls come out.

*snicker*
posted by jonson at 9:38 PM on August 31, 2006

I got 152.
posted by Mach3avelli at 10:18 PM on August 31, 2006

Trying the aim low strategy I was able to score 1. Can anybody do that more than once?
posted by Sparx at 10:35 PM on August 31, 2006

Shoot, I can't seem to get it working, stupid IE.
posted by Vindaloo at 10:40 PM on August 31, 2006

Here's your perfect 50.

posted by iloveit at 12:56 AM on September 1, 2006

posted by tellurian at 1:19 AM on September 1, 2006

I was going to AutoHotKey this overnight, but that's almost as boring as photoshopping the screenshot.
posted by aye at 1:42 AM on September 1, 2006

FTW!

posted by iloveit at 2:53 AM on September 1, 2006

hmm, I got a score of 50 for a round, how do I post the screenshot?
posted by Vindaloo at 8:40 AM on September 1, 2006

50 once. totally inconsistent though. too stupid to know how to the get the screen print here, anyway.
posted by sulaine at 8:48 AM on September 1, 2006

i see i am not the only one.
posted by sulaine at 8:48 AM on September 1, 2006

So, yes, others are higher. But I just love how when you score in the 130s you get a MIRACLE!


posted by nadawi at 9:10 AM on September 1, 2006

No photoshop other than crop, resize and blur of my bookmark bar. However, the score is not a particularly clean one for other reasons. Before I started to game the game, my best was a 132.
posted by Mr Stickfigure at 12:31 PM on September 1, 2006

Do go on, Mr Stickfigure.
posted by MetaMonkey at 12:40 PM on September 1, 2006

I noticed a programming error in the game this afternoon. If I alt-tab something in front of the browser, the game slows down. All of the game, that is, except for the rate at which the dots come out.

So:

1. Start game, then quickly
2. Alt-tab so IM client is the front application. (I use my IM client because it doesn't obscure the browser window.)
3. Watch the dots come out. Owing to the error, they are thrown more rapid-fire and there is far better clumping. Observe closely for any gaps in the peleton.
4. Wait until first the dots are hitting their peaks, then alt-tab the browser to the front and quickly hit your strategically chosen location (should cover any gaps)
5. Before the next round starts, go to step 2

If you do this right, the peleton will only occupy a little more than half the screen. With a little practice, you can fairly regularly get 45+ scores. Due to browser, OS, CPU & memory issues this method may work differently on your machine.
posted by Mr Stickfigure at 1:21 PM on September 1, 2006

Hours lost:1
High Score: 130
posted by cholly at 3:09 AM on September 3, 2006