Back in 2014, indie puzzler Threes was the mobile game to have installed on your phone — it was something of a phenomenon, even being named the iPhone game of the year by Apple. However, unlike many of its peers in the puzzle genre, it’s now been discovered that the game has an ending.
A big part of the appeal of puzzle games, especially those designed for portable devices, is their capacity to waste time. Threes is certainly an effective time sink, but there’s also some real strategy to its numerical gameplay, and only a true expert will have the necessary skills to reach the very end.
Threes is all about sliding numbered tiles around a grid. Tiles that have the same value can be combined to make a bigger number, with higher values contributing more to the player’s high score at the end of the game.
As the numbers increase in size, a host of cartoon characters are introduced — Volleo, a lionlike beast that accompanies the number 6,144, is the final creature that most players come across, according to a report from A.V. Club. However, there is another individual that only shows up when the game has been completed.
🌟💪💑🙈🔥📈💗‼️⁉️
Thank you @aeiowu & @AsherVo we are delighted!!!!!
— ThreesPorn (@ThreesPorn) June 20, 2017
Two Volleo tiles combine to form an ascendant, winged character wearing a crown of triangles, as seen in the above video posted on the official Twitter account of preeminent Threes fan site ThreesPorn. Its regal appearance should leave players in little doubt that they have proven their complete mastery of the game.
This isn’t actually the first time that someone has uploaded footage of the ending of Threes to the internet. However, this particular clip is gaining some traction across the web, simply because many players weren’t aware that it was possible to complete the game — which may well spark a resurgence of the app’s popularity.
Threes originally launched as a paid iOS app, but a free-to-play version was made available in June 2015. It’s since been released on various other platforms, including Android and the Xbox One, and there’s even a free version of the game that you can play directly from your browser.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
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Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.