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You've heard of humans walking dogs, but how about dogs walking humans? This is the concept behind the puzzle game Humanity. Okay. We lied. The dog is only part of the concept. Humanity's more prominent themes focus on desire, morals, worship, community, and other existential topics. Your goal, as the dog, is to guide humans toward a mythical light.
Humanity's mechanics are quick to learn. However, like humanity (lowercase), the game is challenging to master. You'll need a combination of careful planning and quick decision-making to effectively lead your humans. Fortunately, there are strategies you can utilize to make each trial more approachable.
Inspect The Entire Puzzle For Clues
Humanity's three-dimensional puzzles often hide essential details in plain sight. However, if you're looking at the puzzle from a specific angle, you may completely miss them. Therefore, it's vital to thoroughly inspect the entire puzzle before issuing commands.
Free camera mode is the best way to investigate a trial. This perk, which unlocks after you earn five Goldys, lets you freely move the game camera around the puzzle regardless of your location on the stage.
However, you may also move the camera around a trial ground before beginning the stage. In this circumstance, the trial information will obstruct your view. Additionally, the camera will move automatically when idle. It's not an ideal alternative, but it's helpful if you haven't unlocked the free camera mode.
How can you use the free camera to your advantage? First, we highly recommend zooming out for a bird's eye view of the trial. Then, it's best to rotate the camera a full 360º, thus revealing any obscured areas. Finally, we suggest moving the camera through the trial stage in the path you plan to command your humans. This is an excellent diagnostic of how feasible your plans are.
Plan Future Commands Before Setting The First
As trials increase in difficulty, so will the number of commands you must give. However, keeping up with your humans while giving orders is overwhelming. And when you're trying to guide Goldys safely to the light, that kind of multitasking becomes even more anxiety-inducing. So, it's best to think ahead.
As you map out commands, place your first command last. Place all your future commands on the stage first. Working this way will give you a clear understanding of the path you're creating. Furthermore, you'll avoid mistakes, like losing Goldys or moving critical items in the wrong place.
Once you've mapped your commands from Command B to Command Z, you may activate Command A (your first command). This command is the catalyst that directs your humans into the path you forged for them.
Create Loops To Stall For Time
Sometimes you'll reach a hiccup in your trial you didn't anticipate. These moments are crucial because you can quickly lose Goldys while planning your next move. Fortunately, there is a fix for that!
Direct your humans in a circle via the turn commands whenever you're stuck on a puzzle. Then, while your humans meander, you may search for solutions and place future commands.
Loops are also helpful for keeping People Switches active, especially if the switch is off course from the solution path.
You Can Reach Far Off Spaces By Crowd Surfing
You can't direct a crowd if you can't place commands. And some trials have locations that your dog persona cannot reach. So, what can you do when a platform is too high to jump toward or seriously far away? The answer is Crowd Surfing.
Crowd surfing is a mechanic allowing you to travel atop your crowd of humans. After jumping into the air, you can crowd surf by pressing the jump button again. Then, you may travel toward the front or back of the crowd you're currently surfing. Finally, you can leave the crowd by pressing the jump button.
There are several helpful examples of crowd surfing. For instance, the trial, Prologue 05: Crowd Surfing, involves surfing a crowd up a towering climbable wall. Awakening Trial 07: Bridge The Gap has a center podium you can only reach by crowd surfing across a vast expanse of humans floating between two platforms.
Some Solutions Require Quick Redirections
We would love it if all Humanity's puzzles had carefully planned solutions. But, unfortunately, that's not always the case. Quick reflexes and precise timing play an essential role in several trials.
Air Flow is a prime example of a quick command switch. This trial consists of a labyrinth of podiums connected by industrial fans. Several People Switches activate these fans as well as hidden platforms.
In this case, a People Switch activates a new platform that leads to the light. However, to get the second Goldy, you must direct your humans to the opposite end of the stage via the industrial fans. Since the platform covers those fans, you must wait to activate the switch after your humans return with the Goldy.
Coordinate Multiple Human Paths To Address Individual Tasks
The best way to address Humanity's trials is by focusing on one task at a time. That's because if you attempt to accomplish every task in one path, you'll encounter more problems than solutions. For instance, you may lose track of your humans, introduce crowd congestion, or neglect a vital detail.
Meanwhile, coordinating a separate path of humans for each task has many benefits. For example, you'll work more diligently, considering every factor of the trial. Furthermore, you'll avoid accidental misdirections and decrease foot traffic, resulting in more crowd control.
This strategy works wonderfully for trials with moveable structures. For instance, in The Choice Trial 02A: Bridge And Tunnel, if you try to move multiple structures simultaneously, your humans will push the object against each other. However, if you complete one path at a time, you'll guarantee structures will move precisely where you want them.
Once your path of humans completes a task, you can retire them by directing them off the trial stage. Or, if your human trail contains a Goldy, you may quarter them in a small loop out of harm's way while other paths complete their jobs.
Let Paths Die To Declutter Puzzles
Notice how we said it's okay to "retire" a group of humans? That's right. We're telling you to let your humans perish. But, per the game's canon, as long as they're not a Goldy, they'll regenerate anyway. So, there's no harm (if you're really that concerned).
If a crowd of humans is in the way, or they've finished a task that doesn't lead to the light, lead those suckers off the edge to their demise. Of course, it's tantamount that you cut this path off at the source via a command. Otherwise, you'll continue to get humans walking in the same direction. Once your disassembled human parade finishes its lemming drop, you'll have more space to focus on your next moves.