And now, the whole game in one shot, minus commentary. Enjoy.
Daedalian Opus is a game that has you placing shapes in a playfield so that they all fit perfectly into it. The game is just you, the playfield, the pieces and trial and error, and while that is also a good thing, it can also be a bad thing, as there is no hint system to help you out and you're left entirely to your own devices, making the premise of the game and the whole appeal of it a double-edged sword. It is, however, a nice fit for the Game Boy, as it is a very good way of staying busy on the go, and while this game could have been on NES, it is on Game Boy entirely for that purpose-driven reason.
The game is named after Daedalus, who is (supposedly) the son of Icarus (and also the guy who told him not to fly too close to the sun with the wings made out of wax, and we all know how that turned out) and the man who made the Labyrinth of Crete, which imprisoned the Minotaur.
The D-Pad moves the cursor, B rotates the pieces, and A selects and places. Select flips pieces vertically, while Start flips pieces horizontally. Pressing A and B at the same time resets all pieces to their default positions.
When you start the game, an old man named Dr. P will tell you that you'll be solving a bunch of puzzles. Press A to go through dialogue. You'll start with three pieces, but you'll get more along the way until you end up with twelve altogether.
Since this game can be super-hard for people who cannot play a game along the lines of "put all the pieces in this thing and hope they fit perfectly" here, solutions for all the puzzles can be found on GameFAQs. Puzzles can have multiple solutions, but you can get through the game with the ones here.
You'll be on a map screen where you will go from one level to another. Left and Right move the little man around, and Up enters the doorway to the next level. On these screens, a U.F.O. will reveal the password for the level you've just reached, and you also have a chance to get a new piece from the fairy at the bridge that materializes between the levels as you move to the right.
Level 1
You start out with three shapes: an L shape (which I call "Big L" or "L Train"), a T shape (which I call "Mr. T") and a line with a square sticking out (which I call "Nightstick" or "Boss Man's Nightstick"). You'll need to flip the L-shaped piece vertically (or the "Nightstick" piece) with Select to win, depending on where you place the T shape.
When you complete a level, you'll get a message saying "Good." Press A to toggle this message so you can see your completed puzzle (and also copy it down on graph paper if you want), and press Start to head to the next level.
Level 2
Password: KING
You'll get a small square with a small notch sticking out (which I call "Utah" after the state of Utah).
Level 3
Password: EASY
You'll get a straight-line shaped piece (which I call "Long Boi") here. You'll have to use
Also, you won't be using all the pieces here, as "Mr. T." won't fit at all in the thin box.
Level 4
Password: NICE
You'll get an L-shaped piece (which I call "Protractor") here.
Level 5
Password: BORN
You'll get a U-shaped piece (which I call "Handle" here.
Level 6
Password: FREE
You'll get a long S-shaped piece (which I call "Lightning Bolt") here.
Level 7
Password: STEP
You'll get a cross-shaped piece (which I call "Cross") here. Ironically, you don't use it in this puzzle.
Level 8
Password: LIVE
You won't get a new piece here, but at this point, you should have an idea of how this game goes.
Level 9
Password: CITY
You'll get a zig-zag shape (which I call "Zig-Zag" and later "Dolph Ziggler") here. Ironically, you won't use this new shape in this level, which has a playfield shaped like something other than a simple rectangle or square here. You also won't be using all the pieces here, either.
Level 10
Password: MEGA
You'll get a piece shaped more like an "S" (which I call "Crankshaft" and later "Sunsoft S") here. You won't be using all of the pieces here.
Level 11
Password: SONG
Amazingly, you don't have to use all the pieces to get through this stage.
When you complete this puzzle, you'll get a message from Dr. P saying that there are 2,336 different configurations in the next stage.
Level 12
Password: LOVE
In this stage, you'll get a weirdly-shaped piece with parts that stick out in three directions. (I call it "Faucet" because it looks like a faucet at the side of a building that you connect a garden hose to if you rotate it to go a certain way.)
The buildings for this and future levels will have new designs, and you'll also get new music here. At least this game has different songs, unlike Ka-Blooey.
You'll then get told by Dr. P that you have 23 different shapes to work with. This is the amount of levels that you have left, not the amount of pieces that you have (which is twelve).
Level 13
Password: JUMP
At this rate, you won't get any more new pieces between levels, so get used to having twelve puzzle pieces to play around with.
Level 14
Password: CORE
Unlike other levels, you'll need to use all the puzzle pieces to fill up the playfields from this point on.
Level 15
Password: BEAT
At this point, there isn't much to say about the levels, so enjoy looking at passwords!
Level 16
Password: BURN
Level 17
Password: SING
Level 18
Password: TOUR
Level 19
Password: LOOK
Level 20
Password: SOUL
Level 21
Password: OPEN
Level 22
Password: BEST
Level 23
Password: WILD
Level 24
Password: TIME
Level 25
Password: SHOW
Level 26
Password: MOON
Level 27
Password: EAST
Despite the cross being in the center of the playfield, you still have to move it, foiling any belief that the game is throwing you a bone.
Level 28
Password: RAIN
Level 29
Password: LONG
Level 30
Password: CLUB
Level 31
Password: TOWN
Level 32
Password: WOOD
Level 33
Password: BASS
Level 34
Password: MIND
Level 35
Password: STAR
Level 36
Password: FINE
After you complete Level 35, you'll get one more level with a thirteenth shape: a square block that is a tetromino as opposed to a pentomino like all the other pieces. It is in the playfield, but you will still have to move it to complete the puzzle.
When you complete the game, you'll finally get the ending, and you'll get the password ZEAL, which lets you play any of the 36 levels that you want.
Also, if you press A on the title screen, you'll get the controls for the game. Which I had known that before playing the game.
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