An Interview with Anke Seith,
the Winner of the Second Contest
This talented young lady from Germany, is truly spectacular.
She is a very active member of the community. She made a walkthrough for every
single room in the shareware version, and now she blasted through the whole
contest stage in only 48 hours.
We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to have this
interview with her...
[MXD] Hi Anke.
Thanks for allowing us the opportunity to do the interview with you. First,
could you tell us a word about yourself?
[Anke] Well, I'm 26
years old, living in Germany, I'm married and we have daughter, she's four.
I'm living in
Siegburg, a small town near the former capital of Germany
[MXD] Great! Now,
Getting the first place in this contest is certainly not an easy achievement. I
am sure many other players are turning green with envy. After starting with the
contest stage, did you expect to get the first place. Was it an easy
achievement?
[Anke] No, I never
expected to be the first. The contest stage was really hard to solve, especially
those maze rooms. I played both the shareware and the full version for many
times, but the contest stage was really a challenge for me.
[MXD] In your
opinion, what was the trickiest part in the contest stage.
[Anke] Well, it's
difficult to define a single room, but the maze surely was tricky. I got
lost there many times.
[MXD] Ok,
now what about the original game? What was the trickiest part?
[Anke] Ah ok, I
don't remember the trickiest part of the game, but I know that I really had
problem in the room with the 11 boxes on the right hand side, and cross like
spikes on the left (don't remember the stage at the moment)
[Side note:
Anke is referring to this room near the end of stage 5.]
This is the room
just before the final room in the game. Looks like many players got stumped
there!
[MXD] When
did your love for puzzle games start? What puzzle game did you enjoy most?
[Anke] I enjoyed
playing puzzle games as long as I can remember. My favorite one is, of course,
the magic seal. It includes everything I expect from such kind of game: an
interesting plot, it's challenging, good graphics...
[MXD]
Thanks, we are flattered. :-) So, in The Magic Seal, what type of rooms do you
enjoy most?
[Anke] Well, I
think I can say my favorite rooms are the one's, where you have to move the
boxes in a specific way, to get to the exit or to get the key
[MXD] Do
you ever meet this kind of mental challenges in real life/Job? Can you give us
an example?
[Anke] Real life
challenges? My whole school time was a challenge, :-)
[MXD] And,
of course, we love to ask everyone this question. Which movie did you like most
this year? Best TV show? Best song?
[Anke] Well, as I am
a Tolkien fan since I first read The Hobbit, when I was nine, my favorite movie
this year was The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (I know it was released
last year, but I first saw it this year) Best TV show? My preferred one is
Alias, but I also like other shows (well at least mostly US shows) I can't say
which song I loved most, there have been many I liked, but actually I'm more an
Oldies fan, you know things like the Beatles or Rock 'n' Roll
[MXD] Other
than the Magic Seal, what other games did you enjoy very much.
[Anke] Well for
puzzle games the Magic Seal is the only one I play at the moment - I also
thought of building a stage that is easy enough for my daughter-, but I also
play Jigsaw puzzles, I have a pool game I play randomly, and my friends infected
me with their "car racing fever" (Need for Speed Underground). Oh and Prince of
Persia-The Sands of Time
[MXD]
Suppose I give you a door, a diamond, a box, a hole, a laser turret, a conveyor
belt, and a monster! And I ask you to construct a mini-room out of them, what
would your first trial look like?
[Anke] Well ok,
maybe like this: When you enter the room, the door is at the opposite side. In
the center is the cb, let's say it's 3 fields long, with the box standing next,
and the laser crosses the cb on the middle field. The hole is at the end of it
and the diamond is in the lasers line. So to get the box in the hole first
you'll have to time the monsters moves, so that it covers the laser and the box
can fall safely into the hole. At the same time you'll have to catch the
diamond, and step up/downwards, so that the laser doesn't kill you. Of course,
the field where the hole is, must be the only way through, so next to it there
are unpushable stone blocks
[MXD] In
The Magic Seal, what monster do you love most? Which one did you hate most?
[Anke] They are all
cool, I think the green worms and the orange fireballs are the easiest, most
difficult are the one's which follow you, like the red worms and the blue
fireballs, the red spike balls sometimes made feel a bit crazy - especially in
room 22? in stage 2- and the blue "ghost" is sooo sweet.
[MXD] When
did you ever say!
“Wow! I am smarter than the creators of the game themselves!”
[Anke] NEVER, ok,
maybe I had a bit a feeling like this, when I found a solution, you didn't think
of (That was in stage two, the room with the two lines of each 10 boxes and
spikes and the blue gem)
[MXD] Yes, we
remember this room very well... We surely felt the same that time...
And, when did you ever say...
“Whoops! That was the
worst mistake I have ever made”
[Anke] In the Magic
Seal surely in every room that seemed hard, thought the solution was quite
"easy" - at least, afterwards. In real life... every time, when something or
someone nerves me, and I don't say anything, as it may be too rude to do so.
Most times it turns out that it would have been better to say, what I mean.
[MXD] At the end.
Is there something you would love to say to other Magic Seal players?
[Anke] Well, always
try to keep it up, there's always a solution, whatever the problem may be. And I
would find it nice to get to know a bit more about the other players.
[MXD] Thanks very
much for the opportunity to speak with you, and wish you all the best
[Anke] Thank you
at MXDSoft for creating such a great game, and giving us the possibility to talk
about it.
