Geared Level 80

One cog away…

Are you totally stuck on Geared for iPhone?  On level 80, by any chance?  I was, for days!  It seems totally impossible at first, but after a while I discovered several tricks (that seem like exploits in the game) that allow you to finish the level.  Read on if you’d like to know what they are…

First of all, soon after loading the level, you are able to place cogs almost on top of other existing cogs.  If you place several more of your own cogs (in distant places), this ability will disappear.  Is this a bug in the game?  Maybe.  But it does seem to be vital to completing this level.  So the first step is to (straight after loading the level) place two small gears almost bang on top of the two central blue gears.  They will fall down into the gaps below them.

You can then place the big gear above the yellow gear, and drop a smaller one in from above to connect it to the two lower-central blue gears.  Now the four gears directly above the yellow gear should all be turning.

On the left hand side, drop in two small gears to connect the lower-left gear and the one directly up and to the right of it.  Try to keep these as low as possible so they don’t interfere with the large gears we will place next.

Finally place two large gears in the top-left and top-right.  You may have to fiddle with the top-left gear to keep everything turning and not clashing with the small gears we placed.

Now you should have the same setup as this image.  Just place your final small gear above the bottom-right gear to get everything turning!  And even if the gears in the top-left are clashing, the level may complete anyway, which seems like exploiting another bug!

I felt a bit cheap completing the game this way, as if I had cheated.  But I couldn’t see a more legitimate way to finish the level.  Has anyone else managed it?

Edit: There has now been an update which addresses the gear placement issue, making this solution no longer possible.  Also, there *is* a valid solution.  But after googling it I thought I’d tried it already!  Perhaps the update made it easier to place the gears correctly?

*** UPDATE ***

After buying the add-on packs for geared, and investing an even more worrying amount of time into the game, I went back to level 80 to look at the proper solution.  It’s certainly pretty difficult, and requires very precise placement of the big gear at the bottom, but with some trial and error it is possible.  You will want to get to this state:

And then just move that small gear on the bottom-right into the gap above it to connect all the gears.

Phew!  I think that was the hardest level!  Even after the add-on packs, the immovable gears, and the crazy falling obstacles.  🙂