Brain Out Level 168

Overview

Level 168 asks "How many triangles below?" The board shows a large triangle subdivided by several internal lines: a horizontal crossbar, a vertical line from the apex down through the middle, and a diagonal running through the lower section. Below the figure sit a yellow minus arrow, a black counter starting at 0, and a yellow plus arrow, with Clear and OK buttons underneath. Most players carefully count the triangles inside the drawing and land on 12, but the Brain Out trick is that the two yellow plus and minus arrow buttons themselves are shaped like small triangles and count toward the total. The correct answer is 14.

• Difficulty: Hard
• Estimated moves: 3

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Study the large triangle drawing first. Count every triangle you can see inside it: small single-region triangles, triangles made of two regions combined, and the big outer triangle. Working carefully, the subdivided figure contains 12 triangles in total.
2. Once you reach 12, pause. Most players stop here and tap OK, but the puzzle expects a larger number. Look away from the drawing and examine the user interface itself.
3. Notice the yellow minus arrow on the left of the counter and the yellow plus arrow on the right. Each arrowhead is drawn as a small filled triangle. These are part of the screen, and the puzzle counts them too.
4. Add those two UI arrow triangles to your count. 12 inside the figure plus 2 arrowheads equals 14.
5. Tap the yellow plus arrow repeatedly until the counter reads 14. Use the minus arrow if you overshoot.
6. With the counter showing 14, tap the blue OK button. The level-complete pop-up appears with the line "You are getting better and better!" Tap Next to continue.
7. After counting the twelve triangles inside the drawing, do not forget the two arrow shapes at the top left of the screen, which are part of the scene rather than the puzzle. Adding them gives the final answer of fourteen.

Strategy & Reasoning

The puzzle is a counting trap. The geometric figure is complex enough that counting it correctly already takes focus, and players naturally assume the question is only about the drawing. Brain Out redefines "below" to include everything on the screen beneath the question, including the control buttons. The two arrowheads are deliberately drawn as solid triangles rather than rounded buttons, which is the visual hint.

Answering 12 fails because it omits the two arrowheads. Answering any number higher than 14 also fails because there are no other triangle-shaped objects on the screen. The pencil-style counter itself, the Clear button, and the OK button are rounded rectangles, not triangles. The outer border of the big figure is a triangle, but it is already included in the 12-count of subdivisions; you do not double-count it separately.

The reason this level is memorable is that the solution rewards looking outside the problem statement. In Brain Out, UI elements are fair game whenever the question is a visual count. The congratulatory message "You are getting better and better" is the game acknowledging that you have started to notice interface objects as part of the puzzle, not just decoration.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Stopping at 12 after counting only the figure. The two yellow arrow buttons below are themselves triangles and must be added.
• Overcounting by splitting each quadrilateral region. Only regions whose three sides are all straight black lines count; mixed shapes do not.
• Tapping OK with the counter at 12 or 13. The accepted value is exactly 14; adjust the counter with the plus and minus arrows before confirming.