Brain Out Level 183
📝 Walkthrough
Overview
Level 183 says "Catch the doll." The board shows a purple claw crane machine with a gray claw hanging from the top rail, a brown dog doll sitting in the right side of the cabinet, a round yellow grab button on the machine's lip, two blue arrow buttons on the floor, and a pile of gold coins next to the machine. There is also a small locked panel on the lower right of the machine. To catch the doll you have to operate the machine properly: open the small panel, tune the claw grip, insert a coin, drive the claw over the doll, and press the yellow button.
- Difficulty: Hard
- Estimated moves: 6
Step-by-Step Solution
- Look at the small square door on the lower right of the machine, just above the pile of coins. Swipe the door open to reveal a small adjustment knob inside.
- Drag the adjustment knob to the strong-grip position. If the grip is weak, the claw will close but release the doll on the way up. Setting the grip strong is required before you spend a coin.
- Pick up one of the gold coins from the pile on the floor and drag it into the coin slot of the machine. The machine wakes up and the claw can move.
- Press the left and right blue arrow buttons on the floor to slide the claw along the top rail. Keep pressing until the claw is directly above the brown dog doll.
- Once the claw is centered over the doll, press the round yellow grab button on the machine's lip. The claw drops, closes around the doll, and lifts it.
- The claw carries the doll over to the prize chute on the lower left and drops it in. The doll appears in the chute and a green check mark fills the cabinet, completing the level.
- After adjusting the claw, insert a coin, use the arrow keys to position the claw over the toy, and press the yellow grab button. The claw picks up the doll.
Strategy & Reasoning
The puzzle is a full chain of steps rather than a single trick. People fail by pressing the yellow button immediately, which does nothing because the machine has not been powered. Other players insert a coin but skip the grip adjustment, and then watch the doll slip out of the claw. Every step is necessary: the door must be opened to reach the grip knob, the knob must be tuned, a coin must be inserted, the claw must be positioned, and only then can the grab button work.
The two blue arrow buttons are on the floor, not on the machine, which is a small Brain Out quirk. They are the only controls for moving the claw left and right. The coin pile on the floor is also loose, so you have to drag a coin into the slot rather than tapping it. The yellow button on the machine lip is the actual grab trigger; pressing any other button will not drop the claw.
This level teaches the habit of inspecting every part of a machine before using it. Brain Out's arcade puzzles usually hide a setup step behind a door or a knob, and skipping that step makes the obvious action fail.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- Pressing the yellow button before inserting a coin. The claw will not respond until the machine is powered.
- Skipping the grip adjustment. A weak grip drops the doll mid-lift; open the small door and tune the knob first.
- Moving the claw past the doll because you do not use the floor arrows. The arrows on the floor are the claw's horizontal controls.