Tricky Test 2 Level 21

Overview

This level asks "How many apples are there?" while displaying a stylized low-poly tree with several leaf clusters and a short trunk. At first glance the puzzle looks like a trivial visual-counting task: you simply count the apples that are visibly hanging from the branches and enter that number. However, the game is designed as a trick, and the visible apples are deliberately only a subset of the real answer. The tree is interactive, and if you only count the apples you can see, you will lose a heart and have to reconsider. The correct approach is to shake or rub the tree so that apples hidden inside the foliage fall to the ground, then recount everything.

• Difficulty: Regular
• Estimated moves: 3–5 interactions (count visible, shake tree, recount, enter answer)

Step-by-Step Solution

1. Read the question at the top of the screen: "How many apples are there?".
2. Look at the tree and notice the apples that are visibly attached to the green leaf clusters. At first you can only see a small number of apples hanging on the branches.
3. Do NOT enter this visible count yet. Instead, press and rub your finger back and forth across the leafy canopy of the tree, or rapidly tap/shake the tree area, to simulate shaking the branch.
4. Watch as additional apples that were hidden inside the foliage drop down and rest on the ground below the trunk. The on-screen message "All apples fallen!" confirms that every apple has now been dislodged.
5. Now count ALL apples: the ones still on the tree plus the ones that have fallen to the ground. The total number of apples is 7.
6. Use the minus/plus stepper below the question to set the counter to 7, then press OK to submit.

Strategy & Reasoning

The puzzle looks like a static counting question, but the game is designed to punish players who trust their eyes. The apples hidden in the leaf clusters are intentionally hard to see, so the "obvious" answer is deliberately wrong. The intended solution is to treat the tree as a physical object you can shake, which causes every apple (including the concealed ones) to fall where you can count them reliably. Entering the small visible count immediately costs you a heart because it ignores the hidden apples. Only after you dislodge and recount do you arrive at the correct total of 7. The key realization is that the environment is interactive, not a static picture.

Tips & Common Mistakes

• Mistake: counting only the apples visibly hanging on the branches. Correct: shake/rub the tree first so all hidden apples fall, then count everything.
• Mistake: entering the count immediately after reading the question. Correct: always interact with the tree before submitting.
• Mistake: forgetting to recount after the apples fall. Correct: once "All apples fallen!" appears, count the fallen apples plus the remaining on-tree apples to reach 7.
• Mistake: assuming the puzzle is a pure visual test. Correct: the tree responds to touch, and the hidden apples only appear after you shake it.