Turing Machine FAQ
55 questions players ask · Updated Nov 11, 2026 · Full rulebook
Setup and components
- Why does each verification card show four different numbers?
- Can I look under a verification card to avoid spoilers?
- What if the punch card I need is already in use by another player?
- How many punch cards does one player need to check a code?
- Is a puzzle with six verifiers harder than one with four?
- Does it matter which letter (A to D) a verification card sits under?
- Why do two different codes seem to pass the same verifier, or give two correct answers?
- Is the Example of Play puzzle on page 6 of the rulebook a valid puzzle?
Online problems
- Do the website problem codes match the rulebook puzzles?
- How do I check my answer against the machine for a rulebook problem?
- What do the letters and digits in a problem code such as C64 41N R mean?
- Which mode and criteria cards do the daily challenges use?
- In Nightmare mode, do you know which verification card goes with which criteria card?
- What is Extreme mode, and how do the criteria on its two cards work together?
- In Extreme mode, can the same criterion appear on both verifier cards?
- Can I create my own puzzles on the website?
- Does choosing the competitive or solo/co-op game type on the website change the puzzle?
Reading the verifier cards
- Does a verifier check every criterion printed on its card at once?
- What does a cross (X) from a verifier tell you?
- Can more than one criterion on a card be true of the solution, and do the bars between options mean either-or?
- How do you work out which criterion a verifier with several options is checking?
- In the Example of Play, why does verifier A pass a yellow 3 but not a yellow 1?
Card-by-card rulings
- How do you read criteria card 39, and what does a cross on it mean?
- What values do verifier cards 39, 40 and 41 compare against?
- What is the difference between card 31 and card 39?
- How do checks and crosses on card 31 (blue, yellow or purple above 1) work?
- What does a check on card 48 (one colour compared with another) tell you?
- On card 42 (which colour is smallest or largest), does a check mean both listed statements are true?
- How do the odd-or-even verifiers (cards 5 and 33) work when they return a check?
- Do count verifiers such as card 17 or card 45 need an exact number?
- How does verifier 36 work when the digit sum is 12, and is a result on that sum a bug?
- Does verifier 36 mean the digit sum of the code can never be a prime number?
- If card 37 passes two colours that add up to 4, are those two digits 2 and 2?
- Does card 14 compare colours individually or as a combined sum?
- What does verifier 14 rule out, and is it still needed when a digit is 1?
- Does card 22's 'neither' option mean the three numbers must all be different?
- Do the two repeated numbers on card 20 have to be next to each other?
- On card 25, does a sequence have to be consecutive numbers, and does 121 count?
- Is the rulebook's card 25 example for 'none at all' correct?
- How do the 'or equal' criteria on cards 34 and 35 treat ties?
Rounds and questioning
Deduction and the one-solution rule
- Is a verifier still needed if you can work out its criterion without ever testing it?
- When is a verifier redundant, and can one verifier's criterion imply another's?
- Must the solution get a check from every verifier?
- Is the optimal solution always possible in one round?
- Does the choice of test code matter, and is there a best number to test?
- When cards 11 and 15 are in the same puzzle, must Purple be the largest number?
- Can a criterion that is true for only one to three codes be used in a puzzle?
- Can the solution be three identical digits, such as 333 or 444?