How each Timeburn game works
Timeburn games share a shape: one shared case per day at midnight UTC, extra modes when one is not enough, no accounts, and an answer that code has checked before you ever see the puzzle. They differ in what you reason about. Gatesmith is Boolean logic made physical, ALIBI is classic truth-teller deduction, and NIGHTWATCH is deterministic prediction under a budget. The guides below explain each in enough depth to play well, and say exactly how each puzzle is verified.
- Gatesmith: the daily logic-gate puzzle
Match a truth table with the fewest gates. How par is computed, how hints work, what counts as a gate, and how to read the archive.
- ALIBI: honest witnesses and liars
Every statement is fully true or fully false. How to pin down the first card, how counting claims work, a worked three-witness case, and how cases are proved unique.
- NIGHTWATCH: hold the keep till dawn
Creatures that follow readable rules, pieces that block, trap, light and lure, and the solver that guarantees every night can be held.
At a glance
| Game | You reason about | A case takes | Modes | Verified by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatesmith | Boolean functions, circuits | 3 to 20 minutes | Daily, practice bank, forge your own | Truth-table evaluation and an exhaustive search for the smallest circuit |
| ALIBI | Consistency of statements | 1 to 8 minutes | Daily, endless (four tiers), challenge, tutorial | A solver that enumerates every classification; one must survive |
| NIGHTWATCH | Deterministic movement, resource budget | 10 to 30 minutes per run | Tonight's watch, endless | A solver that finds a holding plan before a night is dealt |
What "verified" means here
A puzzle site can be wrong in two ways: the puzzle has no answer, or it has several and the game only accepts one. Both are maddening, and both are easy to rule out with a little computation. Gatesmith turns each rule into a truth table and searches for the smallest circuit before publishing. ALIBI generates a case and runs an exhaustive solver over every possible honest-or-lying assignment; only cases with exactly one survivor are kept. NIGHTWATCH simulates the night with a bounded planner using the pieces you actually hold, and only deals nights the planner can hold. None of this is visible while you play, which is the point: you can trust that a stuck feeling is a reasoning problem, not a broken puzzle.
Playing well in general
- Find the forced move. Every one of these games has at least one deduction that follows from a single clue. Start there rather than guessing.
- Write things down. ALIBI has a notebook, Gatesmith shows your truth table live, NIGHTWATCH lets you undo placements. Use them; nobody solves hard cases in their head.
- Compare with friends. Dailies are the same for everyone, and each game produces spoiler-free share text you can paste anywhere.
- Read the Learn guides. The four short pieces on digital logic are written for Gatesmith but make all the games easier, because every one of them is applied Boolean reasoning.