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Rub the wood to invent fire

8000BC

Grab the bit of wood close to the centre, and make short sharp movements in either direction over the vertical stick. That’ll make sure you get the maximum number of passes over the wood. Then Whump! Up she goes.

Cut the tree to invent the wheel

3200BC

This one will take a steady hand. Click anywhere on the dotted line, and work calmly around it. A red dot will appear where you started, make sure you end at that point too.

The trick with this one is to pretend there’s no time limit – if you panic you’ll wobble – so block everything out, go Zen, and soon you’ll have you’re a wheel that Fred Flintstone would be proud of.

Drag the stones to complete Stonehenge

2600BC

Make sure you grad the blocks near to their centre, on the red dot – if you grab them off to one side you’ll find it harder to keep them balance. Then it’s simply a matter of dragging each straight down onto the vertical stones.

Drag the stones to complete the Pyramid

2200BC

Just like with Stonehenge, grab the blocks near the centre. This one is trickier because you’ll need to manoeuvre one block underneath another. But whoever said building the pyramids was easy? Just be steady, and you use the blocks to bash others into place if you need to.

Put the men in the Trojan horse

1200BC

Drag and drop the men onto their seats in the middle. This one should be easy as falling off that log you chopped into earlier. Except the time’s ticking down fast, so make sure you drop them accurately.

Light the First Olympic Torch. Stay on the path!

766BC

Being the flame-bearer for this one demands pixel-perfect precision. Make sure you click directly on the crosses – one foot wrong and you’ll be over the edge of the cliff in a jiff.

Make your Roman bash 8 Gauls!

500BC

Test your trigger response, in a time before there were even triggers, just mean looking Gauls and a mighty sword to swing. Aim for the head, that’ll knock em out. If you’re finding it difficult hitting enough, try repeatedly swinging as you move around. You’ll look like a madman, but it’ll work.

Fill Archimedes bath!

200BC

Poor Archemedes. So very very clever, yet unable to fill his own bath. Still, at least this is in a time where you don’t have to worry about giving him any bubble bath. Drag the jugs of water and drop them when the lip of the jug is over the open part of the bath. Like the Trojan Horse, it demands quick response times and precision with the mouse.

Draw to complete the Wall of China

220BC

Drawing between the points means you need to have a good ‘flow’ with your mouse. Make sure you start from 1 and end at 5, and watch the epic structure appear before your eyes.

Row your Vikings to invade the land!

780

Mean looking and foul smelling, but pretty good at looting and pillaging, these Vikings need your help with the oars. Grab them by clicking and holding on the red dot, then move the mouse in circular motions clockwise. Make sure you don’t cut across the imaginary circle – that’s cheating, and our Vikings hate cheating.

Defend Scotland from 12 Englishmen!

1297

Just like the Roman level, this one calls for lightning fast reactions. You won’t have much time to notice where they appear, and this time they’ll be slightly camouflaged against their fallen comrades. So try and defocus on the screen and move to wherever you see something unexpected appear.

Lead Columbus to America

1462

It might look like a straight path to land, but Columbus wasn’t quite so accurate with his sailing. He didn’t have a map after all. You’ve got to follow his somewhat haphazard route here. Watch for the sea monsters carefully, they will appear at regular intervals, so time your crossing wisely.

Finish the Mona Lisa for Leonardo

1592

Ahhh bella! Or not so bella, until you finish the job for him. Try and memorise the places the paint pots are in, that will mean you can focus on the image and go straight to the right paint when you know where you want to drop it.

Place Romeo & Juliet on stage

1595

Drag and drop our two characters onto the two spots they’re most likely to appear. You remember the big scene don’t you? ‘Romeo Romeo, where for art thou, Romeo?’ No?

Draw to complete the Taj Mahal

1643

Now this drawing puzzle will test your skills. You don’t have to be exactly on the line, but stray too far from it and you’ll ruin the building. Again, this is one where keeping calm and pretending there’s no timer helps a lot.

Make the apples fall on Isaac Newton

1687

This one will need a fast clicking finger. It’s best to start on the left and work your way right so you don’t miss any, and can quickly drop all the apples on his head. That’ll teach him about gravity.

Rotate 10 times to start the Industrial Revolution

1700s

Just like the Viking level, you’ll need to be deliberate but quick with this one. Grad the handle and rotate ten times.

Compose Beethoven’s ’Fur Elise’

1810

If you’ve got any musical talent… then you probably won’t need it here, it’s very simple. The keys will light up when you need to play them, just make sure you do it fast enough.

Set off the American Civil War cannons!

1861

Rhythm is the key to this one. Try to get in the flow, moving methodically as you step down through the cannons.

Join up the first telephone

1876

Make sure you don’t touch the edges of the tunnel with your wire. A certain amount of wobbliness is fine, but bury it too far into the ground and all you’ll be able to call on that phone will be worms and rabbits.

Turn on all the first electric lightbulbs

1879

You’ll need to be swift with these, they’re early technology and don’t stay on for long. Start on the left and work right quickly, one mistake and you’ll probably have to start again.

Build the Eiffel Tower

1889

Make sure you grab the pieces as close to their centre as possible, or they’ll wobble all over the place. This is especially true of the last thin bit, but when you get that sitting on the top nicely it’ll feel like the cherry on the cake.

Start the Ford car. 10 cranks!

1908

You should be okay with the technique if you’ve got through the Industrial Revolution, just be quicker! And yes, they really did used to have to start cars like this.

Avoid perils and reach the South Pole!

1911

Watch the polar bear and time his walk, making sure you cross when he’s not there. Likewise, the river crossing will appear at regular intervals, so be patient and wait until it’s safe.

Find the Iceberg!

1912

Sweep the telescope quickly from side to side, starting at the top and working down. Even if you don’t see it at first, keep looking, it’s there!

Help King Kong destroy 10 pesky planes

1933

King Kong can swipe with his left or right hand when you click on them. He’ll take a few seconds to come back to normal, so the best solution is to wait until a few planes cross and take out a whole bunch with a mighty swing.

Take down 20 Messerschmitts

1940

Swoop your plane up and down whilst firing, that’ll give you the best chance of taking them all out.

Don’t step on the blue suede shoes

1956

You shoes will gravitate towards the mouse unless you keep moving it! So always move it away from the shoes, and watch out, sometimes they’ll head straight for you, so you’ll need lightning fast reactions.

Finish the Pop Art painting

1960

Like the Mona Lisa, you’ll need to be aware of where your paint pots are. This one is harder as some are pots of dots, so watch out and stay calm – the timer will be getting tight on this one.

Don’t push the button!

1962

There were narrow escapes during the Cold War, but no country pushed the button. Theirs weren’t moving around and chasing them all over the desk, however, so you’ve got your work cut out here. Make sure you keep constantly moving the mouse away from the button.

Take one small step!

1969

Well, one small click for man, in this case. Click from one to the next as quickly as you can. There’s a nice big red arrow pointing at your next footstep, so that’s all right then.

Stop the Space Invaders!

1972

It’s a game, within a game, wow. This time however, the shields will only cause you pain rather than help you – it’s better to blast bits of them away whilst you’ve got a few moments respite, then you can shoot through to the pesky invaders.

Knock down the Berlin wall

1989

This one calls for furious button bashing. Keep your clicks centres on the wall and you should be through it in no time. You’d better be, because no time is pretty much what you have.

Connect the Internet

1990

A swift flow with the mouse is needed with this one, like you’re a painter sketching something roughly. Except you’ve got to be precise. Look, nobody said it should be easy, the internet is complicated stuff.

Dig the Channel Tunnel!

1994

Dig dig dig! The challenge here is that the target keeps moving, so prepare to slowly drag your mouse to the right as you click.

Copy 20 Dolly the Sheep!

1996

You’ll have to go Zen with this one, there will be sheep appearing randomly all over the place, and if you stare too hard you’ll probably miss one. Just look for where the red markers appear after you’ve click, that’ll help.

Fit 20 solar panels

2010

Another Zen one, but by this time you’ll surely be more relaxed than a monk. Unless you look at that timer and panic, so don’t do that, just keep clicking and you’ll have completed it before you can saw renewable energy resources. You’ll need a bit of energy yourself after this, reward yourself, perhaps with a biscuit of your choice.

State of Play 2010