Sponge Tower

**!Spoiler Warning!**: **Plot and/or crucial story details follow.**

## Story

As The Player and The Journalist continue to venture through the depths of the Haqua Sea, they come across a slight impasse. Two giant sandstone statues mark the entrance to a much darker chasm underneath the sea. These statues are bizarre in that they somewhat resemble human faces, and in fact Professor Smith discovers that they are in fact loosely modelled off of humans, implying that the ancient civilizations from long ago predicted the existence of humans.

## Appearance

These tragic underwater remnants are housed by a large colony of Snail Spines, feeding off of the concentrated salt deposits that have accumulated on the giant sandstone twins after remaining still for millions of years. Other forms of aquatic life grow here as well, such as sponges and seagrass. These Twin Titans made of sandstone act as a divide in-between the sea floor, revealing the entrance to the dark, mysterious chasm below, where barely enough sunlight penetrates these dark depths.

## Solution

This level introduces the Sponge Goo, a species of goo that specializes in stretching over long distances by absorbing the water around it. Because of this, it doesn't take many Sponge Goo balls to reach the top of the level and wake up the sleeping Goo Product and Sand Goo above. However, the player must accomplish this slowly and methodically to prevent Sponge Goo casualties. The player must weave through a vertical colony of Snail Spines while taking advantage of sticky spots on the twins. The Filter Pipe in this level requires 5 Goo Product.

## OCD Solution

To achieve OCD for Sponge Tower, the player must complete the level in 16 moves or less. This OCD is quite simple, as the player only needs to build directly upwards with the Sponge Goo. The sticky areas will also help the player get their bearings, but they must be wary of the devious snails. Once the player has gotten to the top in a minimal amount of moves, the OCD will be achieved.

## Dialogue

* The Journalist
	+ *You probably noticed two things here... ...the sponge goo... ...and that blue pipe. The blue pipe, or "Filter Pipe" requires specific goo from a particular area. ...Though I probably should have mentioned that WAY earlier... ... Meanwhile, these sponge goos can absorb water to expand their strands, and cover bigger distances. Maybe that can help find the goo needed for the filter pipe... And hey, if not, then at at least you won't have to worry about showering! Also, ignore those giant sandstone faces. I'm sure they mean nothing. -The Journalist*
	+ *Using the sponges below, we can reach the goo up here and bring them to the filter pipe! Just pretend you are in a rescue operation... Their lives hypothetically depend on you, so don't hypothetically mess up! No stress! (hypothetically) -The hypothetical Journalist*
* Professor Smith
	+ *It's a rather eerie sight. What seems like statues of giants are rather abundant in these depths. They look strikingly similar to humans, too. Of course, without those hideous rows of teeth. This could very well have been a prediction of how humans have looked. How do I know this? Well, this is when it gets even more strange. We salvaged some of these carvings about a week ago, and the discovery was rather scary. There was also some text carved in the statues, written in AGS. AGS is the term we use for the ancient language these civilizations used. The writing was loosely translated to "Human". It's a very frightening discovery. These ancient civilizations have predicted our existence. How is something like that even possible? Is it a prophecy? -Prof. S*

## Secrets

* One of Professor Smith's articles can be found located in the background, as a silhouette of a signpost. This signpost is difficult to spot, obscured by the darkness in the bottom-left corner of the level's background.

## Trivia

* Despite being the first level to address the gimmick of Filter Pipes, these pipes have appeared since Block Blasting.
* During development, the shapes of the sandstone twins weren't intended to be shaped like human heads. After realizing this, StrixToxis decided to embrace the accident.
* **Sponge Tower** used to not have any kind of hazards in the alpha versions.
* The level's tagline is a common phrase used for intuitive cooking recipes and gardening tips.
* The music in this level is from one of Kyle Gabler's other games called 'Human Resource Machine', where the track uses the same name.

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human\_Resource\_Machine
2. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/kylefromthefuture/13-your-five-year-plan?in=kylefromthefuture/sets/human-resource-machine-soundtrack