I BEAT LEVEL 10!!! THE GODS HAVE SMILED UPON ME THIS DAY!!! (No, but actually I found a good way to get the upper hand. Swap cells between your starting spore and the one nearest to it 3-4 times until you've got 20 or more in your starting spore, then invade the spore directly beneath your starting spore. You've now got 3 spores under your command, and a much better chance at survival.)
Shut up, Shenson. You'll ruin it for the rest of us. (By the way, here's a screenshot of that device if you want to make it yourself: http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/6/8/1950977//Isoball3SandboxLoop.png)
I made a nice little infinite loop on Sandbox 3 that seems to remain at a constant speed each lap, meaning it won't grind to a halt or smash under heavy g-forces. I can then add a single arrow to send it off a side path to the exit when I feel it has run long enough. The contraption was stable enough to work for at least a minute (at least, that's how long I tested it before letting the ball out and earning 18635 points). I'll test it some more to see how long it's truly capable of running.
I honestly don't see what the fuss is about. I've been playing this game for a while now, I'm up to level 7, and I've still yet to encounter anything remotely considered a challenge. I mean, if it's just a sandbox game where there's no winning or losing, then that's fine. But if I'm not building cities, exploring worlds, or doing anything else fun that can substitute for good gameplay, I'm not enjoying the game. I'm sure with the simple addition of a move timer and a scoreboard that this would actually become something bordering on fun. As it is, 2/5.
I've noticed that if I "speed date" everyone at the start, they're a bit more likely to create larger groups around me, making the 7th square more likely to spawn. (By the way, is there an 8th square, 9th square, etc.?)
This game is a designer's worst nightmare. Nothing is intuitive until you read the instructions, and even then it's still hard to understand. That's a life bar?? It resembles no life bar I've ever seen before. There's no heart, no obvious life counter, no warning beeping to tell you you're about to lose. Why do I have cards if I'm not playing a card game? This game is pretty schizophrenic overall.
Sometimes the SBoAE will, when faced with a turning hallway, will go back the way they came. The path isn't forking at all, it's one continuous path from start to finish, and yet they are still getting lost. >:[
I actually collected 8 of the gems, even knowing something bad was going to happen (the name MALOR was kind of a dead giveaway), until I reached a lone person in the jungle who kindly told me that there were other ways up. That's when I realized that this game had multiple endings, and when I stopped collecting the gems. I subsequently got the Fruit of Youth, reached the mountain once more, and slew the demon. Huzzah! Unfortunately, loading my game just shows me the ending again, so I would have to play the whole thing again to see what the alternate endings are, and that's seems like too much of a pain. But still, a great experience overall, if a bit anvilicious. 4/5.
+ if this sounds like a good idea: When you rate 1 on any game, you must also choose from a list of reasons why you are giving this game a low score, including "Minimal effort by author", "Obvious Spam", and "No Badges." If someone selects "No badges", the user is redirected to a page explaining all the reasons why that is a stupid thing to vote low for, and then ban the user from voting on games for 3 days.
 "Tentacle Wars"){kind=icon}
 "Isoball 3"){kind=icon}
 "Love"){kind=icon}
 "Quadrus"){kind=icon}
 "Brick Revolution"){kind=icon}
 "Glops v4.0"){kind=icon}
 "Dungeon Developer"){kind=icon}
 "endeavor"){kind=icon}
 "Goddamn Snack Time with Rex Ryan"){kind=icon}
 "This is a test."){kind=icon}
 "Neon Race"){kind=icon}
Clever stuff.