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Level Overview
What Makes This Puzzle Tricky
You land on Game is hard Level 39 and face a jagged bar chart — like a chaotic stock ticker or broken audio mixer. Bold text shouts “I want equality!”, but there’s no obvious way to act. No buttons. No sliders labeled “equalize.” Just uneven orange bars sitting silently. Most players pause, waiting for something to happen — but nothing does. That’s the trick: it looks like static data, but it’s actually a hands-on control panel disguised as a graph.
Your Goal
Your mission is refreshingly straightforward: make all five bars identical in height. The game doesn’t require them to be tall or short — just perfectly matched. In practice, hitting the topmost limit for each one is the most reliable path to success. This isn’t about interpreting equality philosophically — it’s about enforcing visual uniformity on the screen.
How the Game Responds
- UI Dragging: Those orange bars aren’t decorative — they’re fully interactive sliders you can stretch upward.
- Multi-touch: Not mandatory, but dragging multiple bars at once speeds things up significantly.
- Visual Alignment: Victory triggers only when heights match exactly — even a single pixel off will block completion.
- hidden Interactables: They blend in so well that many miss their interactivity entirely.
It’s not a typo. It’s a thumb workout disguised as a logic puzzle.
What Appears on Your Screen
Let’s walk through the layout. It’s minimal and intentional.
Centered at the top: the bold phrase “I want equality!” in the game’s signature font.
Below it, dominating the screen, sit five vertical orange bars resting on a thin brown baseline. Their heights vary sharply:
- The first bar is tall.
- The second is very short.
- The third is medium-height.
- The fourth is tall again.
- The fifth sits somewhere in between.
It resembles a soundboard or a misaligned histogram. A “Menu” button lives in the top-left corner; a “Hint” bulb glows in the bottom-right. Nothing else competes for attention — just clean, dark grey background and those stubborn bars.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The Trap
This level leans heavily on Static Image Bias — the mental shortcut we use daily when viewing charts, infographics, or dashboards. In real life, bar graphs show fixed data. You read them — you don’t manipulate them. Game is hard exploits that assumption. Players assume they must analyze the pattern, not grab and adjust it.
First Instincts That Fail
- Tilting the phone: A natural reflex — hoping gravity will “flow” height from tall bars into short ones. Zero effect.
- Shaking the device: Frustration leads some to shake their phone, expecting a reset. The bars stay unmoved.
- Tapping the word “equality”: Since text often drives puzzles here, many tap, swipe, or pinch the phrase itself. It’s purely decorative.
Player Reactions
I spent over a minute mentally converting bar heights into letters (A=1, B=2…), convinced there was hidden math. Turns out, the answer wasn’t in my head — it was under my finger. When I accidentally swiped up on the shortest bar and watched it stretch, I laughed out loud. This isn’t a brain teaser — it’s a tactile prompt wearing a disguise.
Step-by-Step Solution
Preparing the Move
Skip the text. Zero in on the five orange bars. Your aim is simple: stretch them all the way up. Don’t bother trying to shrink them down — alignment is far easier when you push each one to its absolute upper limit.
Executing the Solution
- Select a bar: Place your finger directly on the top tip of the shortest bar.
- Drag Up: Slide your finger straight upward — toward the “I want equality!” text. The bar stretches smoothly, like a volume slider.
- Max it out: Keep dragging until it stops — you’ll feel a subtle resistance at the ceiling.
- Repeat: Do the same for all five bars — grab, drag, hold at max. One by one, or all at once if multitouch works for you.
- Verify: Double-check that every bar hits that same top edge. As soon as they lock into place, the level completes instantly.
If It Did Not Work
- It won’t move? You’re likely touching the middle or base — aim for the very top of the orange segment.
- It won’t clear? One bar is probably just shy of full height. Re-drag each one firmly upward to guarantee they all hit the ceiling.
- Fat fingers? Try zooming in via accessibility settings, or aim slightly above the visible tip — the touch target extends a bit beyond the graphic.
Small Details That Matter
Precision matters — but the game helps you nail it.
- The Ceiling: Each bar has a hard upper boundary. You literally can’t overshoot — that built-in stop is your alignment tool.
- Speed: Go slow or fast — timing plays no role.
- Simultaneity: Yes, five-finger dragging is possible (and fun) on compatible devices, but sequential dragging is more consistent.
I cleared it after realizing the fourth bar was barely lower than the others — one final nudge upward, and ding: victory.
Why This Solution Works
This level tests Direct Manipulation — breaking the usual “graphs = read-only” rule. In most apps, charts display results. Here, they’re controls.
“I want equality!” isn’t a call for social justice — it’s a literal instruction: make these shapes equal in size. It’s wordplay rooted in physicality, a recurring theme across the game where language bends toward the tangible.
Bonus Tip
For replays or speedruns:
- Use two hands.
- Thumbs handle the outermost bars (first and fifth).
- Index fingers tackle the inner three.
- Keep dragging past the visible top — push until your finger clears the bar’s endpoint. Overshooting ensures you hit the ceiling every time.
Don’t waste energy trying to align them halfway — eyeballing mid-height is nearly impossible. Let the game’s hard limit do the work for you.
Alternative Attempts of Game Is Hard Level 39 (What Doesn’t Work, and Why)
- Dragging the text “Equality” onto the bars: Some treat it like a draggable object or stamp. It’s just flavor text — no interactivity.
- Dragging bars down to zero: “All zeros = equal” makes sense logically, but the game ignores tiny or collapsed bars — no trigger.
- Pinching the screen: Attempting to zoom or scale the whole chart. The gameplay layer ignores pinch gestures.
- Tilting to level the “liquid”: Assuming bars behave like fluid in containers. They’re rigid elements — gravity sensors are inactive.
- Waiting: Unlike some levels, this one won’t solve itself. Idle time solves nothing.
- Tapping “Hint” repeatedly: It just repeats “Make them equal height” — helpful only if you’ve missed the core interaction.
Common Mistakes for Game Is Hard Level 39
- Stopping too soon: Leaving one bar at 99% height because it looks aligned. The game demands 100%.
- Swiping sideways: Trying to slide bars left/right. They’re locked vertically — only upward movement counts.
- Touching the brown baseline: Dragging the line does nothing. Interaction only works on orange segments.
- Over-analyzing the quote: Searching for deeper meaning behind “equality” instead of treating it as a visual directive.
- Tapping instead of dragging: A quick tap registers nothing. You must initiate and sustain the upward drag gesture.
Pattern Recognition: How to Spot This Trick in Future Game Is Hard Levels
The tell
Any time you see a visual meter — bar chart, thermometer, clock face, slider, or dial — assume it’s draggable. If the level shows a volume knob, move it. If it shows a fuel gauge, pull it up. If it shows a timeline, drag the marker.
The habit
Touch everything — immediately. When a new level loads, sweep your finger across every element. If something shifts, stretches, or wobbles even slightly, that’s your mechanic. In Game is hard Level 39, a single exploratory swipe would’ve revealed the bars’ responsiveness — solving the puzzle before frustration set in.
Game Is Hard Level 39 FAQ (Short, Useful)
Q: Can I make them all short instead of tall in Game is hard Level 39?
A: Technically yes — but it’s extremely difficult to align them perfectly at low height. The top limit acts as a built-in ruler, making success effortless.
Q: Do I need to move them in a specific order in Game is hard Level 39?
A: No. Sequence doesn’t matter — left-to-right, random, or simultaneous — only the final uniform height counts.
Q: Why isn't the level ending even though they look equal in Game is hard Level 39?
A: One bar is almost certainly a fraction short. Re-drag each one upward with firm pressure to ensure full ceiling contact.
Q: Is there a hidden object behind the bars in Game is hard Level 39?
A: Nope — no secrets, no layers, no Easter eggs. The puzzle lives entirely in those five orange bars.
More Game Is Hard Solutions
Stuck on the next challenge? We’ve got full walkthroughs for every level — no filler, no fluff, just fast, accurate solutions to keep your streak unbroken. Don’t let clever misdirection slow you down — explore all guides at thegameishard.org and take back control.
Good luck with the rest of the game! You got this.