Five Differences Hidden in This Garden Scene
Two illustrated garden scenes built from the same source data, with a recorded list of deliberate changes. The difference count is exact, not approximate.
Most spot-the-difference puzzles you see online are produced by generating two similar images and hoping. That is why so many of them have a stated count of seven and an actual count of nine, with two changes nobody intended.
This one is made the opposite way.
How it is built
A single scene is composed from data: a list of objects, each with a kind, a position, a size, a rotation and a colour. That list is drawn once to produce Picture A.
The list is then copied, and a recorded set of mutations is applied to the copy — an object removed, an object recoloured, an object moved sideways, an object tilted, an object resized. Each mutation is written down as it happens, along with the coordinates where it occurred.
Picture B is drawn from the modified list.
Because both pictures come from the same data, the differences are not a matter of opinion. Before publishing, a validator ignores the recorded list entirely and diffs the two object lists from scratch. If the number of actual differences does not match the number recorded, the puzzle fails and never reaches the page.
How to find them faster
Work in bands rather than jumping around. Take the top third of both pictures, compare them properly, then move down. People who scan randomly usually find three quickly and then stall.
Colour changes are the easiest to spot and are usually found first. Size changes are the hardest, because a shape that is twenty per cent smaller still looks like itself unless you have something to compare it against.
The reveal below circles every difference on Picture B and describes each one in words.
Medium There are 5 differences between these two pictures. How many can you find?
Reveal the answer
Answer 5 differences
There are 5 differences in total — 1. the teal cloud has moved sideways; 2. the teal umbrella has moved sideways; 3. the purple bird has moved sideways; 4. the purple mushroom has gone; 5. a pink box has been added. Each one is circled in red on Picture B above.
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