johnnysix 2013-04-29 20:51
It works, and it's minimal, but some gameplay element would have been cool, even if it was a timer.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD26 → Shape of magic
By yuvalmz
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coolness | 2 | 91 | ||
| Theme | 98 | 3.79 | ||
| Humor | 365 | 1.79 | ||
| Innovation | 365 | 2.67 | ||
| Audio | 449 | 1.63 | ||
| Mood | 495 | 2.06 | ||
| Graphics | 507 | 2.23 | ||
| Overall | 540 | 2.20 | ||
| Fun | 540 | 1.88 |
It works, and it's minimal, but some gameplay element would have been cool, even if it was a timer.
Don't listen to nay-sayers!!! Exploration is just as much a game as anything else. I found it quite relaxing and aesthetic. I made some cool stuff!
Some humble suggestions:
The help screen may be a bit of an overkill. Having the player discover the controls herself is a lot of fun.
Maybe leaving the finished "work" visible for a while after each stage is complete. (+ screenshot option??)
There might be a better way to show the "completion" than a video game bar. After all, the shapes are being filled up on their own, it might suffice.
New colors go under old colors, which often times hides the current rectangle. Should be put on top.
Its relaxing, yes, but I also think, that some gamemechanic would have been good. It looks quite nice though.
The more you play the nicer it gets . It's minimal. It's good!!!
A short, fun art game
@eli: While to some people it's fun to discover the controls, to others it's really frustrating. I'd say having it beats not having it in this game :P (since it uses 3 different control locations)
I liked it :). It would have been cool if there was a second objective other than just filling most of the screen with colors, like say a timer, something that restrict using certain controls depending on color, etc. But still, it was spot on with the theme and that what counts :P. Cheers and keep making games!
Very cool and minimal! Nice game great job :)
Different
It was head-on with the theme, and it was innovative, however, it lacked gameplay value.
If you want a more intense experience you can play it in single button mode: http://imgur.com/6XWj6E0
This was certainly a unique entry. It was abstract and sort of engaging despite being very minimal.
The game ran fine on Linux using Wine.
It'd be nice if you could expand your rectangles in the other direction as well, not just down/right.
I found it a bit confusing as to exactly what condition triggers the next level to start.
Good work tho!
Not really a game, but i still give you points for innovation! Well done!
Interesting, I'm sure you had a game concept in mind, when you started this. But anyway, it definitely fits the theme.
It's a very aesthetic experience - there's something comforting about being limited by the black lines, something you only find out if you try.
I don't know if you intended to have gameplay mechanics but with music and screenshot output it works well on it's on.
If you are though - one mechanic I could think of is having the forms fill up on their own and grow while you move them and try to to have different colors touch.
I was surprised when it ended, seems like the levels could have been procedurally generated. Perhaps find a way to make it so holding 'w','a','down, and 'right' doesn't clear every stage.
I agree that it would be great to have a screenshot option. Since it is a windows game, maybe even a button to change your desktop background to your current painting!
Might benefit from some non rectangular alcoves for more.. challenge? Maybe this game doesn't need challenge.
It's not a game. Literally the only thing I had to do on every level was hold W, A, Up, and Right and I would win every time. This could be cool if it was used as a mechanic instead of the whole game.
it works well, but it isn't really very fun, more of a fill-in the-space thing
I'm on a Mac, sorry :(
It may not be a game, but it's got a pretty relaxing experience going on that's quite nice.
Now that LD is over you might try to add gameplay elements to this and it could actually be really engaging. Perhaps add enemy blocks that are filling up the other empty areas with gray and you need to fill them with color as fast as possible to gain dominance? Maybe look at JezzBall and see if any of those gameplay elements would work here? You could also add limited pigment and the player is rewarded for filling up squares with points dealt out by surface area completed? That way you could balance them choosing small one always by rewarding more for bigger areas.... who knows. The possibilities are endless!!
Great job :)
Soothing aesthetics and fairly minimal mechanics make this a proper LD game true to its theme. :)