FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD42 → Merge Machine

Merge Machine

By matt-tuttle

View on ldjam.com

CategoryRankScoreCount
Overall1753.6626
Fun1233.7027
Innovation843.7828
Theme1833.9028
Graphics2653.4627
Audio2273.2325

Comments

oriondark7 2018-08-13 03:00

Graphics were slick and gameplay was simple. The only thing I would add is a brief tutorial at the beginning. Nice job!

squirmonkey 2018-08-13 03:13

This is a cool idea, and the look is slick. The game is too easy though, until the cross pieces appear it's basically impossible to lose. I couldn't figure out how the cross shaped pieces worked, they didn't collapse when I put them in a row like the other pieces, and they didn't work when I matched all their ends... not sure how to get rid of them.

madar-games 2018-08-13 03:15

I really like the sound effect of joining the joints? Wrenches? Together? It did take me a few tries to understand how to play, as I couldn't find a controls file or guide anywhere. I do like the minimalist design but I think you should add a "predictor" field where it shows what orientation would come after the current item I place. I lost a lot of space because I had no idea what was coming up. I also couldn't figure out how to expand until the option to came up at $450 and I failed to get to $450 the first two times I played. I can't get the things to intersect like in your picture at the top right. Also do the slanted things act as both vertical and horizontal things or are they their own thing?

matt-tuttle 2018-08-13 03:24

@oriondark7 I ran out of time but a tutorial would probably help a lot.

@squirmonkey Thanks for the feedback!

@madar-games The screenshot is misleading. I should add a gif to explain the chain reactions a bit better.

sekwah41 2018-08-15 02:18

Nice simple game, though the joining together behavior seems a bit inconsistent with how it looks like they should work possibly. I may be misunderstanding it but i cant figure out exactly how it behaves

Edit: Oh they merge when there the same box at each of its ends

arcadonauts 2018-08-15 04:21

I'm always impressed when people make a puzzle game for LD. Great work!

namnam 2018-08-15 09:50

Very nice, cool réflexion game, really easy to understand and hard to master. A music would have been great.

suchista 2018-08-15 18:14

Wow, very addictive! I think that displaying a score would be a good idea, it would make it even more addictive :P It's simple and very fun to play.

raccoon-js 2018-08-15 19:10

This is very addicting that I almost forgot what I was doing. I love it!

jsmcag 2018-08-16 13:47

A surprisingly addicting game, with simple mechanics and satisfying visuals and audio. However, I found the graphics can be a bit misleading - as it seems that the ends of the wrench have to meet the ends of another wrench (in a connect-three type of thing). This was quickly fixed by re-reading your game description, but maybe some other kind of iconography would make the rules more immediately obvious?

Either way, great entry!

matt-tuttle 2018-08-16 16:14

@jsmcag Thanks for playing! I agree that the graphics are confusing. I'm not sure what to change it to though.

max-cahill 2018-08-18 04:38

Straightforward concept, expands itself over time quite well.

endurion 2018-08-18 04:38

Very solid, nice game! Had a few close calls, but once your field is big enough and you have enough space for all variants (diagonal cross being the last?) you can keep playing forever. A total score would be a good addition, as the money pool obviously decreases for upgrading. Really nice!

matt-tuttle 2018-08-18 04:43

@endurion Great suggestion! I'm keeping track of the total score secretly, because it's used to unlock pieces, so that would be a simple addition.

hyprgloo 2018-08-18 07:15

Really nice concept, this definitely has the potential to develop into something very addictive. It plays very well as-is but I think it's missing a score counter (separate from money) as well as music and an in-game tutorial, but of course it's a jam game so time constraints :) Very satisfying to play!

wolderado 2018-08-18 08:10

Cool game! But I think blocks shouldn't collapse at the center. Maybe it should collapse towards placing point(like 2048 game). Cause right now player can't move blocks and needs to plan ahead. But I'm not sure. Maybe it is better your way

matt-tuttle 2018-08-18 13:13

@wolderado Interesting idea. I think you are right that not all blocks should pull inward. It makes combos tricky to get past 4 at the moment. Thanks for playing!

schizoid2k 2018-08-18 23:07

Fun to play. I was a bit unsure when or why I needed to expand the board... then I saw the diagonal pieces. :smile:

Solid game play, well done!

diptoman 2018-09-03 02:55

Very solid core mechanic - which works out well for it. On the easy side - but that's understandable. Good stuff!