candlesan 2021-10-04 08:22
These are very original mechanics for the game. There was one point where it picked all 4 corners at the same time, not sure if that was intentional, but it was an extra spike of excitement.
Foon → Ludum Dare Explorer → LD49 → Noinun40
By itzemii
| Category | Rank | Score | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 430 | 3.10 | 62 | |
| Fun | 445 | 2.86 | 62 | |
| Innovation | 150 | 3.69 | 62 | |
| Theme | 300 | 3.49 | 62 | |
| Graphics | 423 | 3.00 | 64 | |
| Audio | 326 | 2.94 | 64 | |
| Mood | 439 | 2.67 | 63 |
These are very original mechanics for the game. There was one point where it picked all 4 corners at the same time, not sure if that was intentional, but it was an extra spike of excitement.
Interesting concept, appealing graphics. I wasn't sure exactly what the goal was, but it seemed mostly easy to avoid match-3's except a couple times when I was forced. Music was funky.
Interesting anti-match-3 mechanics. Pretty graphics and nice music. Some of the instructions render off screen so they can't be read.
the text with the instructions is not really visible depending on your resolution (I have no idea how to do Unity UI correctly too, what a pain). Filling the grid takes a bit of time, maybe you should try to make us choose symbol at more complicated position. It was fun, thank you. I appreciated the music a lot
I think the core idea is pretty interesting, I've never seen anything like it and it fit the theme well! I'd say that having F1 be the "show instructions" button was a mistake, because in browser F1 opens a new tab. I also thought the font was difficult to read. But congrats on making a cool new puzzle game!
I like simple ideas like this, works pretty well and gets intense near the end. The music was very strange but surprisingly pleasant
Great graphics, interesting music and funky game mechanics. Really enjoyed this one. Did not bother me that I could not "win". The relation to the theme is not clear to me, though.
Nice, and very original mechanics. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seemed like I could keep playing after losing? And it would only tell me when I continue on to fill the board? It would be nice to be told off immediately :p
Nice game, reinventing old "match 3" in it's own way.
It would be nice to have some visuals on field looping, because I got it only when matched 3 :)
Anyway, art is very nice, sound is interesting and gameplay is fun.
Good work, and good luck:)
Very innovative! Also it's cool to see a much calmer interpretation of unstable than most other entries. And I love the sprites!
the inverse puzzle idea is pretty interesting :)
Fun alternative match 3 game, or not match 3 game more like. I liked the way the board becomes unstable and starts exploding pixels everywhere lol. Nice work
I like this one, first I was not sure how to play, but after a view tries I understood that left or right arrow is connected to the right or left icon (:
Plus points for the music. A nice reinterpretation of match-3. Simple graphics. A good scope choice for the compo and thanks for playing mine :)
I actually skipped reading any instruction and still had fun and figured out how to play it. Always a sign of good game idea. Well done!
It was nice to explore the space and mechanics without time pressure. Didn't notice how the wrapping worked at first, but got it pretty quick.
I really like to concept and the art its very nice! The elements got me few times making me doubt my fingers, but I had lots of fun. Very well made! Great job!
Super fun and creative take on the match (nt) 3. The music got a little annoying after a while, but could totally myself playing this a lot
I find this intriguing, but I can't win. I think I now understand the wrapping, but I don't find that intuitive. I tried to work out how to win (in terms of strategy) for quite a while but I haven't cracked it. I keep being given a choice of two elements where both with cause a match 3. Are the black elements broken ones? If so, could this be emphasised in the sfx when placed? Similar with the match 3? (A negative sound to communicate that you have lost). A great idea, but unfortunately quite frustrating for me, because I can't work out a winning strategy for element placing. Thanks for sharing!
Cute game! Interesting concept. I did not find a strategy beyond trying not to place an item that would immediately result in a match-2 or 3. I never figured out when items become black. At the end of the game, there does not seem to be an indication of how well/badly I've done.
The concept is interesting, I find the graphics of the match3 elements too similar to each other in shape/colour so it stresses a bit the eyes and it is hard to grasp the whole picture. I'd really like to play it again with more distinctive shapes and colours :)
@candlesan Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes the four corner at once was on purpose, as the field wraps around. But that's not intuitive, removing it from next version.
@dob Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, the goal was not clear. I will make it clearer in next version and have a clear progress/ completion rate.
@flying-dog-fish Thank you for playing and the feedback! The rendering issue happens in the embedded WebGL, but goes away in full screen. At least that's the way I managed it with my game (and others).
@fractale Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, text rendering is very bad, noticed, but did not have time to fix during the 48hours. I see, grid is too big and first positioning is too boring. Good idea to make it more challenging by finding more challenging spot. Didn't think about that. I will try for next version.
@zachsbutt Thank you for playing and the feedback! Oh yes, ESC is not a good idea - is next version Backspace. Unreadable font, I did not have time to fix in 48hours game jam. Will change.
@shp Thank you for playing and the feedback! For music I got 50:50 positive:not-positive feedback.
@codeforjoycaro Thank you for playing and the feedback! Game jam theme got lost during development. The game went through essential changes from idea to implementation and no time at end to make it clearer/ more unstable.
@wheybags Thank you for playing and the feedback! It does not end, because I wanted to add a "completion percentage/ stability percentage" and make the challenge getting closer to 100%. Did not have time for it before end of game jam. But an immediate-end game mode would be good as an option.
@mrbell270 Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, the instability visualisation is not there, no time until game jam end. But adding it for next version.
@witchhat Thank you for playing and the feedback! Nice you like the sprites, they were done in a quick-and-dirty way with [caution hidden advertisement] Logoist 3 for Mac.
@substain Thank you for playing and the feedback! I will try to evolve the game idea.
@soul-grinder Thank you for playing and the feedback! And thanks for appreciating the instability visualisation.
@wouter52 Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, at beginning it is not clear how it works. I will add some tutorialization for an improved version.
@pcmaster Thank you for playing and the feedback! For music I got both, positive and not so good feedback.
@cogcomp Thank you for playing and the feedback! Important to know that it works without instructions.
@abregado Thank you for playing and the feedback! Good to know that a no-time-pressure game mode is a thing that is appreciated. The wrapping ... I started, as I thought it is needed to avoid border cases, then I continued, even complicated to implement. But I think it is not intuitive and I already removed for improved version (and here the border cases create additional implementation effort :-)
@kingslee142 Thank you for playing and the feedback! Important to know the the elements are some times a bit confusing. I will try clearer elements and maybe a "confuse version" with very similar elements.
@alec Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, the music gets too much after a while. I did it while away from the computer, with iPad in literally 15 minutes with no editing at all. Played 10 little pieces. And focused afterwards on other things of the game to finish in 48hours.
@samuel-hollywood-summers Thank you for playing and the helpful feedback! Yes, in this version it is close to impossible to win. I added 4 elements to choose in improved version I am working at. No, the wrapping is not intuitive. But as I started, as I thought is is needed, I continued and left it in as there was no more time in the 48 hours - removed for new version. No there is no strategy in this version ... I will think if I can add strategy or just leave it to the local decision/ tactics game play. Yes, unfair with only two elements and no check for fairness in this version, sorry. Black elements are visualised in improved version I am working at. I will add SFX for every important event.
@loveapplegames Thank you for playing and the feedback! No there is no strategy in this version, and it is unfair in some cases. Improving this in a version I am working at. Black items feedback already included in that one (not published yet). And thanks for the idea with a "how well done" percentage or so.
@iacopo Thank you for playing and the feedback! I didn't think of too similar coluor/ shape. I will improve on that in next version.
A really nice entry! The gameplay and idea is quite innovative, and the game itself is fun to play. I liked the interesting symbols and the silly particles when you get a match-3. I wish there was a bit more strategy then just guessing which symbol to put down based on a few other local symbols, but I think that's a hard problem to solve. Nice job for a compo entry!
Very interesting idea of negating the typical match-3 rules - I enjoyed qutie a lot. I did get confused with overlapping rows though, for me it would've been easier with the "helping" duplicated rows along the top/bottom and left/right. It is a very neat idea, great job!
All seems to be random in here and choices are not make the valuable thing, and seems there are no restart button "if" (when) things get messed up. The music has no rhythm which make it sound odd during the game play. There would be able to place from 2 or 4 choices and place the item anywhere with the mouse click. Scaling objects way too large or in different shape makes game odd by with the animations, but otherwise the object's icon changing when objects are placed is a clever and challenging thing in the game.
@natpat Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, there should be more strategy. I am thinking about a solution for an updated version, but as you said, not too easy to make.
@loyance Thank you for playing and the feedback! The wrapping/ duplication of last/ first row and column are not intuitive. But during game jam at the end there was no time to change that. Removing for updated version.
@hiisileiri Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes, this version for the jam is random and often unfair, changing this for an updated version. The jam version has a restart: "ESC" goes back to start screen, but an extra skip button is a good idea. 4 choices is a good idea, already implementing for updated version. But I will leave the random position as it is and try out for two reasons: too complicated is not liked by people and it would make it a different game and I enjoy it with random spot - but I will try out different game modes. Scaling was an intend to make it "unstable" looking during game jam.
I played for a while and really enjoyed the pre-planning and puzzly aspects. With games like this i tend to worry that random selections are as useful as planned selections, so i randomly hit buttons for a while and failed miserably. its a fairly silly test to make but it is a great proof that i am making decisions that positively (or negatively) effect my playthough. nice job.
@fizzget Thank you for playing and the feedback! Yes I was worried about the random aspect to be too annoying and for easy levels to be just button hitting. I’m creating an updated version and will focus on the balancing and maybe add some AI to select pieces instead of pure random. To make it a bit more strategic, maybe.
The concept is really unique. The in-game mechanic are interesting and easy to understand. My only complaint will be music. For me it did not much the game felling, but it is just my opinion. I would also love to have some sound effect. It was fun to try it out. Great job with the idea and execution!
@zimny11 Thank you for playing in for the feedback! Yes, the music does not fit. I did it within 15 minutes and did not redo due to the time restrictions of the game jam.
This is a pretty neat concept! But I think the inability to place where you want is holding it back. Eventually, I don't feel like I have the choice to avoid any unstable elements. I just have to place it and hope I do not get stuck by having to place another one there. Though I am not sure really what placing 3 together does and how bad it has to get to lose points? Though for a jam game, you executed the concept and that's well done!
Good work!
@polkoii Thank you for playing in for the feedback! Yes, the jam version is very random and often unfair, not providing too much choice. I am working on a new version which allows to place 1 of 4 (instead of 2) elements. And I am adding better visualisation of the match-3 and too-close-together. Points is a good idea - I will think of counting somehow how well the player does, maybe 100% is perfect and getting match-3 etc. reduces this.
The core mechanic is really simple yet interesting. I like how it's posited as an "anti-match-3" and that describes it really well. At first I didn't understand what I was doing but I re-read the directions a couple times and got it. So maybe a better description of the controls could be helpful. (Edit: I noticed the directions are are cut off in the web version, at least for me.) I thought the elements starting to wiggle as they became more unstable was some nice feedback that really ups the tension as the board fills up. The music is a bit strange and unnerving but it totally fits with the style of the elements and adds to the tension too. Nice!
@ruthiepee Thank you for playing in for the feedback! Yes, in not-full-screen unfortunately the text is cutoff. Yes. Controls initially are unclear, I will tutorialize in an updated version. Ok, good you liked the wiggle, I will add more/ Different feedback to player. Music was done quick and dirty and is a bit too much after a while, will change.
I had fun playing it! The drama of the music made me laugh quite a few times. Nice one!
The music was a little annoying :) Seemed like a very interesting concept. Took a minute to realize how to play. Not sure what the end goal was. Was expecting a score when the board was filled that would reflect the amount of instability.
Woah, I really like the concept of inverting match-3 on its head like this! Very clever! I wasn't able to ever complete a full board without becoming unstable, but it was fun trying to figure out the optimal placements of the elements, and I liked how the included elements differed from game to game. Nice work!
Neat puzzle mechanic! I really had to really focus to make sure I wasn't matching things. I felt like there was more feedback for matching than not matching, which made we want to make matches more, but I had to resist the urge to play correctly.
I had the same anti-match-3 idea! I didn't end up doing it, though. I was confused at first about how it worked, but once I got the hang of it I liked this a lot. Great work.
@kristinamay Thank you for playing and for the feedback!
Love the mechanic for the game. And the vibrating feedback of the nearly-completed match-3s are unnerving. I felt the pressure building as I played and it really did feel increasingly unstable.
I think the art and music could be polished up to feel more welcoming. The music and symbols and typography have a strange alien vibe to them, and while this might be the intention, I think a game like this could start off as fairly conventional and pleasant feeling and become more unnerving over time (instead of starting off with jittery jazz music and strange symbols). Does that make sense?
I guess I'm saying the mechanic does a good job of delivering and increasingly unstable feeling over time, and this feels good, but the art and sound start off as feeling unstable and strange, and this undercuts the brilliance of the mechanic.
@evangreenwood Thank you for playing and for the helpful feedback! These are very good points! Yes, both the graphics and (especially) the sound are unrelaxing/ unstable from the beginning. Both were just created during the 48 hours by just doing without thinking much and without any polishing. It is a good idea start pleasant and get more unnerving over time! I will consider this for the updated/ derived version I am currently working on.