An interesting puzzle game, but in my opinion, it's lacking a lot of details which would make solving the puzzle more enjoyable, like scenery and more custom items/textures which make puzzles perhaps a bit more challenging.
For what it's worth though, I love your games and can see this turning into something very good, hence why I struggled to put a no vote on this. I will be sure to update this review after the game jam when/if things are improved!
EDIT: I've decided to change from -1 to +1 for this mod, because there's really no reason why I wouldn't reccomend this game: the puzzles are interesting and creative. My criticism still applies, but after getting a better idea for how the ratings work, it doesn't make sense for me to have a no vote here.
I will not be adding items or scenery. This is a minimal puzzle game. The mechanic is simple. Slide until you are stopped. The graphics are elegant (IMO) and simple. White blocks. White particles that help you aim. Simple title blocks. That's it. The goal of this game is not to present amazing graphics, but to give the player a puzzle that seems simple but can be very difficult. Any further updates will include more levels or perhaps a few more simple mechanics, probably involving static, white blocks.
A single word to describe the game: "understated". That is intentional.
Understood, thanks for the reply! "Understated" does seem like a good word to describe the game. My opinion is that puzzles can become a grind for a lot of players (as a game dev myself) if there isn't encouraging scenery, but I understand that there is a particular audience that this targets. I might update my OP later anyways, I appreciate the explanation.
Just a note: The names of the levels and the shape of the levels are something like scenery; they are a reward for completing the previous one. I realize that that might not be enough for some players, and that is ok. If you have specific suggestions, I'd consider them, but I do intend to keep the theme simple. As someone else stated, there is a heavy atmosphere in the game. As he also said, perhaps scenery might be beneficial to distract from that oppressive atmosphere.
But then again, maybe the atmosphere is part of the experience. The vastness and the bleakness of space , the smallness of everything else, and the unforgiving nature of making a mistake in space are all themes that are conveyed in the experience. If you distract from that you might ruin the effect. IDK
I tend to agree with this "someone else", there does seem to be a heavy atmosphere, and the lack of scenery makes the experience less enjoyable than it could be (IMO). It still made for a good set of logic puzzles, but the names of the levels/shapes didn't feel like any reward, sadly. There is a fine balance between grind and boring in any puzzle game. I totally understand your viewpoint though, and the desire to stick to a simplistic game: it makes sense and I am curious to see how other people enjoy this game. :)
ok, so if it needs more scenery, or something more anyhow, what could it theoretically have that would not ruin the liminal space effect? Not a rhetorical question, if you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them.
This is quite a difficult question to answer, because keeping the effect is tough while also adding scenery. Static ambient asteroids might be interesting, but might also come across as too boring, and one could argue that the puzzle is based on asteroids floating through space. Something similar, but maybe more likeable, would be asteroids of varying clusters could float by the puzzle every so often, going in a straight direction: these would have to be entities but would look like clusters of nodes. Somehow, this feels nice to me because the player also goes in a certain direction forever, so it would fit into the game nicely. They could even be white too, and it would certainly be an improvement. Thoughts?
Other than that, I can't think of anything right now, and I'm super busy w/ Thanksgiving :) I will definitely think more about it and get back to you.
An interesting puzzle game, but in my opinion, it's lacking a lot of details which would make solving the puzzle more enjoyable, like scenery and more custom items/textures which make puzzles perhaps a bit more challenging.
For what it's worth though, I love your games and can see this turning into something very good, hence why I struggled to put a no vote on this. I will be sure to update this review after the game jam when/if things are improved!
EDIT: I've decided to change from -1 to +1 for this mod, because there's really no reason why I wouldn't reccomend this game: the puzzles are interesting and creative. My criticism still applies, but after getting a better idea for how the ratings work, it doesn't make sense for me to have a no vote here.
First, Thank you for playing/reviewing!
I will not be adding items or scenery. This is a minimal puzzle game. The mechanic is simple. Slide until you are stopped. The graphics are elegant (IMO) and simple. White blocks. White particles that help you aim. Simple title blocks. That's it. The goal of this game is not to present amazing graphics, but to give the player a puzzle that seems simple but can be very difficult. Any further updates will include more levels or perhaps a few more simple mechanics, probably involving static, white blocks.
A single word to describe the game: "understated". That is intentional.
Understood, thanks for the reply! "Understated" does seem like a good word to describe the game. My opinion is that puzzles can become a grind for a lot of players (as a game dev myself) if there isn't encouraging scenery, but I understand that there is a particular audience that this targets. I might update my OP later anyways, I appreciate the explanation.
Just a note: The names of the levels and the shape of the levels are something like scenery; they are a reward for completing the previous one. I realize that that might not be enough for some players, and that is ok. If you have specific suggestions, I'd consider them, but I do intend to keep the theme simple. As someone else stated, there is a heavy atmosphere in the game. As he also said, perhaps scenery might be beneficial to distract from that oppressive atmosphere. But then again, maybe the atmosphere is part of the experience. The vastness and the bleakness of space , the smallness of everything else, and the unforgiving nature of making a mistake in space are all themes that are conveyed in the experience. If you distract from that you might ruin the effect. IDK
I tend to agree with this "someone else", there does seem to be a heavy atmosphere, and the lack of scenery makes the experience less enjoyable than it could be (IMO). It still made for a good set of logic puzzles, but the names of the levels/shapes didn't feel like any reward, sadly. There is a fine balance between grind and boring in any puzzle game. I totally understand your viewpoint though, and the desire to stick to a simplistic game: it makes sense and I am curious to see how other people enjoy this game. :)
ok, so if it needs more scenery, or something more anyhow, what could it theoretically have that would not ruin the liminal space effect? Not a rhetorical question, if you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them.
This is quite a difficult question to answer, because keeping the effect is tough while also adding scenery. Static ambient asteroids might be interesting, but might also come across as too boring, and one could argue that the puzzle is based on asteroids floating through space. Something similar, but maybe more likeable, would be asteroids of varying clusters could float by the puzzle every so often, going in a straight direction: these would have to be entities but would look like clusters of nodes. Somehow, this feels nice to me because the player also goes in a certain direction forever, so it would fit into the game nicely. They could even be white too, and it would certainly be an improvement. Thoughts?
Other than that, I can't think of anything right now, and I'm super busy w/ Thanksgiving :) I will definitely think more about it and get back to you.
asteroids flying by might actually work. its worth trying.