Great game! Very interesting idea. I think you can still do a bit more tutorial though, I didn't understand the meaning of these icons until the fifth room.
I really like this large map of progressing puzzles and I think you've done a good job of integrating on those levels and introducing new concepts as they progress. There were a few times I got stuck because I had trapped myself in a solution that worked, and couldn't navigate to the next part because it was either impossible or just because the camera had moved and I couldn't see. I think the player should have a set starting point for each puzzle because of that. I also was really confused as to what I was supposed to be doing in the beginning. I figured it out better as I went along, but I think the objective is muddy. When I see a "spawn" and an "end" tile, I assume it's for the player, not the enemy. Even when I figure out it's for the enemy, is my objective then to kill the enemy before it reaches the end? That's what I assumed, but only after playing a bit, and even still I'm a little unsure. I think the indication that something is taking damage or is the wrong solution should be more immediate. Also the reset button seemed to reset all of the blocks in the level, while the rewind did nothing. It'd be nice to have the puzzles contained separately so that only the level I'm in resets, or generally to just have more control in that regard. Very epic though, I enjoyed the simple but fun gameplay loop a lot.
I loved the puzzles; they remind me of old mobile games like Beyond Ynth. Once I got the hang of the mechanics it was really enjoyable, and the difficulty ramping is very consistent. I also love that the levels are all in one continuous 2D world. My only notes: The Z rewind button wasn’t working, and I think players might benefit from more tutorialization at the start. Perhaps just a start screen canvas with a little blurb of instructions could work. Despite that, your gameplay loop is really solid and that’s extremely important. Well done
There are sections where you can complete the puzzle in a way that blocks your path, and then it softlocks you. Consider giving the player a remove plant option in completed sections. It also allows you to plant outside of your current section, allowing me to cheese some levels. I don't know if this is intended, but I'll point it out anyway
Feedback (from Nicholas): -You still run into the issue where if you place mushrooms at the exit point there's no way to refresh/take down mushrooms and it softlocks the game
-I still think you could increase the difficulty a bit by stretching out the different puzzle mechanics. In some ways, you introduce the omnidirectional mushroom too early; it should exist within another biome or level.
-I think currently there's a bit too much trail an error, which can be fine, but I feel like I can't tell if I'm being punished for starting over or retrying things over and over.
-I think some mushrooms could benefit from being moveable or being "rooted." This could make the learning curve a bit more smooth so that there's a lot more "forgiveness" early on with how players choose to place their pieces.
-Some spore colors might want to be modified because it's hard to see when some have one spore or two (especially with the white spores), maybe even just a simple outline to help me clearly see that against the animated sprite.
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Great game! Very interesting idea. I think you can still do a bit more tutorial though, I didn't understand the meaning of these icons until the fifth room.
I really like this large map of progressing puzzles and I think you've done a good job of integrating on those levels and introducing new concepts as they progress. There were a few times I got stuck because I had trapped myself in a solution that worked, and couldn't navigate to the next part because it was either impossible or just because the camera had moved and I couldn't see. I think the player should have a set starting point for each puzzle because of that. I also was really confused as to what I was supposed to be doing in the beginning. I figured it out better as I went along, but I think the objective is muddy. When I see a "spawn" and an "end" tile, I assume it's for the player, not the enemy. Even when I figure out it's for the enemy, is my objective then to kill the enemy before it reaches the end? That's what I assumed, but only after playing a bit, and even still I'm a little unsure. I think the indication that something is taking damage or is the wrong solution should be more immediate. Also the reset button seemed to reset all of the blocks in the level, while the rewind did nothing. It'd be nice to have the puzzles contained separately so that only the level I'm in resets, or generally to just have more control in that regard. Very epic though, I enjoyed the simple but fun gameplay loop a lot.
I loved the puzzles; they remind me of old mobile games like Beyond Ynth. Once I got the hang of the mechanics it was really enjoyable, and the difficulty ramping is very consistent. I also love that the levels are all in one continuous 2D world. My only notes: The Z rewind button wasn’t working, and I think players might benefit from more tutorialization at the start. Perhaps just a start screen canvas with a little blurb of instructions could work. Despite that, your gameplay loop is really solid and that’s extremely important. Well done
There are sections where you can complete the puzzle in a way that blocks your path, and then it softlocks you. Consider giving the player a remove plant option in completed sections. It also allows you to plant outside of your current section, allowing me to cheese some levels. I don't know if this is intended, but I'll point it out anyway
Feedback (from Nicholas):
-You still run into the issue where if you place mushrooms at the exit point there's no way to refresh/take down mushrooms and it softlocks the game
-I still think you could increase the difficulty a bit by stretching out the different puzzle mechanics. In some ways, you introduce the omnidirectional mushroom too early; it should exist within another biome or level.
-I think currently there's a bit too much trail an error, which can be fine, but I feel like I can't tell if I'm being punished for starting over or retrying things over and over.
-I think some mushrooms could benefit from being moveable or being "rooted." This could make the learning curve a bit more smooth so that there's a lot more "forgiveness" early on with how players choose to place their pieces.
-Some spore colors might want to be modified because it's hard to see when some have one spore or two (especially with the white spores), maybe even just a simple outline to help me clearly see that against the animated sprite.
-Really great loop idea, iterate on it more!