Controls: 

Mouse only, Right-click to rotate pieces, Left-click to place pieces.
There is a “Hold” button to store the current piece if you want to save it or use the next.
“Discard” will remove the current piece; be careful not to discard too many.

Game: 

Each round is a new grid with a limited number of pieces.
You can hover over “Upcoming” to see what pieces you have left. 

“Perks” add a challenge rather than helping you.
You can hover over the text “perks” to get a brief description of them. Currently, only 3 are available. 


Meant to be a relaxing game with no time pressure but with new challenges after each round.

With inspiration from Balatro, I would like to have an “ending” but also be able to continue in an endless mode. 

Please leave a comment if you like it and what direction you want this to go.

More information
StatusPrototype
PlatformsHTML5
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(1 total ratings)
AuthorTerzom
GenrePuzzle
TagsRoguelike, Singleplayer, Tetris
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish
InputsMouse

Development log

Comments

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Krak3rs37 days ago

Nice concept. I was interested enough to replay it few times :)

Some questions/feedback from me:

  1.  It would be nice to highlight current block e.g. blue color or ideally something colorblind-friendly. You could also rotate the block in "current" slot to reflect it's actual state.
  2. It would be nice to show entire active block - even part that is outside the main shape.
  3. When placing a block you could add some juicy animation. To make it more rewarding and also more informative. Sometimes I felt uncertain - if I placed this block or not? Especially if there are few blocks of the same shape in a row.
  4. Filling shapes is nice, but also pretty boring at the beginning of the stage. For me it's too intimidating to plan every block on level 4+. So I put first blocks as they go and start thinking only when some area is small enough. Maybe you could fill some parts from the beginning? The other idea is to force chained perk for those levels. Chained blocks are more interesting imo.
  5. Regarding perks - I don't understand why can I select same perk few times. Also don't understand why I should not. Do they give more points? If so, it would be nice to show some multipliers as bonus. Right now I perceive em more like a handicap.

Waiting for the next update :) 

Reply
Terzom36 days ago(+1)

Thank you very much for you comment!

I just want to say that I agree with you and that this is an early stage.

  1. Definitely have a different color on the "current" pieces and pieces already placed.
  2. Yeah that will be in the new version, also a shake effect if trying to place where you can't.
  3. Special effect is something I really want to add and make everything feel more alive like button, backgrounds etc and some kind of animation when finishing the round and more.
  4. + .5, "Perks" is the wrong word since they don't help the player but idea is to make it harder, and yeah you should not be able to pick the same perk, so in the end it should be all and more perks at the same time and thus making it a bit harder.

What I struggle with now is what would the "end goal"? How do you win (or lose)? Do you have to reach a certain score or nr of pieces on each map? 

Balatro really hooked me up and would be fun to have an endless mode, or until all the "perks" is activated. But like Balatro, there is a fixed amount of rounds until you win and then you can continue if you want.

And then I am thinking if I should have some kind of shop to buy additional pieces or other helping items that you can use? 

Lots of ideas, just dont know if they fit or are any good. :)

Hope your development goes better!

Reply
Krak3rs36 days ago(+1)

Regarding the "end goal" - I understand you pretty well. I have similar struggle! What I think works for me is the "constant small iterations" approach. I try various things and go on with those that feel right. For example I found it tiring to play the levels all way long, so I decided to introduce cards selection - like your perks. It was not enough, so I decided to go further and introduced the store. It's pretty basic right now, but I've already got some meaningful feedback around it. I still might get rid of it, but at least I validated the idea.

I think your current goal - using X out of Y blocks works well. Weaker players are able to progress, while better players have the challenge and risk vs reward feature - they may decide to skip some block which could finish level with 95% in order to get two more blocks to get the 100% - at least that's how I perceive it.

I feel like you rather have the same issue like me - you have to add some feature that allows players to rest from filling blocks for a while. I think Balatro's shop is a game changer and something you should try. You could also try collections  like in picross games. If you want go mobile, you could try daily challenge, etc.

Just pick up one that fits best for you. I'll certainly try it :) 

Reply
Terzom36 days ago

Thank you for your ideas and thoughts! Really appreciate it!

Reply