Colonize - puzzle/defense game based on Conway's Life (web/android/iOS)

Community Showcases
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Colonize is out on:
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.behaviorgames.Colonize
Barnes and Noble Nook (android): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colonize-behaviorgames/1113761130?ean=2940043910974
Kongregate: Play Colonize, a free online game on Kongregate

And, the latest version is also on my website: Webplayer - http://behaviorgames.com/colonize/play-colonize

Trailer:

Gameplay video:

Colonize is a puzzle/strategy/defense game based on John Conway’s Game of Life. If you are not familiar with Conway’s Life, it’s not technically a “game,” but a number of Life simulators and games can be found on the web or mobile devices. In Conway’s Life, “cells” exist in a grid-like world, and grow and die over time according to simple rules. While simple, fascinating patterns emerge as the cells evolve, and Colonize is designed to let players explore these patterns.

Colonize includes several single-player game modes, such as puzzles to solve, and toxic infections to defend against. I’ve also included a 2-player mode so that players can compete against one another, and a contest mode, where players can try out new puzzles (and compete for prizes) regularly. And, there is a sandbox where players can play around: creating interesting patterns to share or better learn how Conway’s Life works.

You can try the web version of the game on my site, and I’d be happy to get any feedback. If you want to try the full version, let me know and I can send you an upgrade code. The game uses RageSpline for some of the objects (mostly background and objects that mark locations), prime31’s UIToolkit for the UI, and Photon Cloud for 2-player. Background music is Pinball Spring by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).

My plan is to release Colonize on the web and android initially as a free game (with ads), and then port the game to iOS. Players will be able to upgrade to the premium version of the game through a small one-time in-app purchase ($1-2 US). Currently, upgrading allows the user to skip levels, to submit scores for contests, to switch the look of their cells (from the default to faces or ninjas), and allow them to share more games (you can only share 5 games in the free version). By the first release, I’ll add more cell strains (different appearances for the cells) that full users will get access to.

Main features:

  • About 160 levels in the beta, planned to have 200 or more for the first release.
  • Four play modes: puzzle (training levels), defense, 2-player (online) and contests.
  • Five different cell types (each using a different rule).
  • Share your games online.
  • Games/Matches can be shared publicly.
  • Real-time multiplayer – 2 player.
  • Contests (planned to be updated regularly - weekly - and players who have upgraded can compete for prizes).
  • Global leaderboards.
  • Cross-platform: you can sync your game across computers/devices so that you can continue your game anywhere.

Screenshots:
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As with all of my games, Colonize is designed as part of a research study.

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Played for a little bit. It’s a cool concept. However, it seems to me that the challenges get to be more guess and check, than actual planning or strategy. Are players expected to be able to trace out 15 generations in their heads?

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Thanks for trying it out, and for the feedback! I would agree, that the “training” levels seem more of a guessing game than actual puzzles. The main goal (in the training levels) is to introduce some basic patterns that turn up in Life, and help people learn how to kill off those patterns (when they get to the other play modes).

I may need to encourage people to explore the other game modes (like Defend) instead of sticking just in the Train levels.

4

Err. . .So I went back to try and play the Defend game mode, and it told me to get through training level 11. Pretty sure I was at least to level 8, but somehow my progress was not saved. It wanted me to start over training at level 1.

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

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Hmm… that sounds like a bug. Progress should be saved (in the player prefs on your machine, and on my server). Looking at your saved game profile, it looks like your game was erased (and I’m not sure why). If you try again, I modified the profile, and it should download the next time you play (as tzvier).

Thanks again!

[Edit] I think I may have fixed the bug. After selecting a user name, the game was not correctly updating your profile on the server, so when you came back, it overwrote your progress.

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While playing defense, if I go back to redo a level for more flasks, it doesn’t seem to update the progress.

I also have no idea how to earn points in Colonize mode.

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Did you lose your progress, or do your scores not update? I found another bug that could prevent your defense scores from saving, and I’ve fixed that in the latest build.

In Colonize mode, you earn points based on your average colony size, max size, with a penalty based on how many cells you add. I’ve modified the instructions for the first colonize level to explain this, but I may need to add more detail.

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I’m working on a trailer for Colonize, and here is the rough version:

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Upgrade Codes

I posted these over on reddit, but most not been redeemed yet. So, if you are interested in trying out the premium version of Colonize, you can use one of these upgrade codes (each is a single use, and will upgrade one game/account).

Just enter the code after pressing Upgrade in the main menu.

Codes: r26994, r41615, r64563, r68011, r65373, r89112, r77578, r82338, r32749, r29848, r20954, r44593, r22978, r62665, r80226, r28737, r68784, r52946, r91989

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I’ve been working on an icon for Colonize (mostly for mobile/kongregate/chrome store). This is the latest version: what do you think?

1028623--38165--$icon_100.png

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In the new version (on my website), I’ve made several changes: Now, cells have a simple animation as they are born/die (by changing the scale of the cells). And, I’ve dropped the “Colonize” game mode that tzvier mentioned. I liked the idea of the mode (where you are rewarded for making as large of a colony as you can), but I think it still needs too much work to include at the moment.

Otherwise, the new version fixes a few bugs, and includes a new cell strain (“Ninjas”) which I’ll post some screenshots of soon.

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The latest version of Colonize just went live on Kongregate today: Play Colonize, a free online game on Kongregate

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Android versions are going live starting with Google Play and Barnes and Noble. Apple and Amazon app store versions are under review, and I hope to get a Facebook version out next week as well.