Hi community!
First of all I’d like to apologize for my English, it is not my native language.
My name is Ihor and I’d like to share with you our new game idea - 2D puzzle game with unique gameplay mechanics. Well, at least we would think so
Who we are?
We are a small game development team named Sixteen Squares. What we normally do is outsourcing mobile games and 3D art, so this game is our first try to create something our own for a long time.
We are experts in creating foreign games but have no idea how to do things right if you want to push your own IP. So these are our first steps here. The Unity forum is the first place where I share it with the community and I’m relying on your feedback and advises.
Some background.
Inspired by Color Switch game we decided to create a similar game in terms of simple material-like design and some attractive and unique gameplay. After several brainstorming sessions we have decided on the game with rings divided into several colorful sectors. The player can connect rings through the same color sectors, create as long chains as possible and destroy them.
So the game combines several different mechanics and in addition is operating by physics - it adds some fun to the gameplay.
We are currently not working on a visual style at all but it is going to be very simple so the main focus should be on the gameplay itself.
So what is the game I am talking about?
I share the demo video of the gameplay to give you better idea what I’m talking about. Later I’ll be able to share build as well to let you play the game.
Initially we planned to have the game endless (starting from easy mode and increase complexity during the gameplay) but later decided to make it level based so currently working on the new structure to be able create new levels.
We have a lot of ideas how to improve and develop the game but on the current stage we have to figure out if the gameplay is attractive enough. So we are looking forward to your feedback!
More updates coming soon…
Thanks to all!
Ihor Solovei
Co-Founder and CEO of Sixteen Squares
So my background is in mobile puzzle games, and this is something that will definitely be fun to play.
One thing that I think could be beneficial is if the pieces only rotate when a new one is added. So there are basically two states of play:
CONNECTING STATE, where all the pieces are static and you are moving your thumb around the screen trying to make connections, and
SHUFFLING STATE, where a new piece (or pieces) are falling and all of the pieces change rotation in response. This gives the ability to shake up the playing field after the player just got done trying to come up with connections.
The constant rotation of the pieces takes this from immediately from a casual game to almost a twitch puzzle game, where if you aren’t fast enough you will lose the ability to make certain connections. Maybe that’s the mechanic you are going for, and if it is, more power to you. My suggestion, however, would be aim at a more casual puzzle audience and have the pieces moving in a separate state than the state where the player is expected to interact with them.
You’ve created a very unique mechanic execution here and I’m excited to see what it becomes. Keep up the hard work!
Honest input - While watching the video - I couldn’t understand the logic - how pieces could be ‘matched’.
The feedback loop for the player isn’t detailed enough to provide the ‘first time’ player with the knowledge if they are succeeding or not.
This is important for players - but even more so to the person looking at the video or advertising material and thinking about playing the game. If they can not logically work out the games rules by seeing them in action - they will 50/50 probably pass on the game for a different game that they are familiar with or another game that looks more fun.
After reading the description above - I see how the game works - but without being able to visually ‘show’ this - a lot of prospective players will pass on the game to play something else.
Hopefully this helps to ‘enhance’ the visual feedback to the person playing the game and also the person looking at the advertising content to consider playing the game.
Lawsonry, Thank you for your detailed feedback and for the advise. The thing is we have tested a similar gameplay you suggested and it looked a little boring. The current one is more active but also is more complex, that’s why we decided to move to the level based gameplay so the player will be playing from very easy levels to more complex becoming more experienced and figuring out the gameplay step by step. As one person said me, the first level should be made so the drunk one-armed sailor can’t lose We’ll try to make it so.
But on the other hand you are right in terms of the casual audience that likes more casual puzzle games with a measured gameplay. We’ll see what we can do with static rings to have the gameplay attractive but not boring at the same time.
theANMATOR2b, thank you for the feedback. I agree that the gameplay is perhaps not obvious enough. We are currently working on it too.
We have came up with some gameplay changes to make it more obvious and easy for the casual player (with your help guys!). I’m going to upload the new update as soon as we create the new mechanics.
Remember that no one is right or wrong, and at the end of the day, it’s YOUR art that is being made. Definitely trust your gut and go with the game you want to make.
We’ve been developing the game for the one guy a couple of years ago. He trusted his gut and his own mother. And never listened any foreign advises being sure his idea is the best ever. The game currently has no more than 2K installs on Google Play.
So, of course it is our game and we will use our experience and our gut but I believe feedback from other people are very important. And I am thankful for any help!
Hi there!
We are currently working on another outsource project so we have not enough time to work on our game so far. But I’m sure we’ll get back to this as soon as we can.
Meanwhile let me show you some little progress. Taking into account your feedback and opinions of some other people we have decided to refuse using rotating circles.
Eventually we had the idea to make two modes. One mode is level based where the player should pass levels one by one achieving certain goals with various constraints (moves, time etc.). And the another mode is more like a sandbox where the game field is presented like a basket attached to the spring. The less rings are in the basket the lighter it is and the higher level you can achieve. This mode is more for fun, it has no game over and lets players just to relax playing the game with no concern for moves and other constraints. It’s endless mode.
Bellow is the video of the sandbox mode concept. Looking forward to see your comments.
That’s looking really great! I like the evolution it’s made. I think it really helps to have the circles stop moving before you draw your line to connect them–it causes the player to sit and think about the best possible line for a moment.
We’ll try to make it so.