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Blackthornprod GAME JAM #3

Hosted by Blackthornprod Games · #BTPGameJam

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A jam submission

Less tally cosmicallyView game page

Move selected groups of blocks and destroy others, and your potential directions, aiming to finalize the lowest score

Submitted by Swift Illusion (@Swift_Illusion) — 57 minutes, 42 seconds before the deadline

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Less tally cosmically's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
INNOVATION	#69	3.828	3.828
DESIGN	#110	3.690	3.690
THEME	#196	3.517	3.517
OVERALL	#201	3.586	3.586
VISUALS	#288	3.586	3.586
SOUNDS	#311	3.034	3.034
MUSIC	#463	2.621	2.621

Ranked from 29 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

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Comments

Viewing comments 20 to 1 of 23 · Previous page · First page

LoftusSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Interestingly enough before I settled on my theme, one of the ideas I had was to do a block puzzle in which you removed blocks from the play space. Thankfully I went in a totally different direction as your take on the idea was much better than mine haha! I couldn't think of any kind of interesting or unique mechanic when I was toying with the idea but your implementation is fantastic.

I love the idea that clearing the play space is the core objective, but in doing so each move becomes more difficult so you have to weight up a lot of factors each time. The music, sounds and art style all complemented it beautifully and it was very replayable. One of the best entries I've seen for the jam on all fronts. Great work :)

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Haha, happy to hear I was able to make a fun game for you to experience while you worked on another fun idea :) . Thanks a lot.

Yep :D that was the part of the core concept, glad you felt that weigh on your decisions. 1 of its layers of less is more, is definitely how the less left on the board, your next decision feels like it has even more impact, and the risk/reward/timings of what to lose and what you can afford to lose when builds. Happy to hear the games aesthetics game together to help just strengthen that experience for you :) .
:D thanks so much. And thanks again for trying the game.

LoftusSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Was a pleasure!

Forgot to share my high score (or low score? :p) after a handful of games haha:

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

^^!

Oh :D that's a super impressive score! Under 40% is like, showoff territory lol. Getting under a hundred is frame it on your wall moment haha so you were just short of that, nice :) . So happy to see you enjoying it enough to get down to that score.

LoftusSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Haha thank you very much!

EnchessencySubmitted3 years ago(+1)

This is a very unique puzzler. Fun and challenging too. I did have a little trouble telling if my scores were good or bad. With leaderboards for the Daily Board, I think this could be a really great mobile game.

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago (4 edits)

Thanks, glad you had fun with it :) .
For scoring, in the tutorial it brings up under 200, and even better getting below 50%. You'll also have effects come up when you get below those 2 targets to compliment you reaching them as good and great scores. For further reference, I like to set my goal as getting under 40% average for my last 3 boards, and this is one of my games I'm actually good at haha so take that for whatever it's worth. My best L3 of all time is 31% and I still can't believe I actually managed that, after the previous 33% I had I thought I wouldn't beat.
Generally I think it's better if you just try and improve at your own pace, and get a feel for how well you can do and how well you want to keep doing, knowing that there's a 'cap' for how well you can complete a level. Another option if possible is comparing with others. Today I managed to get 135/43% on the daily.

For leaderboards, I hope that I can explain why I don't think they'd work for my game.
- The goal here is to do your best at the puzzle and try to get the lowest score you can reach. There's a nice amount of variance and ways to reach lower scores and compete from potentially different angles, however boards naturally have a *best potential*. Unlike other action/strategy games with daily leaderboards that have a high score for people to try and reach that you want to compete with, having a score shown here would instead tell people 'this is the best score available, try and find this solution', which is counter to the feeling I'm aiming for. I'd rather people challenge themselves and/or others and go 'oh wow, I actually found a lower score!' Instead of feeling pressured to match what someone else discovered (assuming a large enough playerbase to to consider that solution discovered).
I recognize that different people engage with leaderboards in different ways, and sometimes personal goals aren't as motivating, but that's what seed's and daily's are here for-though they aren't leaderboards to easily access competing with others-they give you a way to tangibly compare scores when you do have someone to compare to. And the Last 3 boards average gives you a longterm goal to achieve and compare/compete for with yourself or others beyond single boards.
If you still think you'd desire a leaderboard with the above, and knowing if I could find a solution it may not be the leaderboard you imagine (there's no evident manageable cross-platform solution, and it'd likely be mobile, separate for android and IOS), honestly let me know. I could see a 'leaderboard' which if can be achieved just shows the best score achieved for the daily for you to compare against.
I'll consider it more if enough demand grows for it, but for now my most active player I know besides me specifically doesn't want a leaderboard. So the votes even out for now.
It will besides all that though be coming to mobile soon, though sorry IOS will be awhile off if you have that device as that's more complicated and will depend on when I'm in a position to go through the hurdles required for that.
EDIT: As a reference to my points above about the leaderboard, I was absolutely sure today's daily couldn't get below 43%, and the player I mentioned just came and showed off 126/40% and I had to do a double take, and they were over the moon when I was surprised about that, and I was real happy about that moment. You couldn't have moments like that with a leaderboard which could theoretically tell you the 'best score' for sure in a day.

EnchessencySubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Personally, when I gauge my own performance, I prefer to do it against what's possible for a given board rather than what sorts of scores I get on average, because it's possible some board just has a different limit on how well you can do. Leaderboards don't necessarily need to be the solution. Average scores from other players would work just as well for me. I generally am not personally motivated to try and top leaderboards. I am however motivated strongly by beating averages. That's all just my own taste though.

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Just trying to dig into your goal some more, I'm a bit confused. You're generally not motivated to top leaderboards, but you'd like to beat averages. Do you mean, a leaderboard that would average the daily scores, kind of like the zachtronic games, rather than trying to compare directly against the best outcome of a daily? So you'd be comparing against the average of those that submitted their score to the daily?

EnchessencySubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Yeah. I initially said leaderboard because it's the standard way of letter people compare scores that also accomplishes what I'd personally like. I don't use leaderboards like most people. I scroll down quite a ways through them to get a sense of what counts as a high score, not necessarily the best scores, and a sense of the curve of scores so I can roughly estimate how I did. A simple Daily Average accomplishes what I want far better, although I'm sure plenty will still want to know they got the best score possible.

Although ultimately I advise you not introduce anything that goes against what you personally are trying to accomplish with your game. Don't muddle your game by taking every person's suggestion in a doomed attempt to appeal to everyone. Daily Average would make the game more appealing to me, but if you want to avoid making players feel pressured, then you might want to say screw what Enchessency wants haha.

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago (1 edit)

Thanks so much for taking the time to really detail what you were meaning and how you interact with leaderboards yourself.
Appreciate your understanding that it's not always the right choice to add in every request to a game, but regardless I really wanted to understand your perspective better to take that consideration alongside what other opinions may arise. That way I could more thoroughly consider if some additions could improve the game for the majority of people or not, and see if I could design it to try and catch both sides.
For now I'm sorry to say it would be safest to assume it won't be added, but if it is I'll have been able to take all this into consideration.

AnfernSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Nice game ! This is a complex one where you have to think twice before playing a move. However, I want to play more and more ahah :D

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks :D ! That few but important moves was part of the goal so I'm glad you felt that way, and real happy you had fun enough to want to play more :) !

JokubasGamesSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Very good game, but at first it's very hard to understand how to play it.

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks :) !
Do you recall what you struggled to understand at first?

JokubasGamesSubmitted3 years ago

For me it was hard to understand what arrows do, how blocks move and destroy each other.

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Did you go through the how to play game?

Iv4nSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Great game design, very polished, congratulations! :)

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

:D thanks a lot! Real happy you had a fun time with it and the polish showed :) .

ZilyanusSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Nice cosnept and game design, I like the way you use the theme

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks a lot :) , glad you enjoyed it and the use of the theme. I really liked how much fun your own Sponge Wars had with the theme and how it gave the game personality and charm, so I'm happy to hear this more abstract game mechanics take on the theme was liked by you too.

Orange FlagSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Outstanding game! I am so pleased this is coming to mobile at some point in the future! I really love the option for seeded generation too, it automatically gives it a community-oriented feel, which is great!

Graphics: Simplistic but effective. I'm glad you didn't add too much visual clutter so you can more easily focus on what actually matters in the game. In the future I'd like to see an option to change the types of background (that's just extra, not like you should've had it in the jam version :D)

Innovation: This concept is very unique and very well executed! The circular movement is a bit odd at first but definitely makes the game more dynamic. Maybe there could be a way for you to highlight where the cubes are going next if you click a certain arrow for extra clarity? That might just be me though! The idea and main gameplay mechanic is perfect for the theme too!

Sound: The music was fit well in the background and wasn't too distracting for a game that is focussed on thinking logically. The breaking sound effects were also very satisfying and rewarding to hear!

Tutorial: The tutorial communicated well the objectives of the game, and provided a good opportunity to test out the mechanics. I also appreciate it being a guided tutorial, instead of a sandbox-esque one. The UI in the main game is a bit intimidating at first, but once you start to playing it all kind of fits into place and you get the hang of it.

Design: The game design and general implementation of the concept was done extremely well! The procedural generation also works very well, I'm not sure how it would be done but maybe there could be a way of adjusting the difficulty of the board when randomly generating it? The tile system also fits perfectly, and overall the experience was well refined and polished.

I've tried to give some suggestion for improving but realistically this game as it stands is truly incredible (especially considering its a jam game.) The game design is amazing, and generally this deserves to rank very high in the final ratings! I'll be playing this again!

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Can't express how happy I am you enjoyed this game so much :D , and thanks so much for the thorough feedback :).
Definitely wanted the kind of community and/or friendly competitive option available for this kind of game, so I'm glad you're happy for that option too.

- Thanks, my goal throughout refining its presentation was definitely balancing the clarity and simple presentation besides giving it some personality and atmosphere that wouldn't make it feel more busy. Trying to help the player but not backfire and make it feel more intimidating than it was. This is where it was day 2
Not sure a custom background could add any value to it, but might consider if a playerbase grows for it when it reaches mobile of unlocking after getting a score under 50% an option to strengthen and change the color of the backdrop kind of glow which wouldn't be too difficult and wouldn't break the games presentation.

- Thanks a lot. It's definitely there to make it more dynamic, and so the locations of blocks can end up in more varied locations throughout play and evolve the board state more and options more. I'd rather not need you to click an arrow to see where a cube is going because that hurts the pacing, but I do want a final addition to make room in a settings menu for 'extra edge clarity', that would mark numbers around the board too so you know number>number.
Glad the theme/gameplay clicked for you :) .

- Glad to hear that, I think music is one of the most challenging things to get right for puzzle games, so I was happy when I eventually found that and felt it right for this game. Nice to know it worked well for you too.
:D real glad to hear the sound effects were satisfying and rewarding, that was the goal! Designing the explosion was one of the toughest sounds as I was looking for something that gave a lot of impact because it was an important interaction in the game, and felt very much like an explosion, but with the slightest hint of cute kind of haha. Nice to know they achieved their goal.

- An important goal for me at the start was to finish a proper tutorial for the game, so it's a relief to see it has worked well. It was a balancing act of what did the player absolutely need to know without making it feel like more was happening than actually was, and what interactions could they find out and get more experience with during play. But then giving them that first experience still inside the tutorial and a concrete first objective. Reassuring to hear it clicked together well for you.

- :D real happy to hear so. I'm not sure a 'difficulty' would really work for this experience, because that might imply in this puzzle-kind of gameplay that there was a solution, rather than a challenge unlike an action game, and would break up the simplicity of the daily/seeds/scoring streaks . A lot more layers of interface would need to be added and complicate its core.
I have however already designed some intentional balance in the board generation, to keep it more fair and not just completely random. There will always be the 4 first arrows spawned in the upper/right/lower/left area of the board before 2 random ones in random locations, so you can have a variety of boards, but you won't end up with a really bad board where all the arrows are stuck together in one corner for example. And besides that there's always 3 of every value + 2 random values.

I can't get this grin off my face :D . It means a lot to me for players to get joy from my games, so hearing all this really makes me so happy. Part of my goal at the start of the gamejam too was to make a game that felt so compact and final but valuable, that adding, removing, or changing any part just wouldn't feel natural, so hearing your final note makes me really glad. Honored to hear that praise, but importantly thanks a lot for playing and taking the time for this feedback, and I hope you'll be getting more fun out of it on mobile in the future or whenever you first come back to it :) .

FreludeSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Good puzzle game. You did a great work on polish. Sounds and music are good too. The only think that could bother me is that (if I got it) level are not meant to be cleared but make the best score possible. Though that's a great game.

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks a lot :) .
Yeah, the objective is, in general, to get the least tiles remaining in the least turns. It's literally impossible to clear the board because at most you could possibly have an arrow move the last remaining block to destroy itself, but then you'd still have that numbered block. That's why there's also the more tangible objectives of getting below 200 and below 50% each board, besides the goal of seeking the best lowest score.
Because you want arrows remaining if you still need to move blocks(though can also be the best source to reduce your score), and the different blocks have different values, there's more layers of depth available to you after you play more than just trying to remove any block.

iyawkSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Really fun to play, took me a second to figure it out but it's really well done. Good job!

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Real happy to hear you had a fun time with it :) ! Thanks! And thanks for playing it :) .

FazzieSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I may like this game more than I should xD

This is the first Game Jam game I came back to on a second day, and damn this game is great. I already did a comment with all my thoughts and feedback on the game so I won't really do it a second time. Can't wait for the mobile release!

Btw, got a 112 (37%) on the daily board! >:D I doubt it's even possible to beat that!

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Gosh this makes me too happy :D . So glad to hear you having that much fun with it and really appreciate you letting me know you're still enjoying it so :) . Will be posting a devlog sharing when it gets to each store for sure. Looking forward to getting it to you.

Very awesome score :D . After 4 games I managed to match that, and after 8 I thought you might have been right, but just before concluding so I'm sorry to say on the 9th, :D
https://i.gyazo.com/7eca4bec81620add3498d02e8934e8f0.png

Alex ☕🇨🇦Submitted3 years ago(+1)

Neat concept. Felt like a pro when I took out a handful of tiles with one move.

FYI I’m not certain how to open the menu in the HTML5 version (I’m assuming that’s what the “>” is on the side. Refreshing the page does reseed the board though.

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks :) , yeah when you get those moments where a bunch of blocks and the right blocks explode it creates really satisfying moments.

You just hold the left mouse anywhere and drag towards the right, mentioned at the end of the tutorial in-case but didn't really emphasize it.
Glad you managed to work around it with refreshing to play again though.

AnogrmSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

It's such a great puzzle game! The graphics are really clean, the music is really cool and the gameplay is interesting. But I'm not very good at it ngl, I'm not good enough at thinking far ahead.

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks a lot :D!
Real happy it all came together for you enough that it still felt like a good experience, even if you weren't the best at playing it :) . Thanks for taking the time to try it still.

BottleKAPSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I love the main menu buttons and how different sections light up when you clicked them! The design is so well done!

The soft background music is super good as well! Really enjoyed playing this game!

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago(+1)

Glad to hear you appreciated the polish that reached the menu's too :) .

Happy to hear you liked the background music, always tricky finding the balance for puzzly games so appreciate knowing it worked well for you.
:D thanks for playing, real happy you got to have a fun time with it.

robertkiszeliSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Hard but great puzzle game :)

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks for playing, happy you had a good time with it :) . That's a nice score to finish with too, well done.

FazzieSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Ay I love this game!

The game is very polished and fun to play, and a great brainteaser. Also, I really like the touch of the color of the borders indicating where the blocks will endup; really nice.

Btw, I got a 119 (41%) on board seed 198165; pretty good, hm?

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

:D real happy to hear you had a good time with it!

Thanks so much, glad the borders helped you as intended :) .

That's a great score! I was just short of it on my first attempt with 120, took me 6 more attempts but managed to get below it :)

Toaster_on_massSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

I just love the setting seed part! I've been putting tons of random seeds for a while now!

Submitted

Square ninja classic

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Real glad you enjoyed that addition :) thanks !

Mr. PdfSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Well after 5 attemps i got %51 :D. This game was one of the best designed games i have seen in this jam. The scoring system is a bit confusing at first but you get used to it pretty quick. I think you can work on it a bit more then release this game to mobile platforms. Overall i enjoyed it amazing work :D

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Very nice score! Thanks so much for the compliment :D real happy to hear you ended up having so much fun with it
It'll definitely be coming to mobile officially moreso than the apk download after my other release :) so I hope you'll get to have more fun with it in the future too.
:D thanks again and for playing it.

Kyota.exeSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

Fun game! Looks very well polished.

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Happy to hear you had fun with it :) ! Glad you felt the polish too, thanks.

DemizoSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

so polished!

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

Thanks :) ! I worked a lot on that so I'm glad it shows.

cosmocornerSubmitted3 years ago(+1)

This is an incredibly fun game! Polish it up a bit, and this would make a great mobile game! The circular wrap-around is really hard for me to get my head around, but it's really cool! All the sound and music perfectly fits the gameplay! I'll be shocked if this doesn't make top ten!

Submitted

Swift IllusionDeveloper3 years ago

So happy to hear you had such a good time with it!
If you have an android you can already download the apk on the page and install it if you visit the page on mobile and give permissions. As mentioned an official release to more easily get it off the store will be coming, later though for IOS because of the more complex requirements.
:D honored to hear you think that, thanks a lot :) .

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