MAIN MENU:
- Please make ENTER a valid select option.
- Options menu has to be navigated with the mouse. Arrow keys do not work. Have to use LB/RB for controller (no indication).
- Controller Inputs are wrong. It says B = Aim and X = Cancel Aim, but it's the opposite.
- The REVERT buttons do not highlight in Keyboard settings.
- Cannot bind the E key for some reason.
- In the Pause Menu, you can still make the character face left/right and aim.
- Pressing ESC in the Options Menu should bring you back to the Pause Menu.
- The above works if you rebind a button, but then ESC no longer works to unpause - and clicking Resume will make the robot throw.
- Pressing space on the Resume option will make the robot jump.
DEFAULT KEYBOARD CONTROLS:
- I started using arrow keys for movement - because WASD didn't work for menus... This felt a bit strange when combined with E/F/Space, but not terrible.
- I got to "Hold E to aim, release to throw" when I realised this would not work at all. The game wanted me to use a mouse to aim (despite not saying it).
- One hand on the arrow keys, one hand on E/F/Space, third hand on the mouse? No. Clearly the game wanted me to use WASD instead...
- So was WASD a better option? Well, yes and no. It was now awkward to change magnet polarity while moving. Also would be awkward to aim while moving... If not for the fact this has been made impossible.
- No aiming while moving. Are there some future puzzles already planned with this limitation in mind? It just doesn't feel good to have your character's motion interrupted. Especially because it takes a second before it even registers.
- I was very happy to discover that you can use a left mouse click to aim/throw instead of E. Next thought was it might be nice if the right mouse click changed magnet polarity.
- Sadly, Right-Click is permanently bound to Cancel Aim. There should be secondary bindings for each button to prevent these permanent bindings.
- Anyway, if both mouse buttons are already bound to aiming and cancelling, it might be worth trying out: Right-Click to aim, Left-Click to throw. This would allow you to cancel aiming just by letting go of RMB. It would also allow you to drop the magnet just by clicking LMB.
- As for shifting the magnet's polarity shift - How about SHIFT? Or S, W, CTRL...
- Might have to think of left-handed players as well. How are they going to jump? Up key?
- MAN, there are so many different options for aiming it's hard to even begin to decide what would be best. Perhaps the cursor could be hidden, and aiming would work like Angry Birds / Ori. Maybe time would slow down while aiming (Ori). Maybe only in mid-air like in BOTW... Too many to contemplate.
- Finally, it would be nice to have a "No Mouse" option. So you can play the game with WASD for movement and Arrow Keys for aiming. CTRL/SHIFT for Throw/Polarity. Whichever way around. Might have to test that each puzzle works for this mode. Should be noted that D-Pad aiming works right now.
DEFAULT CONTROLLER CONTROLS:
Fairly good.
If you decide to allow moving while aiming, it might be nice to have it set up this way:
- IF IN MOTION: Aiming also moves the robot.
- IF NOT IN MOTION: Aiming does not move the robot.
Alternatively, you could experiment with using the Right-Stick for aiming. But this might result in some strange jump bindings.
PUZZLE DESIGN
Quite nice. Some unintended alternate solutions.
This may come down to personal preference, but I tend to prefer puzzle games without unwinnable states.
That said, my favourite puzzle game (Baba Is You) has plenty of them. Of course, you can just rewind time in that game.
I just think there's something elegant about a puzzle that cannot be broken.
It's possible to soft-lock every level here - including the tutorial (2 soft-locks, and possible to die).
Not saying this is necessarily bad though. Every game is different after all. Maybe you want the player to really think about their actions before committing, rather than running around trying everything to brute-force the solution.
Good luck!
BUGS
- Cannot fully replay levels due to lack of key.
- If you hold down the "change polarity" button, it will change polarity again when the key is released.
- It's impossible to jump when perfectly on top of a screw (Level 2).
- A large magnet won't crush you if you're on the edge (Level 3/4).
- Hold down Ctrl in the hub and the reset icon grows in size.
- Skip the tutorial by pausing and selecting "Return to Hub".
For Visibility:
- Super Jump Bug: https://itch.io/post/5962907
- Extra Bugs: https://itch.io/post/5962342