I’m getting a real Cave Noire vibe from this and it feels great! Haven’t felt it in awhile, curious to see where he takes this game.
Edit: (I just used my super power).
This is great — movement-parity as primary mechanic — but it strikes me after completing level 43 or so that “there is currently no ending” might mean the levels are procedurally generated and will continue indefinitely? At least some of what I’ve played certainly felt hand-crafted, with noticeable lynchpin-like solutions (or else introducing a new concept), but others have felt more vague.
I really like this a ton, but I’m maybe hesitant to play more, out of concern that it might continue forever with no more new concepts to uncover?
Adventure mode is still not purely generated from player movement (you will have to open the correct doors to get to the Ending) and I made more puzzle levels this week (the editor is finished and fully functional – I’m still balancing level design with it).
If anyone wants to help me out on testflight though that’d be grand.
Ah, apparently I’m incurious enough not to have realized I was only playing one of the three(?) modes. Sorry about that! Might be worth adding an explanation of the three starting icons, if nowhere else then in the instruction text below?
You must be aggressive to solve the puzzles. Being instructed would make you passive.
I may limit visibility of buttons on initial plays to funnel players into Puzzle mode before they are strong enough to go adventuring and design level packs. I will probably make a video for the Editor though, it’s a deep rabbit hole.
If anyone else wants to jump on testflight: me[at]robotacid.com – thanks.
I hear you — and I love the instructionless gameplay without hesitation — but giving it a bit more thought, I wonder if the title screen’s similarity to the sort of choices in a Nitrome-like or mobile get-three-stars-on-each-level game is working against you as-is.
I say that because the puzzle-mode’s icon strongly reads as “level select” (via cellphone-game/Nitrome-like iconography) not as “this is the gameplay mode with separate levels to choose from.” Maybe something like a jigsaw puzzle piece instead?
(And the sword currently standing for Edit mode and not Adventure mode really isn’t a mistake? I guess the middle icon’s “E” stands for “Ending” and not “Edit”?)
The icons may need work, but the small amount of pixels is harder to work with than it looks.
Plus I laid it out for fast development, not for your entertainment. Level grids are easier to adjust progression on. I don’t really see the effort in changing it simply to try to be different. Oh it’s a grid of numbers. Must be levels. Text is such a waste of people’s time. Thank you for listening.
Oh, I’m not worried about the fact of there being a grid of levels, only that we’ve been taught to read a grid icon as “level select” and not “mode with levels.” But I think I’m repeating myself. I should add: I love the game; only bothering to nitpick because that’s so.
(And I agree with Phack below: you’ve been on a tremendous roll of excellent games over the past year. Looking forward to what comes next…)
I just want to say that the things Aaron Steed are doing lately are amazing. This, Bump, the icon games… It’s cool to witness a really unique voice developing.
Ah cool, looks like great minds think alike. The idea of positional combat is exactly what I used for my 7 day roguelike Nya Quest. Nice work, it feels a bit tighter than what I went for and not being able to wait definitely helps make it more puzzle-like :3
This game is great fun. I didn’t even know different modes existed. I’m up to 21. I love the mechanics and how the player is left to discover them, that and Vonnegut.
This is reproducible only on certain machines (I tried all browsers and all OSs – it never happened to me). This had been fixed however by removing the click-prompt on the title menus.
I’m getting a real Cave Noire vibe from this and it feels great! Haven’t felt it in awhile, curious to see where he takes this game.
Edit: (I just used my super power).
It’s Aaron Steed Day!
This is great — movement-parity as primary mechanic — but it strikes me after completing level 43 or so that “there is currently no ending” might mean the levels are procedurally generated and will continue indefinitely? At least some of what I’ve played certainly felt hand-crafted, with noticeable lynchpin-like solutions (or else introducing a new concept), but others have felt more vague.
I really like this a ton, but I’m maybe hesitant to play more, out of concern that it might continue forever with no more new concepts to uncover?
This is fantastic – a micro DROD! <3 It even has a level editor, and what appears to be an endless mode?
NOT FINISHED! NOT FINISHED!!
Adventure mode is still not purely generated from player movement (you will have to open the correct doors to get to the Ending) and I made more puzzle levels this week (the editor is finished and fully functional – I’m still balancing level design with it).
If anyone wants to help me out on testflight though that’d be grand.
Hey, sorry about that – I liked it enough that I couldn’t wait.
Oh, I hadn’t tried out adventure mode, awesomer still!
(you can add me on testflight – analytic@gmail.com )
bonus points for showing a screenshot of the level I made before I decided to make Bump!
Ah, apparently I’m incurious enough not to have realized I was only playing one of the three(?) modes. Sorry about that! Might be worth adding an explanation of the three starting icons, if nowhere else then in the instruction text below?
Wait, are the second and third icons reversed? (The sword leads to the level editor and the Play-triangle-with-an-E leads to Adventure mode?)
No! No instructions!
You must be aggressive to solve the puzzles. Being instructed would make you passive.
I may limit visibility of buttons on initial plays to funnel players into Puzzle mode before they are strong enough to go adventuring and design level packs. I will probably make a video for the Editor though, it’s a deep rabbit hole.
If anyone else wants to jump on testflight: me[at]robotacid.com – thanks.
I hear you — and I love the instructionless gameplay without hesitation — but giving it a bit more thought, I wonder if the title screen’s similarity to the sort of choices in a Nitrome-like or mobile get-three-stars-on-each-level game is working against you as-is.
I say that because the puzzle-mode’s icon strongly reads as “level select” (via cellphone-game/Nitrome-like iconography) not as “this is the gameplay mode with separate levels to choose from.” Maybe something like a jigsaw puzzle piece instead?
(And the sword currently standing for Edit mode and not Adventure mode really isn’t a mistake? I guess the middle icon’s “E” stands for “Ending” and not “Edit”?)
The icons may need work, but the small amount of pixels is harder to work with than it looks.
Plus I laid it out for fast development, not for your entertainment. Level grids are easier to adjust progression on. I don’t really see the effort in changing it simply to try to be different. Oh it’s a grid of numbers. Must be levels. Text is such a waste of people’s time. Thank you for listening.
Oh, I’m not worried about the fact of there being a grid of levels, only that we’ve been taught to read a grid icon as “level select” and not “mode with levels.” But I think I’m repeating myself. I should add: I love the game; only bothering to nitpick because that’s so.
(And I agree with Phack below: you’ve been on a tremendous roll of excellent games over the past year. Looking forward to what comes next…)
Is there a way to beat the plus signs without destroying a blank block? E.g., on level 11 of adventure mode.
nm I figured it out. Got to the 40s and eventually got exhausted. These are murderous little automata!
I just want to say that the things Aaron Steed are doing lately are amazing. This, Bump, the icon games… It’s cool to witness a really unique voice developing.
And don’t forget Red Rogue!
Ah cool, looks like great minds think alike. The idea of positional combat is exactly what I used for my 7 day roguelike Nya Quest. Nice work, it feels a bit tighter than what I went for and not being able to wait definitely helps make it more puzzle-like :3
Did this ever have sound? I thought it did, but I was really tired and now I think it was my imagination.
There’s sound, at the very least for destroying or being destroyed.
Really cool game! Got a decent bit in and enjoying how thick it gets.
This game is great fun. I didn’t even know different modes existed. I’m up to 21. I love the mechanics and how the player is left to discover them, that and Vonnegut.
If you directly click on “click”, a game mode is immediately selected, and the player never even learns that other modes exist.
This is reproducible only on certain machines (I tried all browsers and all OSs – it never happened to me). This had been fixed however by removing the click-prompt on the title menus.
This has been updated a whole lot since the last time I played. 😯
It’s been released on all operating systems as well 😛
Has anyone seen the ending? Why does the description say the author says there is no ending?
I’ve seen the ending.
Bought the game on iPod and it plays really nice!
Please please please please program an undo button for this. 😐