Ranked #478
330 Points
BLEEP BLOOP (working title) This is a rhythm-based puzzle concept I've been tinkering with.The goal is to clear the tiles by getting their 'beats' to coincide while placed next to each other. This is a prototype to play with level design and mechanics. NOTE: doesn't work well on mobile browsers.Play the game in your browser: https://joelschuman.com/hex/
This is a pseudo-deck-building game using combinations of smaller elements to form spells instead of using individual cards. You have to remember what spells you have "learned" already, and use them to defeat enemies!I borrowed ideas from Slay the Spire and other games similar to that, and used cheap image assets to speed up development. I plan to explore the combos-spells game dynamic in a non-winter-themed game. Once you get past the initial battles, there are some interesting spell combos and chaining you can do!You can play the game here: https://joelhasa.site/with/a-holiday-wizard-game/Please let me know what you think!
First of all - your UI is on point, the navigation is really intuitive. I think the visual assets could be polished a little more, but the setup and organization is great.
Level design - I agree with codist, the first few levels should definitely be easier. If you ramp up the difficulty TOO quick, people can't handle it. I really felt like I just had the first ~2 inches of the first level to adjust to the handling and controls.
That being said, this isn't my type of game. Stuff like Celeste where you die constantly just to get past a screen, that is. Although I know people who looooove punishing games like this.
Thank you! The pairing mechanic is definitely the main focus of this prototype.
1. I appreciate your thoughts on improving the gameplay - I'm planning on adding a library view so you can keep track of what spells you know without having to just remember them.
It has been hard to find a balance between giving every tile a single, predictable action (where you're just picking 2 individual effects to use) and having the combos dictate the meaning of the spell, each spell being more than the sum of its parts. Any other thoughts on this would be mucho appreciated!
2. Definitely agree with all your thoughts here, especially adding other game scenes (shops, branching maps, bosses). I was trying to avoid being a complete ripoff of other games, but now that you mention it, I think it might be more a matter of adhering to the well-worn conventions for this subgenre ( roguelike deckbuilder ).
Again, thank you!
Really interesting game - it sucked up half my morning, so there's a vote of confidence for you :)
Here are a few things that need work:
1. The "join" tool seems like extra work, and doesn't add to the fun for me. It feels like a distraction from the main goal. If it's essential in later levels to have free-movable parts, maybe there's a better way to accomplish that dynamic.
2. I felt like the learning curve jumped much higher after the first few levels. For players who don't have experience with games like this, It would be nice to have quite a lot more very dumbed-down intro levels that could be skipped by more advanced players who already "get it" coming in.
3. The wiring system, while a cool idea and pretty essential, is hard to understand at times. I quickly found myself just randomly hooking up wires until something worked. Maybe it needs to be simplified somehow, or have more fool-proof documentation for how each tile should be wired up, available in wiring mode.
Overall great work!