Over the past couple of months I've been keeping a
devlog of my game Deduction here on TIGForums, during which time I've posted a couple of early development builds for people to play with. Unfortunately despite a large number of views of the devlog, I've had very little feedback on the direction I'm taking. So I thought it was worth posting a companion thread here with the latest playable build in an effort to gather a little more feedback.
The game is a version of a logic puzzle known variously as the Zebra Puzzle or Einstein's Riddle, with puzzles randomly generated each time. The idea is to follow a set of clues to get to the unique solution for each puzzle by eliminating possible symbols from the game board. Here's a shot of the game in action, using the recently introduced hint system to cheat my way to the solution:
The large area in the upper two thirds represents the game board, which in this example is divided into four rows and four columns, with each cell of the grid containing the four possible symbols for that cell. Each row has a designated colour, as seen on the edge of the tiles and the tint of the symbols, and a unique set of symbols along a theme.
As you eliminate symbols in a cell they will be pressed in, by first clicking the cell to zoom in, then either clicking a symbol to eliminate it or long pressing and releasing to eliminate
all other symbols in the cell. Once only one symbol remains, that symbol is 'revealed' and grows to fill the cell. Once all symbols have been revealed, the puzzle is solved.
In order to work out which symbols can be eliminated from any given cell, the area at the bottom of the screen displays a number of clues. These clues comprise of two or three symbols from the board along with an optional black tile with a white symbol which represents the relationship between those symbols. If you click on a clue, the view will zoom in and you will see an explanation of that clue. By knowing which relationships exist between symbols, it's possible to eliminate those symbols from the board which don't abide by them.
If at any point you find yourself stuck and can't see what your next move should be, just click the Hint button and you'll be shown a possible next move to take. If a symbol is outlined in red, you can safely eliminate it, and if a symbol is outlined in green you can eliminate all other symbols in that cell and reveal it using the long-press. During development the hints are unlimited, but obviously in the final game there will be a limit depending on the difficulty level of any given puzzle.
If you try to eliminate a symbol which is part of the solution, you will see the board shake and the full solution will be revealed. So choose wisely!
Once a puzzle has been solved or failed, a new puzzle will be generated after a short pause.
Currently there's a lot left to do, but it's already playable and a fun little time waster for those who like games like Minesweeper or Sudoku. So far I have the following planned:
- A full tutorial
- Timed, casual and puzzle game modes (more on that last one at a later date)
- A strike / life / undo system to make things less punishing on lower difficulties
- Ambient music and sound effects
- A lot more symbol themes
- Different tile shapes, although this may be part of a post-release update
The version linked below currently works on Windows only, and is a development build with a lot of debug controls under the game board for setting the number of rows, columns and initially revealed symbols, and a large number of different clue types - of which only four are initially selected. There's also a 'read me' text file included in the archive with a little more information on those initial clue types. Note that this version will only function until
29th February 2016, after which time I'll upload a new version which will include all recent progress.
The plan is to release this as a mobile game initially on Android and iOS, but for testing purposes it's easier to distribute a Windows executable. I may make an actual desktop version with the ability to toggle the zooming of the game board at a later date.
I welcome any and all feedback you have on this early version, and hope that you'll follow the
devlog too as development progresses. Thank you for reading and playing!
Click here to download
Developer
