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[goodtimeshaxor]

Lawnmower Challenge is a lock-and-key, path-finding, mobile puzzle game inspired by classic games from the ’80s. The goal of the game is to mow all the tiles of grass in as few moves as possible. The levels, divided into squares and broken into smaller sections with wooden fences, are studded with mower-impassable perils such as rocks and mud. Keys and supplies are scattered in the grass which grant access to locked areas. While players can walk over the mud tiles, seeds must be collected and planted to cross them with the mower. Bales of hay must be pushed strategically to open new paths.

History of Lawnmower Challenge

The first version of "LMC" was released in April 2012 and was featured in PAX East 2012's Boston Indie Showcase! It didn't do that great in terms of sales but I decided to revisit the game and make improvements including in-app level builder, user generated level browser/player, achievements, shop, and newly designed UI focused on User Experience and taking advantage of touch controls.






Links

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lunarpeter
Website: http://www.lunarenigma.com

[goodtimeshaxor]

Update 2013-08-17

In-Game Control Tutorial Overlay:


The biggest improvement to the game is the new massive movement and action buttons. In the first version, we had a small virtual d-pad in the bottom corner while most of the screen was being wasted. The new control scheme utilizes the entire touch screen and reduces mistakes significantly. This control scheme also mimics natural movement as the player will be tapping in the direction they want the player to move - in the previous version they always tapped the portion of the screen which was south-east to the character even if they wanted the character to move in the opposite direction (super non-intuitive).

Here's the main menu, old and new:


I've been working on creating all new menus with a focus on keeping the most commonly used buttons highly visible and the least used buttons in the background or hidden in corners. Instead of several buttons that lead to different menus, I've decided to adopt a single 'Shed' menu that acts like a gateway to the most common places that a player might want to go. This is the main menu screen which houses a slide out menu with buttons that lead to less common pages and a link to the shed (which will also appear in other screens).



Pause Menu got some much needed trimming




Awesome custom level browser:


Players will be able to create their own levels directly from the app on their mobile devices using the same controls as when they're playing. This will give hardcore players an almost infinite amount of new content to play and master - which lets us focus on other important things than pushing out new levels constantly.

[dbest]

Good idea and good progress on the game.
The art in-game and menu looks a bit different. Is that intentional?
Not knowing much about the first version, what platform is the game meant for?

[goodtimeshaxor]

Good idea and good progress on the game.
The art in-game and menu looks a bit different. Is that intentional?
Not knowing much about the first version, what platform is the game meant for?

I wanted to improve the user experience by changing up the UI in the game and these mockups represent those changes. We're also moving away from graphically expensive assets and trying to adopt a more dynamic approach to UI to save on sprite atlas space. For example, instead of using a unique UI asset for every button in the game (which is how it was in the first version - see original pause screen) we're now using 9-slice assets for a majority of the buttons and content panes.

The game was originally developed for iOS and Android and subsequently released on the Apple AppStore, Google Play, and Amazon AppStore. We will be focusing our launch to only iOS for the next version and then expanding to the other two at a future date.

[Purcy]

Looking good, following

[eobet]

This has a Chip's Challenge vibe to it which is a plus, and also isometric graphics which is another plus. But I only see single color keys and very few obstacles... how about rabid dogs that you actually need to lock away (with a choice of moving those areas before or after), birds going after the seeds and badgers creating holes, etc, etc?

[goodtimeshaxor]

This has a Chip's Challenge vibe to it which is a plus, and also isometric graphics which is another plus. But I only see single color keys and very few obstacles... how about rabid dogs that you actually need to lock away (with a choice of moving those areas before or after), birds going after the seeds and badgers creating holes, etc, etc?

All great points! I did enjoy Chip's Challenge as a kid and the game definitely does borrow influences from the original 80s game; however, what I loved about Chip's Challenge was the problem solving. Running away from enemies wasn't what I remembered about CC. That's why I decided to make Lawnmower Challenge purely about puzzle solving. You can take your time trying to figure out the most efficient path to finish the level.

There is only 1 color key but when you consider all the possible paths with the other obstacles, a level can get extremely complex if you're going for perfection. Some of the harder levels take up to 500+ moves to complete - and that's if you're going for perfection. They can take 800 steps if you're just trying to finish them.

Here are a couple old screenshots from the original Lawnmower Challenge with the old HUD: