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[KissMaj7]

I've been working on a challenging puzzle game based on one of my older small game. Externally the game looks like classic Snake game with gravity and infinitely growing snake. Mechanics are simply and fast to learn but in order to pass the levels the player must use logical reasoning and plan his/her moves far ahead. WARNING: The levels get immensely hard towards the end so it might not wise to play whole game through with just one session.

Try beta version

Unimplemented features

• Some kind of hint system
• Full memory undo (Currently picking up a key or rotten apple resets the undo memory)
• Changing the snake appearance so that previous moves can be seen more clearly
  
• Sounds
• Limericks?

[tehjonbro]

I'm really liking the idea behind this, and the old-school style suits the gameplay. But dang, you weren't kidding when you said this was challenging.  Maybe I'm just lacking brain cells but I suddenly got stuck in this stage and it feels like a pretty substantial difficulty spike:



I can't say much since I haven't played all the puzzles just yet, but I think it'd be cool if there was some kind of squishing animation to accompany the sound of pushing against a wall. Additionally, for keyboard controls, using the WASD keys to move around may also be worth considering since they're within range of the restart (R) key, and I'm sure people will be pressing that key a lot.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this game plays out!

[TheLastBanana]

Cool game concept! Some of those puzzles are pretty tricky. I'd love to see a polished-up version of this. I agree with tehjonbro that WASD controls would be nice.

[marcgfx]

very cool game. simple but challenging. could work well on mobile devices too. nicer graphics wont improve the game itself, but might change how it is received.

[Udderdude]

Neat concept for sure .. definitely gets hard.

Would like a polished version with animation and sound and music and whatever .. D:

[Sar]

Some kind of hint system

I've been going back to this game on and off for the last day or so, and oscillating between "not a good idea, it's really rewarding to get past a hard level with no help whatsoever" and "OH GOD YES".

I'd agree that the difficulty ramp is a bit uneven and in places random-seeming, though. The level tehjonbro screenshots above is a good example - the following few levels I found much easier. Possibly it's because the trick you need to use to get past that one stage hasn't been needed in previous stages (IIRC), while the following ones are more or less all "look at stage, work backwards from apple to work out where you'll need to have support, execute". I think a couple of them I finished on my first go, even, while the one capped above took me several tries, jotting notes on a bit of paper and then leaving and coming back later.

The stage with the horizontal row of lock blocks across the centre of the screen, the one made entirely of boxes and the one with the lock blocks scattered seemingly-at-random (but totally not at random!) in mid-air were all ingenious. I'm totally stuck on the one with the staircase, box at the top-right and apple at the top-left right now, reduced to trying various things and working out systematically why they won't work rather than actually having any kind of coherent plan. :/

I'd like to see a more-polished version with better graphics and a nicer menu, purely because I think that would motivate more people to play it, and this is a fantastic puzzler that more people should totally play even though it will make them feel bad about their puny brains for half an hour before giving them a tiny handful of happy success pills.

(I'd also like to see a version with a level select screen so I can go back and have another go at previous levels as I choose rather than having to start again from the beginning.)

[char68]

Really enjoyed this game. I'd state the obvious that it feels like a retro snake game but with a puzzle twist but I'm sure you already knew that I think that for the beta the undo key is fine, but I was wondering if that would be a part of the final product? I think that having the option to undo as many times as you want leads to behavior such as randomly trying one path without really thinking it through (and after all it's the thinking it through that makes puzzle games engrossing). Cool idea, I'm sure I'll be trying it out again once there's some polish added (don't wait til the last minute to add that please!)

-char68

[mushbuh]

i love this, i think it would work better with some different sprites, like connecting tube like things to make him seem like a huge worm

[KissMaj7]

Thanks to all for feedback!

I agree that the level tehjonbro mentioned is quite harsh with the difficulty curve and I will do something about it. The level order is something I have been slightly changing all the time but it still needs some work. The level with the big staircase is one of levels which difficulty I find hard to evaluate. The level is definately a hard one since the solution is not easy to see.
 
I will definately add WASD keys as additional controls.

I'll try improving the graphics as well as I can.

[Lemoncog]

Clever mechanic.

I found it a little slow to move, that could be fixed with level design or less delay between steps. I think the undo function needs to be quicker, or maybe as a slider so I can go back and forth very quickly.

As someone else said, defiantly get it working for mobile devices, people love these types of games. Although i would suggest you don't ramp up the difficulty until later.

[Sar]

The level with the big staircase is one of levels which difficulty I find hard to evaluate. The level is definately a hard one since the solution is not easy to see.

To be honest, the problem I had with it was that I knew exactly what I needed to do in principle - there's basically three steps to it, the way I see it - but the exact, precise details eluded me completely. Typically, I went back just now and solved it on my first try!

[EDIT: Also, the stage immediately after that one was bloody genius.]


How do you put these stages together, out of interest? Do you start off with the One True Path and then stick a load of obstacles in to block off all the other obvious-but-wrong options, or is the process more organic?

[KissMaj7]

How do you put these stages together, out of interest? Do you start off with the One True Path and then stick a load of obstacles in to block off all the other obvious-but-wrong options, or is the process more organic?

Well it varies a little but yes most of the time I have this one true path and I concentrate on eliminating the easiest solutions. For me, making the levels is a very iterative process. I start with some idea, implement it and test it. After that I repeatedly make minor changes and test the result. Often I come up with best ideas while testing unfinished levels.