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[OccamsRazor]

Hey all!

I'm hoping to get some feedback on my upcoming game, Circuit Scramble, a Android/iOS puzzler that is centered on Circuit-based logic. The point is to power up the final display by changing the inputs at the bottom, and getting the current through a series of logic gates.

I'd love to hear people's input and feedback on any aspect of the game. Whether or not the challenges are interesting, the art style, flow, concept, mechanics - anything. I'm all ears!

I put together a web playable(Unity) version of the first 30 levels of the game, to make it easier for people to test.

THE GAME: goo.gl/SglqXA

Note that only Classic Mode is working from the main menu. All the other features are still forthcoming

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[Pemanent]

Pretty interesting. Here are some thoughts.
The transitions are too slow between everything. The tutorial feels like it takes ages to fade in, same with the win state. Meaning I might have hit the win state but I didn't know it because I was waiting for things to fade in. I should know instantly when I solved puzzle.
I only played through about 10 puzzles, but I was able to solve them all simply through flipping the polarity of the first row, starting on the left then moving right.

[OccamsRazor]

Thanks!

Ya, the lack of feedback on the win state is something I'm very much aware of - has come up in just about every playtest I've done. I plan to add something more concrete before I release.

The fact that the fades seem slow is interesting to me, I hadn't really considered that before. I'll have to experiment with speeding up those fade times.

The first ten levels are definitely easy, more of a ramp up/intro to the mechanics, and it's easy enough to solve them with brute force if necessary. The later levels get much harder, and some of the ones that I'm still refining above the included 30 should be much more difficult. Though I do worry a little bit that I've done something predictable, through whatever tendencies I had while designing them.

[Pemanent]

yeah!
And I think generally the ui could feel better. Should be snappier ya know.
I'd change from a linear fade that lasts 1 second to maybe a sine wave that lasts 0.2 seconds.
Like, look at how snappy the towerfall ui is.


There is basically no linear movement and none of the movement lasts longer than 0.2 seconds.

I think maybe level design wise, it might help to stop trying to fit it into the real world. Maybe introduce a third color/polarity. Or have additive colors so maybe a certain gate will only output if it's input is above a certain threshold. It doesn't have to stay binary. And I didn't play past level 10 so maybe you do some of these things later.

[lbrande]

Very nice idea.

Craches a bit to often and the menus are a little too slow.

Otherwise a very good game.

[OccamsRazor]

I'm finding it interesting that the general opinion is the menus need to be sped up, I never even considered that. Yay for playtesting!

As for crashes...that is a little more concerning. I don't suppose there is anything in particular that is giving you a crash condition? It may be just a quirk of the web build, I've seen very few issues on my Android device. I really hope that's the issue...

Anyone else willing to take this for a spin?

[ak2766]

...
Anyone else willing to take this for a spin?

I tried it and completed all 135 levels in the classic mode, then started onto the endless mode.  However, it looks like the logic there isn't quite polished.  For instance, in the attached screenshot, the puzzle can be completed in 2 steps but it shows optimal steps (3 red circles) all the way to 9 steps then goes to 2 red circles on the 10th step:


EDIT: Looks like I cannot post links to imagebin: do the necessary to view it at https : // imagebin.ca/v/3lkdJHdV9avV

Also, I think I stumbled onto 1 unsolvable puzzle; will post once I'm sure that it is truly unsolvable.

[Rick314]

I encountered an impossible puzzle in Circuit Scramble v2.07 (released 12/6/17, the most current version as of today) in Endless Mode. See the screenshot at https : // photos.app.goo.gl/4n16TosEDTZSsvn49

MOVE 1: The upper-right AND gate must have two 1 inputs. So the upper-right switch must be to the right. MOVE 2: The second row third gate (AND) must have two 1 inputs.  So the lower-center XOR gate must have a 1 input. PROBLEM: The upper-left switch must supply a 0 to both its left and right. So it must have a 0 as input -- The second row second gate (OR) must have 0 as its output. So both its inputs must be 0. But its right input has to be a 1, as set in MOVE 2.

I notified Suborbital Games and asked for a reply but received none. I am a retired electrical/software engineer and got hooked on this puzzle. Classic Mode: 135/135 puzzles, 405/405 score. Endless Mode: 91 levels so far.

2018-07-10 update: I encountered another impossible puzzle in Endless Mode, posted at https : // photos.app.goo.gl/pfMpACR9NcjYYfrW7
The two upper-left NOR gates need 0's at all their inputs, so the upper-left switch must provide 1's out of both its outputs. But the switch can only provide a 1 to one NOR gate and a 0 to the other.

[skylord_wars]

Cool game as a whole

[tomgcoleman]

fun I like it, makes me want to try some unity dev.
I would like an option to skip the tutorial, or move it along faster.
add a prevention of fast random input clicking,
maybe have inputs done via a soldering iron that takes time to heat up.
the techno urgent music makes me want to randomly click stuff.
to build a game theme of stop, study and figure it out, feels like the music would be more pensive and peaceful.
thank you for sharing, I am impressed.

the first 4 or 5 screens where a gate / logic item is introduced, provide a ? marker
if I click on the ? marker it brings up a page with 3 or 4 examples, and something to play with.

[binsky734]

I really like this game but I wish I had found it earlier (I found it a few weeks after completing my Intro to Electronics class that had a whole unit over logic gates). I was wondering if you had an idea of when/if it would be released on iOS, because I'm sending the link to my professor to see if it's something he'd suggest for people to practice with.

From a user perspective, I like the fact that it has no ads. From a business perspective, give me something I can pay for. Maybe use some sort of coin system to buy hints, or to buy bigger puzzle packs. Maybe even charging $0.99 to remove ads. At the very least put a donation page on there so people can send you money to support you.

As far as changes/features go, a daily challenge to earn the aforementioned points would be a good idea. It would also be nice to have a quick help guide in the menu when you're in the puzzle. In classic mode it should automatically bring you to your progress point instead of starting on the first page. You should also be able to click on the red circle page indicators to jump to the page.