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[LTPATS]

What is Fingerspell?
Fingerspell is a micro-puzzle sandbox with a sense of humor. It has been referred to as "slider abuse" or "slider hell," played by adjusting a number of sliders which control your character's hand. When a puzzle is completed the character casts a spell and may make silly hand gestures. The game-feel is loosely inspired by WarioWare in that the player will play through a number of small puzzles, each with a goofy or flamboyant win state, in order to complete a level pack.



The game will feature dozens of unlockable hands, environments, and spell effects the player can use to customize their own spells in the level editor. All levels in the game will be constructed with the game's level editor, which will allow players to create their own "spells" and "spellbooks" (levels and level packs) and share them with others.



The overall aesthetic will be inspired by old school prerendered computer graphics from games like Myst, Donkey Kong Country, and Starship Titanic. The current art is meant to give a rough impression of the intended style but is far from final.

Stills






Older GIFs (Pre-Alpha)




Links

• Fingerspell IndieDB
• Developer Twitter
• Developer Facebook
• Developer Website

Playtesting & Release
The game is intended to be released by February 2016 as a commercial product on Steam and Itch.io (most likely $5-10). Until then I'm aiming to get lots of feedback and playtesting should hopefully start in a few days. The core gameplay is completed and the level editor is functional, so as of now I'm focusing on designing the levels and controlling the difficulty curve as well as building out art assets and solidifying the style.

I'm looking forward to hearing any feedback! Right now my greatest challenge is coming up with interesting and engaging levels and themes throughout the game while maintaining a solid learning curve. My goal is to create a charming and relaxing game that doubles as a customizable art and animation toy.

EDIT: 11/20/2015, updated some info and swapped out some pictures. Check back soon for more updates!

[LTPATS]

Been making good progress since my initial post! Fixed several little bugs that had been around a bit too long, and I was able to do a rough art pass on the classroom level.

WIPs:


After making a tutorial section I started implementing special randomized events that happen when the player beats a level. For instance in the classroom level the apple on the teacher's desk may grow, or the lights might go out, or the chalk explodes, stuff like that. I'm thinking these are going to be a big part of the game's appeal so I'm going to have to spend a lot of time building out weird or funny things that can happen in each environment.

Some stuff that can happen in the classroom:


More to come soon, should have a playable build ready in the next few days!

[ashen]

Looks great, I've never seen anything like this before.  It would be interesting to hear how you came up with the idea.

Do you actually move around in first person or is it a series of distinct locations for each puzzle with a fixed view?

Not sure if you can already but dueling against another person (split screen etc) might be fun too. 

It seems like it would also be great for Android/iOS, the sliders would probably work great on a touch screen. 

[LTPATS]

Looks great, I've never seen anything like this before.  It would be interesting to hear how you came up with the idea.

Do you actually move around in first person or is it a series of distinct locations for each puzzle with a fixed view?

Not sure if you can already but dueling against another person (split screen etc) might be fun too. 

It seems like it would also be great for Android/iOS, the sliders would probably work great on a touch screen. 

Thanks! The idea itself was a bit derivative of a previous prototype I never finished (still might pick up on it someday) which involved moving sliders to rotate different body parts to make a character wiggle / dance in various ways:



One day the idea for Fingerspell just sort of came to me and was in the mood for a new project, so I started working and created a basic prototype which I started building off of over the course of a few months.

As for the camera, it's fixed with distinct locations.

Haven't thought of split screen yet, that sounds like it could be fun so I may consider that for an update at some point.

I definitely would like to try porting this to mobile later, though I would have to make some adjustments. Also in the future I'd like to possibly try something motion sensor-related like Leap Motion, which I think could really up the immersion.

[Franklin's Ghost]

Those hand movements and actions are great, impressed at the variety of hand designs.

Really liking the concept and the way you're approaching it.