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[Megadev]

Hi everyone, my name's Mike and I'm one third of a fairly new indie dev start-up that we decided to call "Megadev" after a few too many beers. ;-) The three of us had been developing mobile phone games for a number of years before ourselves and many others in our studio were made redundant last September, so we thought we'd have a go at Flash games development in the hope that we could make a living from it and also makes some decent games. We've been fairly successful so far although we've had a few lean months financially - starting up any business in the middle of a recession was always going to be a challenge!

Anyway, enough about us. We've recently completed our 5th title, a puzzle, role-playing, strategic, roguelike (ish) game by the name of "Knightfall" (any more concise suggestions for a genre type would be very welcome), and we just thought that now would be a good time to get involved on the TIG Source forums and get some feedback on the game. It combines elements of Mr.Driller, Puzzle Quest, Collapse, and Rogue, and we think the end result is quite interesting. The game is sponsored by "Armor Games" who've been really enthusiastic about it, even going to the trouble of producing a video tutorial, although the game hasn't gone down terribly well with the Armor Games community in general, achieving an average score of 6 out of 10. We're not sure if this is because they don't "get it" or if the game just isn't as good as we think it is.

If you'd like to take a look at the game then you can play it here:

http://armorgames.com/play/3273/knightfall

We'd be interested to hear any constructive criticism particularly about the controls, difficulty, and concept, although feel free to share your thoughts on the art and music too. :-) Thanks for reading and we look forward to hearing back from some of you!

Cheers,

Mike Tucker.

[Inanimate]

Okay, first off: You should have introduced yourselves here first, but that isn't a big problem.

The game is really fun, and the graphics are fantastic! I love it, overall!

[Craig Stern]

Don't be too hard on yourself--the Armor Games community can be quite harsh in their game ratings.

[Megadev]

Okay, first off: You should have introduced yourselves here first, but that isn't a big problem.

The game is really fun, and the graphics are fantastic! I love it, overall!

Aaargh, sorry about that - I knew we had to introduce ourselves but I must have been a bit over zealous! Glad you like the game. :-)

[Megadev]

Don't be too hard on yourself--the Armor Games community can be quite harsh in their game ratings.

I think you're right. The Kongregate community seemed a bit harsh too, but nothing like the Armor Games crowd. We're hoping the game will go down better on other portals but it's a bit disappointing when your game doesn't perform terribly well on your sponsor's portal. We had a nice review on JayIsGames though, so that was encouraging; you can read it here if you're interested:

http://jayisgames.com/archives/2009/03/knightfall.php

[Inanimate]

You know it's a good puzzle game when I like it, since I suck at puzzle games. But I can't stop coming back.

[Devlin]

I love this backdrop! got a higher-res version?

EDIT :: I've just had a few goes, and I really like it! I don't have an ArmorGames account, but you got my 10 starbux if you ever release a mobile(that is, for Android phones) version :D

[Megadev]

I love this backdrop! got a higher-res version?

EDIT :: I've just had a few goes, and I really like it! I don't have an ArmorGames account, but you got my 10 starbux if you ever release a mobile(that is, for Android phones) version :D

Sadly that was the only resolution that our artist drew the backgrounds at (640x480), but he appreciates the compliment. I think the only phone we're likely to release the game on is the iPhone, although we really should look in to developing for Android phones as they seem to be generating quite a following!

[Melly]

I've never been a big fan of match-3-styled games, but this one has a couple of things going for it. It looks gorgeous, for one, but you must hear that a lot. As it's usual for a game of this kind, however, it feels a bit too random. Maybe I'm just not playing it properly, but even at the easiest difficulty I'm finding it hard thanks to the randomness of the falling blocks, that don't seem to want to line up the way I need them to.

Overall though it's an interesting concept that's very polished, though its random nature may hurt it some.

[Lynx]

I think the ease-of-use may be hurting its chances; I played it and found it a very impressive game, you add a lot of originality with the mechanics, but you should sit yourself behind someone who's never played the game before and watch where they try to click, without telling them what to do.  Also, the font is hard to read.

Apart from those issues though, it's a really good game, I like the way the monsters influence your choices!

[Melly]

And I just figured you can switch blocks between eachother. Though I'm not certain when I can do this. Is it when I have no more armor? (I think it's only when there's no way to make a chain anymore)

Okay, one big thing is to have the game's tutorial as an actual in-game tutorial, and not a video with a hard-to-understand voice on another webpage altogether. It's just too jarring a change and honestly a bit annoying.

[Xion]

And I just figured you can switch blocks between eachother. Though I'm not certain when I can do this. Is it when I have no more armor? (I think it's only when there's no way to make a chain anymore)

Okay, one big thing is to have the game's tutorial as an actual in-game tutorial, and not a video with a hard-to-understand voice on another webpage altogether. It's just too jarring a change and honestly a bit annoying.

Yeah I think the switchy thing is only when there're no more moves, which I think is cool since most of the games of this type that I've played completely rerandomize the board when it gets to that point.

And yes, please, to the in-game tutorial.

Groovy game you got there, but I have to agree with the deal about the randomness making it too hard. I was a single space from the door, all ready to click the group and fall into victory when a golden mushroom thingy disappeared and made a dragon land right next to me and end me very abruptly. The same dragon that had just hit me twice before and I spent a few turns trying to escape. The death, while mildly humorous in its irony, was overall not cool.

[magnum_opus]

It's a cool game, though hard as tits even on trifling.

[Inanimate]

The last levels are infuriating. The bosses 'hit you wherever you are' attack is really unfair, because no matter how close I am, or how far, he still can kill me. Also, the fact that there is no way to heal during that level is what makes it beyond annoying. Oh, and did I mention every single time I am close to him it has been impossible? Literally impossible!

[Curseman]

I thought it was a pretty fun game.  It didn't do anything that hasn't been done before, but it combined several familiar game elements to make something unique.

The last levels are infuriating. The bosses 'hit you wherever you are' attack is really unfair, because no matter how close I am, or how far, he still can kill me. Also, the fact that there is no way to heal during that level is what makes it beyond annoying. Oh, and did I mention every single time I am close to him it has been impossible? Literally impossible!

If you attack him it interrupts his attack so he has to start his countdown over.  It really would have been a good idea to stock up on a few recovery items before the last boss though.

[Inanimate]

I thought it was a pretty fun game.  It didn't do anything that hasn't been done before, but it combined several familiar game elements to make something unique.

The last levels are infuriating. The bosses 'hit you wherever you are' attack is really unfair, because no matter how close I am, or how far, he still can kill me. Also, the fact that there is no way to heal during that level is what makes it beyond annoying. Oh, and did I mention every single time I am close to him it has been impossible? Literally impossible!

If you attack him it interrupts his attack so he has to start his countdown over.  It really would have been a good idea to stock up on a few recovery items before the last boss though.

2 Full HP/AP things. 6 HP things. I was stocked up. It's just, he is always surrounded by blocks that can never combo. With ANYTHING. A few times, I was stuck on a map with NO COMBOS, but of course those pink ones you can't break, but it didn't give me the chance to switch blocks, since the pink ones were connected. Even though you can't break those.

[Curseman]

2 Full HP/AP things. 6 HP things. I was stocked up. It's just, he is always surrounded by blocks that can never combo. With ANYTHING. A few times, I was stuck on a map with NO COMBOS, but of course those pink ones you can't break, but it didn't give me the chance to switch blocks, since the pink ones were connected. Even though you can't break those.

Rotate the stage sideways, and then clear out blocks beneath the unbreakable blocks (but not the final boss) or vice versa.  Then they should fall away separately and you'll be good to go.  A randomize spell doesn't hurt, but definitely isn't needed when you're as loaded out on healing items as you seem to be.

[Inanimate]

I tried that. Really. And like I said, half the time there were no combos to be made.

Maybe I just suck?

OH, and is there ANY way to go back a level, for instance replay an earlier stage? Because I want to try to get different items, and level up some more.

[Curseman]

If there are literally no combos that can be made on the screen anywhere, then the game will allow you to swap the positions of two adjacent blocks until a set of three is available.  If that's the problem you're having then it's actually an advantageous situation, since you can move the blocks in any way you like until 3 of a kind match up.

[Inanimate]

If there are literally no combos that can be made on the screen anywhere, then the game will allow you to swap the positions of two adjacent blocks until a set of three is available.  If that's the problem you're having then it's actually an advantageous situation, since you can move the blocks in any way you like until 3 of a kind match up.

As said earlier, there are no combos, but there are those EVIL PINK BLOCKS, which are in a trio. When they are in a trio, it COUNTS as a combo, but you can't actually break them, so it doesn't let you swap.