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[grapefrukt]

I can't work out how to embed youtube videos on here, but the trailer's at



This game is not playable online yet as I'm still looking for a sponsor, and I just put this game up on Flash Game License (if you have an account there you can play it right now!)

This is a game I started working on on the plane to GDC earlier this year, I've been fiddling with it on the side since then. I wanted to make a game that was more of an experience than a game. So I've put a lot of effort into making it look and sound very satisfying. There's no time limit nor any real way to loose.

I don't want to make this a complete rehash of my blogpost since that's a bit spammy. So here's a screenshot from most of the revisions i had committed of the game in my subversion repository.

as you can see it started out quite a lot more free form, sort of morphed into having the clouds in grids. the color matching was quite alot more complex before, but it was way too much work figuring out what to match so that was scratched. most of the revisions after that are minor tweaks.

my hope is that a sponsor will pick this game up shortly, if not i'll try to work out some alternate form of distribution.

thoughts, feedback and general mockery is very welcome!

         

         

[isaac]

It's pretty gorgeous to look at, and nicely polished. However, the scoring system seemed a bit vague to me... I couldn't tell what kinds of combinations I'm supposed to make for bonuses. Also, the way that new clouds appear whenever you clear old ones makes it feel like you're bailing out a sinking boat -- not really a sense of progression from turn to turn. However, I'm not really sure how to solve that without requiring a major rethink of the puzzle system.

Still, it's real nice and I hope you get a sponsor soon.

[gummikana]

OMG! 

It's the infamous rainbow game! It's an art game with a much more deeper meaning behind it, than one would expect. 

[deathtotheweird]

I've already fallen deeply in love with this game. It's such a nice chill laid back game.

It ended way too fast. I was enjoying it.

oh yeah, it would be nice if you added a score screen at the end. I wanted to replay it again to see if I could get a better score.

edit: I went to leave a feedback and fgl started crappin out on me  I'll repost it when it stops being weird.

[isaac]

Ah, understood it much better with the sound turned on! That audio feedback of a bad match really makes a difference .. maybe you should add something visual to make it clear too?

[deathtotheweird]

There already is something visual if you get a mismatch. No score. No combo, etc. And you don't get that bright ray thing if you get a mismatch.

[grapefrukt]

thanks everyone for your feedback!

@isaac - thanks, i've spent way too much quite alot time getting it too look nice and feel nice. I've reworked the scoring a couple of times so it might be a bit strange how it counts now, I'll make it simpler (since there's only really a handful of combos you can get).

@petri - normally people have a special "thanks to" section in their credits. i might have to invent a different type of section for you.

@deathtotheweird - the game always ends once you've hit a certain score, but i could keep track of the number of moves or something to make it a bit more replayable. i'm a bit hesitant to add any "stressful" elements to it, but it's really not very replayable now, so it might be a good idea.

@isaac - the sound is a big part, maybe i should put a "turn your speakers on" banner when the game starts? i think i can maybe tweak the mismatches to communicate a bit clearer visually aswell.

[Massena]

I'm not sure whether this is a feature but I'm able to connect dots diagonally, and connect dots that are 2 dots apart.

Also I don't really get the game mechanics, is using more of the same color in a row penalized?

Anyhow, I really like the graphics, sound and atmosphere in general. You also have a great logo!

edit: Why do little rainbows fly out to other clouds?

[agj]

Looks great. It really shows that you have put a lot of time into the user experience side of things.

[deathtotheweird]

I'm not sure whether this is a feature but I'm able to connect dots diagonally, and connect dots that are 2 dots apart.

Also I don't really get the game mechanics, is using more of the same color in a row penalized?

edit: Why do little rainbows fly out to other clouds?

I'm pretty sure connecting clouds diagonally is a glitch, because-if you notice-you can't undo it.

The game mechanics are a little obtuse but I picked it up fast. Say your max combo is three (the beginning of the game and you can only select 3 clouds) each cloud has to be a different colour. And if your max combo is six (6) the first three have to be a different colour and then the last three have to be a different colour, in any order but I think you get more points if colours are separated in the chain.

so I think this would give you more points:
(red) - (green) - (blue) - (red) - (green) - (blue)
than
(red) - (green) - (blue) - (blue) - (green) - (red)

I may be wrong, I'll play it again later and see. Or grapefrukt could reply 

Also, @grapefrukt-I do understand about the stressful elements, that would not be so great in this game. but, I think having a score screen would be wonderful, time completed, etc. just make it to where there is no time limit. because that would ... not be great. i mean, the game is replayable for me but replayable in the way where I like sitting back and enjoying the sounds and ambiance and "thinking" without thinking too hard  it's just so nice and relaxing..yet extremely fun. i do think you should remove the max score before the game ends and just add more levels? or a freestyle mode? but i guess the game is finished for the most part so that's a pipe-dream for me. personally I would love more levels without a max score before game end such as you have now. your reply to my comment seems fine of course, regarding the number of moves.

if you haven't already found a sponsor then maybe you should tweak it a bit? i just say this because this game is one of the very few "puzzle" games that has given me a hard-on.

p.s. make more levels. do it now. the game is too short. ho ho.i reallly hope this game "takes off", as it were, in the various flash portals. also, make more puzzle games. i will give you a cookie. homemade. indeed. the indie game community needs moar flash puzzle gmaes. have you played osmos yet?

[ElijahKatz]

I really enjoyed this...
Maybe add a timed mode that is unlocked once you've beaten the regular...
maybe it would mess with the flow of the game

[Loren Schmidt]

This is really polished, and I think people will really enjoy it. I really like the way the clouds bob around instead of rigidly adhering to a grid.

I think the gameplay will work well for people who like relatively lightweight, self-paced puzzle games. Assuming that is your intention, you seem to have done a good job of tailoring the game to that style of play.

Nice work! I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting a sponsor.

[grapefrukt]

Thanks for all your feedback. I was honestly growing a bit tired with this game, but you've motivated me to make the final push.

Today I've fixed the diagonal-drag bug, added a splash screen and a menu (just one option for now) and made it possible to play multiple times without a restart. I've also added an extra sound when a level is completed.

I'm still contemplating whether a final "score tally" is a good thing. I'm not really sure what to do there. The reason the game is so short form is that the vast majority of plays my other games have seen is a 3-4 minute burst (unless the player drops out in the first 30 seconds or so) so I made the entire game to fit in that time frame.

red-green-blue-red-green-blue is actually two combos of three so it gives less points than say red-green-red-green-blue-blue which is a single six-combo.

It's also surprising that the mechanic of matching one of EACH color instead of three of the same is so hard to bring home. I hoped the tutorial would make that clear, but apparently it's still tricky for some people.

[deathtotheweird]

Cheers on the new version 

I played it earlier when I received an email from FGL. It is a welcome update indeed.

Never mind about the score tally. You're right, it doesn't fit.

Thanks for the response of the 6+ combos.

I really find it odd people just don't get it at first-if at all. Maybe they aren't paying attention to the tutorial? Aside from cropping the game (if a sponsor requires it, I really don't mind it at all.) I would be satisfied if you released it now. So, good luck  . try not to settle for less than around 1000 though.

[isaac]

I really find it odd people just don't get it at first-if at all. Maybe they aren't paying attention to the tutorial?

Yeh, I ignored the tutorial, to give a better impression of how well all the punters would understand it. I feel that a web game should make sense without having to read a guide.

Which it does when you turn the sound on.

[deathtotheweird]

I didn't ignore it my first play. But I feel that he should make the menu have a tutorial option (under 'play' maybe) or a way to skip it. even so, it's not that big of a deal since it is so short.

[grapefrukt]

originally it didn't have a tutorial, i sort of hoped that players would experiment and find out how it worked within a few seconds.
turns out that wasn't the case, instead i had people furiously making the exact same mistake over and over again instead of trying new things.
so the tutorial stays, i think it's even short enough not to need a skip since it's like a ten second burst to get past, and I don't want to even offer the option to new player.