This was a ton of fun! Everything seems way stronger than what I saw people play in v1.2. I used keyboard and mouse, if that matters.
Weird Q.O.L improvements I reckon could be implemented: 1) Being able to click the on-screen reset button , I found myself instinctually doing this & just throwing the magnet instead. 2) In the hub, appearing at the door you last entered instead of at the start every single time - longest walks of my life!
I really enjoyed the game, so here are my general comments.
- I enjoyed the character animation and the overall aesthetic of the game given what I saw in here. Excited for what's to come.
- The magnet really felt like the star of this game. I really had to think about not just the position of my character, but also how I would place the magnet as well.
- Puzzles were definitely on the easy side, but they still were fun to figure out. Almost all of them made me think of the 'obvious' solution first, before the game tells me that the 'obvious' solution is not enough, and I need to think outside the box.
This game has so much potential, so I want to point out the things it could improve:
- I played my very first run without knowing how to cancel the [Aiming]. If I didn't explore the options menu, I would have not known there was a [Cancel Aiming] button. Perhaps it could be presented at the tutorial, at the same time the [Aiming] action is taught.
- Actually, the [Aiming] itself didn't feel very intuitive for me, especially with [Toggle Aim mode] on. I find that the large part of this problem is having [Aim] be the same key as the [Carry] or [Drop] button.
- I played this using a keyboard, and I find that my cursor gets 'stuck' while [Aiming]. I'd have to jump first every time before I could start [Aiming] the magnet.
- The tutorial showed us that after getting the key, we need to throw the magnet to the pipes. However, every level ends after collecting the key. I suggest making the way the tutorial end be consistent with the rest of the game, either ending the tutorial once getting the key, or having the end of every level be throwing the magnet at the pipes.
- I liked the level hub system, but it needs to be improved. After finishing a level, we should be sent at the gate of the level instead of the very start. Also, I think it's better to have the level gates numbered or labeled with difficulty. As it is, I first thought that every level would be of equal difficulty since it is in one hub, and curiosity made me start the last level first. Having each level numbered or have its difficulty present could help the player plan for the ideal progression, while still presenting the ability to skip levels.
- To add on to the hub system, why is it there? I like it, yes, but I feel like it slows down the game a lot. If you still plan on implementing a hub system, I suggest it to have some sort of purpose, maybe it also has a shop or other characters. Otherwise, I suggest scrapping this idea and make it a level layout like in Baba is You.
Interesting game so far, here are some problems that I occurred in my playthrough: (Used keyboard and mouse - also rebound the swapping magnet polarity to RMB)
I haven't watched very many videos in this series so far, please excuse me if I comment on something that was already explained in a video.
Also this will be long... Sorry :/
General:
- It feels very weird that when I get the key, I exit the level. I was expecting to get back to the door afterwards.
- It also feels very unintuitive that magnets fall through platforms. I expected them to land on top.
- Cannot re-complete levels again, since the key is gone.
- The 'E' key feels useless for launching the magnet, since you can aim and fire with the LMB.
- When I rebound the magnet polarity to the RMB, the UI at the top left where the colour of the magnet is showing, the button to show what key to press is now a '?'.
- Some levels don't feel very fun to play at all and don't feel satisfying when you finish them.
- Having the character move to the center of the door, and disappear feels like that they are actually entering a door, not just standing in front of it.
Tutorial:
- It took me about 15 minutes to figure out that I needed to throw the magnet in the pipe to continue the game at the start. Some guidance would be great there.
Level 1 - Up and Over: ★★★☆☆
- The magnet got stuck on the small section of flat ground between the 2 ramps above the magnetic door (not sure what to call that door to be honest).
- It is VERY easy to run off a really small platform. Thankfully you can jump in midair just after you fall off a platform (like Celeste), so this isn't a big issue.
Level 2 - Not a Drill: ★★★★☆
- Aside from the magnet falling through platforms issue, this was a good level.
Level 3 - Up and Away: ★★★★★
- Can get stuck between the screw and the moving platform.
- This level felt really fun to play, especially the final jump for the key.
Level 4 - Lift Up: ★★☆☆☆
- It feels like it takes forever to reach one side of the room to the other.
- This level in particular feels very boring to play in my opinion, due to the really long hallways to get to different places.
Level 5 - Weight and Pull-me: ★★★★★
- Possible to softlock when the gate is pushing the button down and the magnet isn't attached to the pulley system.
- This level is definitely the best level so far. This level makes you think outside the box and feels great when you finish it.
Level 6 - Blocked by Block: ★★★☆☆
- This feels a lot harder than the rest of the puzzles.
- I think that I also did the puzzle in a non-intended way. (Unsure if I want to put my method here due to spoilers though)
I like this game, the character feels very good to control. the last puzzle is very unintuitive and I don't know if I did it correctly my solution was to use the magnet one-way to block the platform from going up beside that the puzzle is very good. the art is good and has a charm to it. however, when you get softlock it's annoying to reset. overall this game is good.
You can get stuck way to much and have to reset. like i got stuck in the tutorial. also its hard to tell if your solution is the intended one but maybe its just me idk.
I don't know if its me or the game but I downloaded it and tried to play it but it was fuzzy - Its impossible to play in window mode and super hard to read in fullscreen.
Played through in something like 20 to 30 minutes, which felt right for this quick demo/playtest.
I enjoyed the puzzle designs a lot - I think I experienced at least a small "aha!" moment during each of them. I felt like I was consistently learning new applications for the basic mechanics I've already heard about from the video series.
I played using a PlayStation controller without touching any of the settings or accessibility options. I might have liked to change the aiming settings to something with lower sensitivity, but by the time I realized that preference I had already forgotten any instruction I may have been shown regarding how to return to the menu.
Last minor note - for some reason I expected to be able to jump higher? That might just be a me thing, but I thought I'd better let you know in case it is part of a larger pattern that might indicate something about the visual language of the game.
Hi there Mark, really enjoyed this short demo, but i found a little bug on the very first level after the tutorial, the magnet can end up stuck on the platform after you change the polarity, not falling to the left or right
- The character felt pretty good to use and control although the animations seem more bouncy than it feels which can be a bit disorienting at first
- The puzzles were fairly good and a few had me fully stumped for a moment until I worked it out but the trial and error of some of the levels lead me to reset a lot from softlocks which felt really annoying
- I would say the character and magnet feel way more live and so much emotion could be added
Now some future ideas to allow more innovation for more puzzles in the future:
- Escaping, once you get the key I feel like reaching a gate could provide some great ideas where getting the key is easy but you get stuck and need to plan ahead to actually return
- Using the limited polarity switch time to allow more stumping problems, I noticed in my attempts to find bugs that the magnet has a down time before you can switch the polarity again and I feel that could be used a lot
Excellent game. Much improved. I wrote down my thoughts as I played, so here's my feedback. Note that I played on an xbox controller.
-I want a "stop throwing" button. Once you start a throw, it would be nice to be able to stop aiming without actually throwing the magnet. Something as simple as hitting 'A' while aiming.
-The ability to drop through platforms by holding down and hitting 'A' while on a platform. If this is game-breaking, maybe certain platforms let you do it while others don't.
-I would like to replay a level with a ghosted out key you can collect like recollecting a star in SM64. Re-entering a level without a goal is just kind of sad.
-That being said, a Key is not the right iconography for the end of a level. It feels like we have to collect the key and then bring it back somewhere, and the fact that we maintain control of the character for a short period after collecting the key adds to this feeling like we're not done yet. Maybe a star or flag would work better, something with finality. Or maybe keeping with the aesthetic of the game, a battery that can be used to charge another door. Or maybe taking control away from the player once the goal is reached is the right way to go here.
-The smiley face gateway that destroys the magnet has the same red color as the magnet. That similarity, and also it having a smiley face, makes me think that there's some sort of positive connotation between the magnet and the gate. I tried bringing the magnet into it, and then I tried again with the reverse polarity because opposites attract and was confused when it was destroyed both times. If the icon is supposed to be a stop sign, I think getting rid of the smiley face and just having the red octagon would get the point across better. Or maybe even just an 'X'.
-Aiming and moving use the same controls, and you immediately regain control of the robot as soon as you let go of the magnet. So if I'm standing at a ledge and want to throw the magnet down or across, I will immediately run off the edge after throwing because I am holding that direction to aim. This hurts especially on ledges of no return. The only fix I can think of would be to have a dedicated "Brake" button, like the right trigger, that stops movement on the ground while it's held down.
That was a lot. So here's some things that I really liked about the game.
The robot feels very good to move around with. A little slidey, but it makes sense with the wheel character design.
Love the switch doors that can be activated back and forth just by reversing the polarity of the magnet. Very clever use of the magnet, and all of the mechanics like that are presented in a very intuitive way.
I really thought the visual language with the bright distinct colors and the little touches like how the green wires faded into the background when crossing the playing field, really made everything easy to understand and pleasant to look at.
The logic felt very consistent. I like how any object can activate a green switch with enough force.
Overall, I just had a really fun time playing the game. The puzzles were simple but all had that 'Aha!' moment, although I spent an embarrassingly long time on the last level. And most importantly, this is definitely a game about magnets. Excellent job, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!
the character feels really nice to control. moving and jumping feels nice and stopping feels even better. i had to remap some of the keys to make it feel nice for me. i was using the arrow keys to move and having the grab and polarity buttons be higher up on the keyboard wasnt comfortable for me, but i imagine they would be even less comfortable for someone using wasd. i liked the option to have the polarity colour be the same as the magnet bc i found that a bit more intuitive for me
i have a few issues which are things previous commenters have mentioned, but for me the biggest issue was that i had to use a mouse. i didnt have one with me so i had to use the trackpad which really slowed down the gameplay, i wanted to use the arrow keys/wasd keys to aim so bad. since you cant move while aiming anyway, i dont see why this cant be an alternate way to play
another thing would be the last level, it didnt feel as intuitive and it doesnt seem anyone has come to a consensus on what the "correct" way to finish the level is. i personally didnt know if what i did was correct, and it took me way too long to get to it.
to clear the last level i had to turn on aim sensitivity and it seemed i could throw the magnet farther than when i was aiming with my mouse (trackpad lol)
someone else mentioned that the button dimming looked like it couldnt be used again, and i agree. one of the reasons it took me so long to finish the last level (besides the above point) is that i didnt realize that the button could be pressed again. felt kinda stupid when i remembered that an earlier level taught me this tho lol
UI things, a prompt saying "esc to leave" or just a button to exit the options menu would be better as it took me a bit to figure out how to get out. not a long bit but still. also it would be nice to have the quit aim in the tutorial instead of me finding out about it while remapping keys
the last thing i had issues with was the aim toggle, i have no idea how to use that
i dont mind the hub but i understand if other people find it annoying. for only 6 levels i think its fine. i think it would be more interesting to go thru if the hallway wasnt so repetitive. i would like the 'throwing the magnet to enter the level' mechanic a lot more if aiming with a trackpad wasnt such a hassle
the character design is SO CUTE its way better than what it was before, and i absolutely love the way the magnet smiles when u pick it up. i also love that its default state is asleep. the computer character is adorable as well. i love that the arms go back when its holding the magnet and moving. the art design of the levels is consistent and looks really good. i dont think it needs to change, but i wouldnt complain if it was cuter. im a big fan of the character design
besides the last level, the level design seems alright. i dont have much to say about it. im not good at puzzle games but these seemed like good beginner levels for someone like me.
i think thats it. i had a bunch of issues but for the most part it was a good experience. the only big one (for me) was not being able to aim with keyboard as that sometimes ruined the flow for me but the other things didnt bother me as much and i had a good time.
I'm not very well versed in critiquing game design, so I'll focus more on the character and appeal
If I did have to say one thing about the game, its that at the start the aha moments felt really great, but over time, it was really easy to soft lock and restart a level, forcing you to do the same repetitive actions of resetting the puzzle to the way you found it before being able to think through the next step. I found myself wishing for a short term time rewind button like there is in Baba is you, either something that undoes your last button imput, or travels back in time three seconds or something like that, because starting and restarting over and over again because you missed a jump can get frustrating.
I think the movement felt alright, but I definitely felt a disconnect between the way the character was designed and the way it felt. The robot felt more heavy than it looked, if that makes sense? The design of this character looks very light and springy and bouncy with the wheel constantly disengaging and reingaging with the upper monitor, but the controls are very heavy and more suited to a character that looks like it has more weight to it.
Speaking of character, the little magnet happy face was probably my favorite thing in the game, so much so that I hope you expand on his emotional range. Like, you already have him tracking the avatar when you pick him up, why not extend to him just always looking at the player, hopefully waiting to be picked up? Maybe when you put him down he goes neutral, but his expression grows more sad as you move away because he misses you. Maybe when in anticipation of being thrown he looks extra excited (because the neutral face just made me feel really bad about throwing him and possibly hurting him haha). If part of the game is going to be the bond between the robot and his pet magnet (which I assume) have the animations support that.
And one final suggestion, it would be really interesting if part of finishing the puzzle wasn't just getting the key, but also getting you and your little magnet buddy to some kind of exit point together. That could help strengthen the emotional connection to the magnet because now it's a friend you can't afford to leave behind. Something like that. I cannot express just how much I want to get emotionally attached to this magnet. Make it the new Companion Cube!
I loved this and it left me excited to play more. I love the level designs and character movement. I had a great "aha" moment in the 5th level.
Here are some problems I found:
In the options menu there should be a prompt for L1 and R1 to change menus (or lb and rb depending on controller used)
You can map more than 1 action to a button
We have the ability to replay levels, but there is no key and no way to beat the level again. I think there should be a phantom key so the level can be completed again, or remove the ability to replay levels.
On controller, when the "Toggle Aim Mode" option is OFF, the "Enter Aim Mode" button doesn't enter aim mode, it cancels aim mode. Aiming is done with the "Carry/Cancel Aim" button. When the "Toggle Aim Mode" option is ON, the prompts in the menu for enter and cancel aim mode become inverted. And the "Cancel Aim Mode" button both enters and cancels aim mode.
With keyboard, tapping the "Carry/Enter Aim Mode" key (e by default) throws the magnet in the direction of the mouse. I think tapping the key should drop the magnet like it does for controller.
With keyboard, having "Toggle Aim Mode" ON makes the "Carry/Enter Aim Mode" key no longer enter aim mode. Instead the "Cancel Aim Mode" button enters and cancels aim mode.
Both pressing and releasing the "Magnet Action" button changes the polarity. So if you hold the button a bit too long it will reverse polarity twice in a single press.
Overall nice puzzles. It was far too easy for my taste, but very thoughtful. A significant improvement from the old puzzles for sure.
Very solid movement, a few tweaks here and there and it going to be perfect. I get the idea of the hub, but for me it breaks the flow too much. The hub has to be a "world map-like" or something "menu-y", the plataformer-style hub is way too repetitive and annoying. Or at least make the player start from the last door they entered. But imho, the hub must be rethinked. Or the better: no hub, just level-like flow.
Good luck with the development, looking forward to see the final game!
A bit strange that you are introduced to aiming with E when doing so makes it hard to aim.
ALSO, remember that there are, in fact, players that still have 16:10 screens.
Your UI elements appear onscreen a bit for me and transitions only get the middle of the screen. It's bit rarer, but it's important to remember that players are using incredibly strange setups. (Side Note: I recommend ensuring that this isn't an issue on square screens as well)
Honestly, the only thing I can think of to change is that I wish you would re-enter the hub from the door to the level that you just finished. As it is, the farther along you get, the longer it takes to get to the next level. The rest of the issues I had can probably be chalked up to the fact that I was playing on a potato. (It did run surprisingly well on said potato, though)
-Overall, movement feels very nice. I think the one aspect that needs to be worked on is the aiming. Even with low sensitivity aiming, aiming never felt smooth. I think it mainly comes down to the animation of the arc, which needs to be much smoother to fit the circular movements of an analog stick. It feels better with a mouse cursor but could still use improvement.
-I'm not sure if this is a bug or intentional, but the player can only choose what button it is to aim if they're in toggled aim mode, otherwise aiming is just the grab button. It would be nice to give the player the option to hold to aim while also being able to set what button they use to aim.
-The puzzles were designed very well. Plenty of aha! moments and it's clear that this is a game about magnets. There were a lot of soft locks, which makes a button dedicated to restarting nice, but having to restart never feels great. In the level Blocked by Block for instance, if you fall in the pit with the button after lifting the block, you're forced to reset, which also resets all of your progress and completely kills the flow. This would only get more annoying as levels get more complex and take more time.
-It also feels very abrupt that when you get the key, the level just ends. It feels like you should have to bring it back to the start of the level, which could also pose as a way to recontextualize the puzzle as now the player has to juggle both the key and the magnet.
-The hub needs something to denote each level, whether that be something simple like a number, or something more like preferably the level name. It would also be nice if the level name was shown to the player when they enter the level, giving them an idea of what's to come. Adding a button prompt to actually enter the level would also be nice to give the player more feedback.
Overall, this game was a lot of fun. The puzzles made me think for the solution, but it always made sense in the context of the game and felt rewarding to figure out. Well done and I look forward to what future iterations of this game will play like.
- although the mouse is used for aiming, none of the mouse-based controls are stated in the tutorial
-some levels, especially 5 and 6, are easy to get stuck in a position that forces you to restart the level. If these "soft lock" areas were removed or there was some kind of undo button it would be very useful.
-throwing/aiming the magnet feels very unnecessary in most levels
- level 6 seemed much harder then the rest, with it being the only one I couldn't complete. I couldn't tell if the solution I was trying was intended or not, which was throwing the magnet onto the button from the left side.
-The button sprite dimming to a darker green when pressed makes it seem like it can't be pressed again to reset it
Yeah, you’re right. I primarily meant it as a joke honestly (even though I’m a Linux gamer). I downloaded it and plan on try running it with Wine/Proton.
- There's no prompt to show you how to leave the options menu. Not a major issue, but it's still a bit annoying.
- The player is taught that 'E' can be used to throw, but not that LMB can be used to do the same thing. Since the mouse is how you aim anyway, it makes sense to at least teach them that without experimentation or checking the options.
- Looking into the options reveals that RMB (along with Q) is used to cancel aiming. Given that a much more common action is changing the magnet's polarity, perhaps it'd be better for RMB to be bound to that? Or maybe even MMB. Having all the magnet controls on the mouse would be nice. It would also be nice to be taught these controls in full.
- It's not obvious that when you turn on toggle aim, the cancel aim button becomes the toggle aim button. Both of these are hidden in the options menu and the cancel aim button wouldn't normally be taught to the player.
- The final puzzle was significantly harder than all the previous ones, mostly because it seemed to require timing more than thinking. The way I solved it was to throw the red magnet into the blue electromagnet on the right and then change its polarity midflight to fling it to the switch on the right wall and then run to the left before the block got pulled all the way up. It's unclear if this is the intended solution.
- When changing controls, it's impossible to change anything to E, since it seems to be the cancel button. This isn't shown anywhere, so it was confusing.
- Having the left and right mouse buttons forcefully locked into their controls doesn't seem like an optimal solution. Many games allow two inputs, a primary and secondary one, to be bound to the same control. Perhaps it'd be possible to implement this? I did check, and LMB and RMB can easily be bound to other controls.
Overall, a fun demo. My gripes with the controls don't ruin the experience at all.
It's interesting, I solved the last puzzle by throwing the magnet into the hole to stop the block from pressing the switch. This required a very precise aim and a couple of tricky jumps, and also didn't feel like the intended solution.
I believe the intended solution for the final level is to bring the magnet with you to the switch on the right. Before turning the switch on, you want to drop the magnet down the slope, which will cause it to slide down towards the doorway. Switching the magnets polarity will cause the doorway to cover part of the gap, meaning that when you flip the switch the box can't reach the top. I attached an image if my explanation is confusing
The intended solution is to open the gate when the box is on the pit, then activate the button on the right, the box will float but will be stopped by the left wing of the door, then you have the open path to the key
Excellent! Big improvements from V1.0, especially the parts you really wanted to change/fix (like how the robot controlled). For some reason I couldn't get the sound to work, but that might be on me. Can't wait for V3.0!
I assume a lot, if not most, of these you are aware of already, but I'll mention them as I go, just so it's written down for the record.
- No obvious way back to the main menu from settings other than hitting ESC. Should be an on screen button to return to main menu.
- Magnet color switching icons are a little confusing, probably because the sprites still try to swap when you click on the same color as the opposite polarity. Maybe this should swap the colors too? (+ to blue and - to red) Just a thought.
- Lock on for magnet toss for certain objects or targets? I keep wanting to just click on the pipes in the level select to instantly throw the magnet there but i have to hold it. is it to ensure the player wants to select that specific level? feels strange regardless.
- side note: I do like the long hallway, aesthetically speaking. reminds me of mario is missing. loved that game as a kid. probably not the best layout for non-linearity though.
- Completed levels can be re-entered with no key and no obvious way out other than pause menu. An in-level prompt on the entrance door to return to the hub would be nice.
- Plays well enough, maybe a bit heavy on the jumps.
- On keyboard, switching polarity and trying to aim your jumps while going up a lift is a bit cumbersome. I change the polarity keybinding to middle mouse button, which freed up my index to go right out of the lift.
- Its a minor thing that doesn't really matter, but I was expecting a surprise at the end of the 'thank you' hallway.
amazing game I had a little trouble figuring out how to open the first door but otherwise a great game maybe have a little magnet symbol next to the pipe
This is excellent for a demonstration, and the focus on accessibility and strong design decisions is great! As everyone is saying, the lack of sound and music hurts the experience, but you know that. I'd love to see a bit more character and storytelling in the level design, but this is wildly impressive for a second demo!
This is cool, I wish there weren't as many places where you have to restart the level if you mess up instead of a way to just "soft reset" it, but maybe that's just me
especially when sometimes, the reason I have to reset is because of some wonkiness with the physics and being pushed around when holding the magnet in a certain direction
Really needs them sounds effects next time, them beep boops. I hope you study up on swell audio design.
I know you wanted to game to be fully puzzler, and not have that much movement tech [i cri :( ] but then traversing the levels when you know the solution, especially the level select, takes a while.
I enjoyed 1-6, it was a neat challenge that made you think outside the box, as there was no 'tutorial' teaching about duel magnetic fields.
Wonder what future worlds will hold, I hope they are themed differently, if just tinted a colour. Perhaps if in the diegetic level select of Worlds' clusters of mechanics could be clumped, and maybe stuff like a little sandbox before trying a level. (maybe even just one optional platforming level, I pray.)
I missed a Linux build, it didn't run well on Wine, as it's usual for Unity games, and I'm not downloading Steam to get Proton working in my laptop. I'll test it again when I get to my desktop
Don't know if someone has mentioned this, but the L-shaped turn-gates don't turn if you are right next to them; you must back up and then go through them again. It feels strange that they suddenly become immobile if you have no momentum. Perhaps lean into this, giving them a shake effect if you aren't moving, or change it for consistency.
Also you can throw the magnet mid-movement or mid-jump, but cannot move mid-throw. Making this more consistent could be great (unless I missed an option or something)
Strap in for a STACK of feedback! (Literally played with a notepad window open...!
In general, a very nice demo and I'm very excited to play the full release!
Most of these criticisms are QoL changes but some are pretty major and there are a couple of potentially game ruining ones...
Problem Ranking: (in my opinion obviously)
Major is ! (potentially game ruining)
Medium is +
Minor is - (mostly QoL)
Controls
! Switch Pro controller seems to be unsupported
- E feels unwieldy for throwing, maybe shift by default?
+ There's no prompt for the button to cancel a throw when you're taught how to aim, I had to learn it from the menus
+ The dedicated button to cancel a throw is a bit unwieldy, just have any player movement cancel a throw? (after a half-second window probably just in case of overlapped button presses)
- The aiming angle is set by the mouse, having the arc intersect the mouse position allows for much better aiming since I can then just click when I want the magnet to be rather than try to figure out an arc in my head on the fly
- A short level reset press doesn't work (good call) but the delay still feels too short just in case, maybe a full two seconds?
- (If adding the above) there's no indication you are holding down control, maybe have the reset element fill up to indicate how long to hold?
- Holding the button to pick up the magnet as you go past it would be nice QoL so I don't have to think about timing my press
+ WASD and arrow keys do movement in levels but WASD doesn't work in menus
- If I can left mouse to throw, why not also right mouse to change polarities? (When not aiming of course)
- No way to drop down through semi-solid platforms
# Gameplay
+ Gravity feels a bit too heavy on the jump, feels like I have to REALLY hold down the button to get a full height jump
+ Jump in general just feels bad, maybe get a proper platformer dev to have a go and see what they say? Since they'll have better criticisms and solutions
- The height adjust if you just miss a jump is very noticeable on some jumps
+ It's possible to go through the kissing gate things in such a way that you're pushed up against it but it's closed (very quick turn around as you go through)
- The window on how quickly you can change the magnet polarity isn't indicated by the white flash so why is it there? Just have it instantly change colour or (preferably) have the two match up
- The window on changing polarities seems needlessly long? Having it shorter would be cool (and, puzzle idea: maybe a level where you have to figure out you can "fly" over a gap by changing the polarity back and forth in a field pulling you up?)
- The walls in the kissing gates don't disappear quickly enough as you're going through them, there's a very slight but noticeable bump
- Feels like they change too late in general, If I'm 80% of the way into going through one, I'm definitely committed by that point
- Switches are cool but there are a lot of ways where it feels like it should activate but doesn't (walking over slowly, hitting but on the wrong side) if they're going to have specifics like this they should be useful in a puzzle or not present (puzzle could be a switch you want to activate but it's facing the wrong way from where you are right now?)
+ Kissing gates will steal magnets out of your hand but the tutorial one only does it once leading to the assumption it was just stolen to show the kissing gates can move, not that this is normal behaviour
- Game doesn't remember if you've finished the tutorial
- The hub could be better arranged, the robot is slow so walking all the way down for the last one takes a sec, a more radial arrangement would be easier and reinforce the non-linearity too since they're not implicitly sequential
# Menuing and Options (I know you're cleaning it up later so these are all just functionality based)
+ It's not obvious that the escape button quits the options, if you're going to include mouse-driven menuing you need buttons for EVERY interaction you could do with button
- If I'm mouse menuing preferably don't have an option selected already, it's not clear why I have an option marked in a different colour
- The above is especially true since moving the mouse over a different option doesn't move the highlight
! You can "return to hub" in the tutorial, potentially skipping it forever
! Your grey is way too close to white in places when an option is ticked or for text on buttons (this is not an aesthetic problem imo, it's quite hard to read at a glance in places so might cause accessibility issues)
+ The fullscreen option on the title screen is nice but it seems to be missing from the options? Forcing a level quit if I want to change mid-level
+ Selecting a magnet colour indicates using both a symbol and circle? Just do the symbol since:
- None of them are set to a circle to begin with but the symbols are present
+ Selecting an invalid colour for the magnet sets that colour to the circle but the symbol stays where it is, which do I have selected? Why has a circle suddenly appeared?
- Also rather than deny the user from changing it so they're the same colour, maybe swap instead? If I want the colours swapped I have to go through a third colour to free up the one I want
- Having multiple ways to do a thing is great (WASD/arrow keys for movement, E or click and hold for throwing) but these should really be listed as secondary controls in the menu
# Aesthetics and HUD (options aren't prettified but levels are fair play right?)
- There are some decorative elements on the walls but they feel a bit like weak tea, have more variety, more boldness and more of them or don't bother imo
- Key doors with numbers indicate I need keys, those without indicating I can get keys? Feels inconsistent
- Inactive magnet fields should still display their symbols and faded colours to show what they will be when on
- Chevrons in magnet field for some elements and not others
I had a couple of "ah-ha!" moments while playing the game which was really cool. A couple thoughts I had while playing:
I always felt like "ok now I've got the key, how do I get out of this room and back to the hub... oh wait, the screen is transitioning... oh, I'm back." I dunno, sometimes the key was in a pit that there was no way out of and it felt weird. Maybe if the robot zoops out like Mega Man does after beating a robot master? Though it could be interesting to have to carry the key back to the door to retrieve it.
I felt like the robot was really slow when, uh, rolling. When I pressed in a direction it seemed like the robot would gain speed quickly and then just... stop accelerating too soon? Some of the longer screens felt glacial to traverse back and forth.
I wonder if throw/aim/pickup/drop would work better mapped to some different buttons? Like maybe pickup/drop is one button and then enter aim mode & throw would be another? I'm reminded of Yoshi's Island's "Hasty" controls where pressing the aim button brings up the aim interface, then releasing it throws the egg (or magnet in this case). That interaction feels like a fundamentally different thing than "pick up or drop an object" to me.
This game is good. I haven't finished the demo yet, but I have a thought. I feel like the arch for the magnet throw could be a bit higher, especially when you are throwing the magnet in the level select screen.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the mac version doesn't work because Apple can check it for "malicious software".
The last two levels are challenging enough to be satisfying although I do feel that the complexity of additional puzzles could ramp up significantly if you were to develop further
I like the characterisation inherent in the design and movement of the character - but it moves just slow enough to be annoying - especially in the hub
I wish I could move the character while 'charging' my throw, it was jarring that I could not
I wish the keys actually had locks to go into to complete the level or progress - they feel a bit out of place as is - it would be satisfying to see the character move out of the level to indicate progress rather than a fade to the hub
Further development of the hub could have a junction of these doorways to create a more complete feeling
I understand that the menu is just a placeholder but I would appreciate words in addition to symbols - you have the space for it and it would help my brain to avoid just clicking them all to see what they do
I really had fun and would definitely play many levels of this game if they ramped up enough to remain satisfying. Thanks!
1- if there is a buton to leave level, indicate it, if not made one, the idea of not having to do all the level to continue is a good idea if we can leave a level, same goes for the option menu, e can't know if the control are good without testing them, and having to quit the game for changing them and restart again to play isn't a good thing.
2- it's a very little thing and maybe this is a choice, but the "door" in level 2 that you need to jump over is a little frustrating, not that it is important but the gameplay is enough to enjoy a speed gameplay when we understand the room but this wall stop us to do so.
it's a good second proto and we see a part of the potential of the idea, good work!
Hey there! Great little game, I did not play the first MVP but from following along with the series it seems like your puzzle design has gotten a lot better cause these were overall really fun to play and most of the solutions gave me a nice 'oh!' moment.
Some sticking points and potential diagnoses of them:
The most I got stuck on a puzzle was room two when I didn't realize the magnet would fall through the semi platform.
I realize this was taught to me in the level before and also in the tutorial but it still did not seem intuitive enough for it to be a possibility.
Perhaps this was just me! But as I was diagnosing the problem a bit more, I remembered some feedback you mentioned from the first MVP that the physical properties of object didn't have consistency (or something to that effect, objects behaved differently in different situations). That seems to have been achieved in this iteration but does the visual style of the objects reinforce how they will behave in an intuitive way?
To me the semi platforms being what looks like metal bars doesn't communicate effectively that magnets will pass through while the player can stand on them, in the same way that say in Portal the laser fields will allow the player to move through but will disintegrate cubes, turrets, etc. Of course you are shown this but it also just kinda makes intuitive sense visually.
This is a minor thing in the grand scheme but perhaps this thought process of 'does the visual style of this mechanic or object help the player understand what it does or does it confuse them?' may be helpful for other parts of development
The amount of times I got soft locked was a bit frustrating. A rewind feature like I saw suggested elsewhere would be great or designing levels where this is less of a possibility.
Playing I didn't really get attached to the characters, I was just doing the puzzles. I think potentially some nice polish to add as the game moves on is some animations to bring me into the emotions of this little robot.
A squishing animation when the block get dropped on them, a sad face when the magnet gets disintegrated, a hard reboot turning off the robot's monitor, as they fall over deactivated when I restart a level, and most importantly a nice little dance or something when I solve the puzzle!
Those little things will bring me into the plight of this tiny robot and their magnet and make me enjoy each victory that much more.
first just want to say i want to make games and this series and your channel has helped me a lot so thank you second the games pretty fun. movement is good controls are nice and i like the graphics for it. the gameplay is fun. the level design was basic but not bad. level 7 (i think it was 7 it was the one with the block that rises up that you have to stop) gave me the aha moment sort of feel my only advice for the future of the game would be try to make more creative aha moment levels other then that games fun.
I really liked this demo, I can't compare it to the last one because I haven't played it but I saw your videos and the version 2 seems so much better than the first.
Here is some points that I think can be improved :
- As others said, the polarity change on the keyboard is weird, the mouse makes more sense because you throw the magnet with it
- When I encountered the platforms on the following screen, I was expecting to press the S key to go down
- On level 6, there is a little gap between the blue cube when it is up so I threw the magnet in there and when the blue cube went down, it prevented the cube from pressing the button, solving the puzzle ^^'
- The robot is too slow, maybe add a walk/run button
- The level 3 is way too easy
- I found it weird that the robot is attracted with the magnet on straight attractors but not on cornered ones
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This was a ton of fun! Everything seems way stronger than what I saw people play in v1.2. I used keyboard and mouse, if that matters.
Weird Q.O.L improvements I reckon could be implemented:
1) Being able to click the on-screen reset button , I found myself instinctually doing this & just throwing the magnet instead.
2) In the hub, appearing at the door you last entered instead of at the start every single time - longest walks of my life!
I really enjoyed the game, so here are my general comments.
- I enjoyed the character animation and the overall aesthetic of the game given what I saw in here. Excited for what's to come.
- The magnet really felt like the star of this game. I really had to think about not just the position of my character, but also how I would place the magnet as well.
- Puzzles were definitely on the easy side, but they still were fun to figure out. Almost all of them made me think of the 'obvious' solution first, before the game tells me that the 'obvious' solution is not enough, and I need to think outside the box.
This game has so much potential, so I want to point out the things it could improve:
- I played my very first run without knowing how to cancel the [Aiming]. If I didn't explore the options menu, I would have not known there was a [Cancel Aiming] button. Perhaps it could be presented at the tutorial, at the same time the [Aiming] action is taught.
- Actually, the [Aiming] itself didn't feel very intuitive for me, especially with [Toggle Aim mode] on. I find that the large part of this problem is having [Aim] be the same key as the [Carry] or [Drop] button.
- I played this using a keyboard, and I find that my cursor gets 'stuck' while [Aiming]. I'd have to jump first every time before I could start [Aiming] the magnet.
- The tutorial showed us that after getting the key, we need to throw the magnet to the pipes. However, every level ends after collecting the key. I suggest making the way the tutorial end be consistent with the rest of the game, either ending the tutorial once getting the key, or having the end of every level be throwing the magnet at the pipes.
- I liked the level hub system, but it needs to be improved. After finishing a level, we should be sent at the gate of the level instead of the very start. Also, I think it's better to have the level gates numbered or labeled with difficulty. As it is, I first thought that every level would be of equal difficulty since it is in one hub, and curiosity made me start the last level first. Having each level numbered or have its difficulty present could help the player plan for the ideal progression, while still presenting the ability to skip levels.
- To add on to the hub system, why is it there? I like it, yes, but I feel like it slows down the game a lot. If you still plan on implementing a hub system, I suggest it to have some sort of purpose, maybe it also has a shop or other characters. Otherwise, I suggest scrapping this idea and make it a level layout like in Baba is You.
Interesting game so far, here are some problems that I occurred in my playthrough: (Used keyboard and mouse - also rebound the swapping magnet polarity to RMB)
I haven't watched very many videos in this series so far, please excuse me if I comment on something that was already explained in a video.
Also this will be long... Sorry :/
General:
- It feels very weird that when I get the key, I exit the level. I was expecting to get back to the door afterwards.
- It also feels very unintuitive that magnets fall through platforms. I expected them to land on top.
- Cannot re-complete levels again, since the key is gone.
- The 'E' key feels useless for launching the magnet, since you can aim and fire with the LMB.
- When I rebound the magnet polarity to the RMB, the UI at the top left where the colour of the magnet is showing, the button to show what key to press is now a '?'.
- Some levels don't feel very fun to play at all and don't feel satisfying when you finish them.
- Having the character move to the center of the door, and disappear feels like that they are actually entering a door, not just standing in front of it.
Tutorial:
- It took me about 15 minutes to figure out that I needed to throw the magnet in the pipe to continue the game at the start. Some guidance would be great there.
Level 1 - Up and Over: ★★★☆☆
- The magnet got stuck on the small section of flat ground between the 2 ramps above the magnetic door (not sure what to call that door to be honest).
- It is VERY easy to run off a really small platform. Thankfully you can jump in midair just after you fall off a platform (like Celeste), so this isn't a big issue.
Level 2 - Not a Drill: ★★★★☆
- Aside from the magnet falling through platforms issue, this was a good level.
Level 3 - Up and Away: ★★★★★
- Can get stuck between the screw and the moving platform.
- This level felt really fun to play, especially the final jump for the key.
Level 4 - Lift Up: ★★☆☆☆
- It feels like it takes forever to reach one side of the room to the other.
- This level in particular feels very boring to play in my opinion, due to the really long hallways to get to different places.
Level 5 - Weight and Pull-me: ★★★★★
- Possible to softlock when the gate is pushing the button down and the magnet isn't attached to the pulley system.
- This level is definitely the best level so far. This level makes you think outside the box and feels great when you finish it.
Level 6 - Blocked by Block: ★★★☆☆
- This feels a lot harder than the rest of the puzzles.
- I think that I also did the puzzle in a non-intended way. (Unsure if I want to put my method here due to spoilers though)
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Overall, this feels like a great foundation. More levels like Level 3 and 5 would make this game be an amazing experience and a joy to play.
Thanks to everyone who actually took the time to read this.
:D
I like this game, the character feels very good to control. the last puzzle is very unintuitive and I don't know if I did it correctly my solution was to use the magnet one-way to block the platform from going up beside that the puzzle is very good. the art is good and has a charm to it. however, when you get softlock it's annoying to reset. overall this game is good.
You can get stuck way to much and have to reset. like i got stuck in the tutorial. also its hard to tell if your solution is the intended one but maybe its just me idk.
great game
I don't know if its me or the game but I downloaded it and tried to play it but it was fuzzy - Its impossible to play in window mode and super hard to read in fullscreen.
I'm also having this problem, if anyone finds a solution please let us know
Played through in something like 20 to 30 minutes, which felt right for this quick demo/playtest.
I enjoyed the puzzle designs a lot - I think I experienced at least a small "aha!" moment during each of them. I felt like I was consistently learning new applications for the basic mechanics I've already heard about from the video series.
I played using a PlayStation controller without touching any of the settings or accessibility options. I might have liked to change the aiming settings to something with lower sensitivity, but by the time I realized that preference I had already forgotten any instruction I may have been shown regarding how to return to the menu.
Last minor note - for some reason I expected to be able to jump higher? That might just be a me thing, but I thought I'd better let you know in case it is part of a larger pattern that might indicate something about the visual language of the game.
Hi there Mark, really enjoyed this short demo, but i found a little bug on the very first level after the tutorial, the magnet can end up stuck on the platform after you change the polarity, not falling to the left or right
Avid puzzler here, for the overall game:
- The character felt pretty good to use and control although the animations seem more bouncy than it feels which can be a bit disorienting at first
- The puzzles were fairly good and a few had me fully stumped for a moment until I worked it out but the trial and error of some of the levels lead me to reset a lot from softlocks which felt really annoying
- I would say the character and magnet feel way more live and so much emotion could be added
Now some future ideas to allow more innovation for more puzzles in the future:
- Escaping, once you get the key I feel like reaching a gate could provide some great ideas where getting the key is easy but you get stuck and need to plan ahead to actually return
- Using the limited polarity switch time to allow more stumping problems, I noticed in my attempts to find bugs that the magnet has a down time before you can switch the polarity again and I feel that could be used a lot
Excellent game. Much improved. I wrote down my thoughts as I played, so here's my feedback. Note that I played on an xbox controller.
-I want a "stop throwing" button. Once you start a throw, it would be nice to be able to stop aiming without actually throwing the magnet. Something as simple as hitting 'A' while aiming.
-The ability to drop through platforms by holding down and hitting 'A' while on a platform. If this is game-breaking, maybe certain platforms let you do it while others don't.
-I would like to replay a level with a ghosted out key you can collect like recollecting a star in SM64. Re-entering a level without a goal is just kind of sad.
-That being said, a Key is not the right iconography for the end of a level. It feels like we have to collect the key and then bring it back somewhere, and the fact that we maintain control of the character for a short period after collecting the key adds to this feeling like we're not done yet. Maybe a star or flag would work better, something with finality. Or maybe keeping with the aesthetic of the game, a battery that can be used to charge another door. Or maybe taking control away from the player once the goal is reached is the right way to go here.
-The smiley face gateway that destroys the magnet has the same red color as the magnet. That similarity, and also it having a smiley face, makes me think that there's some sort of positive connotation between the magnet and the gate. I tried bringing the magnet into it, and then I tried again with the reverse polarity because opposites attract and was confused when it was destroyed both times. If the icon is supposed to be a stop sign, I think getting rid of the smiley face and just having the red octagon would get the point across better. Or maybe even just an 'X'.
-Aiming and moving use the same controls, and you immediately regain control of the robot as soon as you let go of the magnet. So if I'm standing at a ledge and want to throw the magnet down or across, I will immediately run off the edge after throwing because I am holding that direction to aim. This hurts especially on ledges of no return. The only fix I can think of would be to have a dedicated "Brake" button, like the right trigger, that stops movement on the ground while it's held down.
That was a lot. So here's some things that I really liked about the game.
The robot feels very good to move around with. A little slidey, but it makes sense with the wheel character design.
Love the switch doors that can be activated back and forth just by reversing the polarity of the magnet. Very clever use of the magnet, and all of the mechanics like that are presented in a very intuitive way.
I really thought the visual language with the bright distinct colors and the little touches like how the green wires faded into the background when crossing the playing field, really made everything easy to understand and pleasant to look at.
The logic felt very consistent. I like how any object can activate a green switch with enough force.
Overall, I just had a really fun time playing the game. The puzzles were simple but all had that 'Aha!' moment, although I spent an embarrassingly long time on the last level. And most importantly, this is definitely a game about magnets. Excellent job, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!
Yeah, a battery, robot part, or something related to a magnet would be a more appropriate end to a Level.
great points i all agree with, now i don't need to write anything myself hahah
the character feels really nice to control. moving and jumping feels nice and stopping feels even better. i had to remap some of the keys to make it feel nice for me. i was using the arrow keys to move and having the grab and polarity buttons be higher up on the keyboard wasnt comfortable for me, but i imagine they would be even less comfortable for someone using wasd. i liked the option to have the polarity colour be the same as the magnet bc i found that a bit more intuitive for me
i have a few issues which are things previous commenters have mentioned, but for me the biggest issue was that i had to use a mouse. i didnt have one with me so i had to use the trackpad which really slowed down the gameplay, i wanted to use the arrow keys/wasd keys to aim so bad. since you cant move while aiming anyway, i dont see why this cant be an alternate way to play
another thing would be the last level, it didnt feel as intuitive and it doesnt seem anyone has come to a consensus on what the "correct" way to finish the level is. i personally didnt know if what i did was correct, and it took me way too long to get to it.
to clear the last level i had to turn on aim sensitivity and it seemed i could throw the magnet farther than when i was aiming with my mouse (trackpad lol)
someone else mentioned that the button dimming looked like it couldnt be used again, and i agree. one of the reasons it took me so long to finish the last level (besides the above point) is that i didnt realize that the button could be pressed again. felt kinda stupid when i remembered that an earlier level taught me this tho lol
UI things, a prompt saying "esc to leave" or just a button to exit the options menu would be better as it took me a bit to figure out how to get out. not a long bit but still. also it would be nice to have the quit aim in the tutorial instead of me finding out about it while remapping keys
the last thing i had issues with was the aim toggle, i have no idea how to use that
i dont mind the hub but i understand if other people find it annoying. for only 6 levels i think its fine. i think it would be more interesting to go thru if the hallway wasnt so repetitive. i would like the 'throwing the magnet to enter the level' mechanic a lot more if aiming with a trackpad wasnt such a hassle
the character design is SO CUTE its way better than what it was before, and i absolutely love the way the magnet smiles when u pick it up. i also love that its default state is asleep. the computer character is adorable as well. i love that the arms go back when its holding the magnet and moving. the art design of the levels is consistent and looks really good. i dont think it needs to change, but i wouldnt complain if it was cuter. im a big fan of the character design
besides the last level, the level design seems alright. i dont have much to say about it. im not good at puzzle games but these seemed like good beginner levels for someone like me.
i think thats it. i had a bunch of issues but for the most part it was a good experience. the only big one (for me) was not being able to aim with keyboard as that sometimes ruined the flow for me but the other things didnt bother me as much and i had a good time.
I'm not very well versed in critiquing game design, so I'll focus more on the character and appeal
If I did have to say one thing about the game, its that at the start the aha moments felt really great, but over time, it was really easy to soft lock and restart a level, forcing you to do the same repetitive actions of resetting the puzzle to the way you found it before being able to think through the next step. I found myself wishing for a short term time rewind button like there is in Baba is you, either something that undoes your last button imput, or travels back in time three seconds or something like that, because starting and restarting over and over again because you missed a jump can get frustrating.
I think the movement felt alright, but I definitely felt a disconnect between the way the character was designed and the way it felt. The robot felt more heavy than it looked, if that makes sense? The design of this character looks very light and springy and bouncy with the wheel constantly disengaging and reingaging with the upper monitor, but the controls are very heavy and more suited to a character that looks like it has more weight to it.
Speaking of character, the little magnet happy face was probably my favorite thing in the game, so much so that I hope you expand on his emotional range. Like, you already have him tracking the avatar when you pick him up, why not extend to him just always looking at the player, hopefully waiting to be picked up? Maybe when you put him down he goes neutral, but his expression grows more sad as you move away because he misses you. Maybe when in anticipation of being thrown he looks extra excited (because the neutral face just made me feel really bad about throwing him and possibly hurting him haha). If part of the game is going to be the bond between the robot and his pet magnet (which I assume) have the animations support that.
And one final suggestion, it would be really interesting if part of finishing the puzzle wasn't just getting the key, but also getting you and your little magnet buddy to some kind of exit point together. That could help strengthen the emotional connection to the magnet because now it's a friend you can't afford to leave behind. Something like that. I cannot express just how much I want to get emotionally attached to this magnet. Make it the new Companion Cube!
And at the very end of the full game, the robot will have to leave behind the magnet, braking the hearts of the magnet and everyone playing.
I loved this and it left me excited to play more. I love the level designs and character movement. I had a great "aha" moment in the 5th level.
Here are some problems I found:
Have a great day!
Overall nice puzzles. It was far too easy for my taste, but very thoughtful. A significant improvement from the old puzzles for sure.
Very solid movement, a few tweaks here and there and it going to be perfect. I get the idea of the hub, but for me it breaks the flow too much. The hub has to be a "world map-like" or something "menu-y", the plataformer-style hub is way too repetitive and annoying. Or at least make the player start from the last door they entered. But imho, the hub must be rethinked. Or the better: no hub, just level-like flow.
Good luck with the development, looking forward to see the final game!
A bit strange that you are introduced to aiming with E when doing so makes it hard to aim.
ALSO, remember that there are, in fact, players that still have 16:10 screens.
Your UI elements appear onscreen a bit for me and transitions only get the middle of the screen. It's bit rarer, but it's important to remember that players are using incredibly strange setups. (Side Note: I recommend ensuring that this isn't an issue on square screens as well)
Honestly, the only thing I can think of to change is that I wish you would re-enter the hub from the door to the level that you just finished. As it is, the farther along you get, the longer it takes to get to the next level. The rest of the issues I had can probably be chalked up to the fact that I was playing on a potato. (It did run surprisingly well on said potato, though)
Here's my feedback:
-Overall, movement feels very nice. I think the one aspect that needs to be worked on is the aiming. Even with low sensitivity aiming, aiming never felt smooth. I think it mainly comes down to the animation of the arc, which needs to be much smoother to fit the circular movements of an analog stick. It feels better with a mouse cursor but could still use improvement.
-I'm not sure if this is a bug or intentional, but the player can only choose what button it is to aim if they're in toggled aim mode, otherwise aiming is just the grab button. It would be nice to give the player the option to hold to aim while also being able to set what button they use to aim.
-The puzzles were designed very well. Plenty of aha! moments and it's clear that this is a game about magnets. There were a lot of soft locks, which makes a button dedicated to restarting nice, but having to restart never feels great. In the level Blocked by Block for instance, if you fall in the pit with the button after lifting the block, you're forced to reset, which also resets all of your progress and completely kills the flow. This would only get more annoying as levels get more complex and take more time.
-It also feels very abrupt that when you get the key, the level just ends. It feels like you should have to bring it back to the start of the level, which could also pose as a way to recontextualize the puzzle as now the player has to juggle both the key and the magnet.
-The hub needs something to denote each level, whether that be something simple like a number, or something more like preferably the level name. It would also be nice if the level name was shown to the player when they enter the level, giving them an idea of what's to come. Adding a button prompt to actually enter the level would also be nice to give the player more feedback.
Overall, this game was a lot of fun. The puzzles made me think for the solution, but it always made sense in the context of the game and felt rewarding to figure out. Well done and I look forward to what future iterations of this game will play like.
Came here to comment about right-click changing the polarity. That's my biggest gripe thus far. Otherwise, solid game!
Really fun overall, but a few criticisms I have:
- although the mouse is used for aiming, none of the mouse-based controls are stated in the tutorial
-some levels, especially 5 and 6, are easy to get stuck in a position that forces you to restart the level. If these "soft lock" areas were removed or there was some kind of undo button it would be very useful.
-throwing/aiming the magnet feels very unnecessary in most levels
- level 6 seemed much harder then the rest, with it being the only one I couldn't complete. I couldn't tell if the solution I was trying was intended or not, which was throwing the magnet onto the button from the left side.
-The button sprite dimming to a darker green when pressed makes it seem like it can't be pressed again to reset it
Hope this helps with improving the game!
I agree about the throwing/aiming. Only the first Level really needed the magnet thrown.
Also, I think this is how Level 6 is supposed to be beat:
Great game! It just needs audio, proper UI and more content.
No Linux build :( that’s so cringe :((((
Don't phrase it like that. you should kindly request it.
Yeah, you’re right. I primarily meant it as a joke honestly (even though I’m a Linux gamer). I downloaded it and plan on try running it with Wine/Proton.
Playing 2.0 using Mouse and Keyboard
- There's no prompt to show you how to leave the options menu. Not a major issue, but it's still a bit annoying.
- The player is taught that 'E' can be used to throw, but not that LMB can be used to do the same thing. Since the mouse is how you aim anyway, it makes sense to at least teach them that without experimentation or checking the options.
- Looking into the options reveals that RMB (along with Q) is used to cancel aiming. Given that a much more common action is changing the magnet's polarity, perhaps it'd be better for RMB to be bound to that? Or maybe even MMB. Having all the magnet controls on the mouse would be nice. It would also be nice to be taught these controls in full.
- It's not obvious that when you turn on toggle aim, the cancel aim button becomes the toggle aim button. Both of these are hidden in the options menu and the cancel aim button wouldn't normally be taught to the player.
- The final puzzle was significantly harder than all the previous ones, mostly because it seemed to require timing more than thinking. The way I solved it was to throw the red magnet into the blue electromagnet on the right and then change its polarity midflight to fling it to the switch on the right wall and then run to the left before the block got pulled all the way up. It's unclear if this is the intended solution.
- When changing controls, it's impossible to change anything to E, since it seems to be the cancel button. This isn't shown anywhere, so it was confusing.
- Having the left and right mouse buttons forcefully locked into their controls doesn't seem like an optimal solution. Many games allow two inputs, a primary and secondary one, to be bound to the same control. Perhaps it'd be possible to implement this? I did check, and LMB and RMB can easily be bound to other controls.
Overall, a fun demo. My gripes with the controls don't ruin the experience at all.
It's interesting, I solved the last puzzle by throwing the magnet into the hole to stop the block from pressing the switch. This required a very precise aim and a couple of tricky jumps, and also didn't feel like the intended solution.
I believe the intended solution for the final level is to bring the magnet with you to the switch on the right. Before turning the switch on, you want to drop the magnet down the slope, which will cause it to slide down towards the doorway. Switching the magnets polarity will cause the doorway to cover part of the gap, meaning that when you flip the switch the box can't reach the top. I attached an image if my explanation is confusing
Oh that makes a lot more sense.
The intended solution is to open the gate when the box is on the pit, then activate the button on the right, the box will float but will be stopped by the left wing of the door, then you have the open path to the key
Excellent! Big improvements from V1.0, especially the parts you really wanted to change/fix (like how the robot controlled). For some reason I couldn't get the sound to work, but that might be on me. Can't wait for V3.0!
I assume a lot, if not most, of these you are aware of already, but I'll mention them as I go, just so it's written down for the record.
- No obvious way back to the main menu from settings other than hitting ESC. Should be an on screen button to return to main menu.
- Magnet color switching icons are a little confusing, probably because the sprites still try to swap when you click on the same color as the opposite polarity. Maybe this should swap the colors too? (+ to blue and - to red) Just a thought.
- Lock on for magnet toss for certain objects or targets? I keep wanting to just click on the pipes in the level select to instantly throw the magnet there but i have to hold it. is it to ensure the player wants to select that specific level? feels strange regardless.
- side note: I do like the long hallway, aesthetically speaking. reminds me of mario is missing. loved that game as a kid. probably not the best layout for non-linearity though.
- Completed levels can be re-entered with no key and no obvious way out other than pause menu. An in-level prompt on the entrance door to return to the hub would be nice.
- Plays well enough, maybe a bit heavy on the jumps.
- On keyboard, switching polarity and trying to aim your jumps while going up a lift is a bit cumbersome. I change the polarity keybinding to middle mouse button, which freed up my index to go right out of the lift.
- Its a minor thing that doesn't really matter, but I was expecting a surprise at the end of the 'thank you' hallway.
7/10 too much water
amazing game I had a little trouble figuring out how to open the first door but otherwise a great game maybe have a little magnet symbol next to the pipe
This is excellent for a demonstration, and the focus on accessibility and strong design decisions is great! As everyone is saying, the lack of sound and music hurts the experience, but you know that. I'd love to see a bit more character and storytelling in the level design, but this is wildly impressive for a second demo!
This is cool, I wish there weren't as many places where you have to restart the level if you mess up instead of a way to just "soft reset" it, but maybe that's just me
especially when sometimes, the reason I have to reset is because of some wonkiness with the physics and being pushed around when holding the magnet in a certain direction
Fine demo.
Really needs them sounds effects next time, them beep boops. I hope you study up on swell audio design.
I know you wanted to game to be fully puzzler, and not have that much movement tech [i cri :( ] but then traversing the levels when you know the solution, especially the level select, takes a while.
I enjoyed 1-6, it was a neat challenge that made you think outside the box, as there was no 'tutorial' teaching about duel magnetic fields.
Wonder what future worlds will hold, I hope they are themed differently, if just tinted a colour.
Perhaps if in the diegetic level select of Worlds' clusters of mechanics could be clumped, and maybe stuff like a little sandbox before trying a level. (maybe even just one optional platforming level, I pray.)
Or maybe the hub can be more platformer-y, that way players know when thinky skills are required and when speed is required.
I missed a Linux build, it didn't run well on Wine, as it's usual for Unity games, and I'm not downloading Steam to get Proton working in my laptop. I'll test it again when I get to my desktop
Don't know if someone has mentioned this, but the L-shaped turn-gates don't turn if you are right next to them; you must back up and then go through them again. It feels strange that they suddenly become immobile if you have no momentum. Perhaps lean into this, giving them a shake effect if you aren't moving, or change it for consistency.
Also you can throw the magnet mid-movement or mid-jump, but cannot move mid-throw. Making this more consistent could be great (unless I missed an option or something)
Strap in for a STACK of feedback! (Literally played with a notepad window open...!
In general, a very nice demo and I'm very excited to play the full release!
Most of these criticisms are QoL changes but some are pretty major and there are a couple of potentially game ruining ones...
Problem Ranking: (in my opinion obviously)
Minor is - (mostly QoL)
Controls
# Gameplay
# Menuing and Options (I know you're cleaning it up later so these are all just functionality based)
# Aesthetics and HUD (options aren't prettified but levels are fair play right?)
Wow, This Game Is Great! Really Like The Use Of Unity Joints And Magnet Components!
I had a couple of "ah-ha!" moments while playing the game which was really cool. A couple thoughts I had while playing:
This game is good. I haven't finished the demo yet, but I have a thought. I feel like the arch for the magnet throw could be a bit higher, especially when you are throwing the magnet in the level select screen.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the mac version doesn't work because Apple can check it for "malicious software".
You have to right-click and open to bypass the "malicious software" warning on Apple
Just finished and had a good time!
I really had fun and would definitely play many levels of this game if they ramped up enough to remain satisfying. Thanks!
so, it's good but:
1- if there is a buton to leave level, indicate it, if not made one, the idea of not having to do all the level to continue is a good idea if we can leave a level, same goes for the option menu, e can't know if the control are good without testing them, and having to quit the game for changing them and restart again to play isn't a good thing.
2- it's a very little thing and maybe this is a choice, but the "door" in level 2 that you need to jump over is a little frustrating, not that it is important but the gameplay is enough to enjoy a speed gameplay when we understand the room but this wall stop us to do so.
it's a good second proto and we see a part of the potential of the idea, good work!
Das good.... dont really have anything else to say.
It's good u allowed up to customize the controles, i switched Jump to "w"
Hey there! Great little game, I did not play the first MVP but from following along with the series it seems like your puzzle design has gotten a lot better cause these were overall really fun to play and most of the solutions gave me a nice 'oh!' moment.
Some sticking points and potential diagnoses of them:
Thanks, looking forward to the next iteration!
first just want to say i want to make games and this series and your channel has helped me a lot so thank you second the games pretty fun. movement is good controls are nice and i like the graphics for it. the gameplay is fun. the level design was basic but not bad. level 7 (i think it was 7 it was the one with the block that rises up that you have to stop) gave me the aha moment sort of feel my only advice for the future of the game would be try to make more creative aha moment levels other then that games fun.
It says in the itch page that there's no audio yet.
I really liked this demo, I can't compare it to the last one because I haven't played it but I saw your videos and the version 2 seems so much better than the first.
Here is some points that I think can be improved :
- As others said, the polarity change on the keyboard is weird, the mouse makes more sense because you throw the magnet with it
- When I encountered the platforms on the following screen, I was expecting to press the S key to go down
- On level 6, there is a little gap between the blue cube when it is up so I threw the magnet in there and when the blue cube went down, it prevented the cube from pressing the button, solving the puzzle ^^'
- The robot is too slow, maybe add a walk/run button
- The level 3 is way too easy
- I found it weird that the robot is attracted with the magnet on straight attractors but not on cornered ones