This was genuinely really fun. Great graphics and character, the levels are mostly quite simple but as you mentioned in your video they're only for testing so they could easily be made more complicated or used as early levels.
Bar the last one, that one was a nice head scratcher and I think if you tighten the space under the large block so that the magnet can't be forced in it would make for more of a challenge and force people to work out the puzzle based on purely game mechanics.
Finishing a level by grabbing a key only felt ok. What if you needed to move to a particular spot after getting the key? This opens up possibilities where you have to leave the magnet somewhere in order to reach the key (as in the last puzzle) but then once you have the key, there's a further challenge of how to get the magnet back in order to leave the level. Or might even allow for a Metroid Dread-esque level development where one puzzle could in fat be a way to open the door to other puzzles, perhaps by having multiple areas of a puzzle with their own magnets, some of which are only reachable by manouvering other magnets.
On the last level, I understand a lot of people jammed the magnet under the large block and I'll admit I did try that too but the game overall doesn't feel like the sort of game that wants you to do that sort of thing so I kept looking, I tried launching the magnet at the switch by perfectly timing a polarity reversal in order to use the the upward magnetic stream to give the magnet extra height an make it go farther which seemed like it could be a fun thing for other levels but again was far too difficult with this level so eventually I figured out the solution of having the door hold up the block until I was right next to it, giving me time to move past the second block before it dropped -which did fill me with a bit of panic the it might kill me for being to slow and reset the level.
Overall some really impressive work and a truely enjoyable game.
Hi Mark, I loved the game - the graphics were splendid, the puzzles were challenging and the character felt great to control. I did have a few thoughts however:
-As other people have said: many of the puzzles feel quite cluttered and it is difficult to understand what is going on in a level before you actually try to interact with it. I have a couple of suggestions that could help:
-Colour code the wires - you could use the same accessibility settings as you did with changing the polarity colours for the wire colours as well
-Try to keep the puzzles on one screen that doesn't move, I found that I felt a little overwhelmed when the camera started to scroll
- Also, I'm not sure how well this would translate to your game but I found myself sometimes wanting a Baba Is You-like rewind as occasionally I would press the wrong button and have to restart the level because I threw the magnet somewhere where I couldn't get it or I accidentally messed something up. This is just something I thought might be handy.
-As for bugs, I didn't find any except in the "Thanks for Playing" screen, if you press and hold the restart level button then the restart icon just appears from the corner and slowly gets bigger the longer you press it and then disappears when you let go -- A clip is attached demonstrating this
-Lastly, (this is also to do with the restart level button ). I am hopeless when it comes to remembering what button does what in video games so I found myself randomly accidentally restarting the level, it might be nice to have to press and hold the restart button and this could be accompanied by a little animation on the restart button - maybe something similar to this : Reset Animation Idea
This bind makes you control the robot with one hand and the magnet to the other. You can now struggling with the new cool puzzle instead of struggling with the control of the game.
LMB for Aim is by default, but the game is loudly suggesting you to use the keyboard on the tutorial, the HUD and with the windows- basic mouse skin.
Great job Mark, these mechanics can build plenty of cool advanced levels and good luck for the next part
Hey Mark, this is quite impressive, especially for someone's first proper game. Here are a few things I noticed: - The visuals are appealing and clean, which help to make the different puzzle rooms readable.
- Despite that, I felt the puzzle layouts were more complex and visually busy than they needed to be. Crisscrossing wires and pulleys make the rooms more difficult to parse, making me have to spend more time thinking "how is this room setup exactly?" before I can start trying to formulate potential solutions.
- I felt like the puzzles overall weren't quite hitting that sweet spot for "eureka" moments. I didn't feel like I was uncovering fundamentals of the systems usually, just reasons why the level was laid out the way it was or why the systems work the way they do (the magnet being able to pass through the one-way platforms felt confusing to me). Said another way, none of these puzzles felt like the natural consequences of the systems, but more-so puzzles forced onto the systems.
- I had no issue with the controls, but my natural inclination with a 2D platformer is to use the D-Pad on my controller, but doing so made the aiming the magnet toss awkward. Switching to use the control stick ended up being totally fine, however.
- I was confused for a second when grabbing the key immediately ended the level; I didn't expect that for some reason. Also, replaying an already completed level won't end naturally because there isn't a key to collect. Going to the pause menu and going back to the hub works perfectly fine, but having key outline or something to collect (a la the stars in Super Mario 64) would be very nice.
- I don't think I figured out how to solve the last puzzle correctly. I solved by precisely tossing the magnet to fit under the big minus block so that it could be in the down state (and thus not blocking the way) but not pressing the button since the magnet was in the way. This did not feel like the intended method of solving the puzzle, but I wasn't seeing any other way.
- The magnet deleting tractor beam area seemed odd. I couldn't tell what it was until I tried bringing the magnet past it. I can understand the desire to have a tool in your toolbelt to prevent the magnet from going in a particular areas, but it felt more like a cudgel solution, so a more elegant solution might be out there.
Thanks so much for making this game and this excellent series. I hope this feedback is helpful~
You have made a good start and I look forward to more. Most of my suggestions are for things you've already addressed in your logs.
If you are set on the hub idea with door entrances to levels, then I suggest a door at the end of each level that only opens after the key is acquired. This door could next to the key or in a different (hard to reach) location for multilayered levels, and then going through the exit would open back to the hub for a smooth transition.
Glad to play your game, thank you, for that experience.
Perhaps I found a loophole to pass the last level. I was able to block the "minus" square platform with a small magnet model by throwing it through the small hole under the platform on the right side when it was up, so i kept the button unpressed.
I really like this game and showed it to my daughter who is 8. She thoroughly enjoyed it and wants to play more levels. Apart from the critics and everything can always be improved, I think you have something here esp. the character, magnet and puzzles. We would buy it if you made it into a released game. You have a fan waiting for more levels :-).
Great game, absolutely love the concept. Some constructive feedback:
The options menu needs a clickable back button to exit, there's currently no visual to show how to leave the menu, and using the mouse to enter and a keyboard to leave isn't the most intuitive system.
Obviously, this is a demo, but would be nice to have fullscreen as an option in the window itself instead of just the starting menu.
Unsure if it's designed for future level development, but why not have the magnet auto-pick up when the player moves over it? having to click every time seems more tedious than anything.
Levels 1/2 maybe switched around positions? I think 2 has a simpler concept.
I love the player animations, (A old school robot who isn't affected by the magnets is very good. Could play with the idea of the magnets getting stuck or messing with its circuitry)
I think the jump reach feels wrong because the height of the level can make it feel like the player should be jumping higher, maybe increase the size of everything and zoom the camera in a little bit, this could help remove that aspect.
I would suggest a button for the user to call back the magnet, it can be tedious to go and find the magnet again if you have moved around the level. when the user presses 'c' for example, the magnet could fly back to the user.
Overall a great game demo, far more fleshed out than some demos I have played and with a very exciting concept, can't wait to see the next iteration
I'm no good when it comes to constructive criticism, especially when it comes to video games, but I'll give it a shot anyways;
First off, massive step up from the MVP. Our robot hero has a much better visual appeal, and the magnet has a lot more character attached to it. Each level presents a new challenge for the player, where they make use of their environment in different ways every time.
Every time I completed a level, I always got frustrated at myself for not realizing that I should have won the level in that particular method. I am no game design expert, but I think that putting the player in a spot where they have no-one to blame but themselves is really effective in terms of engagement and motivation.
One point I could make is that sometimes, the player has solved the puzzle, but has to apply their platforming skills to win the level. This merge of genres may hinder motivation of some players.
Another thing is that a lot of the times, I found myself restarting levels a lot for say, falling in pits too deep to get out. Unless this is intended, this could be changed in some way to remove the fatality of small mistakes. Whenever it is intended, add spikes so the process is quicker.
I also suggest some minor UI improvements, like for the metal bars that aren't attracted by the magnet, but are attracted by magnetic bars of opposite polarity. I see that you have indicated this by showing a metal outline surrounding the polarity mark, but maybe an arrow showing which way it will attract or different colours may help.
As a few others have pointed out, the beam that destroys magnets definitely needs a visual change. The smiley face will almost certainly confuse players for the first time, especially the colour, which they may mistake for polarity. Another symbol, like an X would do I suppose. However, it is a clever mechanic and something you must include in future levels.
My final point is that on the final level, where the solution is to get the metal box stuck between the levers, I think that it should be made a bit more clear that this is the way to do it. Maybe a player might notice this, but I definitely did not see this as a possibility when I first tried the level. But using mechanics as physically manipulatable objects in levels is quite clever and encourages the player to treat the levels and their objects in another manner.
I'm intrigued to see where you take the game next. I'd love to see you scatter gameplay ideas experimented here in the full release. I also want to know what parts of the game you want to tackle next; when you get to that point, how will you incorporate a story based around your game. How can the music influence the gameplay?
Although this wasn't very comprehensive or informative, I hope it helps in some way in terms of player feedback, and that you see where I'm making my judgement abouts.
I played this demo on a Windows 10 laptop with trackpad and keyboard.
Most satisfying level to beat: 1-4.
Level I skipped: 1-7.
Since I wasn't familiar with the mechanic, it took me a while to figure out how to open a door. I thought I was aiming close enough for the magnet to "catch" the field of the chute, or that there was some other trick like jumping or pressing an interaction button, until I realized you have to stand directly under it and throw the magnet directly up. This was tricky with my trackpad. I did not like opening doors. I also found the hub to be clunky.
The low-sensitivity mode helped with my aiming issues but did not fully alleviate them: sometimes the trackpad would completely lock up while aiming. I thought the aim toggle might help as well, but is there something I'm missing about it or does the toggle not allow precision aiming? All the throws seem equally weak when it's on (I couldn't start a level with it because I couldn't throw the magnet into the chute) and I don't feel like I can aim correctly. Another commenter said they wish throwing worked like Angry Birds, which I would also like, but mostly I wish I could control the entire game with keyboard alone.
I was a little disappointed to find out that throwing the magnet into the chute in normal levels does not return you to the hub.
Sometimes I'd get separated from my magnet when it locked onto something and I was trying to go with it (usually the angle doors), which was jarring.
I was confused by the keybindings not mentioning that the arrow keys are also assigned to motion, as my movement preference is arrows over WASD. Also, for reference, a common Windows accessibility setting is to make a circle around the cursor when pressing Ctrl. If pressed repeatedly, it darkens the entire screen except the cursor. This happened to me a lot trying to reset before I messed with the keybindings, as I didn't understand why pressing Ctrl once wasn't working.
For further a11y options, may I suggest a higher contrast/reduced motion mode? I honestly skipped the last level because it was dizzying to look at and I couldn't follow what was going on.
The demo is pretty good! I'll admit that it's not perfect, but I liked it.
The controls feel okay, although there were some places that made me have to use all of the jump to reach which felt weird.
But the one thing that this demo shines at are the puzzles, funnily enough.
I know this will sound biased (and I guess it kinda' is) but this is no joke the first time in a puzzle game where I feel rewarded for beating a puzzle.
Most puzzle games I play usually make me feel like I finally can get the hell along when I finish a puzzle, because of how abstract the puzzle laws are.
But this game is pretty genius! Because it's based off of physics and magnets, I can understand that, I can understand how these objects work instantly, it's just about figuring out how they work together, and it made me feel super rewarded for beating it.
I got all 7 keys and I feel like Einstein.
Maybe just make some of the places where you jump slightly lower, because as a game developer, I wouldn't worry, but as a gamer, I think I would get irritated.
I did a stupid thing and started with the last puzzle. This was pretty challenging and it felt great to solve it. However, it made the other puzzles seem really easy and/or simple.
A system where you have to at least try the first puzzle to unlock the second one and so forth could give the progression a bit more structure, while still not be punishing to players who gets stuck on a puzzle.
Otherwise a fun demo, the character felt great to control, it was easy to understand all the mechanics and so on. The lack of sound felt a bit awkward.
To me, it would have felt more natural to control the aiming Angry-Birds style, where you pull back to aim, rather than put your cursor where you want the magnet to go.
Also, there was at least one level where the magnet spawns behind where your player starts. Just a little thing, but it was annoying every time I restarted, I'd have to go backwards a bit just to grab the magnet.
Overall, I think you're off to a good start! Definitely love the visuals! The gates were especially fun to play around with!
I loved the demo and level design. The final level was a real treat/trick level, at least the way I solved it. I had to magnet door to hold the magnet block until I was ready to jump onto the other platform while being fast enough to beat the box destroying me. It was a nice combo between puzzle and platformer/speed test level. I really only had 2 major bugs come up when I played:
1. The ctrl reset level required multiple presses up to 5 times before it would reset the level.
2. I couldn't aim the magnet with my touchpad on my laptop while holding E to aim. Though when doing all the aiming using the touchpad it worked perfectly.
For the first bug, I think you have to hold the ctrl button to reset the level, but this could definitely be communicated better to the player by slowly colouring the reset icon.
The main drawback of the game for me was the overload of visual information on every level. It makes too much noise when reading them. This comes from the amount of interactuable special objects (they are too many for a begginer level), the lack of visual hierarchy on the layouts, and (maybe its just me) but the floating symbols and color pallet felt too noisy. All of this not only makes finding the solution more conversome that it needs to be but also makes it difficult to understand the point of the solution even when its already done (because most of the time i just stumbled to it by mistake or by trying random things).
For me the best puzzles do the most with the least amount of things and seeing you relying too much on switches, doors and pulleys not only destroys the clarity of the puzzles but also feels like a wasted opportunity for exploring the full properties of the magnet. I would encourage you to try to choose only one interactuable object (switches and doors also count as one) and come up with as many different scenarios with literally only the magnet and that thing. If you feel like that is not possible or not that interesting, maybe that means that the magnet (at least at its current state) is not that compelling as a mechanic. But don't panic about what I just said, it has potential; the challenge is making puzzles that show with clarity why the magnet is compelling.
Did not play the first demo, so no comparisons to the prior version. Liked what I saw so far. A breakdown of what i think follows:
Movement
Feels fine/good. I like the animations.
Initially I felt like the jump was a little short in terms of overall height, but the floatiness while holding is interesting. It allows for further jumps horizontally while still limiting you vertically. If that was intentional, then it works perfect. I got used to it quickly.
Magnet pushing me off a ledge while aiming caught me off guard
The design elements of the game worked great for me. The only things I can think of that could use attention:
I'm not sure, but weren't the arrow directions of the attractor/repulsor fields changing when switching polarity? Wasn't really an issue.
The tilted switch was weird to interact with. It felt a bit fumbly. It works very well as a visual though!
At one occurrence I felt the option to drop down through the "pass through floors", through which you currently can only traverse upwards, was missing. But only because I was expecting it. Not, because it was particularly necessary.
Level Design (I assume this is supposed to be a puzzle game and judge it as that)
Level difficulty was easy. Which I don't consider a problem: They felt like typical starter levels and maybe one of the reasons why they felt so easy was because of a very clean design language that just clicked and a very distilled level design. I liked that a lot.
One or two levels were a little bit flawed from the logistical perspective, requiring me to do retries though I already knew in my head how to solve them.
The level where the half-square-switch-doorway-thingy did not require a magnet was probably the weirdest. I was thinking for a moment whether something did not work as intended because it basically solved itself just by moving after the first half.
Level 6. Well,... how to start? I feel the need to explain how I solved it, because I'm not sure it was the right answer. That's already a big alarm bell for me. I threw the magnet in the stream, switched polarity in the right moment so that it was flung onto the switch and jumped over the gap in the right moment. I really did not like that. It was probably the easiest level in a weird way but was hard to pull of. And because it was the last level and I expected it to be harder, I was doubting myself all the time: Is *that* really the solution? It felt random, inelegant :(
Luckily I started with level 6 just for fun and after that the other levels were way nicer to tackle, though not a particular thinking challenge, except maybe one for one or two moments.
Just to put this into perspective: I'm not super intelligent and on top lack patience and get frustated easily. I managed to play through games like The Witness and Braid, but had a hard time with them and did not 100% them even remotely. So I am probably pretty average.
Loved the demo, but this review will be pretty critical despite that
The throwing felt a little weird because you can jump but not move left and right, which isn't terrible on it's own, but with slants on the floor and ceiling you can slide down the slants during it, and jump into stuff on the ceiling to move as well.
This could very well just not be what you intend for the game but I'd love some momentum mechanics with the magnet, and maybe another speed to build up to kind of like max speed in Super Mario 3D World
The jump I think could use a little bit more springiness, when you hold it you kind of just end up floating up slowly for a bit, which feels slightly off
You probably already have this on your to-do list, but I think the menus should probably be themed in the pixel art style the rest of the game in. Although, the settings tabs need no changes, they're already beautiful
I think a visual cooldown for the magnet would be helpful if instantly switching it back in forth isn't something you want to ad
Adding multiple magnets could be a very fun mechanic, but would require testing
Great start! I found a couple hitches listed below:
1. If I hold (instead of tap) X to pick up the magnet, I do not expect the throw action to begin. I think it would be more intuitive for the throw preparation state to only be activated after the X button has been released and re-pressed.
2. When holding the magnet, it's collision can be troublesome. First, I got stuck underneath a platform because the magnet jammed against the ceiling. Second, I was pushed off a ledge while aiming because the magnet went too far back. I think it would make sense to cheat the collision or reduce the radius as the magnet collides while being aimed.
3. Needing to restart and re-progress through a puzzle start is demoralizing. As an ultimate challenge this feels like a great way to turn up the heat, but when introducing new mechanics, I would appreciate if it was harder to get stuck.
4. Exiting a level to the hub world from the door (or out the pipe) of the level would put me closer to my next level and would feel more continuous. traversing the hub world started to feel like a chore as it got farther. Though it was great that it was super obvious which levels I had completed
Didn't play the first demo. Movement felt OK, but I was really struggling to gauge how far I was going to be able to jump, and it felt kind of clunky that I could throw while jumping but not moving. Couldn't beat the last two levels of the first hub world and gave up. Having to restart because of how easy it was to get stuck was a pain - I wished I could just call my magnet back to me tbh!
Oh and in the hub, I totally expected that I would go into the tube and do a Mario - didn't even occur to me to throw the magnet until I did it by accident.
Note: I did not play the first demo. Movement is feeling snappy. The dotted lines for throwing are helpful. Other visual aids are good too.
Puzzles are a bit too brainy for me while feeling casual, like I just want to run around and be more platform-y. Got up to Level 3 and it looked more overwhelming than I was feeling like doing. Not a knock on the design, more a matter of my managing expectations.
Didn't like that I could get myself stuck and have to restart, right there on Level 1. Having the ability to recall the magnet like you had previously wanted to do would have fixed that. Having to hit restart is an enthusiasm killer.
However, if players want more of a thinker of a game, this might be headed in the right direction.
Great game. A big improvement over V1.2. Feels very polished to play and it's nice to move around. Also, the slight shaking effect that occurs when rotating the switch is really nice.
I just have a few things to address:
1. Hub traversal and throwing the magnet to enter a level can get tedious after a while once you've completed most of the levels.
2. In the accessibility options, when changing the magnet colour, I thought there was a bug at first when I was trying to change one of the magnets from blue to red. After a while, I realised that it was because the 2 magnets couldn't be the same colour. Perhaps if there was some sort of highlight around one of the magnet colours to clarify which one you can't change to yet, would be easier to understand.
I'm really inspired by your game dev series so far and learning a lot from your game development experience.
Good Luck with the rest of the development and keep up the great work! :-)
Loved the new demo! I think the game currently has a solid foundation to expand upon.
I think one piece of criticism I could bring up regarding the 2.0 demo is about that one fizzler that kills the magnet. I don't think its current design is all that great for its intended purpose.
Firstly, the symbol at the top looks like a smiley face, which is very confusing. I would recommend swapping that for something like the No Waiting road sign.
Secondly, the effect on the fizzler looks too much like the magnetic beams, which adds to the confusion. I'm not sure what solution could be used here, but perhaps it would help to use particles that look like the No Waiting sign.
And lastly, does it even need to be a fizzler that kills the magnet? In that one level where the fizzler appears, its purpose is preventing the player from bringing the magnet to the left. Well, you previously introduced those platforms that the player can stand on, but the magnet passes right through. Why won't you simply introduce a platform that does the opposite, i.e. the magnet can stand on it and be blocked by it, but the player passes right through? That would probably have more puzzle-oriented applications than a fizzler.
I never played v1.2 before playing this V2.0, and I have been watching the whole video series up to this point. I am playing on the windows version. Here are my thoughts; I hope they are helpful.
1. I was confused on the first level on how to get back, and if I had actually solved the puzzle or not.
1.1. I kept trying to use the tube in the level to open up the door to go back just like I did to get to the level. Eventually I just pulled up the pause menu and saw the option to go back to the hub. If they was a in-level way to do that I never found it.
1.2. After the key moved up after capturing it, I wasn't sure that I was done. I kept trying to figure out a way to get to it. Throw the magnet at it, jump at it, jump from a ledge, etc. Eventually I figured out that the key going up meant I had captured it but that was only after going back to the hub and seeing the sign changed.
2. The physicality of the magnet and the fact that it moves around felt a little janky. I was on a narrow ledge and started aiming the magnet, but then the magnet pushed me off the edge (i.e. the magnet extended out toward the wall pushing me off).
3. The the "thanks for playing" level some the block looking elements flash as the character moves.
4. I was a little let down by the "thanks for playing" level as I was expecting a final puzzle that would be a test of everything that I had learned thus far.
5. In the final puzzle, I got stuck (could walk out) from behind the switch in the top right corner. The switch was facing me, so I could in theory walk over it, but I had the jump to get out of that space. This felt like unintentional and not great.
6. This was a fun little 15 minutes! I really enjoyed it. It's really amazing the amount of work that goes into making even a little gem like this game.
Amazed by the last level. I thought I need to throw the magnet to the right button by changing the color in the middle air. And use the gap between the blue huge magnet drop down and the heavy obstacle fall. It turns out the solution is not about timing. But still, feel fun that the button can be thrown so far by flipping the color in the middle air.
The game is fun! Movement is good. Readability is good. The swinging doors(grey/uncolored) are a little bit buggy and the player can have a weird interaction where the door wont open unless your player stops touching the door. its a little strange and clunky.
This series inspired me to start working on my own game and I made a lot of progress. Thanks for doing all of this.
Puzzle 6 was the only puzzle I stumbled on, but I also found a little secondary way to solve this puzzle. Probably not intended..
Great demo! the only problem i had was the last level, which for me the solution required me to get lucky with my throw. apart from that, i didnt really like the E and F controls so maybe change the defaults.
A lot of good things. The character's movement, and the animation of the different elements in the game all feel pretty solid.
The puzzle designs were good, with room for a good bit of refinement. I found myself getting soft-locked several times where it felt like I shouldn't have. The last stage was like this, getting stuck multiple times just past the swiveling gate. If you don't have the magnet, you cant jump up to the upper level anymore.
I don't think I got the intended solution for puzzle 5. I quickly hit the final switch, and jumped back on the rising platform as it bounced back down slightly, making it possible for me to go back down. Still not sure how I was supposed to do it, but that didn't feel right.
The vertical semi-solids work as one-way walls... but that's not immediately intuitive. Maybe a different design for the vertical semi-solids is in order. It's also not very apparent that magnets can go through these one-way walls.
In level 1, you can do a sort of "Super Jump" up against the one-way wall, if you stand on the swivel platform next to the one-way wall with the red magnet and jump. There's no practical value in doing it in this level, but I'm just mentioning it for future levels.
Would really like to aim the magnet while walking. if you're concerned that this will make it difficult to stand still and aim on tight platforms, I'd suggest implementing a button to lock the character's movement for the specific instances where it's necessary. I've played games with a similar aiming mechanic, allowing free movement while aiming, until a button is pushed (maybe L or R?), which allows the character to continue aiming while standing still. (maybe you get full throwing range while standing still?) I think this would be worth the trouble, as it would make the more "routine" map traversal MUCH more pleasant, while still allowing for more precision when needed.
I feel like the ceiling pipes that suck up the magnet should be set to a "universal" polarity, so that they enter the pipe regardless of color. Several times I had to sit there for a second to figure out if my magnet was the right color, just to enter a door.
What happens if I throw my magnet into the wrong door pipe? The magnet is gone, and I'm just stuck outside the door, forced to go in, even if I don't want to.
Last small thing. The magnet-dissolving field with the little smiley face stop sign on it took me a while to understand. Maybe instead of a smile face, there could be a more intuitive graphic (a magnet with a crossed-out null symbol over it?)
The improvements to the core gameplay is amazing to see, but there's loads of stuff throwing me off.
- The character movement is really smooth, but I can't help but feel like movement should be allowed when aiming the magnet.
- I immediately started using left click to pick up the magnet and tried to switch polarity with right click. I feel like that should be at least one of the suggested alternative controls.
- Visually, the (+) symbols in the blue field were threw me off every single time I glanced at them. It felt more intuitive for the (-) symbols to be moving towards the blue. The association of red with (+), and (-) with blue helps greatly with intuitiveness.
- I'm sure you've thought about it already, but it having the same symbols repel feels like it should be present just as strongly as attraction is.
- The one way platforms really shouldn't be letting the magnet through. It really didn't fit the way I thought things worked. They could be redesigned, or the levels should be edited so that they aren't needed in that way, such as in Level one, just making the platforms further away from each other.
- I left a lot of the levels feeling like I hadn't found the right solution. (levels 4 and 6 especially). In level 6, maybe the magnet gate could be shifted further left, covering the gap more. I initially completed the level by jumping on the magnet gate as it turned, which is obviously incorrect.
- The soft locks were super frequent, which felt really limiting. One way to solve this is, where it wouldn't cheat the level, have a button to teleport the magnet back to you, or a magnet dispenser, or a rewind button, or a checkpoint, or anything which doesn't completely remove progress.
- For the regular buttons, which are held down, and for switches (on and off) perhaps a pulsing animation could play in the wires in the direction of flow, when the button is held. This would make things super intuitive in levels have more than multiple buttons/wires. It also makes it intuitively clear that it needs to be held down. Either way, a directional indicator on the wires makes things way more readable.
- The switch / slanted button could really be visually reworked.
1) It looks too similar to the regular button. Making it a different colour (yellow) could really help (along with the wire). This way, it's easier to spot which wire leads where.
2) It also doesn't have to be slanted. I find myself and the magnet sliding off of it too often. It could just be the same shape and alternate between two different colours. Every time I run over the slant I'm worrying about reactivating it on the way back. Both the button and the slanted button are too tall. It would be smoother if I could run over them both without feeling stuck. If I am not supposed to be able to run over them, it should also be made clearer.
3) The options being light green and dark green give the sense that it's turned off, which works in some cases and not others. Perhaps the switch should be a different colour depending on the situation. When it activates a red/blue field, maybe it could be coloured red/blue, along with the wire.
4) Something which would really help is if the buttons pulled the magnet (no matter the polarity) towards them slightly. This helps when throwing from a distance, so that the magnet snaps to the button. It can help the action feel more intentional.
Still, the progress you've made is really amazing to see! Can't wait for the next demo.
Hi there! I really enjoyed the puzzles in this, especially Weight And Pull Me and Lift Up. Most of my specific feedback notes concern game-feel-y controls things and smoothing out of gameplay hitches, but it really feels like a super strong foundation to build upon right now and it feels like you're getting really into the swing of designing puzzles for these systems. I played using mouse and keyboard.
- my first instinct in the first level is to press ctrl, as that's the only button prompt i see. put a 'wasd' or 'move' prompt.
- the spinning door thing in the first level is a little awkward - you have to walk a distance away from it then back into it if you wish to go back the other way
- it'd be nice if the aim bubbles showed up sooner, or there was some other feedback for beginning aiming
- with mouse controls, i'd like to be able to pick up magnets with mouse1, since that has the same function as E for aiming but not for picking up.
- would probably also appreciate mouse2 to change the polarity by default, to go along with the other mouse controls, rather than m2 to cancel aim.
- cancelling aim doesn't work - im still holding m1, and when i release m1 it still throws, whether or not i cancelled with m2.
- for some reason in the menu you can't set 'enter aim mode' to E with the default method, you have to click revert.
- generally 'locking' mouse1 and mouse2 into their default functions in the controls is very awkward, i'd really like to rebind them.
- have some way to leave a level after entering it when you've already got the key without having to enter the menu.
- the pickup-key to end-level feels delayed and initially i didn't notice the level ending - maybe freeze the character movement or enter a cutscene when gaining the key.
- perhaps have some 'reset' prompt if you can detect the player softlocking themself.
- in levels where the player has access to the magnet immediately, i feel like it should start already in their hands (especially the hub!)
- for keyboard controls, i do just feel like 'R' makes much more sense as a default reset key than ctrl, as it's the standard in most other puzzle games like this.
First off thanks for putting this out! My overall experience was very very positive. I'm loving all the improvements from the previous iteration!
Here're some notes from my playthrough:
- the close button is missing from the options menu (I had to guess that esc closed it)
- a bit jarring and unexpected when levels abruptly end after collecting a key. I was expecting to have to go back to the entrance or accomplish something else to complete the level. Basically, it wasn't clear to me that acquiring the key is the end goal of the level. I thought they were only used to unlock levels, but not complete the current one - like a side mission or a 1-up in Mario
- I couldn't return to the hub from the entrance door of any level. I had to open the pause menu and click the "return to hub" option - overall just felt a bit unintuitive and jarring as it forcibly pulled me out of the game
- unless intended by design, it felt a bit unintuitive that I couldn't move my character while aiming at the same time - especially since you can jump while aiming or aim in the air after jumping. I found myself unconsciously trying to move and aim on multiple occasions as I tried to line up a shot
- absolutely LOVE the "choose your own order" system. I was stumped on level 2, then jumped forward to level 3. In the process of solving level 3, I had that massive AHA moment and ran back to level 2 with the solution in mind
- It wasn't immediately apparent to me that I could step on the slanted green buttons again to reverse their effects. Due to the fact that they're greyed out after initially stepping on them, I assumed they were disabled and no longer functional after the first press
- well done on making it clear to the player that certain paths definitely weren't' the solution. There were at least a couple of levels where I initially thought, "hmm, maybe if I was just a bit faster I could make it to XYZ", but after trying again it was immediately clear to me that that wasn't the solution and I didn't get stuck in that classic player loop of trying the same thing over and over believing that my timing and mechanics were the issue and not that I had the wrong solution (ex: running across the large red bridge in level 4, it's clear that the player has no chance to make it across before the bridge is raised up)
- I'm not sure I solved the 4th puzzle correctly and was left with an unsatisfied feeling after completing the level. After getting the magnet to the large red bridge, I triggered the button by throwing the magnet onto it while I was standing to the side of the bridge. It felt like a bit of a "hack" since, as the button is slanted, I assumed that it was intentionally designed to not be triggered by the button (my first attempt at this solution had the magnet sliding off of the button)
- it would be nice to give the players an option to replay a level for fun after completing it, but instead of a key at the end, have a placeholder collectable or a greyed out key. When I play puzzle games I sometimes like to go back and replay levels I solved. Usually the first play through I waddle around a lot and test. After beating it, I want to replay it in a fast and efficient way, almost like a speed runner, if that makes sense. Despite wanted to do that here, I didn't - as there wasn't anything to collect, so I didn't get that rush of feeling like I had indeed conquered the puzzle
- it wasn't clear to me until after the 5th level that the difference between the slanted and flat buttons is that the flat on needs to have something on top of it to keep it on. Maybe I subconsciously realized it, but that level made the difference to me explicit and it wasn't until I consciously made that realization that I started to include that information in my planning for future levels (i.e. the 6th level)
- I was a bit confused by the key counter. At the start of the game I thought it indicated the current number of keys I had (assuming I expended one to unlock a level) as, after completing level 1, I had 2 keys instead of 1. I assumed this was to give the player the freedom to unlock 2 levels in case they got stuck on one. So I was surprised when the count kept going up. This feeling was reinforced since after each level the key count was shown, much like showing your 1-up count or life count in a Mario game. I eventually realized it represented the total count of keys I had obtained (basically puzzles completed - kind of since it's +1), but then I couldn't tell if I had any keys available to use to unlock a different level if I got stuck on another
- movement feels solid! My only notes are that the little man moves a bit slow and I would like the jump to be ever so slightly more responsive or weighty. The levels are large and there are frequently sections that require a decent amount of movement and back to back jumping, so I found myself getting a bit annoyed at how slow the little guy rolls around or how long it takes to jump 5 times in a row, especially after a level reset or returning to the hub world (side note, I would have loved to use the high jump for the back to back jumping, but it takes so much longer to use that I never used it)
- like level 4, I wasn't sure if I solved the 6th level correctly and was left feeling a bit unsatisfied. I effectively got the block stuck on the rotating door and then raced under the falling block to get to the key before it locked me out
- I had no idea I could use the mouse click to aim and throw the magnet until I randomly discovered it by accidentally clicking on my mouse. The options page and UI instructions only listed Q and E as options so I didn't realize the mouse was an option as well. I personally found the mouse much much more intuitive to throw the magnet with as I'm also aiming with it. I suggest maybe listing both options in the options menu similar to how many games display multiple bindings for actions in their settings. Additionally, I would have loved if the right click was added as a binding to toggle the magnet polarity. After I discovered I could pick up and throw the magnet with my mouse, I intuitively found myself right clicking to swap polarity
- In their current state, I'd give these puzzles a 7 / 10 overall. They were enjoyable and interesting, but the difficulty felt non-linear when completed in order and I had very little sense of "progression" in my knowledge and understanding of the game mechanics. Most of the time when I learned about a mechanic it felt accidental and not deliberate from the game. Almost like the game had forgotten to highlight something in the level or explain it before I got in. Basically, the new mechanics introduced in any particular level never felt like the focus of that level. However, there were absolutely a few superstar moments of genuine joy for me, a massive highlight was the interaction I described earlier between the 2nd and 3rd levels
It could explain the control layout better from the start
The fact that the magnet can go through the thin walls but the robot can’t is unintuitive
The switches look more like weird buttons, it’s not immediately clear that each side activates a different state
It would be nice if, when you go back into a level you’ve finished, you can still collect the key to end the level. Like how in Mario Odyssey, getting a Moon for the second time just gives you 10 coins.
It would also be nice if there was a diegetic way to return to the hub (instead of just through the pause menu)
I wish I could throw further quicker. The game has lots of speedrunning potential but having to hold the button down before throwing it (and how slowly the trajectory guide fades in) feels like it kills that potential
I know the levels probably aren’t staying but the last two were pretty easy to get softlocked in
Super fun! This feels like a nice little puzzle game I would buy.
Here are a few notes since you asked for feedback in the video.
The only level I didn't like was the last one, which took me like 10 minutes to figure out.
I wish I didn't have to run past all the completed levels each time I finished a level.
Part of me felt like I should have to get back to the pipe after I collect the key. I wasn't expecting the levels to end the moment I got the key—like how does the little guy get out of there without his magnet?
I really think it will start feeling great once you get some audio in there.
I kept getting thrown off by the little + and - particles moving towards magnetic surfaces. They're always the opposite of the magnetic surface's polarity which makes it harder for me to glance quick and know if the surface's polarity is positive or negative.
Hey, loved the Developing series on the channel, it's amazing for an aspiring game dev! I did find some things in this game though, that I wanted to point out
In the hub, the pointer that tells you where the magnet is going to be thrown goes behind the gates.
The first tutorial level that is not accessed through the hub gives you a key so you don't need to complete all the levels to reach the end. Not sure if this is intentional or not, but just wanted to point it out.
Again, love this game and your channel, keep it up!
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This was genuinely really fun. Great graphics and character, the levels are mostly quite simple but as you mentioned in your video they're only for testing so they could easily be made more complicated or used as early levels.
Bar the last one, that one was a nice head scratcher and I think if you tighten the space under the large block so that the magnet can't be forced in it would make for more of a challenge and force people to work out the puzzle based on purely game mechanics.
Finishing a level by grabbing a key only felt ok. What if you needed to move to a particular spot after getting the key? This opens up possibilities where you have to leave the magnet somewhere in order to reach the key (as in the last puzzle) but then once you have the key, there's a further challenge of how to get the magnet back in order to leave the level. Or might even allow for a Metroid Dread-esque level development where one puzzle could in fat be a way to open the door to other puzzles, perhaps by having multiple areas of a puzzle with their own magnets, some of which are only reachable by manouvering other magnets.
On the last level, I understand a lot of people jammed the magnet under the large block and I'll admit I did try that too but the game overall doesn't feel like the sort of game that wants you to do that sort of thing so I kept looking, I tried launching the magnet at the switch by perfectly timing a polarity reversal in order to use the the upward magnetic stream to give the magnet extra height an make it go farther which seemed like it could be a fun thing for other levels but again was far too difficult with this level so eventually I figured out the solution of having the door hold up the block until I was right next to it, giving me time to move past the second block before it dropped -which did fill me with a bit of panic the it might kill me for being to slow and reset the level.
Overall some really impressive work and a truely enjoyable game.
Hi Mark, I loved the game - the graphics were splendid, the puzzles were challenging and the character felt great to control. I did have a few thoughts however:
-As other people have said: many of the puzzles feel quite cluttered and it is difficult to understand what is going on in a level before you actually try to interact with it. I have a couple of suggestions that could help:
-Colour code the wires - you could use the same accessibility settings as you did with changing the polarity colours for the wire colours as well
-Try to keep the puzzles on one screen that doesn't move, I found that I felt a little overwhelmed when the camera started to scroll
- Also, I'm not sure how well this would translate to your game but I found myself sometimes wanting a Baba Is You-like rewind as occasionally I would press the wrong button and have to restart the level because I threw the magnet somewhere where I couldn't get it or I accidentally messed something up. This is just something I thought might be handy.
-As for bugs, I didn't find any except in the "Thanks for Playing" screen, if you press and hold the restart level button then the restart icon just appears from the corner and slowly gets bigger the longer you press it and then disappears when you let go -- A clip is attached demonstrating this
-Lastly, (this is also to do with the restart level button ). I am hopeless when it comes to remembering what button does what in video games so I found myself randomly accidentally restarting the level, it might be nice to have to press and hold the restart button and this could be accompanied by a little animation on the restart button - maybe something similar to this : Reset Animation Idea
PLEASE TRY THIS BIND IF USING MOUSE/KEYBOARD
Aim/Pick up :
E->LMBSwitch Magnet :
F-> RMBCancel Aim :
Q-> FThis bind makes you control the robot with one hand and the magnet to the other. You can now struggling with the new cool puzzle instead of struggling with the control of the game.
LMB for Aim is by default, but the game is loudly suggesting you to use the keyboard on the tutorial, the HUD and with the windows- basic mouse skin.
Great job Mark, these mechanics can build plenty of cool advanced levels and good luck for the next part
(sorry for my english)
Hey Mark, this is quite impressive, especially for someone's first proper game. Here are a few things I noticed:
- The visuals are appealing and clean, which help to make the different puzzle rooms readable.
- Despite that, I felt the puzzle layouts were more complex and visually busy than they needed to be. Crisscrossing wires and pulleys make the rooms more difficult to parse, making me have to spend more time thinking "how is this room setup exactly?" before I can start trying to formulate potential solutions.
- I felt like the puzzles overall weren't quite hitting that sweet spot for "eureka" moments. I didn't feel like I was uncovering fundamentals of the systems usually, just reasons why the level was laid out the way it was or why the systems work the way they do (the magnet being able to pass through the one-way platforms felt confusing to me). Said another way, none of these puzzles felt like the natural consequences of the systems, but more-so puzzles forced onto the systems.
- I had no issue with the controls, but my natural inclination with a 2D platformer is to use the D-Pad on my controller, but doing so made the aiming the magnet toss awkward. Switching to use the control stick ended up being totally fine, however.
- I was confused for a second when grabbing the key immediately ended the level; I didn't expect that for some reason. Also, replaying an already completed level won't end naturally because there isn't a key to collect. Going to the pause menu and going back to the hub works perfectly fine, but having key outline or something to collect (a la the stars in Super Mario 64) would be very nice.
- I don't think I figured out how to solve the last puzzle correctly. I solved by precisely tossing the magnet to fit under the big minus block so that it could be in the down state (and thus not blocking the way) but not pressing the button since the magnet was in the way. This did not feel like the intended method of solving the puzzle, but I wasn't seeing any other way.
- The magnet deleting tractor beam area seemed odd. I couldn't tell what it was until I tried bringing the magnet past it. I can understand the desire to have a tool in your toolbelt to prevent the magnet from going in a particular areas, but it felt more like a cudgel solution, so a more elegant solution might be out there.
Thanks so much for making this game and this excellent series. I hope this feedback is helpful~
You have made a good start and I look forward to more. Most of my suggestions are for things you've already addressed in your logs.
If you are set on the hub idea with door entrances to levels, then I suggest a door at the end of each level that only opens after the key is acquired. This door could next to the key or in a different (hard to reach) location for multilayered levels, and then going through the exit would open back to the hub for a smooth transition.
Just an idea, but thanks for the demo!
Hello!
Glad to play your game, thank you, for that experience.
Perhaps I found a loophole to pass the last level. I was able to block the "minus" square platform with a small magnet model by throwing it through the small hole under the platform on the right side when it was up, so i kept the button unpressed.
I really like this game and showed it to my daughter who is 8. She thoroughly enjoyed it and wants to play more levels. Apart from the critics and everything can always be improved, I think you have something here esp. the character, magnet and puzzles. We would buy it if you made it into a released game. You have a fan waiting for more levels :-).
Great game, absolutely love the concept. Some constructive feedback:
The options menu needs a clickable back button to exit, there's currently no visual to show how to leave the menu, and using the mouse to enter and a keyboard to leave isn't the most intuitive system.
Obviously, this is a demo, but would be nice to have fullscreen as an option in the window itself instead of just the starting menu.
Unsure if it's designed for future level development, but why not have the magnet auto-pick up when the player moves over it? having to click every time seems more tedious than anything.
Levels 1/2 maybe switched around positions? I think 2 has a simpler concept.
I love the player animations, (A old school robot who isn't affected by the magnets is very good. Could play with the idea of the magnets getting stuck or messing with its circuitry)
I think the jump reach feels wrong because the height of the level can make it feel like the player should be jumping higher, maybe increase the size of everything and zoom the camera in a little bit, this could help remove that aspect.
I would suggest a button for the user to call back the magnet, it can be tedious to go and find the magnet again if you have moved around the level. when the user presses 'c' for example, the magnet could fly back to the user.
Overall a great game demo, far more fleshed out than some demos I have played and with a very exciting concept, can't wait to see the next iteration
I'm no good when it comes to constructive criticism, especially when it comes to video games, but I'll give it a shot anyways;
First off, massive step up from the MVP. Our robot hero has a much better visual appeal, and the magnet has a lot more character attached to it. Each level presents a new challenge for the player, where they make use of their environment in different ways every time.
Every time I completed a level, I always got frustrated at myself for not realizing that I should have won the level in that particular method. I am no game design expert, but I think that putting the player in a spot where they have no-one to blame but themselves is really effective in terms of engagement and motivation.
One point I could make is that sometimes, the player has solved the puzzle, but has to apply their platforming skills to win the level. This merge of genres may hinder motivation of some players.
Another thing is that a lot of the times, I found myself restarting levels a lot for say, falling in pits too deep to get out. Unless this is intended, this could be changed in some way to remove the fatality of small mistakes. Whenever it is intended, add spikes so the process is quicker.
I also suggest some minor UI improvements, like for the metal bars that aren't attracted by the magnet, but are attracted by magnetic bars of opposite polarity. I see that you have indicated this by showing a metal outline surrounding the polarity mark, but maybe an arrow showing which way it will attract or different colours may help.
As a few others have pointed out, the beam that destroys magnets definitely needs a visual change. The smiley face will almost certainly confuse players for the first time, especially the colour, which they may mistake for polarity. Another symbol, like an X would do I suppose. However, it is a clever mechanic and something you must include in future levels.
My final point is that on the final level, where the solution is to get the metal box stuck between the levers, I think that it should be made a bit more clear that this is the way to do it. Maybe a player might notice this, but I definitely did not see this as a possibility when I first tried the level. But using mechanics as physically manipulatable objects in levels is quite clever and encourages the player to treat the levels and their objects in another manner.
I'm intrigued to see where you take the game next. I'd love to see you scatter gameplay ideas experimented here in the full release. I also want to know what parts of the game you want to tackle next; when you get to that point, how will you incorporate a story based around your game. How can the music influence the gameplay?
Although this wasn't very comprehensive or informative, I hope it helps in some way in terms of player feedback, and that you see where I'm making my judgement abouts.
I REALLY LIKED THIS VERSION OF THE GAME
I played this demo on a Windows 10 laptop with trackpad and keyboard.
Most satisfying level to beat: 1-4.
Level I skipped: 1-7.
Since I wasn't familiar with the mechanic, it took me a while to figure out how to open a door. I thought I was aiming close enough for the magnet to "catch" the field of the chute, or that there was some other trick like jumping or pressing an interaction button, until I realized you have to stand directly under it and throw the magnet directly up. This was tricky with my trackpad. I did not like opening doors. I also found the hub to be clunky.
The low-sensitivity mode helped with my aiming issues but did not fully alleviate them: sometimes the trackpad would completely lock up while aiming.
I thought the aim toggle might help as well, but is there something I'm missing about it or does the toggle not allow precision aiming? All the throws seem equally weak when it's on (I couldn't start a level with it because I couldn't throw the magnet into the chute) and I don't feel like I can aim correctly.
Another commenter said they wish throwing worked like Angry Birds, which I would also like, but mostly I wish I could control the entire game with keyboard alone.
I was a little disappointed to find out that throwing the magnet into the chute in normal levels does not return you to the hub.
Sometimes I'd get separated from my magnet when it locked onto something and I was trying to go with it (usually the angle doors), which was jarring.
I was confused by the keybindings not mentioning that the arrow keys are also assigned to motion, as my movement preference is arrows over WASD. Also, for reference, a common Windows accessibility setting is to make a circle around the cursor when pressing Ctrl. If pressed repeatedly, it darkens the entire screen except the cursor. This happened to me a lot trying to reset before I messed with the keybindings, as I didn't understand why pressing Ctrl once wasn't working.
For further a11y options, may I suggest a higher contrast/reduced motion mode? I honestly skipped the last level because it was dizzying to look at and I couldn't follow what was going on.
The demo is pretty good! I'll admit that it's not perfect, but I liked it.
The controls feel okay, although there were some places that made me have to use all of the jump to reach which felt weird.
But the one thing that this demo shines at are the puzzles, funnily enough.
I know this will sound biased (and I guess it kinda' is) but this is no joke the first time in a puzzle game where I feel rewarded for beating a puzzle.
Most puzzle games I play usually make me feel like I finally can get the hell along when I finish a puzzle, because of how abstract the puzzle laws are.
But this game is pretty genius! Because it's based off of physics and magnets, I can understand that, I can understand how these objects work instantly, it's just about figuring out how they work together, and it made me feel super rewarded for beating it.
I got all 7 keys and I feel like Einstein.
Maybe just make some of the places where you jump slightly lower, because as a game developer, I wouldn't worry, but as a gamer, I think I would get irritated.
Cool experience!
I did a stupid thing and started with the last puzzle. This was pretty challenging and it felt great to solve it. However, it made the other puzzles seem really easy and/or simple.
A system where you have to at least try the first puzzle to unlock the second one and so forth could give the progression a bit more structure, while still not be punishing to players who gets stuck on a puzzle.
Otherwise a fun demo, the character felt great to control, it was easy to understand all the mechanics and so on. The lack of sound felt a bit awkward.
Keep up the good work.
To me, it would have felt more natural to control the aiming Angry-Birds style, where you pull back to aim, rather than put your cursor where you want the magnet to go.
Also, there was at least one level where the magnet spawns behind where your player starts. Just a little thing, but it was annoying every time I restarted, I'd have to go backwards a bit just to grab the magnet.
Overall, I think you're off to a good start! Definitely love the visuals! The gates were especially fun to play around with!
I loved the demo and level design. The final level was a real treat/trick level, at least the way I solved it. I had to magnet door to hold the magnet block until I was ready to jump onto the other platform while being fast enough to beat the box destroying me. It was a nice combo between puzzle and platformer/speed test level. I really only had 2 major bugs come up when I played:
1. The ctrl reset level required multiple presses up to 5 times before it would reset the level.
2. I couldn't aim the magnet with my touchpad on my laptop while holding E to aim. Though when doing all the aiming using the touchpad it worked perfectly.
For the first bug, I think you have to hold the ctrl button to reset the level, but this could definitely be communicated better to the player by slowly colouring the reset icon.
The main drawback of the game for me was the overload of visual information on every level. It makes too much noise when reading them. This comes from the amount of interactuable special objects (they are too many for a begginer level), the lack of visual hierarchy on the layouts, and (maybe its just me) but the floating symbols and color pallet felt too noisy. All of this not only makes finding the solution more conversome that it needs to be but also makes it difficult to understand the point of the solution even when its already done (because most of the time i just stumbled to it by mistake or by trying random things).
For me the best puzzles do the most with the least amount of things and seeing you relying too much on switches, doors and pulleys not only destroys the clarity of the puzzles but also feels like a wasted opportunity for exploring the full properties of the magnet. I would encourage you to try to choose only one interactuable object (switches and doors also count as one) and come up with as many different scenarios with literally only the magnet and that thing. If you feel like that is not possible or not that interesting, maybe that means that the magnet (at least at its current state) is not that compelling as a mechanic. But don't panic about what I just said, it has potential; the challenge is making puzzles that show with clarity why the magnet is compelling.
My impression from just looking at the screenshots!
Hey there,
Did not play the first demo, so no comparisons to the prior version. Liked what I saw so far. A breakdown of what i think follows:
Luckily I started with level 6 just for fun and after that the other levels were way nicer to tackle, though not a particular thinking challenge, except maybe one for one or two moments.
Just to put this into perspective: I'm not super intelligent and on top lack patience and get frustated easily. I managed to play through games like The Witness and Braid, but had a hard time with them and did not 100% them even remotely. So I am probably pretty average.
Loved the demo, but this review will be pretty critical despite that
The throwing felt a little weird because you can jump but not move left and right, which isn't terrible on it's own, but with slants on the floor and ceiling you can slide down the slants during it, and jump into stuff on the ceiling to move as well.
This could very well just not be what you intend for the game but I'd love some momentum mechanics with the magnet, and maybe another speed to build up to kind of like max speed in Super Mario 3D World
The jump I think could use a little bit more springiness, when you hold it you kind of just end up floating up slowly for a bit, which feels slightly off
You probably already have this on your to-do list, but I think the menus should probably be themed in the pixel art style the rest of the game in. Although, the settings tabs need no changes, they're already beautiful
I think a visual cooldown for the magnet would be helpful if instantly switching it back in forth isn't something you want to ad
Adding multiple magnets could be a very fun mechanic, but would require testing
Great start! I found a couple hitches listed below:
1. If I hold (instead of tap) X to pick up the magnet, I do not expect the throw action to begin. I think it would be more intuitive for the throw preparation state to only be activated after the X button has been released and re-pressed.
2. When holding the magnet, it's collision can be troublesome. First, I got stuck underneath a platform because the magnet jammed against the ceiling. Second, I was pushed off a ledge while aiming because the magnet went too far back. I think it would make sense to cheat the collision or reduce the radius as the magnet collides while being aimed.
3. Needing to restart and re-progress through a puzzle start is demoralizing. As an ultimate challenge this feels like a great way to turn up the heat, but when introducing new mechanics, I would appreciate if it was harder to get stuck.
4. Exiting a level to the hub world from the door (or out the pipe) of the level would put me closer to my next level and would feel more continuous. traversing the hub world started to feel like a chore as it got farther. Though it was great that it was super obvious which levels I had completed
Thanks for the demo and your great series!
Didn't play the first demo. Movement felt OK, but I was really struggling to gauge how far I was going to be able to jump, and it felt kind of clunky that I could throw while jumping but not moving. Couldn't beat the last two levels of the first hub world and gave up. Having to restart because of how easy it was to get stuck was a pain - I wished I could just call my magnet back to me tbh!
Oh and in the hub, I totally expected that I would go into the tube and do a Mario - didn't even occur to me to throw the magnet until I did it by accident.
Note: I did not play the first demo. Movement is feeling snappy. The dotted lines for throwing are helpful. Other visual aids are good too.
Puzzles are a bit too brainy for me while feeling casual, like I just want to run around and be more platform-y. Got up to Level 3 and it looked more overwhelming than I was feeling like doing. Not a knock on the design, more a matter of my managing expectations.
Didn't like that I could get myself stuck and have to restart, right there on Level 1. Having the ability to recall the magnet like you had previously wanted to do would have fixed that. Having to hit restart is an enthusiasm killer.
However, if players want more of a thinker of a game, this might be headed in the right direction.
Hey Mark,
Great game. A big improvement over V1.2. Feels very polished to play and it's nice to move around. Also, the slight shaking effect that occurs when rotating the switch is really nice.
I just have a few things to address:
1. Hub traversal and throwing the magnet to enter a level can get tedious after a while once you've completed most of the levels.
2. In the accessibility options, when changing the magnet colour, I thought there was a bug at first when I was trying to change one of the magnets from blue to red. After a while, I realised that it was because the 2 magnets couldn't be the same colour. Perhaps if there was some sort of highlight around one of the magnet colours to clarify which one you can't change to yet, would be easier to understand.
I'm really inspired by your game dev series so far and learning a lot from your game development experience.
Good Luck with the rest of the development and keep up the great work! :-)
Loved the new demo! I think the game currently has a solid foundation to expand upon.
I think one piece of criticism I could bring up regarding the 2.0 demo is about that one fizzler that kills the magnet. I don't think its current design is all that great for its intended purpose.
Firstly, the symbol at the top looks like a smiley face, which is very confusing. I would recommend swapping that for something like the No Waiting road sign.
Secondly, the effect on the fizzler looks too much like the magnetic beams, which adds to the confusion. I'm not sure what solution could be used here, but perhaps it would help to use particles that look like the No Waiting sign.
And lastly, does it even need to be a fizzler that kills the magnet? In that one level where the fizzler appears, its purpose is preventing the player from bringing the magnet to the left. Well, you previously introduced those platforms that the player can stand on, but the magnet passes right through. Why won't you simply introduce a platform that does the opposite, i.e. the magnet can stand on it and be blocked by it, but the player passes right through? That would probably have more puzzle-oriented applications than a fizzler.
I never played v1.2 before playing this V2.0, and I have been watching the whole video series up to this point. I am playing on the windows version. Here are my thoughts; I hope they are helpful.
1. I was confused on the first level on how to get back, and if I had actually solved the puzzle or not.
1.1. I kept trying to use the tube in the level to open up the door to go back just like I did to get to the level. Eventually I just pulled up the pause menu and saw the option to go back to the hub. If they was a in-level way to do that I never found it.
1.2. After the key moved up after capturing it, I wasn't sure that I was done. I kept trying to figure out a way to get to it. Throw the magnet at it, jump at it, jump from a ledge, etc. Eventually I figured out that the key going up meant I had captured it but that was only after going back to the hub and seeing the sign changed.
2. The physicality of the magnet and the fact that it moves around felt a little janky. I was on a narrow ledge and started aiming the magnet, but then the magnet pushed me off the edge (i.e. the magnet extended out toward the wall pushing me off).
3. The the "thanks for playing" level some the block looking elements flash as the character moves.
4. I was a little let down by the "thanks for playing" level as I was expecting a final puzzle that would be a test of everything that I had learned thus far.
5. In the final puzzle, I got stuck (could walk out) from behind the switch in the top right corner. The switch was facing me, so I could in theory walk over it, but I had the jump to get out of that space. This felt like unintentional and not great.
6. This was a fun little 15 minutes! I really enjoyed it. It's really amazing the amount of work that goes into making even a little gem like this game.
Amazed by the last level. I thought I need to throw the magnet to the right button by changing the color in the middle air. And use the gap between the blue huge magnet drop down and the heavy obstacle fall. It turns out the solution is not about timing. But still, feel fun that the button can be thrown so far by flipping the color in the middle air.
The game is fun! Movement is good. Readability is good. The swinging doors(grey/uncolored) are a little bit buggy and the player can have a weird interaction where the door wont open unless your player stops touching the door. its a little strange and clunky.
This series inspired me to start working on my own game and I made a lot of progress. Thanks for doing all of this.
Puzzle 6 was the only puzzle I stumbled on, but I also found a little secondary way to solve this puzzle. Probably not intended..
UMG Level 6 Cheat
Amazing. 10/10. Helps me procrastinate.
Great demo! the only problem i had was the last level, which for me the solution required me to get lucky with my throw. apart from that, i didnt really like the E and F controls so maybe change the defaults.
I mean they're changeable, also the clicks were options
A lot of good things. The character's movement, and the animation of the different elements in the game all feel pretty solid.
The puzzle designs were good, with room for a good bit of refinement. I found myself getting soft-locked several times where it felt like I shouldn't have. The last stage was like this, getting stuck multiple times just past the swiveling gate. If you don't have the magnet, you cant jump up to the upper level anymore.
I don't think I got the intended solution for puzzle 5. I quickly hit the final switch, and jumped back on the rising platform as it bounced back down slightly, making it possible for me to go back down. Still not sure how I was supposed to do it, but that didn't feel right.
The vertical semi-solids work as one-way walls... but that's not immediately intuitive. Maybe a different design for the vertical semi-solids is in order. It's also not very apparent that magnets can go through these one-way walls.
In level 1, you can do a sort of "Super Jump" up against the one-way wall, if you stand on the swivel platform next to the one-way wall with the red magnet and jump. There's no practical value in doing it in this level, but I'm just mentioning it for future levels.
Would really like to aim the magnet while walking. if you're concerned that this will make it difficult to stand still and aim on tight platforms, I'd suggest implementing a button to lock the character's movement for the specific instances where it's necessary. I've played games with a similar aiming mechanic, allowing free movement while aiming, until a button is pushed (maybe L or R?), which allows the character to continue aiming while standing still. (maybe you get full throwing range while standing still?) I think this would be worth the trouble, as it would make the more "routine" map traversal MUCH more pleasant, while still allowing for more precision when needed.
I feel like the ceiling pipes that suck up the magnet should be set to a "universal" polarity, so that they enter the pipe regardless of color. Several times I had to sit there for a second to figure out if my magnet was the right color, just to enter a door.
What happens if I throw my magnet into the wrong door pipe? The magnet is gone, and I'm just stuck outside the door, forced to go in, even if I don't want to.
Last small thing. The magnet-dissolving field with the little smiley face stop sign on it took me a while to understand. Maybe instead of a smile face, there could be a more intuitive graphic (a magnet with a crossed-out null symbol over it?)
The improvements to the core gameplay is amazing to see, but there's loads of stuff throwing me off.
- The character movement is really smooth, but I can't help but feel like movement should be allowed when aiming the magnet.
- I immediately started using left click to pick up the magnet and tried to switch polarity with right click. I feel like that should be at least one of the suggested alternative controls.
- Visually, the (+) symbols in the blue field were threw me off every single time I glanced at them. It felt more intuitive for the (-) symbols to be moving towards the blue. The association of red with (+), and (-) with blue helps greatly with intuitiveness.
- I'm sure you've thought about it already, but it having the same symbols repel feels like it should be present just as strongly as attraction is.
- The one way platforms really shouldn't be letting the magnet through. It really didn't fit the way I thought things worked. They could be redesigned, or the levels should be edited so that they aren't needed in that way, such as in Level one, just making the platforms further away from each other.
- I left a lot of the levels feeling like I hadn't found the right solution. (levels 4 and 6 especially). In level 6, maybe the magnet gate could be shifted further left, covering the gap more. I initially completed the level by jumping on the magnet gate as it turned, which is obviously incorrect.
- The soft locks were super frequent, which felt really limiting. One way to solve this is, where it wouldn't cheat the level, have a button to teleport the magnet back to you, or a magnet dispenser, or a rewind button, or a checkpoint, or anything which doesn't completely remove progress.
- For the regular buttons, which are held down, and for switches (on and off) perhaps a pulsing animation could play in the wires in the direction of flow, when the button is held. This would make things super intuitive in levels have more than multiple buttons/wires. It also makes it intuitively clear that it needs to be held down. Either way, a directional indicator on the wires makes things way more readable.
- The switch / slanted button could really be visually reworked.
1) It looks too similar to the regular button. Making it a different colour (yellow) could really help (along with the wire). This way, it's easier to spot which wire leads where.
2) It also doesn't have to be slanted. I find myself and the magnet sliding off of it too often. It could just be the same shape and alternate between two different colours. Every time I run over the slant I'm worrying about reactivating it on the way back. Both the button and the slanted button are too tall. It would be smoother if I could run over them both without feeling stuck. If I am not supposed to be able to run over them, it should also be made clearer.
3) The options being light green and dark green give the sense that it's turned off, which works in some cases and not others. Perhaps the switch should be a different colour depending on the situation. When it activates a red/blue field, maybe it could be coloured red/blue, along with the wire.
4) Something which would really help is if the buttons pulled the magnet (no matter the polarity) towards them slightly. This helps when throwing from a distance, so that the magnet snaps to the button. It can help the action feel more intentional.
Still, the progress you've made is really amazing to see! Can't wait for the next demo.
Very nice, would like a mouse 2 polarity switch
Would love if I could throw the magnet by pulling it like an slingshoot.
Hi there! I really enjoyed the puzzles in this, especially Weight And Pull Me and Lift Up. Most of my specific feedback notes concern game-feel-y controls things and smoothing out of gameplay hitches, but it really feels like a super strong foundation to build upon right now and it feels like you're getting really into the swing of designing puzzles for these systems. I played using mouse and keyboard.
- my first instinct in the first level is to press ctrl, as that's the only button prompt i see. put a 'wasd' or 'move' prompt.
- the spinning door thing in the first level is a little awkward - you have to walk a distance away from it then back into it if you wish to go back the other way
- it'd be nice if the aim bubbles showed up sooner, or there was some other feedback for beginning aiming
- with mouse controls, i'd like to be able to pick up magnets with mouse1, since that has the same function as E for aiming but not for picking up.
- would probably also appreciate mouse2 to change the polarity by default, to go along with the other mouse controls, rather than m2 to cancel aim.
- cancelling aim doesn't work - im still holding m1, and when i release m1 it still throws, whether or not i cancelled with m2.
- for some reason in the menu you can't set 'enter aim mode' to E with the default method, you have to click revert.
- generally 'locking' mouse1 and mouse2 into their default functions in the controls is very awkward, i'd really like to rebind them.
- have some way to leave a level after entering it when you've already got the key without having to enter the menu.
- the pickup-key to end-level feels delayed and initially i didn't notice the level ending - maybe freeze the character movement or enter a cutscene when gaining the key.
- perhaps have some 'reset' prompt if you can detect the player softlocking themself.
- in levels where the player has access to the magnet immediately, i feel like it should start already in their hands (especially the hub!)
- for keyboard controls, i do just feel like 'R' makes much more sense as a default reset key than ctrl, as it's the standard in most other puzzle games like this.
Played on a controller. cool game. i just wish that there was a way to throw the magnet with the second joystick while you walk with the first...
I enjoyed it. My biggest issue was that aiming the magnet on a controller was glitchy. It worked fine with the mouse though.
First off thanks for putting this out! My overall experience was very very positive. I'm loving all the improvements from the previous iteration!
Here're some notes from my playthrough:
- the close button is missing from the options menu (I had to guess that esc closed it)
- a bit jarring and unexpected when levels abruptly end after collecting a key. I was expecting to have to go back to the entrance or accomplish something else to complete the level. Basically, it wasn't clear to me that acquiring the key is the end goal of the level. I thought they were only used to unlock levels, but not complete the current one - like a side mission or a 1-up in Mario
- I couldn't return to the hub from the entrance door of any level. I had to open the pause menu and click the "return to hub" option - overall just felt a bit unintuitive and jarring as it forcibly pulled me out of the game
- unless intended by design, it felt a bit unintuitive that I couldn't move my character while aiming at the same time - especially since you can jump while aiming or aim in the air after jumping. I found myself unconsciously trying to move and aim on multiple occasions as I tried to line up a shot
- absolutely LOVE the "choose your own order" system. I was stumped on level 2, then jumped forward to level 3. In the process of solving level 3, I had that massive AHA moment and ran back to level 2 with the solution in mind
- It wasn't immediately apparent to me that I could step on the slanted green buttons again to reverse their effects. Due to the fact that they're greyed out after initially stepping on them, I assumed they were disabled and no longer functional after the first press
- well done on making it clear to the player that certain paths definitely weren't' the solution. There were at least a couple of levels where I initially thought, "hmm, maybe if I was just a bit faster I could make it to XYZ", but after trying again it was immediately clear to me that that wasn't the solution and I didn't get stuck in that classic player loop of trying the same thing over and over believing that my timing and mechanics were the issue and not that I had the wrong solution (ex: running across the large red bridge in level 4, it's clear that the player has no chance to make it across before the bridge is raised up)
- I'm not sure I solved the 4th puzzle correctly and was left with an unsatisfied feeling after completing the level. After getting the magnet to the large red bridge, I triggered the button by throwing the magnet onto it while I was standing to the side of the bridge. It felt like a bit of a "hack" since, as the button is slanted, I assumed that it was intentionally designed to not be triggered by the button (my first attempt at this solution had the magnet sliding off of the button)
- it would be nice to give the players an option to replay a level for fun after completing it, but instead of a key at the end, have a placeholder collectable or a greyed out key. When I play puzzle games I sometimes like to go back and replay levels I solved. Usually the first play through I waddle around a lot and test. After beating it, I want to replay it in a fast and efficient way, almost like a speed runner, if that makes sense. Despite wanted to do that here, I didn't - as there wasn't anything to collect, so I didn't get that rush of feeling like I had indeed conquered the puzzle
- it wasn't clear to me until after the 5th level that the difference between the slanted and flat buttons is that the flat on needs to have something on top of it to keep it on. Maybe I subconsciously realized it, but that level made the difference to me explicit and it wasn't until I consciously made that realization that I started to include that information in my planning for future levels (i.e. the 6th level)
- I was a bit confused by the key counter. At the start of the game I thought it indicated the current number of keys I had (assuming I expended one to unlock a level) as, after completing level 1, I had 2 keys instead of 1. I assumed this was to give the player the freedom to unlock 2 levels in case they got stuck on one. So I was surprised when the count kept going up. This feeling was reinforced since after each level the key count was shown, much like showing your 1-up count or life count in a Mario game. I eventually realized it represented the total count of keys I had obtained (basically puzzles completed - kind of since it's +1), but then I couldn't tell if I had any keys available to use to unlock a different level if I got stuck on another
- movement feels solid! My only notes are that the little man moves a bit slow and I would like the jump to be ever so slightly more responsive or weighty. The levels are large and there are frequently sections that require a decent amount of movement and back to back jumping, so I found myself getting a bit annoyed at how slow the little guy rolls around or how long it takes to jump 5 times in a row, especially after a level reset or returning to the hub world (side note, I would have loved to use the high jump for the back to back jumping, but it takes so much longer to use that I never used it)
- like level 4, I wasn't sure if I solved the 6th level correctly and was left feeling a bit unsatisfied. I effectively got the block stuck on the rotating door and then raced under the falling block to get to the key before it locked me out
- I had no idea I could use the mouse click to aim and throw the magnet until I randomly discovered it by accidentally clicking on my mouse. The options page and UI instructions only listed Q and E as options so I didn't realize the mouse was an option as well. I personally found the mouse much much more intuitive to throw the magnet with as I'm also aiming with it. I suggest maybe listing both options in the options menu similar to how many games display multiple bindings for actions in their settings. Additionally, I would have loved if the right click was added as a binding to toggle the magnet polarity. After I discovered I could pick up and throw the magnet with my mouse, I intuitively found myself right clicking to swap polarity
- In their current state, I'd give these puzzles a 7 / 10 overall. They were enjoyable and interesting, but the difficulty felt non-linear when completed in order and I had very little sense of "progression" in my knowledge and understanding of the game mechanics. Most of the time when I learned about a mechanic it felt accidental and not deliberate from the game. Almost like the game had forgotten to highlight something in the level or explain it before I got in. Basically, the new mechanics introduced in any particular level never felt like the focus of that level. However, there were absolutely a few superstar moments of genuine joy for me, a massive highlight was the interaction I described earlier between the 2nd and 3rd levels
Really nice overall MVP! Here are my notes:
Super fun! This feels like a nice little puzzle game I would buy.
Here are a few notes since you asked for feedback in the video.
Hey, loved the Developing series on the channel, it's amazing for an aspiring game dev! I did find some things in this game though, that I wanted to point out
Again, love this game and your channel, keep it up!