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Stoff_OS's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| User Interface (UI/UX) | #2 | 3.400 | 3.400 |
| Graphics | #3 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
| Overall | #5 | 2.800 | 2.800 |
| Fun | #7 | 2.400 | 2.400 |
| Audio | #9 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
Ranked from 5 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
DevLog Link
https://tilmannr.itch.io/stoff-os/devlog/258897/improve-my-game-jam-15
Developer Feedback Questions
Were any of the "tools" too difficult to understand without a tutorial?
Which levels did you skip?
How much time did you spend on the game in total?
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Comments
I didn't quite understand how to do anything for the game unfortunately. I think it is mainly me not quite knowing how to use the tools and also not understanding what the game wants for me to do to solve the level. But it really makes me curious. Please put instructions or an example of how I should solve these levels using the different tools! It has a lot of potential!
Thanks for believing in the game's potential!
It's important for me to understand exactly where the players get stuck, when trying to solve this puzzle. I'd be very grateful, if you spend a few minutes telling me the ideas and potential misconceptions that the game evokes.
Firstly "not quite knowing how to use the tools": Is it actually unclear how to use the tools? (Click on the tool, click on the grid above the tools.) I'll assume you meant that you don't know what the tools do, when you use them. That's perfectly fine. It's not an easy game and it might actually be too hard. Could you please tell me your best guess of what each of the tools is doing? That would help me distinguish the easy-to-use tools from the unintuitive ones.
Secondly "not understanding what the game wants for me to do to solve the level": What kinds of things did you do, when trying to solve the level? What would you guess could be the goal? Maybe my idea of how the game should work is less intuitive than yours. :)
It's great that you commented at all, but getting feedback that is a little more specific would be amazing. Thank you!
Hey so I guess itch doesn't like my message with a lot of words and images so I put it on a doc for you to read: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10DHiLrcP-SeeHw-p2tggL4Jk7eU_LtW-mbRkl4BZST4/...
Awesome! You clearly put a lot of effort into your reply.
You understand most of the tools and were even able to make the entire 9x9 area look like the 3x3 area on the left. But you already knew that this can't be how you solve the 4x4 level. And in the future I might change the first level's target to not be square. It may be a 2x3 or 4x3 rectangle. Would that help you figure out how to solve a level? In fact some of the later levels are already rectangular, so making the entire area look like that can't be right, right? :)
I try not to spoil the solution, because I think you're super close to solving the first few levels all by yourself. The third level is a little difficult, but you can skip that and maybe solve the fourth.
Learning how the game works is supposed to be part of the puzzle and you're doing quite well. It's unfortunate that you got stuck this close to solving a level. I had hoped that discovering the game mechanics would feel rewarding, not frustrating. But I don't have much game design experience (I'm more of a programmer than a designer), so I might need a few more iterations before the game is unambiguous, less frustrating, and maybe a little fun. :)
Maybe put a hints/help feature that guides player to try out the tools (whether you want the feature to spill all info or not, it keeps players on the game and pushes them to try each tool without feeling completely lost). So frustrated players can have more relief. And I've noticed that this feature has the opposite effect on less frustrated players, by motivating them to go like "oh, I dont want to use a lot of help, I can do this on my own" (If you want the feature to give hints for each level solution too...)
There definitely seems to be a fun experience underlying this game, but without a tutorial or tool tips it is difficult to put together exactly what is being asked of the player.
It appears that I am aiming to reproduce the shape on the left side with the editable grid on the right side, however, the sizes of each grid do not appear to be the same and none of the individual tools seem to bring me to a place where I can complete the level.
I would really love to put more time into this game, but without any guidance it feels fruitless. I would recommend building out some support tools so that players have an idea of what is expected from them before setting them loose. A single tutorial level or tool tips for each action would be really helpful, as it is difficult to tell what each action does just by experiementing.
Keep it up!
Thank you for playing! :)
One of my design goals for this game is to let the player discover the game rules without explicitly telling them what to do. I'm neither Jon Blow nor Stephen Lavelle, so maybe I'll fail due to lack of experience, but I think it's worth trying and either way it's gonna teach me something about game design.
"the sizes of each grid do not appear to be the same": That's a good observation. What do you think this could mean?
"none of the individual tools seem to bring me to a place where I can complete the level": This could be either because I confused you with the different grid sizes, or because the tools are too unintuitive. It'd be a huge help, if you could give me your best guess about what each of the tools is doing.
Sorry for being so stubborn about adding tutorials or tool tips. I'll definitely add them, if I keep getting the same feedback after a few more redesigns. Or maybe there could be an "easy mode". We'll see.
I'm sorry, I must have missed something as I didn't understand what I was supposed to do. I'm thinking it maybe was matching the pattern on the left but I'm not sure. There is no feedback to the player at all. As players, we need to know if we are doing the right thing. I couldn't tell. Also the I couldn't understand what anything did. If I skipped a level I didn't even know I skipped. I spent less than 5 mins playing then I got frustrated and left.
Great Devlog though, Keep working on it.
No need to be sorry! This is great feedback. :)
Since this is a puzzle game, figuring out what you're supposed to do is actually the core gameplay. And guess what? With "matching the pattern on the left" you've already made a huge step in the right direction!
"Also the I couldn't understand what anything did.": If you don't mind spending a few more minutes on this, could you list your best guess of what each of the twelve tools are doing? As the developer I obviously never had to go through the initial explorative phase of the game, so getting feedback about the learning curve is incredibly valuable.
Thank you for giving it a try!