Puzzle Jam II (8 Bits to Infinity)

Hosted by 8 Bits to Infinity, Retro Indie Josh · #8bitstoinfinity

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A jam submission

RotaView game page

A Zachtronics-Inspired Open-Solution Puzzle Game

Submitted by Blue Rook Studios (@BlueRookStudios) — 11 hours, 20 minutes before the deadline

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Rota's itch.io page

Results

Criteria	Rank	Score*	Raw Score
Graphics/Animation	#9	3.150	3.571
Technical Implementation	#15	2.394	2.714
Fun/Design	#15	2.520	2.857
Overall	#17	2.318	2.629
Theme/Limitation	#18	2.268	2.571
Music/Sound	#20	1.260	1.429

Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

I have read and understand all of the rules on the jam page, and verify we have followed them (type YES)
YES

How many members were on your team?
1

Which parts did you make BEFORE the jam or used from an external source?
Some scripts were found and modified from online sources and some images were taken with license permission by websites. All are credited in the game.

Did you do any challenges? If so, list them here.
The game does not rely on color to convey any information!

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Comments

HLBCSubmitted4 years ago

I second TaftPunk's recommendation to have a reset button of sorts so you can iterate and test your contraptions.

The concept is really cool and I'd love to see what you can do with it :). If I may throw out a suggestion (based on my personal preferences so take it with a grain of salt). I really love games that give vague instructions/clues to how a contraption works. Because then part of the fun is discovering the pieces to begin with. It would be really interesting if the help menu/tutorial was actually more like a alchemist's notebook that you can flip through that has diagrams and things which hint at how things work without actually telling you anything :O. Kinda like Myst if you've ever played that.

Lastly, the ui didn't fit to my screen size properly so some of the help menu text wasn't visible (went off screen) :(. Though I was able to figure out the objective and completed the game (although I did so while the game was paused... couldn't get a contraption to do it for me unfortunately :P).

Submitted

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

It's final then-- I'll put away the shaders for a minute (they weren't cooperating anyway) and add the Clear button now for the post-jam release :) .

As for being more intentionally vague about the mechanics:

I, personally, am 100% in accord with you. I love games that encourage experimentation and emergence! Unfortunately, in the past I've had quite a few comments from frustrated players who really wanted to like the game but just couldn't grok what they were supposed to be doing. So it's a real balancing act, making things that people can enjoy puzzling together and (/or???) making things that people can enjoy picking up and playing. This would be a great topic for a blog post (I'll start after the button maybe).

The idea of some kind of a journal or diary would dovetail in really nicely with a more staggered tutorial where you get introduced to the different pieces gradually level by level It would also be a lot more keeping with the alchemy vibe.

Sorry about the novel of a reply. I truly appreciate comments from thoughtful players (and fellow designers) like yourself!

TaftPunkSubmitted4 years ago

This is a really neat idea but it seems like it might be a little much for a week long game jam. If you work on it more after the jam, it would be nice to be able to move the phase orbs after placing them. It would also be nice if you added controls to clear the system of any items, so you can start over without erasing everything, and something to align all the rotas because if you run the system and then make new rotas they can be out of alignment with the others. I do hope you work on this game more, it was fun.

Submitted

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

TaftPunk,

Yes I definitely overshot the scope of this one (it seems to be a theme for me).

All of these suggestions are right on! I'd have to mess around with the orbs a little bit to make it work, but it's definitely doable. And I probably should have just included a "Clear All" button from the get go. The idea of being able to align rotas is intriguing-- I thought about having some kind of "snap" system, but ended up scrapping it as it seemed not free-form enough. After your suggestion I could see how it might be useful, though.

Thanks for the follow and the constructive feedback!

DewyboneSubmitted4 years ago

the game looked good but i couldn't grasp the concept of the game, it looks good though

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Glad you liked the art! Out of curiosity, do you think that it would help players more if I:

1) Improved the Help menu or

2) Made a tutorial?

Thanks for playing!

DewyboneSubmitted4 years ago

maybe an in game tutorial?

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago(+1)

Cool! I'll add your vote for a tutorial in post-jam features :)

DewyboneSubmitted4 years ago

ok!

Bauke RegnerusSubmitted4 years ago

Wow, this is very intriguing. I love the mystic art. For a jam game I'm afraid the learning curve is a bit too steep and the game could really do with a good tutorial.

Submitted

Slumbering Knight

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thank you! I definitely think I missed the mark on scope with this one-- way too many components to introduce (and bug test : / ) in a week. Thanks for playing and for taking the time to write!

CheeseDawgyDawgSubmitted4 years ago

Looks amazing - the art is incredible and I can tell that you have put a lot of effort into the game design. Think this has a lot of potential, however I think some form of tutorial/introductory level (maybe guided?) would help a lot, as it is very difficult to figure out the objective. Considering this was for a jam though, I really like the look of this game, and definitely will check to see if it is continued/updated!

Submitted

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thank you! I tried to explain a bit about the goal on in the help menu, but I totally agree that this game would -greatly- benefit from tutorial levels and/or more clear examples at the beginning. I'll be keeping people in the loop with a blog post here, so if you're inclined feel free to follow or if that's not your thing please do drop on by post-jam for an update. I appreciate the kind words and helpful feedback!

CheeseDawgyDawgSubmitted4 years ago

I'll definitely give you a follow! I look forward to see how this game develops!

Blue Rook StudiosDeveloper4 years ago

Thanks!