This is a very fun idea!
If i understand correctly, you can score higher the worse you do at finishing the level? Like you can just keep moving combos without eliminating all the balls. It probably makes sense to have a limited number of balls to finish a level, or some other limiting factor to the score. I love how the junk food combos carry over from kick club!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for playing!
And yes, that’s a fair way to frame the way drops work in bubble shooters. Generally, the tension is filling the space vs. maximizing the combo. Getting drops is the optimal way to play for high score in the genre members I’ve played.
In Puzzle Bobble, there’s also a time pressure where the ceiling drops one row every certain number of shots, diminishing the space, increasing the tension. I ended up omitting it here, primarily to distinguish it from Puzzle Bobble and to let players more freely learn the aiming. I also nerfed the scoring for drops, because I wanted to emphasize the combos from “popping” on consecutive shots.
All that said, I do think one of the first revisions I would make to this game is to make the game over feel like a real threat. Maybe smaller arrangements, too.
