Magnetic is a game created by Nelson L and Michael P using the Unity engine.
Magnetic is a Windows game, but thankfully it ran well using Wine so I didn't have to find another computer to use or fire up a windows vm.
When you launch the exe, you are prompted with the a config dialog and given the option of choosing things like graphics quality and resolution. The only thing I opted to change was playing the game in windowed mode. Additionally, there is a tab to modify controller settings. Since I will be using a keyboard, I left it as is. I don't have any strong opinion on having the config pop up or just loading defaults, but I would consider having a separate executable for the config, like some other games out there.
After you click 'Play!', you see the title screen with the Magnetic logo in blue, with the exception of the M, which is designed to look like how we generally perceive magnets to look. The soundtrack also begins which I would describe as sounding, "intriguing". It almost sounds a bit like the Dr Who theme. On the title screen, the EXIT button is over the creator's names. That should probably be fixed. *edit: from the screenshots above, it is apparent that issue with the exit button being over the creator's names must be specific to my platform which is emulating Windows.*
You click play and select the level. Since I have never played this, I select level one. The game is in top down and there is some kind of square object in the center which you learn after experimenting with the controls that it moves and it is magnetic (DUH!). After some playing it is apparent that if you hold down ctrl long enough to attract the block two squares away will move to your adjacent square. If you hold down ctrl, the block will stick with you as you move, and when you release ctrl, it will shoot off two squares in the direction it is pointing. Now that I think I know how to play, lets go!
The music after you leave the menu is a lot more mellow. I passed the first level with relative ease, however it wasn't completely clear that I had to move my block to the teleporter pad. If I had to change something I would say make the first level a guide and include some instructions in text as you go.
The second level introduces metal spikey balls that destroy you if you activate your magnet within an adjacent square. These make the game a little more tricky and on the first attempt, it didn't occur to me that you couldn't move past the spikes while holding a block. Once I got the hang of it, the level went fast.
Looking back on the third level, I think it ended up being harder than it should have. I died a few times getting hit by spikes. There was definitely an "oh cool" moment when I was able to hold both blocks at the same time.
The fifth level I only died once and it was really enjoyable. The number of moves required gives an idea of the time that must have been put into coming up with with the puzzles.
The sixth level I died twice. The first was because I didn't release the blocks in time on the far right path. The second because you aren't supposed to hit the far right path before getting the block from the top right. It was a little infuriating that I wasn't paying attention but it was satisfying holding three blocks and destroying the spikes with them in the end.
Ah I was wondering who did the soundtrack.
Magnetic was a short game but pretty enjoyable. I could see this game on one of those web based game sites I frequented often in the late 90s/2000s or potentially ported to a mobile platform which would likely do well with a bunch more levels in the app store.