Fun game! I tried a few levels but some required too much thinking for me haha
Positives:
- It's unique, the switching mechanic and the effects different obstacles have on moving the orb adds a lot of variety creating complex challenges.
- The undo and reset is really great and I'm glad you implemented it in a way that you can perform them quickly
- The levels that I played felt different so it didn't feel repetitive
I read some comment below and agree with most of the points and I wanted to look at the stage '1.4 - Narrow Passages' in detail and find the difficulties there which may overlap with other levels.
First it's not a difficult stage once you know the solution however it's extremely difficult before that but why? Well there are a few reason for this:
- The push of the human and pull mechanic of the square is not very obvious. And even though the levels prior required the use of them; it's hard to believe but honestly I was just randomly moving until i solved the 1.3 and only slowed down to find out that the rectangle pulled when examining 1.4.
So why could I do this in 1.3 and not 1.4 it's because 1.3 is a lot more open with empty space so if you make a mistake you can just keep moving and fix yourself while in 1.4 a few wrong moves and you are forced to reset or undo which may frustrate some people.
Of course adding more empty areas may comprise the level design so you would have to be careful or be willing to make the stage easier by doing this. - Secondly, the square goes in the square but the orb also goes in the square this is confusing even though its an essential part of the game. I think players will always initially try to get the square to go in first since they are the same shape and then think about the orb after and *spoilers ahead* since you need to place the orb first in 1.4 unlike the prior stage it feels unnatural. Maybe visuals will fix this? But adding a few simple levels to ease them into 'you need to place the orb first' will get them to think about it before 1.4 where there is a puzzle and you need to do this. Think of it like every tutorial/easy stage adds a way to solve future puzzles and since there wasn't an introduction to place the orb first before the square the player won't have this option in their tool kit and won't be able to solve the puzzle.
That's my long take on 1.4 and more generally easing players into puzzles hope it helps :)