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(+1)

"It's too easy", no, just kidding, it is super fun.

It is more like shapez than factorio to me, since it mainly challenges my geometry logics than any factory throughput stuff.

I like how i am confined in a very small space, so not just the geometry logics was challenged, but also how i need to cramp all the stuff in the space.

I'd say the levels 1-12 are like tutorials. I breezed through them with at most 1 failures, then i immediately get what's wrong with my assumptions and fix the problem. Actually quite a lot of them are simply one-shot. It means that you have spent a lot of time tuning which puzzle comes first, so that i am gently taught how to play the game, one trick at a time.

I wish i can right-click a cell to clear it, as if i am using the eraser tool.

Man, your game is very well-programmed. everything "just works".

Another nice thing to add would be the ability to skip puzzles, and/or a puzzle selector, to quickly skip to / from a puzzle.

(Ok, one last puzzle before i beat them all... Wait for it... Ya i watched the walkthrough after lv14, just to see how many levels are there. You can say i got a bit fatigue from it. Still, lv14 and lv15 are engaging enough once i get myself to challenge it.)

Ok, the game challenged my assumptions really well in the last level. While some of the previous levels got me because i wasn't familiar with the game system, lv16 was definitely one that required me to think outside the box just a bit. Although i figured it out while designing (i.e. dry-run in my head), i still got that aha moment, even if just a short while. It is good signs for a puzzle game.

Now i just wonder what more can you put into the game to make a full release. As-is? Cool but is it enough to be sold for 0.99usd? probably.

More shapes? Triangles? more dimensions in the grid? The possibilities are a lot.

I do like the factory-less approach you are taking. I feel like the throughput requirement in shapez is not adding to that game.

Oh forgot to mention: It is a very good idea to not put the expand-x and expand-y operators in my toolbelt. It makes that operation ever-so-slightly more challenging, as i would need to first expand-xy then shrink-x to produce what i wanted. Really meshes into the sim-city gameplay very well.

(+1)

Thank you so much for the stream of conciousness comment! It's really helpful for me to have you're review as you go through the game!

I'm really glad you enjoyed the experience and that you noticed the slow but deliberate learning curve I've created by having the levels placed in a certain order.

I'm currently working on adding a level selector, more types of machines and readjusting how the controls work to draw conveyor or machines on the board. Hopefully, I can get a more fleshed out game and see if it can actually break the $1 USD barrier.

I do need to find a way to keep the player engaged, I do feel like there is a risk when the levels become increasingly complex that someone would just drop the game all together. I'm thinking of having "Worlds" and having them be unlocked based on how many levels you've solved. This way you can still progress even if some levels weren't completed, and you can revisit them later on for achievements and such. I'm not sure what else I could add, maybe a different game with similar mechanics, like having a limited amount of machines, or a time challenge, or bigger challenge in between the levels so it breaks up the gameplay a little bit and keeps it interesting. If you have more ideas, let me know!

(+1)

Feels like the Zachtronics Opus Magnum approach would fit very well to your game, if you ever expand the type of operators available.

Say, footprint would be a nice metric to compete with other players, also players can try minimize their type of operators. Think of modern ICs only using the same NAND gate for every logic gate imaginable.

Of course you can compare the number of ticks to finish the puzzle as well. (i basically quoted the entirety of Zachtronics histograms)

Yeah, that's what I had in mind, I think I'll expand the idea and see how it would all fit! 

Thanks for the ideas!