itch.io

I see the Mac Intel of the update. Thanks!

I see the Steam key now as well. I wasn't expecting that when I bought the game here instead of there, so it's a bonus for me. Getting the game here means I can compare builds as you update the game. The new playing field feels almost claustrophobicly short compared to what I remember, but since I kept the previous version I can confirm my impression.

When will the Intel Mac version of 0.656 be available?

I'm a sucker for harmonic motion animations, and the arrangement of colors adds a neat secondary layer of cycles.

Nicely done. Playing through it a second time I felt much more confident in what I needed to do to orient the book correctly to safely move flowers.

I found a small bug: if I push a flower vertically with the open book, but the flower is against the edge of the level with nothing else on the other side of it, the book breaks apart vertically. I noticed this in the penultimate level, and it's easier to test in the final level. The same thing doesn't happen if I try to push a flower against a wall block with the open book, so it seems to hinge on a subtle distictinction between "flower can't move because it's against a block" vs "flower can't move because it's against the edge of the level". I don't think this behavior can be used to cheat the penultimate level, but I haven't investigated much.

Took a bit to figure out the half-pipe mechanic. The hidden trophies were a nice touch.

The Mac version works just fine.

Nicely done. Took some doing, but I did find both endings. The gravity mechanic is a bit finicky near the edges of islands. I like the use of Crocotile.

I found a runtime error on level 16, when I accidentally tried to push the line of three cops left when they were already at the left edge. Trying to push cops off a road in other directions didn't have any effect, so it seems to matter that they were against the edge of the map.

Thanks! That explanation makes sense. I tested the new version (0.21.3), and it did fix the bug.

I started a game of Dig mode to try the new version. As soon as I made a line containing bombs, the track Trance Dance started playing at maximum volume, playing over the other track I'd chosen. That music kept playing after I quit the game, navigated the menu, and started another game. This behavior isn't triggered in Marathon mode. I haven't tested all the other modes. More details:

- Completing a line that does not contain bombs does not trigger the music.
- Completing a single line containing bombs does not trigger the music.
- Completing two or more lines with bombs triggers the music, with multiple instances of the track playing simultaneously. (It's possible that more lines cleared triggers more instances, but it's difficult to tell.)
- The music will trigger even if I set the music track to "Off".
- If I set music volume to zero in the options, I won't hear the music when I clear multiple lines. However, if I quit the game, go back to the options, and increase the music volume, the stacked tracks will immediately start playing at maximum volume.

I encountered this behavior on a Mac, running MacOS 14.5. I couldn't reproduce the behavior in the Windows version, so the bug seems to be Mac-specific.

Bravo! A common approach to puzzles like this is to introduce new concepts gradually, then test the player on whether they understand them. You've thrown us in the deep end instead, and this puzzle is better for it.

Nicely done. The concept seems worth exploring further, but I appreciate that this gives us just a taste.

Nicely done. How many endings are possible? I found three (encoded for spoilers, go to rot13.com to decode):

ercryyvat nyy uhzna bpphcvrq pvgvrf
trggvat rabhtu fpvrapr be ohyvqvat rabhtu bofreingbevrf

trggvat uhzna bcvavba gb znkvzhz

I tried for a fourth, but I'm not sure it's possible before getting of the above:

trggvat eng cbchyngvba gb fbzr nofheqyl uvtu ahzore

Wow. I wish I could be more eloquent than that. Maybe later. Wow.

Bravo! The use of wavy text for the (entity?) on the other end of the radio was a nice touch. Just enough tension and weirdness.

Watch the enemy's spells carefully and note their effects.

Use rot13.com to decode these:

Hint: Oyhr pelfgnyf pna gryrcbeg bgure pelfgnyf.

Solution: Zbir gur evtug pelfgny qbja, hfr gur yrsg pelfgny gb syvat gur evtug pelfgny npebff gur tnc. Gung bcraf gur jnl gb jnyx qbja naq nebhaq gb gur evtug. Hfr gur cerivbhfyl syhat pelfgny gb syvat lbhefrys gb gur rkvg.

Encoded using rot13.com to prevent spoilers:

Ol zbivat yheqe dhvpxyl, V pna fnir bar bs gur erq pelfgnyf sebz gur sveronyyf, gura hfr gung gb qrfgebl gur oybpx va gur zvqqyr bs gur yrsg nern. Vf gung vagraqrq, be vf gur chmmyr cbffvoyr gb fbyir jvgubhg fnivat gur erq pelfgny?

Looking forward to seeing how this develops. A little bit Downwell, a little bit Probability 0.

Hah, so it is! I must have made an error when trying to duplicate my paper solution.

I think I did solve it, by printing a screenshot on paper and cutting it apart.

Use rot13.com to read the following:

Chg gur gvyrf va vapernfvat beqre jvgu bar va gur gbc evtug pbeare, gura yrsg npebff gur gbc, qbja gura evtug ba gur arkg ebj, naq fb ba. Gung znxrf bar pbagvahbhf yvar guebhtu nyy gur gvyrf. Gur ivqrb irefvba pnaabg or fbyirq, orpnhfr gur ynfg gjb gvyrf ner fjnccrq.

Been a while, so I had to replay to get it. Use rot13.com to decode the following hints one line at a time as you need.

znxr guveglgjb
va gur zvqqyr
jvgu rvtug naq sbhe
znxr gjraglsbhe
va gbc
jvgu rvtug naq guerr
znxr avarglfvk
jvgu guerr
naq cerivbhf gjraglsbhe

I can confirm the new download works when extracted. Thanks!

Thank you for releasing a Mac version. I found a minor problem with how that file extracted: instead of giving me an application, it gave me a folder called "Contents". Mac applications are basically directories/folders with a ".app" suffix. I created a folder called "Sandtrix", put the Contents folder into it, renamed the folder "Sandtrix.app, then I was able to play the game. Probably the command you used compressed the contents of the application without including the top-level directory, so should be simple to fix.

Bravo! At first I didn't see the benefit of the stretching body. Then I realized it could be a liability, giving more exposed area to be attacked. I kept the tail short as a sort of hygiene. Then I started thinking of the tail as a "save point", a spot I could swap back to and start over. Carefully swapping and retracting let me time movement near enemies to strike without getting hit. While I'd love to see this game expanded, I appreciate its current form: a single idea executed well.

I like the music in the game, so I searched for it on the web. I found all the tracks at ccmixter.org, except for Frau Holle's, which I found at Bandcamp. Links below for anyone else who like the music too.

https://ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/62747
https://ccmixter.org/files/F_Fact/54916
https://ccmixter.org/files/kcentric/48165
https://ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/63908
https://ccmixter.org/files/Psykick/40201
https://ccmixter.org/files/Karstenholymoly/61309
https://frauholle-music.bandcamp.com/track/sand-cave
https://ccmixter.org/files/Psykick/51943

Bravo! Feels like an old Nitrome game. I like the way that new capabilities both allow exploring farther, and allow new kinds of puzzles. Having multiple puzzles available at once meant I could take a break if I got stuck on one.

I'm not sure I solved Back Up an intended way, or if I found a bug or inintened interaction (ROT13-encoded, since itch.io's comments don't seem to have a spoiler tag):

V jnf noyr gb znxr gur oyhr oybpxf nccrne bireynccvat n onggrel oybpx, gura chfu gur onggrel oybpx bhg sebz haqrearngu gur oyhr oybpx.

Bravo! Great graphics, great music, enough puzzling to be interesting without hitting my "oh, I'll come back to this later" threshhold. Once I started I had to finish the whole thing, and I'm glad I did.

Thanks for that fix. I can now launch the game, but initially I encountered another error: when I launch the game I get a plain small window that says "Unable to find game!!:" However, if I launch it manually through terminal (change to the game directory, then do "./bomino.app/Contents/MacOS/bomino", I can launch and play the game. Weirdly, after I did that, I can now launch the game properly, and I don't get the "unable to find" error anymore. Maybe the manual launch set something about the path? Anyway, working now, so thanks again.

When I try to launch it I'm told "The application requires macOS 0.18 or later", so it seems it's reading its own version rather than reporting the actual requirement.

Just tricky enough to be satisfying.

Oof. The timing in 19 is super tight, and the diving in 20 is finicky. Overall though, nicely done. There's a good mix of introducing mechanics gradually, and the game doesn't overstay its welcome by exhaustively exploring every possible combination of elements. Many of the later levels don't require jumping at all, and I wonder about a version of the game that included only diving.

No worries! Thanks for the follow-up. I see the files now, and I've download the latest version.

Bravo! It's just enough exploration and upgrading to be enjoyable without being frustrating. When I wasn't sure what to do next I just went back through old areas until I found a path unlocked by an upgrade. You packed a lot of character into the tiles, even including different biomes (the last was a surprise). The music and sound are top-notch too. I would have liked just a bit more story after the ending, to know the fate of our protagonist.

Since the v1.2.0 release notice, I no longer see download links for Aquamarine. I see the "you own this" area at the top, but when I click the "Download" button I just see "Nothing is available for download yet."

I like the idea, but every time I step out into the dark I get mobbed by slimes that move way too fast for me to target effectively and I get killed in seconds.

Hah! Then yes, thanks to your wife. Shows the importance of playtesting, even for jam games.

Ah, that makes sense. I hadn't paid close enough attention to figure out that rule. The couple times it seemed I couldn't progress I realized I probably needed a different piece to progress, which encouraged me to explore further.

Bravo! What a great mechanic, well explored. There seems to be some sort of limitation I don't understand regarding transformation (it isn't just "at least one square of new form overlaps at least one square of old form), but I was able to work around that. One careless transformation meant I had to do the final climb a second time, but the serial contorting was enjoyable enough that I didn't mind.

I win! That was so great. The later levels were just the right level of challenge.

More just that the process of figuring out what to do was enjoyable, and I didn't want the first comment someone reads to be "I thought I had to do this, but then I realized I had to do this instead, so do that first."

Fascinating. I won't say anything more, to avoid spoilers. I'll come back later with more substantive comments, after more people have played the game.