I'm curious what people do with their game ideas that, for whatever reason, after you get a ways into it, just decide it isn't working out and abandon it. I started working on a puzzle game a while back, in ionic, with the intent to build an iOS and Android app. Got all the fundamentals working, some OK placeholder graphics, and it running enough so you can actually play the game. I've had a few people try it, some like it, some don't (too hard they say). My main problem is, a game like this is one that I would need to create, say, 200+ puzzles for. I do have a decent puzzle creation tool, but even so, I've only been able to create 36 puzzles and I'm all tapped out. How the heck do these puzzle game creators do it? I have no clue how I'd come up with 200+ puzzles. So the Q is, what now? 1) just chuck it all and move on 2) try to trick random people into creating puzzles for me 3) post all the code somewhere and hope someone else does something fun with it? As of now, I've turned it into a browser app ... figuring at least that way I can include it in my developer's portfolio. I'm super hesitant to release the code on sourceforge, as it's REALLY bad. Like, I taught myself javascript while writing this, so it's REALLY REALLY bad. I am still a little attached to it, so it'd be cool if I could do SOMETHING with it, but I dunno what.
Release it with 36 puzzles. If people like it then spend more time on creating more levels otherwise feel happy about a shipped product. We developed trivia game 'Bro or Not'. Original plan was to have 100+ animations/scenarios. Then we launched with 50. We'll create more if it goes up in popularity Bro Or Not
If its functioning and at a level of polish a customer can see, I'd launch it totally free! Why? Because in the trash it would make me 0$ anyway and I can use it as a learning experience. Get customer feedback, learn where I failed as a designer, maybe even fix an issue or two. If there's enough demand, and the majority of the negative comments are 'it's too short', I'd update with more levels at $.99. Don't waste it if you don't have to!
Hmm, I don't know ... this is the web version of what I've got so far: http://beardysoftware.com/rocketdots/index.html Any thoughts of if this is worth pursuing? I think my main issue I'm having, is that the game board can only get so big, and still be usable on a small mobile device. Otherwise it gets hard to click on individual squares. But then that really limits the size and complexity of the puzzles. So maybe a web app is the way to go?
I just played your web app version for about 15 minutes. Super cool concept man, bring it to mobile and see what happens for sure.. Get it up to 50 levels before release, I'm sure you can make a push for those extra levels.
Thanks! My initial goal was to ship the level editor with the game, and allow people to create their own levels, and update them to some master server, where other people could play them. Needless to say, that ended up being a bit out of scope for this project
The number of levels is just a number. Do you really believe someone won't download a 35 level game they know nothing about but will download a 50 level game? Package it on the app store as "bite sized fun". Don't try to hide it's length, but don't tell it like it's a negative.
Yeah, love this puzzle concept. I think you definitely have something here. Release it free, maybe with ads after every six levels or so, then add a 99c purchase for extra levels (and maybe an ad remover) as and when you come up with more.
Ok, you guys have convinced me to stick to it. I'm up to 41 puzzles now, and it isn't so bad. I guess the problem is I either make them way too easy or way too hard. But at least they are there
I'm glad you're going to continue with it. I just had a quick play, I think it's great. Possibly gets hard too quickly. I think you could pad out each concept a bit more i.e. have a few more of the most basic level type, then add more of the colour mixing type levels, before heading into the rockets (which could also be a bit more steady a climb on the complexity). I think it's a good idea to allow players to feel like they've mastered a puzzle type before introducing a new one. I really appreciate the skill of some of the puzzle designers. I had loads of trouble with trying to manage the progression of levels in my game, the difficulty of the levels definitely goes up and down, as I introduce new kinds of puzzles but I think that's better than simply having a steep climb. If you look at any of the top puzzle games they often throw in a few easier puzzles after some really hard ones. As a side thought: Is there a way to allow more than one solution to puzzles? Could players compete of the least number of moves, or something along those lines?
yeah, that's the problem right now, there just isn't enough puzzles to have an evened out learning curve. On a side note, I signed up for fiverr.com, and was able to get someone to create me a pretty bitchin logo/icon for only $5:
I just meant doing slight variations on the same level, so for instance on the rockets, you jump from having 1-2 rockets (I can't go back in the game so don't remember exactly - is it possible to go back to previous levels?), to having 6 rockets in a much more challenging level. I don't think it's a problem to do the same thing (1-2 rockets) with a slight variation a couple of times over, to get the player used to things. Anyway, was just a thought. The logo looks really good by the way!
Yeah, I see what you are saying. Btw, you can actually skip around a bit in the game, I added in a cheat that allows you to skip to the next level by just clicking on the level number. (this doesn't work on the first level the browser loads for some reason though. So if you left the game at level 15, and then came back to it, you'd have to actually complete level 15 before you can skip levels. that's a bug, no a feature
