Universal Zenge - stylish puzzler with gorgeous imagery - [BETA TEST]

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by chomi3, Mar 13, 2016.

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  1. chomi3

    chomi3 Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    Hi guys,

    Zenge was supposed to go out in the following week, but due to the fact that I need to ask Apple in 1 month advance to feature the game (well, who knows, maybe they will do that), the release date is postponed about a month (set to mid april at the moment).

    I'll be honest with You, it's been a year in the making, and I need motivation to keep the ball rolling. The game is created for You, and I'm dying to hear if You - players - like the game or not. That's why I decided to do this beta test. If you want to play the game (it's finished and ready to be released!) - just drop a word in the comment and I'll reach out for your email, so I can add you to TestFlight.

    I'll be realy happy to get Your opinions on the game :)

    Here are 2 game trailers (a little bit outdated, but they give a good idea of what the game is all about).

    Thanks for help!

    Yours,
    Mike aka Hamster On Coke


     
  2. Cccee

    Cccee Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    Your game looks fascinating! Right up my alley. I'd love to have the opportunity to test it!

    Thanks!
     
  3. Jamesrooney27

    Jamesrooney27 Well-Known Member

    May 13, 2014
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    Male
    Uk
    Yeah I would like to test it :)
     
  4. chomi3

    chomi3 Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    Thanks guys!
    Invitations sent.

    Hope you'll like it.
     
  5. Cccee

    Cccee Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    Just downloaded the game and tried it out. I'm only up to Level 8, but wanted to send my initial impressions.

    First thing that struck me is the gorgeous graphics!! I wouldn't mind being able to save them as wallpaper. I don't know if he game will be Premium or free, but I'd be willing to pay an IAP to do this.

    The game itself is intuitive. No instructions were not a problem. Clicking and swiping around has showed me how it works. The levels start out easy but are ramping up to trickier. That's a good thing.

    I love the smooth feel you get when you move a piece.

    I was wondering if some pieces will have to be rotated...and how..but I guess I'll find out as I progress further.

    I just started and am already looking forward to updates with new levels!!#####

    Good job! Five stars for sure!#####
     
  6. chomi3

    chomi3 Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    Hey Cccee, so glad you like the game!
    Just for the record, it's going to be 1$.

    There's a chance the wallpaper mode will be implemented in future updates as that's a sound idea!

    Hope you're still playing, and you found rotators, mirrors and other goodies that awaits in latter levels!
     
  7. JonasQuinn

    JonasQuinn Well-Known Member

    Apr 2, 2010
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    Hey I would love to try this game out on my iPad.
     
  8. TheGreatEscaper

    TheGreatEscaper Well-Known Member

    Oct 10, 2014
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    Just finished playing through the game, agreed that the art style is lovely and surreal. Very clean 'fantastical' look. Definitely the most enjoyable part of it all - agreed that some of these would look lovely as wallpapers.
    Puzzles themselves are not bad. They're not difficult but a few will make you go 'oh, clever'. Being a puzzle pedantic there were a few things I wasn't a fan of (the inconsistent collision detection, the rules of why sometimes joining pieces will deactivate one of their nodes), but overall it was a nice development of the core mechanic and most of the additional mechanics felt natural to this type of puzzle.
    Music is very nice and atmospheric. Somehow strikes the perfect balance between feeling epic at some points but always remaining background music.

    There was one mechanic that I think could have been introduced better, the portal mechanic. I didn't fully understand the controls of this for a while. It's probably just me being thick but it was a bit of unintended design difficulty that frustrated me for a little bit.

    Another thing, the pictures are so beautifully economic with their detail, the puzzle boards themselves feel really cluttered especially in later levels where there are lines and dots and symbols everywhere. It's not bad per se, but for me it clashed with the aesthetic of the artwork. I don't see any easy way of solving this issue but I think making the normal unoccupied nodes solid white dots would help it feel less cluttered (right now the hollow circles are a bit too 'detail heavy'.

    I'm just super nitpicking here, overall it's definitely a lovely package, and a steal for your planned price of $1. The finished pictures are lovely and the puzzles, while not difficult, are not tedious or boring - they are creative enough to hold the interest of veteran puzzlers and casual puzzlers alike. Very relaxing game.
     
  9. Angiehayman

    Angiehayman New Member

    Oct 16, 2013
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    Love!!

    What a clever game. I love it! Thanks for giving me an early opportunity!!
     
  10. chomi3

    chomi3 Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    TheGreatEscaper: Thanks for the test and warm review, I'm so glad you liked and enjoyed the game!
    It's great to hear you like the music, and that it fits the game mood perfectly. I composed it myself, so it's very humbling to hear someone actualy likes it!

    Just to address things you've mentioned:
    1. The rules of why sometimes joining pieces will deactivate one of their nodes -> yeah, that's tricky. For the players sanity sometimes brick nodes are deactivated after joining. I saw many players doing too weird moves in couple of levels, getting "lost". So to keep few of level ideas in the game, I had to silently introduce this "feature", without telling anyone, hoping that the overall experience of the level will be more interesting, than discovering my little dirty "trick", which will be forgiven :D It's all for the players joy of solving yet another puzzle.
    2. Portal mechanic -> it was a hard task to give it the right introduction. The controls intself are pretty easy and self-explanatory, once you get the idea of how they work. But it's hard to explain them without the text, so couple of small-levels were created, like a small playground for the player to play with them. Maybe it's not perfect, but after half year of design, that's the best I could come up with :) But on the other hand, it's a puzzle game, and I just see it as a part of the puzzle - unpuzzle the controls :D I hope they were not too frustrating, and you got a good grasp of them after a while.
    3. Levels getting to packed with icons and pictures, losing aestethics -> Thousands options were tested, with different icon size, lines thickness, node bitmaps and so on, and the one that's in the game, is the best balance between level readability and aestethics. Ah, compromises...

    Once again thanks for the test. I'm thinking about implementing the wallpaper mode in the nearest update.
    Btw, how long it took you to finish the game?


    Angiehayman: I'm really happy you enjoy it! Thanks for participating in the test. Have a great time playing :)
     
  11. FFarabi

    FFarabi Active Member

    Mar 17, 2016
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    The Commonwealth
    Interested

    Would love to be able to be a beta tester for the game.
     
  12. novianbuyung

    novianbuyung Member

    Sep 19, 2015
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  13. spikeyflip

    spikeyflip Well-Known Member

    Jul 29, 2011
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    QA lead
    Northern California
    Would love to test it too ^_^
     
  14. chomi3

    chomi3 Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    Hi guys,

    Thanks for the interest.

    I've sent invitations and private messages!

    Please let me know how do you find the game.

    Bests,
    Mike
    http://hamsteroncoke.com
     
  15. ThePawn

    ThePawn Active Member
    Patreon Bronze

    Sep 15, 2015
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    I just started testing this game. Wow!
    Loving this already. I've already started third section. This is a perfect chill game. Challenging but not frustrating. The graphics are amazingly beautiful and very soothing. I like the mechanics where you have to click the pieces together to make bigger pieces to finish the puzzle. Keep up the great work. I want more already and I'm not even done with all the puzzles. Sign up and play test this game if you have the chance.
     
  16. spikeyflip

    spikeyflip Well-Known Member

    Jul 29, 2011
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    QA lead
    Northern California
    Thumbs up on the minimalistic feel and that there is some sort of a story ^_^;; I'm working on the 3rd set also but I feel this is just perfect for the casual crowd who just want pick up and play and they can put it down again without worrying much about remembering the game mechanic.

    I hope the later puzzles would be more challenging as I was breezing through several ones.
     
  17. Dazzy1975

    Dazzy1975 Member

    Mar 23, 2016
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    Wow!!!!!!!!!

    I am really interested in testing the beta because this games looks really cool and original and just my type of game keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!
    [email protected]
     
  18. chomi3

    chomi3 Well-Known Member

    Apr 7, 2015
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    SpikeyFlip: so happy you liked the game :) Latter puzzles are in fact bit more challenging, I hope you will find them interesting and your time worthy!

    Dazzy1975: thanks! welcome to the beta tests :) I've sent you invitation by email. Have fun, let me know your thoughts!
     
  19. Draddogdbor

    Draddogdbor New Member

    Mar 23, 2016
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    If you're still looking for impressions, I'd be happy to give you mine. Trailers have intrigued me. #
     
  20. Cccee

    Cccee Well-Known Member

    May 8, 2012
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    Hi there. I've been playing your game and it continues to be awesome. I'm up to the 3rd set now and I love all the little surprises. Keeps you on your toes. The game gets more challenging but not frustratingly so. Control is very smooth and a pleasure to use. Still loving the graphics!

    Thanks again!
     

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