Sokkelo: The Phrase Maze by Retrodigio LLC, creators of Gnomium

Discussion in 'Upcoming iOS Games' started by Retrodigio, Jan 24, 2017.

  1. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    #1 Retrodigio, Jan 24, 2017
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2017
    Hi Everyone, it's so good to be back promoting another game on TouchArcade. My small game studio of one (Retrodigio LLC) is pleased to announce the development of Sokkelo: The Phrase Maze as part of yet another venture into the world of experimental word game mechanics.

    (Experimental, yes, but remember this is good. Mama said "never do something that nobody never done did" and the last thing we need is another re-hashed, re-skinned version of Boggle. I hope to stay true to producing what appear to be unique 'things' in my limited and boot-strapped wanna-be-indie-game-developer career. The truth is, I just want to turn out like Asher Vo, but apparently this is not an easy thing to do).

    Sokkelo takes a unique stab at word-search, combining the idea with the traditional maze. Players collect Sokkelo cards containing phrases (some common, others completely made up by yours truly) with selected parts-of-speech (as in verbs, adjectives, nouns etc.) that are replaced whenever you play a Sokkelo card. These replacement words are linked and used to build a random path using super-duper complex algorithms through an invisible maze of letter tiles (I mean, the tiles aren't invisible, the maze is.. er um the 'walls' of the maze that is. Nvrmind, you'll understand when you play the game, it's not all that complicated). Surprisingly, the game can actually be quite challenging at times, even for seasoned word-game players, and this is of course, very pleasing.

    The nature of random word replacement tends to produce some pretty funny or absurd (and often absurdly funny) phrases. For example, a phrase like "The early bird catches the worm." could be turned into "The frightened copy machine robs the beach ball." or other such sayings. You can imagine where this could go, but the cool thing is that because of the random nature in which a game is constructed (whenever you play a card), any card can be played nearly an infinite number of times and produce a unique game experience every single time.

    Sokkelo is still under development (that's a nice way of saying "I'm still experimenting"). The core game play mechanics are in, but I'm heavily tweaking the engine, scoring and progress systems. Here are a current rundown of features to be expected:

    - A twist on word-search, mazes and mad-libs.
    - Designed specifically for easy one-handed game play.
    - Each Sokkelo card is infinitely re-playable. Every game, a unique maze and phrase.
    - 100's of Sokkelo cards available with many more to come.
    - Earn points to unlock new, random Sokkelo cards or purchase packs of random cards.
    - Share hilariously generated phrases with your friends.
    - Increase the skill level and points earned on each card by beating score challenges.

    Links to hopefully interesting things:

    Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTnnQyik2CjiG3J7KOMQXkw
    Facebook: http://fb.me/sokkelogame
    Twitter: @sokkelogame https://twitter.com/sokkelogame
    Instagram: @sokkelogame
    Email: [email protected]

    Yes, please ask questions.. like "Do you think this could be the next big e-sports word game?" I'll try to give my best and most honest answers quickly.

    Cheers.

    -Chris Crabtree

    ____


    And here's what you really came to see - a video of my daughters playing the game. I haven't had time or resources to build a cool launch trailer yet, so this will have to do.



    Here's a neat gif:

    [​IMG]

    TouchArcade, you can use any of these banner images if you want to have something for an article or something (hint hint).

    [​IMG]
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    Here are a few screenshots

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
  2. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Captains log - stardate 94669.02

    I really like Trello. Have you used it? A friend of mine introduced it to me a few weeks ago and I created cards for all of the remaining features for Sokkelo version 1.

    [​IMG]

    This is a high level view, but as you can see there are miscellaneous things to finish off like deleting, sharing, flipping between and unlocking cards, but the fun stuff revolves around fleshing out the API and updates to RANT code and dictionaries (the code that drives the processing of phrases).

    API? Sokkelo will use an API to store and pull back-end stuff, save settings, keep track of rankings and which cards you have in your deck. I want everyone who plays Sokkelo to start off with a random deck of cards, like Hearthstone or Pokemon (cuz yeah, this game is just like those games), but to do so requires an internet connection. Unlocking new cards should operate the same way, always a surprise. This also means we'll need a boat-load of Sokkelo cards in the DB. Having a back-end to drive and track cards means that new cards can be added any time without requiring an update to the app.

    I'll be adding new cards all of the time once the API is ready, if you have ideas for great Sokkelo card phrases or quotes, let me know and maybe it will get into the game. I'll post about phrase formats later on. Cheerio.

    -Chris
     
  3. vectorarchitekt

    vectorarchitekt Well-Known Member

    Dec 29, 2013
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    Intriguing! I really liked gnomium but always wanted it to be more word-centric.
     
  4. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Hi Vectorarchitekt! Great to see you again. You've always been so great about providing feedback and it is so soo appreciated!

    Sokkelo is all about words (and phrases, and mazes, but they all mix well). I think it's a new take that you'll really enjoy. I'll keep posting updates here and let everyone know when the right TestFlight beta build is available. Thanks!
     
  5. Duke12

    Duke12 Well-Known Member

    Oct 25, 2013
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    That name cant be a coincidence, can it? Have to try it.
     
  6. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Not a coincidence

    Duke12, are you Finnish? :)
     
  7. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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  8. Duke12

    Duke12 Well-Known Member

    Oct 25, 2013
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    What gave it away? :p
     
  9. Valentia

    Valentia Well-Known Member
    Patreon Gold

    Jan 20, 2009
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    This looks like my kind of game! For a word freak, maze lover, and Fennophile, this is a must-buy!
     
  10. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Fennophile. See, even someone who's had to go through the entire English dictionary a few times (not for fun, mind you), learns a new word here and there. Thanks Valentia! Plus, I'd consider myself a Fennophile too! :)
     
  11. Valentia

    Valentia Well-Known Member
    Patreon Gold

    Jan 20, 2009
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    Wouldn't it be a great word to encounter in the game?:D
     
  12. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Being in control of one's dictionaries has it's advantages :)
     
  13. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    It's log..log.. it big, it's heavy, it's wood.

    Let's talk some more about game mechanics and controls (on of the best parts of game dev IMHO).

    I mentioned to Carter in an earlier email that much of the inspiration for writing Sokkelo comes from an afternoon playing Threes. The simple controls and feedback are so novel -- play the whole game by swiping tiles in a fixed grid, up down left or right. Easily played in one hand with your thumb.

    I considered for a while, that similar game mechanics might be applied to a letter grid in order to combine tiles to create words. The idea of sliding and combining multiple tiles at once in a fixed grid didn't seem viable, it works well for combining numbers, but not letters.

    At the time I also took a strong interest in Maze algorithms, and spent time studying and coding a dozen or so documented algorithms. All maze-making algorithms start with a grid, and typically fill a path from beginning to end using random or not-so-random decision processes when stepping from cell to cell. I figured that given an empty grid, one could devise a random maze with a path composed of letter tiles, that when followed correctly, spelled one or more consecutive words. A large enough grid could fit an entire phrase, or set of words contained in a phrase. Thus the idea for Phrase Maze was conceived.

    A quick prototype confirmed my suspicions, that one could derive the length of the phrase and produce a maze of tiles suitable for containing it. The remaining unused (filler) tiles could be filled using another set of algorithms depending on the difficulty level of the maze.

    I was keen on keeping the controls as simple as possible for mobile, which meant traversing the maze without having to 'trace' or punch tiles with your fingers on different parts of the screen like most word games. Since the player would be traversing a maze from start to end, one step at a time, the only movements available would be directional (just like Threes). The controls also felt good, and natural.

    The first go-around had the player sliding his position from tile-to-tile, to grow what I call the current 'word-snake'. This worked well enough, but didn't feel quite right. In Threes, the player is essentially pushing the tiles of the grid in one direction or another with each turn, so I considered reversing the movement effect so that in Sokkelo, the player was pushing the grid around with each move, rather than the position of the player piece. It usually take new players a bit to adjust to the fact that they are pushing the grid, but once your brain gets it, it feels much more natural and you don't even notice anymore. If you watch the gameplay video, you'll see what I'm talking about.

    Hope you had a great weekend.
     
  14. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Just for Kicks (or um..Eviscerations?)

    Progress is marching along with the SokkeloAPI, the server-side part of this baby that keeps track of your deck and game stats. It's almost complete and ready for integration and testing within the Sokkelo app.

    ____________________________________________
    And now for something completely different..

    So folks, yes, way way back before these nifty cell phones or inter-webs, there were these games we used to play involving real physical things. Games we'd have to invent and muster up from from the stuff in our immediate surroundings -- Like this little gem I found from the summer of 1990.

    A 90's real-life version of Fruit Ninja, or more like Can Ninja. A couple of rounds played by myself, a couple of friends and my little bro.

    Rules of the game:
    - Cut the can in half = 1 pt
    - Half the can stays on the trashcan = 5 pts
    - Half the can stays on the trashcan, with water in it = 10 pts
    - Two halves of the can stay on the trashcan = 20pts
    - Failure to cut can in half = -1 pts
    - Failure to cut can in half, but can launches past 20 yds = 2 pts
    - First person to 30 pts wins

     
  15. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    About Sokkelo Cards

    Ah..the life of a caddy in the Jungle. :)

    [​IMG]

    Sokkelo cards. Every card contains a phrase, which when played, generates a new phrase. Think of each card as a mad-lib, a phrase containing key words (nouns, verbs, adjectives etc..) that get swapped with new words every time you play the card.

    This makes for some pretty silly phrases that certain spark the imagination!

    Sokkelo will have hundreds of cards that you can unlock as you play or purchase in random card packs. The cards are designed to be infinitely re-playable with no two games ever the same.
     
  16. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

    So, writing this game has exposed me to a lot of 'language principles', a ton of grammatical structures, rules regarding types of speech and the like that I never imagined I'd get into.

    The truth is, I never once in my life thought Id' find myself making word games, I mean, how boring can you get. It didn't start off that way, and I probably won't end my career this way, but I do recognize what it is that initially sucked me into it. Something I find attractive in the games I enjoy most. Mystery and discovery. Not mystery like a mystery movie or novel, but just the concept of not knowing what to expect whenever you replay a game. Sure, there are boundaries, rules and mechanics on how the game plays, but I enjoy it most when I play a game that doesn't require me to do the same designed level or sequence over and over and over again, hoping to better my score, or fine tune a particular speed run. Think Terraria, or Minecraft of Binding of Issac or many other games that define rules, but never generate the same world or level twice. You can play them every time with a sense of mystery about what is waiting around the corner.

    The last thing I want to do is create a game that has static, repeatable levels (for the record, I have another game in progress that has static, with repeatable levels). It requires a lot more work because you have to worry about all of the details, and the player only gets to experience the mystery once.

    Sokkelo was designed from the beginning to use multiple levels of content generation. From the algorithms used to generate random mazes, to the system designed to manipulate phrases, you are set up to play a different game every time you play a single Sokkelo card, and there will be hundreds of Sokkelo cards over time. A close comparison can be made with Sudoku. A fixed grid of numbers, algorithmicly placed to create a new solvable puzzle. The framework is in place generate a new game every time, and now the same has be done with words and mazes, and it works surprisingly well.

    The back-end API is pretty much complete at this point as I continue testing. Players now start with a random deck of 10 cards that the app retrieves from the server. I'm very busy adding new cards/phrases and going through the thousands of words in the dictionary files, categorizing, ranking and filtering, in order to make this the best word game experience out there.
     
  17. Retrodigio

    Retrodigio Well-Known Member

    Apr 10, 2015
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    Some big decisions

    So, after a long delay, here is an update.

    It would be nice to work in time bubble, free of distractions, constraints, other obligations like work, family, church or whatever constantly knocking at your door. Not that any of these things are bad, in fact most are much more important and the reason for doing this whole game dev thing in the first place (outside of the sheer pleasure that comes from making games). But alas, life is life, and things ebb and flow.

    I haven't had as much time to work on Sokkelo in recent days as I'd like to, and it's like 95% done. But this break has given me time to re-think and evaluate the game from a new perspective. The greatest lesson perhaps is that when designing and implementing a mobile game, simplicity wins almost every time.

    Looking through my goals with Sokkelo, I really just wanted to create a new form of procedural word game that was fun to replay again and again. Open the app, press play, play a game and generate a funny phrase, boom! done. But what I started to create was this whole new layer on top involving cards, and unlocking and purchasing and tracking and etc.. each building upon itself and making the whole thing more complex, inherently, getting in the way of the core gameplay.

    Then I wondered, what caused this in the first place? It all comes down to the choice of making the app a freemium game. I learned from Gnomium that creating a successful freemium game as a solo indie dev is HARD, and in the end, probably not worth it unless you get very lucky.

    So I've decided to make the game premium instsead, decided to remove all of the freemium-ish things that get in the way, and take what I can get from creating a beautiful fun game without constraints.

    So what does this mean? What's different?

    - no more cards
    - phrases are choosen at random every time you press 'play'
    - phrases are stored on the Sokkelo servers and can be updated and added to without having to update the app
    - the interface is simpler, you can scroll through past games/phrases and replay at will
    - simple 'get in and play' approach. No forced ads, no constraints.
    - hints are earned by beating timers (there may be an opt-in to watch an ad to earn more hints, but that is all by choice)


    There you have it. I'm working on these changes now and will post progress as I have time. Thanks for following!
     

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