Ken - watched the video, and i think that it looks nice. I continue to play - best I have got is level 15 - seems like I get a "no more moves" and then game over - I was thinking, if I have freeze time available, I should be able to do a freeze at that point, and swap around a few tiles, and allow myself to keep going? Because the tiles falling is random, sometimes you may have a few matches, but after they fall, again, with random pieces, and nothing matches up, that is not really my fault I got the wrong random pieces. I don't know if that makes any sense. I did not see your comments on piece size - I have realtively larger fingers, and I have no problems selecting pieces that I want to swap - rarely I will get a mistake, but rarely, so I would not decrease the size of the playing field. Regarding sales - that is a tough one - I think that after the comments of lurkers taking promo codes, and users complaining on prices being too high, the next most common is from the dev stating that their app is not moving well. As you know, I think that you have a really well done app - but I don't know what people are looking for. The really popular match 3 bejewled 1 and 2, and from the more indie side probably Treasures of Montezuma, Gemmed!, Rise of Atlantis, Jewel Quest 1 and 2 - most of them, I think all of them have additional play modes - they all have powerups and explosions, and lightening stuff or bombs, etc for destroying blocks - I guess more WOW factor? Is that always necessary? I don't think so - I think that your puzzle game is just that - it has more strategic elements - and so should not need all that. Would those additions help sales - I wish I knew - I could make a zillion dollars if I could accurately tell people what they need to do for sales. The global scores always seem to be popular with people though. Let me know if I can help, I still enjoy playing your game.
This game is pretty amazing, I got it the day it came out, and I have been playing it almost everyday since then.
I played the lite version and thought I love the music and the graphics, the gameplay seems very mellow. Shifting the orientation to slide charms around and the goal of eliminating the gold bricks enhance gameplay, but this is not unique. In any case, I'm buying the full version to play when I'm feeling UltraEasyLazyCasual. Although I believe this game is gads better than bejeweled, Charmed is very simple, but needs more to be really charming. I see that leaderboards are in the works, but perhaps Open Feint and achievements would be a better choice. And a sale. I see this appealing to casual gaming women.
The dev seems really interested in trying to make this a top app. It really does not have the feel for explosions, and lightening to remove tiles. I don't know, maybe a puff of smoke? Needs classy ways of jazzing it up. If you thing of any please respond back to the thread. The first 10 or so levels are casual, but it starts getting more tense. I just really like the way it is put together. I think it could be the bejeweled killer and in many ways is one of the mot polished of all the Match 3 but is just lacking something that I can't put my finger on.
Hi guys, Thanks for the feedback. PhagoCychotic, I agree that sliding charms around and removing the gold tiles is not unique. The unique part, I believe, is the fixed purple blocks (uniquely arranged on each level) and the ability to rotate the phone left, right, up or down and have gravity change direction. As for improvements, here are a few things currently in the works: Difficulty selection 4 levels Easy - The current settings Medium Hard Insane The harder levels basically just give you less time to start with and less time per match, so you have to move faster. Considering alternative music track(s) for the harder levels Endless mode - keep playing "forever" (Instead of seeing "no more moves", you get a new game board, and the timer converts into a meter to show your progress to the next level). Single-level mode - play a single level for a high score - interesting balance between trying to use the gold tiles to get a high score, but not removing all of them since that will end the game. Start a new game from any level previously reached Online leaderboards and achievements I expect to have an update out to beta testers in about 2 weeks. As for jazzing it up, I am working on a couple of things in that regard too. I agree with pluto6 though that explosions are not the right way to go. We are also planning a second game which is basically a skin of Charmed, but with a more high tech "guy oriented" theme. Any suggestions are welcome as we have not yet settled on a concept for it. The music for this alternate game would also be more up-tempo and heavier. Thanks for your interest!
You're not the first person to ask for this! However, there is already something that you, as a player, can do to prevent this. As long as you leave at least one empty space on the game grid, you will never see No More Moves. This is mentioned on the Tips & Tricks section in the Help. From a game design point of view, I look at it like Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. It is possible to lose that game even if you still have your "Ask the Audience" lifeline left. Or like in a space shooter game, you might die and still have a MegaBomb left. Should the game have activated the MegaBomb just before it saw you were about to die? Even if I wanted to decrease the size, it would be a LOT of work at this point for a problem that does not affect many people. I am, however, working on the touch detection algorithm to make it a bit more forgiving. I have a couple of "eye candy" changes in the works. We'll see if they pan out. Online high scores and achievements are coming soon to a Charmed game near you! You can email me with your UDID at [email protected] if you want to participate in the next beta.
Tips & Tricks Page for Charmed Here is a Tips & Tricks page for Charmed: http://www.mindjuice.net/forums/charmed/charmed-tips-tricks/ Feel free to add any gameplay tips you've discovered.
I'm really glad you're committed to improving this game. I do heavily agree with Pluto6 that Charmed should be the bejeweled killer. It has tonnes more gameplay and polish. Good luck with everything!
Call For Beta Testers Hi all, We are looking for some beta testers for the next version of Charmed. If you are interested, please email me at ken(at)mindjuice.net with the following information: Your real name Your nickname on TouchArcade The UDID of your device (see here: http://www.innerfence.com/howto/find-iphone-unique-device-identifier-udid) Or use the free AdHoc Helper app from the App Store if you want to make things easier on yourself and me Your device type (iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch, etc.) The OS version you will be running/testing on FYI, the new beta should include the following improvements over the current version: Online leaderboards Achievements Facebook integration Twitter integration Send/Receive Challenges Selectable difficulty level Selectable game modes Selectable starting level I will take about 10 testers for this round. Sorry I can't take everyone! If you are selected, you will receive an email from me within the next few days. The beta is currently estimated to start in about 2 weeks. Thanks!
Mind Juice, let me start off by saying that I really enjoy Charmed, it is a fantastic game worthy of a lot of recognition. I am looking forward to the next update, but I must ask, have you all put any thought towards adding anymore shapes ( maybe for hard or insane ), and or any other power ups? Maybe a score multiplier type Charm?
Ken, thanks for all the detailed answers, and I guess I now agree with the no more moves decision. The updates sound like they will be great. Hopefully some of the folks will come up with some food for thought on improving charms into the true bejeweled killer. I sent you my info, and I'm looking forward to working with you.
Hi epedemix, I'm not sure how far you've played, but at Level 15 a new Fleur-de-Lys charm is added. You can see it in the sneak peak at level 25 in the Charmed video a few posts back. For the next update, the Hard and Insane modes will add the Fleur-de-Lys charm from the start for those looking for more of a challenge. Also, I have added a Crown charm. I'm not sure yet exactly when it will come into play though. Adding too many charm types along with the purple blocks though really brings about the No More Moves message a lot sooner. With the higher difficulty levels it is important to make the game hard but not impossible! As for score multipliers, the gold tiles already already act as score multipliers, as does making a match from rotating the device, as do cascading matches. I may change the animation though to make it show the multiplier you achieved instead of just doing the math and showing the final number. It might be more rewarding to see "10x!" and "200" instead of just "2000" and make it more obvious that you achieved a multiplier. Another powerup or two will probably come soon, but I don't know if they will make it into the next update. Suggestions for powerups are welcome!
Beta Testers Wanted Still looking for a few more Beta testers. See below. You can checkout the game at http://www.mindjuice.net/charmed Thanks!
Hi all, Here's a preview of the new "New Game" screen that's been added to Charmed. You'll be able to choose three game modes and four difficulty levels. You will also be able to start a game from any level you've previously reached (which unlocks it). I will be adding all the online integration this long weekend. Once that is done I'll distribute the new version for beta testing, then submit to Apple once all issues are addressed. Thanks!
I'm looking for suggestions on game modes (see picture in the post above): Right now, here is what is planned for the next update: Timed Mode: Same as the current game, but the difficulty levels will give you less time to make matches. Also, the Hard and Expert levels will start you off with an extra charm and give you snowflakes a bit less often. There will be a leaderboard for each difficulty level. Endless Mode: Same as Timed Mode, but with no timer. When you get No More Moves, a new set of charms falls in. Any gold tiles you've already cleared remain gone. The goal is still to complete each level by removing the gold tiles. This mode is meant to play at your leisure with no time pressure. There will be no leaderboard for Endless Mode, since the game never "ends" unless you discard it and create a new game. One-Level Mode: Play a single level of the game for a high score until you have removed all the gold tiles. The timer still ticks as in Timed Mode. You must balance using the gold tiles to get high scores with not wanting to remove the last one and end the game. I am considering to only have one difficulty for this mode, otherwise I need to have a leaderboard for each game level and each difficulty level, 30 levels * 4 difficulties = 120 leaderboards, which I think is too many. Please let me know if you have ideas for different game modes.
hi, I just joined to leave some comments for you, Mindjuice. First of all, I really love your game. Currently my gf ipod has it but we both really enjoy it every other day. I think it is fantastic already. My suggestion are: additional mode: 1. Rotating ONLY mode: with some clever level design, you can have a expert level game by rotating only. fewer charms, and block preview(1-row each side) would do it. It doesn't have golden block. just req # of matched charmed. 2. Shaker version of Charmed tetris(?): very similar to tetris style. slowly dropping charms but you can shake it or move by finger to get position. ..also for verision 3. How about some special charm? : 1. bomb charm: if you match more than 3, 1 becomes shiny charm and if it matched it would explode. This can blow away unmovable block, too. 2. same kind charm: match 5 then you get special charm to swap to any charm to eliminate same kind of entire charms in whole screen. 3. sticky charm: if you don't move some charm for a long time (like 20 moves) it becomes sticky to each other.. lol like 2 dumbell. 4. instead of #1 bomb, you can eliminate 1 entire row only. ok.. my idea ran out already..
