Interesting and super polished, but the super random nature of what's next kinda makes it feel pretty arbitrary, and the lack of "comboy" mechanics hurts it somewhat. (Yes you can intentionally stack up a bigger chain to pop all at once but that doesn't feel clever, it feels more like you got the right piece before you got choked out more than you feel like you made a smart play).
Kinda wonder if the rules could be iterated a bit more. I think there's potential in changing the needing to choose one of x number of connections sometimes thing, that feels clunky and less interesting.
Yeah, I hear what you're saying about the lack of special combo-rules for making more advanced/larger groups in some way. Maybe something could be done with popping multiple groups of the same color in sequence, or maybe give multipliers based on the number of blocks a group clears?
Risk and reward. Best games of these genre has a way to dig oneself into a hole for a bigger reward. Like previously said, I could leave a bunch of blocks out unpopped, but because popping basically means waiting for the right colour/number to come up, it feels one dimensional and has little to do with skill.
I think the player needs more agency or ability to forecast.
Thanks! They're random on later levels but you'll always get one (but placed at random) on the level where they're first introduced. This might change though, as they're a late addition. If you have any ideas about it, please let me know.
Trying it out rn on a macbook. Thanks for making it free while developing it.
The game seems to open in fullscreen by default, not a big fan of that on mac.
Some questions:
Is there any way to skip pieces?(like on tetris)
Pieces seem to come at random, how is the skill involved, are there cases where I cannot win even if I try my best? How does the game become harder as I play?
Not sure what the alert thingy powerup does, I clicked it and it dissapered.(nvm, figured out actually that it erases pieces near it)
Regarding boxes and pieces, sometimes I just receive a lot of boxes I have to place, sometimes pieces. Would be nice maybe some indication of home many boxes and how many pieces are currently coming or some kind of indication so I can prepare for the boxes.
Also kind of sucks when you advance level and you have some connections going and then boxes randomly appear and ruins all you build.
What I like:
The game goes fast and animations can be skipped if you place more pieces.
Thanks for the feedback! The pieces are random like you say, so you can get lucky/unlucky as there's no way to skip placing a piece. However, that's also in a sense where the skill comes in, since you need to decide how to use the stuff you get. What to place where, what to connect up to existing groups or place on it's own. And if you get blocked by blocks, how to get rid of those to save your groups.
I'll look into it. I think Godot can technically export to 32 bit linux, but I'm not sure if 32 bit systems will be able to support the modern vulcan drivers I believe Godot 4 games require? Maybe you know more about this if you're on 32 bit linux?
Well, I guess there's only an easy way to find out: I've made a test 32 bit linux build that you can download here: vlobs_0.7.0_linux_32.zip and see if you're able to run it. If it works I'll know I can do that in the future, if not, then at least we tried.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Interesting and super polished, but the super random nature of what's next kinda makes it feel pretty arbitrary, and the lack of "comboy" mechanics hurts it somewhat. (Yes you can intentionally stack up a bigger chain to pop all at once but that doesn't feel clever, it feels more like you got the right piece before you got choked out more than you feel like you made a smart play).
Kinda wonder if the rules could be iterated a bit more. I think there's potential in changing the needing to choose one of x number of connections sometimes thing, that feels clunky and less interesting.
Yeah, I hear what you're saying about the lack of special combo-rules for making more advanced/larger groups in some way. Maybe something could be done with popping multiple groups of the same color in sequence, or maybe give multipliers based on the number of blocks a group clears?
Risk and reward. Best games of these genre has a way to dig oneself into a hole for a bigger reward. Like previously said, I could leave a bunch of blocks out unpopped, but because popping basically means waiting for the right colour/number to come up, it feels one dimensional and has little to do with skill.
I think the player needs more agency or ability to forecast.
This is super relaxing and makes me want to play "just one more round"! Congratulations!
Is it random when one of the explosives comes up or can i play and plan for it?
Thanks! They're random on later levels but you'll always get one (but placed at random) on the level where they're first introduced. This might change though, as they're a late addition. If you have any ideas about it, please let me know.
Trying it out rn on a macbook. Thanks for making it free while developing it.
The game seems to open in fullscreen by default, not a big fan of that on mac.
Some questions:
Is there any way to skip pieces?(like on tetris)
Pieces seem to come at random, how is the skill involved, are there cases where I cannot win even if I try my best? How does the game become harder as I play?
Not sure what the alert thingy powerup does, I clicked it and it dissapered.(nvm, figured out actually that it erases pieces near it)
Regarding boxes and pieces, sometimes I just receive a lot of boxes I have to place, sometimes pieces. Would be nice maybe some indication of home many boxes and how many pieces are currently coming or some kind of indication so I can prepare for the boxes.
Also kind of sucks when you advance level and you have some connections going and then boxes randomly appear and ruins all you build.
What I like:
The game goes fast and animations can be skipped if you place more pieces.
Animations are very smooth and nice to enjoy.
Music works very well.
Thanks for the feedback! The pieces are random like you say, so you can get lucky/unlucky as there's no way to skip placing a piece. However, that's also in a sense where the skill comes in, since you need to decide how to use the stuff you get. What to place where, what to connect up to existing groups or place on it's own. And if you get blocked by blocks, how to get rid of those to save your groups.
Love the game! Found it on a random Mastodon post. Would love to see further exploration into power ups like color change etc.
Thanks! I'll make a note of that idea for future versions
Took a little while, but in the new 0.9 update there are now mysterious powerups on the later levels you can use to activate special powers!
Could you offer a 32 bit version for Linux?
I'll look into it. I think Godot can technically export to 32 bit linux, but I'm not sure if 32 bit systems will be able to support the modern vulcan drivers I believe Godot 4 games require? Maybe you know more about this if you're on 32 bit linux?
All I know is that I have played games made with Godot 3.5.
Well, I guess there's only an easy way to find out: I've made a test 32 bit linux build that you can download here: vlobs_0.7.0_linux_32.zip and see if you're able to run it. If it works I'll know I can do that in the future, if not, then at least we tried.
Unfortunately it doesn't work.
Yeah, that was what I suspected.