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Rhombus's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay/Design | #4 | 4.200 | 4.200 |
| Fun | #11 | 3.200 | 3.200 |
| Graphics | #15 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Overall | #17 | 3.000 | 3.000 |
| Audio | #27 | 1.600 | 1.600 |
Ranked from 5 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
What would you like feedback on?
- How long does it take for you to reach the end of the demo?
- Does it work well as a demo? Are you interested in seeing the full game upon finishing the demo?
- Did you always know roughly where to go next or did you spend significant time feeling lost as to what to do?
- Any other issues you encountered or suggestions you'd have?
Note that audio, main menu and settings are missing in current build and will be the next thing I'll work on before publishing the demo on Steam.
What did you update?
Jam version was kept as is on a separate itch page: https://axelvborn.itch.io/rhombus-gmtk
Jam version was mostly a 10-15 minutes prototype of the main panel mechanic done in 2 days during last gmtk. Since then, I've been working mostly full time on it, building a proper game around that mechanic using the jam prototype as base, and switching it from pure linear puzzle game to a non-linear one with exploration but within a compact environment.
The biggest changes is in the game's content as there's now between 1 and 2 hours worth of gameplay (planned final length is around 2 hours) with some extra mechanics that turn it into a non-linear game. Although only the mostly linear first parts of the game are available in the demo build with a planned length of ~30 minutes.
There were also several minor improvements on the visual side (bit of post-process, made the panels clearer, etc...) and a number of QoL improvements and bug fixes.
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Comments
I quite like the concept of the game and the core mechanic. Audio will make a huge improvement to the game feel I think.
The issue I had with it kept me from playing longer than a couple of minuted was with the mouse controls in the Web build. The mouse cursor was still on the screen moving somewhat unsynchronized with player rotation. Once it hit the edge of the screen I couldn't turn further and there were no settings for mouse sensitivity. This together unfortunately made for a wobbly experience with random spins. Otherwise I would enjoy the game concept and art style.
So overall good job
There may be an issue with difficulty progression with the puzzles due to the environment being a large nonlinear puzzle to solve -- really it is a set of linear puzzles to solve, just gets confusing as to what order to do them in. Basically the first puzzles are easy to solve and then it ramps up steeply.
FYI I don't normally play these kind of games, I have very little patience for them and get very little enjoyment out of them; so I didn't play all the way through to the end once I was stumped by my way forward being too unclear as to what to do next -- I made it to Area 3, accidently fell into an area that I could not jump out of; no way to reset.
Too many puzzles available without it being clear to me which needs solving first in order to progress further. That may be a me thing or you just have the difficulty ramping up too quickly. As far as content for a demo, I'd say you have that but you need to work on pacing as you are presented with too many puzzles to solve in order to determine their sequence of solution needed to progress.
As far as presentation, generally the visuals are fine. I would experiment with post-process effects like bloom and such in order to elevate the visuals without making the scene harder to read. A lack of sound is a hindrance as it fails to set a mood for the game or draw you in immersively -- simple set of sounds for footsteps, block moves, puzzle control interaction, ambient environment sound or music, would make the experience more enjoyable.
Very intresting mechanic with some clever and tricky puzzles! Also quite polished overall except for the lack of music and sound. The graphics are simple but quite clean, I think they work pretty well already.
I don’t think I quite fully understood under what condions cubes became interactible - sometimes I just couldn’t access the cubes I wanted without really knowing why which was a bit frustrating. Maybe the game could need an improved tutorial for that, altough I still mostly got by quite well with trial and error.
If 3 rhombuses form a hexagon (or ‘cube’), they can be rotated, moving the corresponding platform. You can also see the 2d representation as a stack of cubes, and with each rotation you add/remove a cube from the stack. The biggest constraint with that representation is that tiles in front can’t be higher than tiles in the back (so you can only raise a tile if the two behind-adjacent tiles are higher than it, and similarly only lower a tile if the two front-adjacent tiles are lower than it).
The first part from this video of 3Blue1Brown might help you understand the logic behind the main mechanic (in fact, it’s that video which gave me the idea of the mechanic).
Else, yeah there could be some improvements in the difficulty curve of the basic puzzles as it can be a bit steep right now.
Very, very nice! Well done for the work. With a simple mechanic, it's really well developed, and there are some little tricks to do. A spell/input to make moving easier could be nice, and to go back faster.
A way to perhaps increase the speed of tablet use. The puzzles are really cool, there are definitely ways to go further with ever more mechanics. A very promising game, and very cool in the madness of climbing, always climbing higher.
A history system, player scores in each area could be nice, to gradually see when players stop. For the climb aspect
Obviously, some small FX, feedback on the tablets, moving platforms, etc. could be nice. Why not a small, discreet particle trail that we drop ?
Make climbing stairs a little more enjoyable, and even a mini jump would be nice (jumping from the height of the stairs to avoid climbing other platforms). (It's probably a bad idea, actually x) the jump.)
Could really be a good puzzle game with great promise ! GG Axel :D !I think I have finished this game, and it took 1.5 hours.
It does feel well as a demo. Honestly said, I have seen enough about gameplay.
The main thing I am not aware of is how to make the desired square to move UP without screwing up the rest setup. I presume that I am not supposed to reach the other Yellow Square panel.
And yes, I have no idea what to do next, after the entire level has been lifted up by 1 floor.
The first yellow panel isn’t the end of the demo but very close to it (there’s another place you can reach after rising Area 1 using the knowledge you’ve gained getting to the yellow panel and the fact Area 1 is now higher).
While the game up to the first yellow panel is mostly linear (you do a whole loop through the map, going through all 4 areas until you get to that panel), after that it is all non linear as you will have to explore the areas again as you use the yellow panels to reconfigure the connections between each area, creating new possible paths for you to reach the places that were unreachable in your first exploration of the map.
The other yellow panel you’ve seen is indeed unreachable in the demo.
Unreachable panel is very confusing. The area looks like the player is supposed to reach that right now and here, which I have tried and wasted the time. This part was not cool, but however, I definitely like the idea and concept. The most unusual puzzle mechanic I've ever seen!
Indeed, it’s also an issue from doing a demo for a ‘short’ game with such a compact environment, you both have to show that there is more to the game than what is available to the demo and can’t exactly remove parts from the level design (only a single panel was removed to put the end of demo panels instead & to block further progression). Although I guess it could be made clearer that some panels aren’t meant to be for the demo parts, maybe putting a Locked icon instead of the rhombuses on those for the demo could help so players don’t lose time thinking of ways to get to places they can’t reach anyway.