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Square Space's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Fun | #5 | 2.940 | 3.143 |
| Overall | #7 | 2.940 | 3.143 |
| Creativity | #8 | 3.207 | 3.429 |
| Use of console | #8 | 2.673 | 2.857 |
Ranked from 7 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Explanation (Optional)
When thinking about "Swap" as a theme I played with a few ideas, but the one I decided to go with was swapping the controls of the game - when you fail the first time you have a second chance... but all the controls are swapped so good luck - until getting used to it :D
Pre-made assets (Optional)
The fonts I used came with the playdate SDK (Rains and Asheville)
I also used some images from Kenney (Input Prompts) for the Controls scene.
All the graphics are original designs.
Discord username (Optional)
carlosjtacon
Source code (Optional)
https://github.com/carlosjtacon/playjam-10
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Comments
Nice concept! I liked zen mode since it takes a bit of cleverness to come up with the right patterns and the unlimited time was nice. I couldn't get over the learning curve for the swapped mode so I just did my best with the main mode.
Challenging game, had to think really fast about how to fill that hole.
I really like your implementation of the last chance round with swapped controls. It’s a great high tension moment to try and recover your run. Zen mode was also a great choice as it let me get used to and understand the controls before getting into it. I’d even consider putting zen mode first and call it “practice” mode. Add some music and some animations (to make it clear how squares are moving out of bounds) and you have a great game on your hands! I really hope you decide to continue working on this.
Thank you! It's really nice feedback I totally agree with the things to improve - I think I will work a bit more on the game after the jam finishes, try to get a more polished experience :)
I did not get very far, but among the jam games I have come back and picked this one up the most (no joke I've sat on the couch and gone "i'm going to fire up Square Space" about 4 times this week). The controls never felt bad, just something I had to learn.
My only thought would be (if you want to take this further) some gentler onboarding to teach the player how to construct some shape arrangements.
Happy to hear you felt like playing after testing the first time! I do plan to improve it a bit more so I will definitely think about it. The zen mode was partially intended for people to try the controls in a more calm environment as well :)
There's more than meets the eye with this submission. I've never felt so truly bewildered to controls before but they also feel like a Stick Shift car in how you have fine control to do some crazy things. The current challenge is super satisfying and I enjoyed how the developer designed these with tension/pressure in mind.
However I think the implementation of "swap" as a theme is incredibly abstract and absent from the core of this game's identity. Swapped controls do increase tension and make for an interesting comeback mechanic, but the fact it's hidden behind losing the round feels like it wasn't considered for the main gameplay loop. I would have appreciated the swapped controls mechanic more if it showed up as a challenge round, was tied to an obstacle you had to dodge, or was a persistent randomization of buttons across every round you complete.
Thanks a lot for playing and for your feedback! I did think about the swapped controls kicking in randomly or due to other events, but in the end I thought it would be way too hard, so I settled in the second chance :)