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Great music and beautiful graphics, interesting take on an existing game design. Got 180 stars today so I'd say it's pretty addicting.
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I agree with what everyone else has said, this game has potential but as it stands there is really no strategy just luck. for a lot of the levels the best thing to do is to just keep refreshing at the start until you get a spell right at the beginning. The spells should also do cumulative damage when they make a combo other wise it is just pointless.
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I feel like you should take a look at level 56. The way the balls drop from the side feels unpredictable. 14k also feels very high. Without insane luck you'll fail 100% of the time. There's no strategy that lets you drop the wild cards to x7 or 8 AND get the 5 specials down without sheer luck.
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I like music and design. But the game is too much based on luck. I played until level 18. I tried level 18 twenty times and finally gave up. The only way to pass would be to refresh the level until you can start with a special move.
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Glass doesn't clear consistently when it should. Seems buggy, or perhaps simply arbitrary in which class is cleared when hit by a spell effect. A shame the rules aren't at least consistent to themselves.
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"Level 36 is impossible", I thought. "I can get the special blocks but no matter what I do I can't remove the bottom line." Attempt 241 or whatnot get special blocks done and points over bar at the end but two of the immovable blocks at the bottom remain. Prepare to rage. "Oh, remove the bottom line wasn't a requirement. I'm a dumb."
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@TheSwampman: There are different levels of glass. You can see the difference if the glass has white dots or no dots.
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I think Kajenx is right that strategy is a major factor. However, I think he underestimates the randomity. Sometimes you are on a spell streak and some other times, it seems you can't make even a single one without wasting some more moves to prepare it. And since there is a limited amount of moves, randomity can be a major factor.
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Can anyone tell me how the glass pieces work? Sometimes they clear on spells, sometimes they don't, sometimes they clear on blast, sometimes they don't. I just don't understand their system at all.
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I appreciate that the dev, KAJNEX, is so responsive to this game. But I think that his deep understanding of it means that he won't be able to see how entirely random it is. I have Random in my name...I know random...and this is random.
Seriously though, you could fix it and make it, you know, FUN if you made the objective an either\or thing; clear the blocks OR get the score. Not both. You can but a 3 star score; 1 star for score, 1 star for blocks, 1 if you get both. Just let the game advance with one star.
It is a great concept, and well done, just too random.
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The game looks cool, but if I missed any of help/decriptions of "special items" I don't what to do now to pass the level (some balls are there and I don't know how to get rid of them). For me - annoying na frustrating, so 1/5
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I have beaten the game. it's not only luck. first you Need the right strategy. then you need a little luck. You can see this when you play lvls a second time. it's much easier because you know how.
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It's almost never that I give out a review, but here goes. I think I do agree with many that luck might have too much of an influence in this game. More often than not, if I don't see a special pattern to start a level, I immediately restart the level until I DO see such a pattern. However, I can't discount the fact that you had me addicted to this game... until level 81, which is VERY rare for me with these types of puzzle games where there are goals you must meet before advancing. Therefore, I will be giving a 4/5.
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It would be fun to have more diagonal spells like the X. For example diagonal lines of five. With those you can reach more pieces than with normal clicks.
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No amount of strategy can get you through some of these levels. If the pieces don't fall your way, then forget it. Also, I clicked the center of a + arrangement just now, and no spell was cast. Ofc I'll never be able to prove it...
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This game is no more a game of skill than poker is a game of skill. Later levels are nothing but luck. Had to lower my rating. Was a good game, but gets more frustrating than enjoyable in the early 20's. No way am I going all the way to level 90.
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"I just have to assume the game is too complicated and I didn't explain it well enough"
No offense Kajenx, but that's almost insulting. Your tutorial was fine and appreciated. We aren't dolts... please read Javman158's comments as he clearly articulates the issue. You finished in one or two tries up to level 30?!? Yes, we've tried to "strategize" our moves but it's moot when the drop doesn't contain ANY usable combination and you're effectively throwing moves away. Which seems to be most of the time. After your comment I tried again, but after having to play some levels many times to luck into the right combos, I'm giving up at level 42. For those that have completed the game BIG kudos, but please let us know how many attempts were made before passing any level. Thanks!
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What's up with level 47? There's a full row of tier 2 bocks at the bottom and you have to get 20 special pieces and 35000 points (both an absurd amount). To break the blocks you have to use the spells, but doing so fills the board with special pieces (non-interactive), preventing you from being able to use more spells and break the blocks and so on. It's so counter-intuitive and frustrating.
This level is specifically designed to reverse the usefulness of the wilds. You have to change how you think about them and really plan out what you're going to do or you get stuck pretty quick.
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I think there should be more combos available. Maybe have a small effect for the tetris S block shape. There are several 3x3 patterns that aren't very nice looking but would make more moves possible given a random board. This would help counteract the fairly strong 'luck' aspect of the game.
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Way way way to luck based. Some times you can not win if you just have "bad" luck. No matter how skilled you are so 1/5 so far from me.
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I see that the developer is responding to some of these, so here goes:
Take level 9 for example. In order to clear the glass, I need three different groups that clear a row each, that's either a + shape or a row of five. And as mentioned above, three different ones at three different locations are necessary. If there is a different strategy please elaborate. if not, the game simply relies on luck as everyone is complaining.
You can create your own spell shapes by strategically placing wilds to make spells. Any spell makes a wild, so you actually have a lot of control where spells will be. The wild can be any gem within the spell.
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Good example of impact luck has on this game. Level 39, have all but the top 2 blocks killed, but setting off the top bomb will pop them. I have a pink piece underneath the bomb, and a wild card next to the space above the bomb, and 5 moves. So all I need to do is keep popping that piece above the bomb until I get a pink one, right? 3 blue and one white piece spawn instead. Frustrating.
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In Level 45, I think the blocks are supposed to be single-strength, not double-strength. They're so awkward to hit! Or if the X spell just hit the gaps in the X, or if we had a C-shaped spell that zapped the contained spot...
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game is easy folks! no randomness at all. just use some strategy, and be the developer and your problems will disappear!
This is silly. The point I was making was that a game that was random, and not strategic, would be difficult even for me to win. Since it isn't difficult for me to win most levels in one or two tries - especially the earlier ones that people are complaining about - that is proof that the game isn't luck based. So, like I said, the problem is probably that I didn't explain it well enough.
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Review Comment #3 of 3: Oh, also, I nearly lost the round I finally won because there was a wild in one of those top 2 squares I reference, and apparently the ice doesn't break if there's a wild there. Thankfully I had another couple turns to click something else to make the wild drop and then could click that square again and clear the ice with my last turn. I decided to go back and check, and even if you cast a spell that covers where the wild is, the ice doesn't break. Specifically I got a column starting at the bottom with a wild at the top that technically was not part of the orbs used for the spell. I hope that aspect is unintentional, because it can penalize you for getting those combo spells and having multiple MP orbs on the board, which when they are necessary to achieve a score victory is pretty ridiculous.
I'd say more, but these comments are long enough as it is. I hope you re-evaluate what the majority of your players seem to be telling you about this game.
You underestimate the power of the multiplier. The scoring is (num orbs) x (num orbs) x (multiplier). If you were to focus on clearing the glass for most of the level, and you got, say, 10 spells during that time, it would only take one or two large blasts to get your full score at the very end. The eye pieces are also WILD, which means they can be used for any part of a spell or to connect large blasts together. While playing the game, I can usually find a spell for every move - but sometimes it's better not to use one if clicking a group will create a larger mass.
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Review comment #2 of 3: (likely via another spell) to drop that orb the required 5 spots to bring it to the bottom to receive the x2 MP. Even with that perfect start you'd still need to remove, on average, 9 orbs per turn on a board that averages 11 of each orb available. If you continue to be perfect and get a spell on turn #3 that brings the second MP orb to the bottom for a x3 MP, now you only need to average 7 orbs per turn for your remaining 12 turns to barely hit the 2500 point cap limit.
That's all just for the point challenge, then you gotta worry about the ice! Hitting every single square at least twice is difficult for multiple reasons:
Due to the click blockers, there are 4 particular squares which can only be hit by the X spell, no other spell can reach them. Sure, you can manually click groups to knock them out, but two of those four are at the top of the grid and thus are 100% dependent on orb skyfall, which unless I'm missing something, is entirely luck based.
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Review Comment #1 of 3: Let me see if I can explain to the developer why this game is luck based, using level 24 as an example. It is a 6x6 grid with the corners removed, so 32 squares total. Your tasks are to score 2500 points and clear the ice in 15 moves. The ice covers every square on the board AND requires two hits to fully remove, so 64 total hits to clear. Oh, and two separate 2x2 grids in the center 4x4 are click-blocked - this means out of 32 squares, you can only achieve a spell if the center falls within one of eight squares. Fun times.
Your scoring appears to be +50 for each spell, plus the square of the number of orbs removed in a single turn. There are 3 colors on the board, so on average 11 orbs of each color. Score cap/# of turns requires 13 orbs per turn with no multiplier (MP), or 169 points per turn. Since MP orbs are always placed at top of the column of the orb clicked/center of the spell, you'll need 1 turn to create the MP orb and another...
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Solid mechanics, but as mentioned by many other people, the randomness can mean that a board can be finished trivially, or completely impossible. Using strategy is only helpful if you have actual moves you can make, and randomized drops often mean that the spheres end up in a completely unhelpful position. "Blasts" make it easier to get "blasts" in the future - but you might start out needing to make a dozen moves in order to get them into a useful position, wasting most of them to just get started.
Once you clear the blocks, the whole board is open for just two types of gems. This means you can get huge scores on the last few clicks. It's worth sacrificing a few clicks to get one or two good digs into the middle in the beginning. Don't worry about the glass, it'll clear itself, just get rid of the blocks, then make some really big combos.
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its difficult to get the right set up. i played lvl 17 probably 30 times before i beat it, lvl 18 took me one or two tries, and now im stuck again on lvl 19. you can only strategize so much before getting screwed by the randomness. thats kinda the nature of these "get 3 in a row" things, but some boards are needlessly complicated.
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The cycle "This stage is just bullshit, how do they expect you to [do thing]??!?" ... Anger and Despair ... "This game is bullshit." ... Beat stage ... "Hot damn I'm a sexy god of puzzle skill, this game is the bee's knees." ... Next stage ... repeat.
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The rules aren't entirely clear to me. I don't understand what 'get three special pieces' means, and what decides how I get them, for example.
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Really level 17?! Everything? And a huge amount of points too?! What else, level 17, do you want me to do a handstand and walk your dog while I complete you?! Sorry, but this is some BS.
Once you clear the blocks, the whole board is open for just two types of gems. This means you can get huge scores on the last few clicks. It's worth sacrificing a few clicks to get one or two good digs into the middle in the beginning. Don't worry about the glass, it'll clear itself, just get rid of the blocks, then make some really big combos.
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Ridiculously difficult/impossible if you don't happen to start with just the right combination already on the screen...
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The most annoying thing is when you need something to roll down, and it's competing with other things that could roll down, and IT JUST DOES NOT GO.
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decent game, like the premise, but it seems like the number of moves you get changes the game balance heavily in favor of "luck". I don't know what version the dev is playing, but I'm not to level 30, and I don't beat each level in "one or two tries". More like 20-30. It seems like I can clear the blocks or whatever the sub-goal is, OR get the required minimum score, but trying to attack both seems to always end up short in the other goal.