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So the developer claims the strategy part mitigates the luck. This claim very much underestimates the amount of luck involved in this game and is completely ignoring the fact that the strategy that is supposed to mitigate the luck is entirely based on luck. You can not make those strategic moves if they simply are not there. There's not enough moves if you have to waste them setting up big moves.
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Another bunch of restarts on later levels in addition to the comment by the developer got me change my rating from 5/5 to 1/5. This game really started out very very pleasureable. Which started to diminish around level 18 and didn't get better after 18
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Actually, the randomness pushed me down in the comment section and I see a lot of what I wanted to say. Plus, I'm right now trying to solve 18, like the guy just before me, I really want you to demonstrate on this particular level how this is not majorly influenced by luck.
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Needs new tags: Luck, Randomness. Sound and visuals are gorgeous, but the game itself is just a frustrating series of continuous fruitless attempts.
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Dear Kajenx, please explain to me on the example of level 18 how this game is not considerably luck-based. To win this level, I need to set up spells, which is nigh-impossible when starting out. So I waste 5 or more moves trying to set up a spell that is able to clear one or more blocks. During these moves I only gain an insignificant amount of points due to the lacking multiplier. If I somehow manage to break the blocks, I'm out of moves before being even close to reaching 7500 points. If you still insist on this game being largely strategical rather than luck-based then I'll respond that you most likely failed to convey the necessary skills/strategies to the player. (And yes, I've restarted level 18 about 30-50 times now and I'm still stuck on it)
Level 18 is one example where getting a spell in the very beginning will make a difference. It's not as big a difference as you'd think, though. Once you get one block cleared, you can get rid of the rest pretty quickly and rack up a good multiplier in order to make some big scores at the end of the level. I just got two stars in my first attempt with three moves left, was 50 points away from 1 star on my second attempt (took me a bit to get going), and got 2 stars with 8 moves left on my third try. That isn't luck. Here on Kong you can even cheat a bit and restart until you get a spell on the opening board if you want. That should make it easy for you to pass this level at least.
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The luck does play a major factor. Where finishing a level relies on the fact that your first move gives you a spell, luck is involved. If it's not a spell, you spend most of the moves attempting to get that spell to show up, at which point you don't have enough points, or are simply out of moves to even finish the rest of the level. I'm mostly on the "out of moves" bit by level 14. Enjoying it, but it is frustrating as strategy doesn't apply when all you can do is match stuff up hoping the one you want will appear.
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Lol was getting anxious couldn't find the mute, didn't even expect the purple arrow to be options. labels would help but meh oh wells clever dev click baited the track :3 good game tho.
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I'm kind off annoyed by your comment Kajenx, this game is hard and there's no need to be smug about being better than most of us players. That being said, there's alot of luck involved in how stuff are initially and there's really no way to go around this. These "match 3" games just work like that from the core.
I'm not being smug. I'm just saying the game is not based on luck. If it was, it would be just as hard for me to win as a new player. I was actually trying to be encouraging... If people think they can only win by getting the right random number, then obviously the game is frustrating and not really worth spending any effort on.
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"You have to use strategy to win." Ah ok so it's my bad planning and playing skills that are keeping the colors I need from appearing.
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I'd love to see a help function with the shapes of the blast radius for each pattern, how to tell if a block takes two or more explosions to clear, etc. The blast shapes, especially, are hard to map out because they show and are gone again so quickly.
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I really like the concept here. But too many of the levels are based purely on luck. A little randomness is one thing, but when you have to restart more than a few ties just waiting for the exact config needed to hit the goal... not so good. (L21 is a good example of this issue.)
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Surely, if lots of people comment on how random the game is, a comment from the developer pointing out that it's easy for them is a little counterintuitive? Yes, of course it is Kajenx, it's YOUR game. It's really not the 'strategy' that makes this a little frustrating dude, it is the heavy dose of luck often required. Maybe a skip level feature?
I don't understand your logic. If it was just luck, then it would be just as hard for me as a new player. Luck is random for everyone, even the developer. If I can display a level of skill with the game, that means the game has nothing to do with luck. So, my conclusion was that I wasn't explaining the game well enough.
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It really seems that if you trigger multiple spells at once, they should each damage blocking pieces/glass that the resulting blasts touch. It's disappointing when you trigger 8 spells at once and that blocking piece is still in your way.
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A "Play Again"/"Next Level" option at the end of a level would be wonderful! Also, any way to have the game remember where on the track you are when you reload - instead of having to scan right every time? Otherwise, great game. I often play each level not planning to win the first time, just to see what strategy is needed
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round 22 beaten in about 30 attempts, only after I was lucky enough to get 4-spell start. The random factor really screws it up.
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I really like the concept and gameplay but as has been mentioned by many others the luck required to clear some levels is just stupidly high. It doesn't help if you can spot all the combos when there's no combos to play so you have to use 5 moves to get anywhere and that's already enough to quarantee you lose the level.
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Why this game is more luck based than strategy: You have too few moves available to set up your combos. If you can't start with a few combos it means you also don't get wildcards meaning it's even harder to get more combos set up. This has nothing to do with strategy and all with initial board setup. I too feel too limited because of luck rather than lack of strategy.
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can't beat level 82. Didn't reach 40k pts even once and never cleaned from all stones anyway... always 2 corners stays
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Fun to play, but it's frustrating having to try and get combos to beat a level. You say you tried to make it more strategy than luck, and that's great! It doesn't seem like the luck requirement is very low, however.
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The hardest part for me is visualizing the "s" shapes. Maybe having a little panel that shows the different spells would be very helpful.
I really like the game. Great visuals, great music.
I think people are just having problems understanding the spells/remembering to use them. The multipliers are so critical.
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Never use yourself to test your own game. Ever. You made it of course you know how to get through it easily! You're too biased. You need unbiased testers to know if your game is flawed or not.
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One thing that would be really appreciated is after you fail a level, there's a "retry" button available right under the message that tells you that you failed. Having to click on the specific level adds an unnecessary step. Yes, you can restart a level when you have >0 moves left, but you should also be able to restart at 0.
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I'll bet once I can see the patterns to look for to set up the spell combos, this game will be great...except I'm not seeing them. What can seem like a great idea can turn into a puzzle nightmare which is what is seriously hurting this game's rating. Needs a substantial difficulty fix...more spell combos? a more in depth tutorial?
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I must be really terrible at this game, since I've now played level 25 fifty times without completing both objectives.
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when testing a game you shouldnt be the one to do it, you know the game to well, if you think its ovious but more say it isnt then it isnt...
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The game looks great, but it doesn't give enough visual cues. Spells should be more obvious when you click that they'll trigger (maybe highlight all the other things that will go when you do them?). Also, some kind of undo, even just one turn for when things don't drop the way you expect them to. Right now, it's kind of a crapshoot when you blow up something that could have 2 things that feed into it and it doesn't always make sense.
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the dev said he can beat any lvl in one or two tries. i get stucked on the same lvl for half hour. i must be really stupid or he is a great liar
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Konregate? Why did you put this on my 'recommended' list? Did I piss you off??
This is a great game (graphics, music, idea) with poor structure and execution. As you get past level 40 or 50, you either have to try dozens of times to get the minimum required (thank goodness the 'heart' restart seems to have been turned off), or you finally get the right drop... and you score double or triple past the MAXIMUM you need. To much repetition just praying to the drop gods... 2/5