I've been playing this horrid thing constantly since it came out.
So far I can get up to 94 on 4-color and 70 on 5-color, and beat everything else.
I think this game has a lot of potential, but several critiques follow.
1) The "
random game"
in 2+ colors is
totally different from the "
puzzle game"
in 1 color. These should be made obviously different "
modes of play"
, because they're basically two different games!
2)
Why not allow puzzles in more than one color? By this, I mean, you should be able to create deterministic puzzles in more than one color. You could set certain guns to fire only one particular color, or to alternate with a particular pattern. This has huge puzzle potential. Making boards for this isn't much fun when the guns are random.
3) For the random game, the difficulty level is waaaaaay up and down all over the board. Some of the trivial levels need to be ramped up at least slightly to not be dumb, and it should definitely be sorted by difficulty. It shouldn't be so easy to beat a level late in the game the first time you see it, even if you re-randomize the board a few times (which is a big part of the game in later levels).
4) The term "
bomb"
is a bit odd since they don't "
blow up"
. Maybe different styles of block: metal, wood, glass?
5) Red and blue are a bit too dark (especially blue). Yellow and green are too near in hue.
6) The "
back button"
looks like an undo button. A "
menu"
button which allows you to choose from previously-conquered levels would be preferable.
7) Putting the buttons in the corners may cause you to accidentally hit one when aiming for a corner-adjacent gun (which I have done once or twice).
I think my favorite level outside of the actual 1-color puzzles would have to be 3Boxin3 (level 83 on the 3-color). This is where I learned most of the techniques I needed to beat everything else. It's an excellent level because it is beatable no matter what value the random gun queues take once you have the juggling of blocks down to a science. I remember how the game changed in character for me once I realized that.
All in all, this is a very nice game; but it could become simply awesome with some more tweaking. I want more. I also want my life back, however, so I'm deleting this bastard off of my computer right now. I've probably put 300 hours into it and I'm going insane from lack of DROD.
____________________________
Trickster
Official Hold ProgressClick here to view the secret text
×Beethro and the Secret Society: Postmastered
Beethro's Teacher: In Progress
Complex Complex: In Progress
Devilishly Dangerous Dungeons of Doom: In Progress
Finding the First Truth: Postmastered
Gunthro and the Epic Blunder: In Progress
Halph Has a Bad Day: Mastered (no door)
Journey to Rooted Hold: Postmastered
King Dugan's Dungeon 2.0: Postmastered
Master Locks: Mastered (no door)
Master Locks Expert: Mastered (no door)
Perfect: In Progress (Perfect 8)
Smitemastery 101: Postmastered
Suit Pursuit: In Progress
Tendry's Tale: Mastered (RPG)
The Choice: Postmastered
The City Beneath: Postmastered
Favorite Unofficial Holds (I need to play more!)
Click here to view the secret text
×A Quiet Place: Mastered (no door)
Advanced Concepts: In Progress
Archipelago: In Progress (Island 12)
Break Out Of Jail: Conquered (86%)
Dr. E. Will's Mega Complex: In Progress
Hold Anonymous: In Progress
Paycheck: Conquered (75%)
The Test of Mind: Mastered (RPG)
Unfriendly Islands: In Progress
Val Unrich: In Progress
war10: Mastered (no door)
war15: Mastered (no door)
war: the truth within: Mastered (no door)
Washed Ashore: Mastered (RPG)
My HoldsClick here to view the secret text
×The Plague Within (RPG) (alpha)
Tinytall Tower (Smitemaster) (beta)
Do Not Disturb Compilation (level contributions) (in review)
Riddle of the Bar (compilation)