You Are the Machine!

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.05
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.89
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.46
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.46
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.46
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.40
Humor★★★★★★★★★★1.80
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.33
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★49%
This is my first LD48 entry. It's pretty generic in idea and execution, but it's done!

I usually collaborate as an artist/UI designer. This is the first game that I've coded all on my own. As such, I spent the vast majority of the time just getting it to function.

That said, if there's something to be improved that you'd think would be obvious, especially if it's related to programming and/or performance, let me know.

Things I know could have been better: sound design, level design (I planned on doing power-ups & different starting patterns for bricks, but didn't have time to implement them), balancing.

I hope to eventually clean this up and upload it somewhere like Kongregate, so comments about what level you achieved, whether you thought the timers or brick allotments were too much/little, et cetera are greatly appreciated.

Made in Flixel with graphics in Photoshop CS5 and sounds from sfxr.

KNOWN BUGS: updated 12/16 17:05 - game overs triggered at higher levels sometimes kick you back to the play screen. If this happens, refresh. (Sorry!)

screenshot

Comments20

jfroco17 Dec 2012, 05:23
Sometimes the ball slows down. It's a good twist to breakout clones. Congrats
NeverAutomatic
NeverAutomatic17 Dec 2012, 05:25
I really like this take on a classic game to fit the theme. :D
SimianLogic
SimianLogic17 Dec 2012, 05:26
Seems like you can just keep putting bricks in the corners--it's mostly a waiting game. The ball will speed up eventually and the paddle won't be able to keep up. Sound and graphics are good, wish there was a little more to do.
apophenia
apopheniaauthor17 Dec 2012, 06:05
Well, poopy. I just discovered that the crashing bug doesn't just trigger on gameover screens, it appears to trigger on some timer expirations too. I think I know what's causing it; I might upload an additional version with a fix tomorrow.
Suese
Suese17 Dec 2012, 07:00
Interesting idea in theory, in practice it's a bit bland and easy. I do like the twist.
aneeslol17 Dec 2012, 07:12
Neat idea, this could definitely be really cool with some balancing.
Casino Jack17 Dec 2012, 08:11
Nice twist on a classic game. I didn't initially realise that I had limited bricks, so the first few times I was just clicking everything. Would be cool if you could click several times on the same brick to increase the number of hits needed to destroy it.
vrav
vrav17 Dec 2012, 08:31
Arkanoid is an old favourite. This hurt my brain at first, and I'm still not sure what sort of strategy to employ. It's bind-boggling like that, in an engaging sort of way.
ChainedLupine
ChainedLupine17 Dec 2012, 08:45
Nice idea! Game works though it sometimes gets stuck. The ball seems to lodge itself somewhere offscreen and the paddle just wobbles in the corner, trying to get to it, and I eventually lose.
apophenia
apopheniaauthor17 Dec 2012, 19:59
@ChainedLupine has that happened in the middle of a level, or does it only happen between levels? Because if it straight-up happens in the middle of a level, I have even bigger problems than I thought. ;D
01010111
0101011117 Dec 2012, 22:11
When I click and drag, it places tons of bricks on one placeholder, and they all are destroyed if the ball hits them. Other than that, I thought the design was great, the colors were cool, and I loved the font you used!
Nsmurf18 Dec 2012, 04:32
Nice, but it feels like randomly placing blocks.
Hume
Hume18 Dec 2012, 05:33
I like how there are two tasks going on -- keep some blocks on screen, but try to accelerate the ball to defeat the player.

A larger playing board and smaller elements might give more time for strategy.
h8urf8
h8urf818 Dec 2012, 12:26
Really nice! Great idea though.
PapyGaragos
PapyGaragos18 Dec 2012, 22:52
Awesome :)
Nice idea, simple and well executed
AdventureIslands
AdventureIslands19 Dec 2012, 21:49
Really nice idea! It seems you will eventually win by just placing the blocks and waiting the paddle to miss the ball though, but this very solid entry.
SaintHeiser22 Dec 2012, 05:11
Hahaha, I like how you playing around theme=) Really good idea. Maybe you can improve that by adding various types of bricks and bonuses in it.
pereubu24 Dec 2012, 11:04
Great idea, i've only seen a few concept where you play the evil gameplay mechanic (and i enjoyed it :3)
azurenimbus
azurenimbus6 Jan 2013, 00:43
Wow, really liked your twist. I don't remember ever playing a game like this.
ConflictiveLabs
ConflictiveLabs6 Jan 2013, 00:55
Congratulations on your first entry!. Solid, simple yet extremely fun! It has a few bugs, yes, but it's one of the most clever games I've seen so far. Kudos!

Other games by @apophenia

Found a bug?
Tell us on Discord