I used minimalist painter Piet Mondrian as my inspiration for the game. It's also minimalist in that you are playing a blue square under attack by an abstract impressionist splatter painting. It's still more minimalist, gamewise, in that you don't actually control the square directly; instead, you have three buttons that all do essentially the same thing, affecting the environment for the blue square.
And it's also a love story, of sorts, if you can sit through the too-long intro.
Controls are the 1, 2, and 3 number keys. That's it. You can skip ahead or go back to earlier levels, or restart your current one, by clicking on the arrow buttons at the lower right.
Written in JavaScript (HTML5) using the Crafty library (http://craftyjs.com). My own art (GIMP and PowerPoint) and sounds (GoldWave audio).
Let me know what you think!
EDIT: 5/1/2013 - I figured out what was making sound not play in Firefox and some other browsers, so I made a typo fix as permitted in the rules (just needed to add two square brackets to make it work).
This is really fun! You introduce new features in the perfect spots, at first I was like "ok bed time", then i was like, "ohh what's this thing/keep playing"!
at first the interface puzzled me a little, then i read the description, then the physics puzzled me a little... then i kept playing and enjoyed a nice level design progress.
For some reason I couldn't hear any sound. But that alright because I didn't need it. This game was very entertaining. I really enjoyed it. I'd love to see this on the market someday.
great, this really worked for me. the sounds really complimented the gameplay (oh yeah) and the use of Mondrian really fit naturally into the game. good stuff.
Clearly a good idea, concept, realizations and use of the theme. More important, I had a lot of fun playing it and I'm just fond of the way you use the Mondrian's painting!Really, great little game!
This is great! The puzzle mechanics are surprisingly challenging and interesting, and the graphics and sounds do their jobs well. The later stages get hard, but not too hard; I think the balance is about right. I think my favorite part is the stage transitions. My only complaint is that on one of the later stages the 3 attractor is on the left side and the 2 is on the right, making it a little counterintuitive. Nice job, though!
Great use of simple animation to make the game feel alive during setup and level changes. I like the physics a lot. They're a bit floaty but it makes the control feel good.
I'm guessing you skipped sound, which is understandable but unfortunate. It'd be great to hear some blips when the square bumps into walls, even if they're just sfxr-generated.
Thanks for the great feedback and kind comments. Sorry about the sound problems - there are a lot of sound effects (13 of them, I think), but they're not playing properly in the current version of Firefox on Windows. Not sure why that is - I'm looking into it with the Crafty development community.
EDIT: 5/1/2013 - I figured out what was making sound not play in Firefox and some other browsers, so I made a typo fix as permitted in the rules (needed two square brackets to work).
First game I play in this comp, and it's a zinger! The attractor mechanic is innovative (at least in my experience), and the gameplay is fun and challenging, with enough new features added to keep my attention. The combination of simple-but-colourful graphics and tough gameplay reminds me of the freeware games I'd play on my dad's computer way back when.
Going with the minimalist theme, I like how the villain is a lot more complex-looking than the good guys. Er, squares.
Seriously, my only complaint is that the cutscenes are a bit overly-long. Also it's a bit hard, but that might just me being bad at this.
Very nice! Never would have expected a game like this to have much story to it lol. Interesting mechanics, a few levels were a bit challenging, but overall it wasn't difficult at all.
I really liked this one. The mechanic made sense but the puzzles made the game challenging. The sound effects make me laugh. It had a story! Great work!
Hah, I love the audio! "OH YEAH." :D Very interesting idea, too. I found the mechanic hard at first, but got used to it and it works well I think. I did have the blue block get stuck a couple times on the wall though, which meant I had to restart the level. The upside of course that the levels were nice and short, so it wasn't a hassle. Good work :)
@Everybody - thanks for the kind words and useful suggestions.
@Whilefun - I'm glad you liked it - if you see this, can you tell me what browser you were using? I have played it a ton since the compo ended, and haven't had any issues in Chrome for Windows, but I haven't tested extensively on other browsers. Was it stuck on a vertical wall, or a horizontal wall, and was it resting on the wall or through it? Thanks!
I really loved how you've incorporated Mondrian's art style into your level design plus those are some of the best recorded sound fx I have ever heard :D
This is my favourite game so far! Original controls, difficult enough to provide a challenge, yet so addictive I had to finish it. [but I think I'm getting sick of this Mondrian guy... :D]
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The pull of the nodes felt a bit weak at times, which became especially apparent when the areas that kill you were introduced.
I got a small screen so I had to fullscreen my browser to play it.
The mechanics are good also.
Congrats :)
Great use of simple animation to make the game feel alive during setup and level changes. I like the physics a lot. They're a bit floaty but it makes the control feel good.
I'm guessing you skipped sound, which is understandable but unfortunate. It'd be great to hear some blips when the square bumps into walls, even if they're just sfxr-generated.
I made a Mondrian/De Stijl game too, but you stuck closer the the whole "Composition #10" vibe.
The mechanics are pretty nice. I agree with metadept on that counterintuitiveness.
Going with the minimalist theme, I like how the villain is a lot more complex-looking than the good guys. Er, squares.
Seriously, my only complaint is that the cutscenes are a bit overly-long. Also it's a bit hard, but that might just me being bad at this.
Kudos for a great little game.
@Whilefun - I'm glad you liked it - if you see this, can you tell me what browser you were using? I have played it a ton since the compo ended, and haven't had any issues in Chrome for Windows, but I haven't tested extensively on other browsers. Was it stuck on a vertical wall, or a horizontal wall, and was it resting on the wall or through it? Thanks!
[but I think I'm getting sick of this Mondrian guy... :D]