Vs.

by kjscott
Overall★★★★★★★★★★2.91
Fun★★★★★★★★★★2.51
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.26
Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.59
Graphics★★★★★★★★★★2.55
Audio★★★★★★★★★★2.11
Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.06
Mood★★★★★★★★★★2.44
Coolness★★★★★★★★★★100%
Backstory: Fight the evil minimalist regime and bring back "realism" to the gaming world.

How to play: Just keep pressing the one button to begin with and then start pressing other buttons as they appear, clues about what you should be doing start to appear as you go along.

screenshot

Comments39

hgouveia
hgouveia29 Apr 2013, 23:56
i can't rate this game because i don't get what i need to do :(
JAH2488
JAH248829 Apr 2013, 23:59
Took the theme a little too literal ;) Hard to tell what to do.

I'm assuming its kind of like a mini rts thats been stripped down. Cool concept.
deathray
deathray30 Apr 2013, 00:01
The concept is innovative and the gameplay was fun... but I was completely thrown off by the diagram at the bottom! The "x = y" means "if you see x, kill it with y". The second stage was definitely the hardest because i didn't know what those things were at first.
Canard Sauvage30 Apr 2013, 00:01
I defeated the regime! Great idea, fits the theme really well. I liked the minimial visuals in the beginning more than the later ones :)
KJScott
KJScottauthor30 Apr 2013, 00:03
Things start to become clearer as you make progress, and yes it does start off very minimalistic but gradually changes. Just keep pressing the one button to begin within and then start pressing other buttons as they appear, clues about what you should be doing start to appear as you go along.
allinlabs
allinlabs30 Apr 2013, 00:03
I feel dumb not figuring out what to do...
hgouveia
hgouveia30 Apr 2013, 00:03
i think with a little description a least in here , how to play it might help a lot
ronsho
ronsho30 Apr 2013, 00:04
Most of the time all I saw was the square at the bottom of the screen, I would click it, it would fill up, and then nothing would happen. Sometimes the other shapes would appear briefly. Using Safari on a Mac.
anjack30 Apr 2013, 00:04
I love this new genre of "UI evolution" games. I really like the transitions between graphics levels.

@hgouveia: Just start by clicking on the square icon repeatedly until new icons appear. Then it's a classic side-scrolling RTS.
Homletmoo
Homletmoo30 Apr 2013, 00:05
It took me a moment to realise the aim, but I liked the progression. A very nice rock-paper-scissors spin off ;)
KJScott
KJScottauthor30 Apr 2013, 00:05
@allinlabs - I wouldn't feel bad about not figuring out what to do, some playtesters I get it to had no idea also and needed a little prompting. I've added a little description of what to do on the entry now, hope it helps people. I don't want to say too much as it'll spoil it if you do start to make it through to the later stages.
KJScott
KJScottauthor30 Apr 2013, 00:06
@Homletmoo - was supposed to be potato-paper-scissors spin off but never managed to really put that concept in :P
NicoJaujou30 Apr 2013, 00:42
I don't think minimalist means cryptic, but I like the buttons with the shapes.
ataxkt30 Apr 2013, 00:42
Slow to start - Nice RPS mechanic though! Only made more minimal by RPS ;)
josefnpat
josefnpat30 Apr 2013, 00:45
This is a very cool game. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on, but when I caught on, it was awesome!
swizzcheez30 Apr 2013, 01:13
Hard to figure out what to do, but it boils down to rock, paper, scissors. However, if you launch one of each at each level then you'll end up winning in the end.
SmilingCat30 Apr 2013, 01:35
I too was confused at first, but a little persistence paid off and I was very pleased with how it evolved.
manabreak
manabreak30 Apr 2013, 08:59
Very unique approach :) Took a while to get into, but it was quite fun after you got the hang of it.
GingerMess30 Apr 2013, 09:20
Tricky! When the symbols changed it threw me, didn't see it coming at all.
KJScott
KJScottauthor30 Apr 2013, 09:29
@GingerMess I've been playing it for 3/4 days now and it confuses me when the symbols change too! Ideally I would have prefered it if I had done a transitional state, a morph between symbol changes but I didn't think about that until way too late.
notepid30 Apr 2013, 09:34
Too complicated for my brain :)
Travis Irby30 Apr 2013, 09:37
Okay I didnt get it at first, but once I did I had fun :D Clever concept!
HelkeGames30 Apr 2013, 10:27
Maybe too minimal but it was pretty fun and cool. well done ;)
raincole30 Apr 2013, 11:01
To those who can't get it: it's just like paper-scissor-rock
Conve30 Apr 2013, 11:14
What I have to do???
KJScott
KJScottauthor30 Apr 2013, 11:15
@Conve, there is one button to start off with, press that. Eventually things will start changing, try pressing different buttons and see what happens.
noddy2006
noddy200630 Apr 2013, 11:19
Cool game! I smiled when the objects started to take shape - clever. I think the X=Y notation was a bit vague though. Maybe something like (square) > (circle)? Seems more intuitive to have what you need to use on the left and what you want to beat on the right, given that that's where the shapes originate.
captainkraft
captainkraft30 Apr 2013, 11:21
Great use of the minimalist theme. Start with the basic concept and build onto it.

I really liked the way it reverted back to the basic shapes when you start to lose.
KJScott
KJScottauthor30 Apr 2013, 11:29
@noddy2006 - I tried that but it got confusing fast until you learnt the patterns because you had to look at the symbols, find the one on the right, then look back at the left and having a < symbol going the other direction just made it look wierd. It's the one major thing I'm still unsure as to what works best and I had too few playtesters who hadn't played it during development.
JustinMullin30 Apr 2013, 14:55
Can't rate audio (no speakers sorry) But overall lots of fun! Love to see the progression from abstract to reality. Got pretty challenging too. Nice entry!
Grouflon30 Apr 2013, 22:13
The design is interesting, your backstory is hilarious ;) The theme is also well respected... But what the hell should I do in this game? I really just can't figure it out... To sum up, I think the main problem of this game is that you took the theme a little bit more literally. But nice atmosphere et design anyway!
HackThePanda30 Apr 2013, 22:16
I don't care what anyone says, this is a great game featuring great game design, catchy graphics and an awesome interpretation of the theme.
Ryusui
Ryusui30 Apr 2013, 23:18
Clever game - figuring out how to play it is half the puzzle. :3

The biggest issue I have is that the guide to what kills what is totally unintuitive: if your units are coming from the left side of the screen and the enemy's units are coming from the right, why are they flipped around on the chart? Also, by the time the instruction showing how to change "channels" for your mobs turns up, the player should have already figured that out (I know I did!).

Here's an idea: perhaps the gameplay should also get more complex as the battle ensues?
jhrrsn
jhrrsn1 May 2013, 00:25
Enjoyable game, hard to work out but mechanically sound once you understand. Would have enjoyed more sound. Gets pretty intense toward the end :)
joe40001
joe400011 May 2013, 05:48
You should replace '=' with '>'
Aside from that I loved this entry, started off as a game where I thought "oh they used the theme to be lazy" but as it progressed I saw what you were doing and realized the genius of it.

I've not nothing but good things to say about this entry. Awesome job!
cwilloughby2 May 2013, 05:16
Super cool! I love this as a concept for introduction to a mechanic - strip it down to basics, then add complexity. May make a cool idea for a tutorial someday. Great work!
hgouveia
hgouveia2 May 2013, 19:30
I got it!!, is like a tower defense to put it in a way!, very fun when you get the idea! :D
GranaDa
GranaDa2 May 2013, 21:44
Bit hard to understand what to do. After some time you get (or not) to the point.
Rafael Sales3 May 2013, 16:56
Extremely abstract and interesting. Congratz!

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