Screen Space Defender

by balance686

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.32

Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.11

Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.21

Theme★★★★★★★★★★3.72

Graphics★★★★★★★★★★3.26

Humor★★★★★★★★★★2.62

Mood★★★★★★★★★★3.08

Screen Space Defender is a Puzzle game made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 42.

Defend your display by unscrambling images and closing panes before you run out of screen space. Will you be the master of your desktop? Fire up Glass Panes OS and find out!

Music by Antti Luode.

Controls:
Point/Click

Tools:
- Unity
- Visual Studio
- Inkscape
- GIMP
- Audition
- GitKraken

Changelog:
v1.03 (August 18/18)
- fixed pane loses puzzle title upon being locked (build only)

v1.02 (August 16/18)
- fixed pane can lock while puzzle solving swap is in progress
- fixed game can end while pane is closing if desktop availability drops to 0% during close animation

v1.01 (August 14/18)
- fixed locked panes can freeze the game under certain conditions
- fixed panes can be force closed before puzzle is shuffled

v1.0 (August 13/18)
- initial release

Dave Brake Creations:
https://www.davebrakecreations.com

*Recommended to play in fullscreen mode! Hit the button on the bottom right of the player!*

Tags: #dave-brake-creations, #game jam, #indie, #ld42, #screen-space-defender

Genres: puzzle

Tools: GIMP, Inkscape, Unity

Comments57

Madamin_Z15 Aug 2018, 12:56

Nice game!

arche-san15 Aug 2018, 18:26

Very cool game! I spent a lot of time on it. Once mechanics integrated, it's a very addictive and there's a good flow. Even I can vote for audio category, you pickup the right song for you game.

Great job! :D

Balance686author15 Aug 2018, 21:27

@madamin-z @arche-san Thanks for playing!

Swini15 Aug 2018, 21:56

I like the game. It's a simple idea of puzzle games mixed up with running out of space!!

Igor KinGamer15 Aug 2018, 22:13

Nice idea!

I only think there's too much delay when you switch pieces, but maybe that's on purpose.

lootgrounds15 Aug 2018, 22:28

Love how you incorporated the simple little puzzle mechanic to be able to close a window. It's a small thing but adds so much tension and focus.

Balance686author16 Aug 2018, 03:24

@swini @igor-kingamer @lootgrounds thanks for playing and also the feedback!

@igor-kingamer Thanks! The delay is intentional. I planned to make an animation for the tiles switching positions but ran out of time. I agree it could be dialed down a bit though. I'll keep that in mind if I decide to flesh the game out more after the jam.

NotLivingPool16 Aug 2018, 04:31

Love the idea of being in a computer!

Ceasar16 Aug 2018, 08:12

Nice work dude! Keep it up!

Stames16 Aug 2018, 13:24

Very nice chosen song. once your in flow you can quite relaxe with this game but before it was very stressfull xD

I think a more difficuld mode would have been nice too. Maybe by spawning the windows faster. But this slower version should totaly stay in there because it's soo relaxing once you trained a little bit ^^

Balance686author16 Aug 2018, 16:04

@notlivingpool Thanks glad you enjoyed! I was planning to have more interaction with the OS in between games but didn't have time.

@ceasar Much appreciated!

@stames I agree. I had planned to implement difficulty progression based on number of panes closed but I ran out of time. Currently they spawn at a random time between 10 and 20 seconds.

Thanks for playing!

Enrius16 Aug 2018, 16:57

Haha, good one! Great job man!

GeroX16 Aug 2018, 18:29

Nice game, but one time I was unable to close a window after I finished the puzzle.

Balance686author16 Aug 2018, 18:39

@enrius thanks for playing!

@gerox interesting - sorry that happened! I wonder if the timer ran out while you were making the last swap to solve the puzzle? I'll look into that.

jeke16 Aug 2018, 19:12

This felt really well executed. It seemed like you were able to create a complete experience, which is not often the case with game jams.

The game-play was challenging, but not in an unfair way that couldn't be overcome with practice. This type of mechanic felt very at home with the visuals you created.

Great job.

Cresceda16 Aug 2018, 19:14

Really cool game. I like puzzle games like these. Only thing I was kind of missing was something to gradually make it harder, because eventually I could just keep going without getting stuck on any. Really cool music and game though, also addictive ;)

RubixNoob1316 Aug 2018, 19:27

Interesting concept. I like the take on the "close a bunch of pop ups" but they're actually cool puzzles that you have to solve first. Neat idea!

loonydrope16 Aug 2018, 19:36

I've always liked mini games like that. And the way you integrated those mini-games to match the theme is very clever.
Everything is working pretty well together. Things happened a bit too fast for me at first, but I get used to carefully watch the entire image when it appears so I improved. :)

I think this is great and well executed.

erikiene16 Aug 2018, 20:59

Nice flow of the game (feels right, not sure how to explain) and also the music!

dasun16 Aug 2018, 21:05

Very interresting, mini games are fun and the concept is really good .

Balance686author16 Aug 2018, 21:22

@jeke @cresceda @rubixnoob13 @loonydrope @erikiene @dasun

I appreciate the feedback! Thanks for playing!

Balance686author16 Aug 2018, 23:01

@gerox just patched that bug you encountered :) Thanks for letting me know!

AdonisDevs17 Aug 2018, 23:38

This is very hard! This is a good challenge. The visuals are done well. Good entry :)

johnnwfs18 Aug 2018, 00:24

Great game and a good challenge. As same pictures came up on subsequent tries I was able to get further before losing. Really enjoyed it. Every so often a second tile click did not move a tile, but that was a rare instance and was only frustrating when I had only a space or two left.

Maffew18 Aug 2018, 00:27

Great game, honestly! really solid entry

CliffracerX18 Aug 2018, 02:30

Solid little game! Had a bit of trouble early on with some stickiness, and running out of time, but it only took me a few minutes to get the hang of the puzzle system (and memorize them all :stuck_out_tongue:), and by my third try I was able to make it to a high score of 160 before opting to quit of my own accord.

Music is decently catchy and suits the mood, the graphics are solid enough, the actual sound-effects work well, and...Honestly, overall? I don't really have anything to complain about.

If you opt to expand it post-LD, some more variation would be cool (like more puzzle content, and types of puzzles *to* solve), but that's really about all it needs.

Balance686author18 Aug 2018, 05:38

@adonisdevs @maffew Thanks I appreciate that! Thanks for playing!

@johnnwfs I'll look into that thanks for letting me know! So glad you enjoyed it!

@cliffracerx Thanks for the detailed feedback! The delay I put in after the second piece is selected hasn't been received well haha duly noted for a post jam version for sure. I'm definitely considering expanding it after I wrap up my current project. I wanted to have more puzzles, scaling difficulty, an online leaderboard, and more interaction with the OS in between rounds among other things. Btw as I said on your entry, you are a madman lol I still can't believe what you made. Props!

Rob Parker18 Aug 2018, 08:02

Really enjoyed playing this game! Mechanics worked really well and it was quick and easy to play.

cr0w18 Aug 2018, 17:20

I really like the opening menu and the sound design. It really does a good job of creating a sense of setting and bestows the game with a feeling of polish.

naali19 Aug 2018, 00:42

Hmm, I get an error that says, "You need a browser which supports WebGL to run this content. Try installing Firefox." But I am using FireFox.

Not sure what the issue was but I did get it to work and it was very fun. Good job.

piscythe19 Aug 2018, 00:45

Really cool game! I kept trying to drag the pop-up windows to different parts of my screen, so your fake OS is reasonably convincing. Having the real system time in the bottom right is a nice touch. Learning the game takes a bit (my first attempt scored all of 20 points), but once I got the hang of things the gameplay and music came together for a really meditative experience. You've confirmed my suspicion that the difficulty wasn't scaling at all - once I got the hang of the mechanics and memorized the puzzles, I felt I could hold the line indefinitely, so I left after about 300 points. Good work!

Carlos Giraldo19 Aug 2018, 04:58

Liked the idea. It would be cool I think to add more types of minigames warioware style. This would add more unpredictability to the challenges which I think with one puzzle style... get stale for me quick.

Balance686author19 Aug 2018, 17:38

@rob-parker @cr0w Thanks for playing!

@naali that is very strange. I use Firefox and it works fine (tested on multiple PCs). Is your Firefox up to date? Are you able to play other Unity WebGL games? I provided a Windows download as well if that's your OS

Balance686author19 Aug 2018, 18:16

@piscythe Thanks for playing! Yeah I really wish I had time to implement the difficulty scaling I planned but I ended up adding audio within the last 30 minutes of the jam :P Hoping to manage my time better next time.

@carlos-giraldo I agree - thanks for the feedback! The limited amount of puzzles in the jam version (14) and lack of difficulty scaling don't provide the most long term experience. I'll definitely address that in a post-jam version

rEaX20 Aug 2018, 02:14

Pretty cool game, well done!

ChicoMCastro20 Aug 2018, 03:29

What a nice game! Congratulations, found it pretty innovative o/

Balance686author20 Aug 2018, 04:10

@reax @chicomcastro Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for playing!

JesterSeraph20 Aug 2018, 04:17

Fun game! The puzzles alone were addicting, but add onto that the interesting screen space defender aspect and it was on another level. Very cool!

hollandgeng20 Aug 2018, 04:19

the graphics and UI look so nice. i like the idea.

HYPRGLOO20 Aug 2018, 08:46

This game was intense! The game was very easy to pick up and understand and I really liked the multitasking concept.

Balance686author20 Aug 2018, 15:50

@jesterseraph @hollandgeng @hyprgloo Much appreciated!

Paulie B20 Aug 2018, 22:48

Lots of cool puzzles! I had an idea like this (that I didn't do) but I never could've executed it this well. Also love Glass Panes 5! My one suggestion would be to reduce the delay between picking the second tile and them switching.

ctrble21 Aug 2018, 03:19

I love the concept behind this! The ui and sounds were perfect for it, and I've always had kind of a soft spot for those sorts of tile puzzles.

Balance686author21 Aug 2018, 16:25

@paulie-b Thanks for the feedback! I definitely made a bad call with that delay lol everyone seems to dislike it. It's only one line of code to change but I'll have to wait until after the jam as per the rules.

@ctrble I'm glad you enjoyed! Thanks for playing

Ryomayonnaise23 Aug 2018, 22:29

Pretty good puzzle game ! I spend like 30 minutes playing it, very fun !

SheldonZS24 Aug 2018, 15:23

nice job. Decent variety of images, but some of them got a bit confusing when 2 pieces were totally interchangable. I could see why you'd have a delay after selecting both to make room for the swapping animation, but the lag between clicking the two pieces to be swapped was painful. Overall, nice job!

rexpeppers24 Aug 2018, 17:19

Loved the loading screen. That was pretty cool.

Balance686author25 Aug 2018, 17:37

@ryomayonnaise Thanks I'm glad you liked it!

@sheldonzs Good call on the interchangeable pieces. I remember thinking at the time (tired of course :P) that it would be important to notice the image before it scrambles but it isn't always possible when things get hectic and it shouldn't look right if pieces are in an incorrect spot. I was putting borders around the images to help with that but I neglected to do that on some of them. Also I agree with the swap delay haha that's become the bane of my existence during this jam :P Thanks for the feedback!

@rexpeppers Thanks! I was trying to sell the virtual OS idea the best I could. Glad you liked!

Rodrigo Denúbila28 Aug 2018, 04:58

Very interesting concept. A different approach on the theme. Good job

Balance686author28 Aug 2018, 15:12

@rodrigo-denubila Thanks! I watched your timelapse - amazing work! Dev goals right there haha

Lu7cie28 Aug 2018, 16:33

The graphics are funny and the theme is respected ! I like the music and the sound design too ! Sometimes it's hard to see why we don't succeed the puzzles.. But in overall it's fun ! Great job !

Balance686author28 Aug 2018, 20:29

@lu7cie A few of the puzzles have pieces that look right in a couple different spots. That was a bad choice on my part! If I develop the game further down the road I'll be sure to add a border to the outside of those puzzles so it'll be less ambiguous. Thanks for playing!

BBApps30 Aug 2018, 21:03

Was a little confused how to start the game at the beginning but once I figured it out I had a really fun time playing it. Good job.

Balance686author31 Aug 2018, 03:47

@bbapps Sorry about that! I was planning to animate the play button to draw the player's attention to it but ran out of time >.

mrjoshuamclean4 Sep 2018, 13:14

Concept is great, puzzles are super hard! Definitely a creative use of the theme. Here's a video of my feedback and play: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/303323178