Unstable Machinery

Overall★★★★★★★★★★3.46
Fun★★★★★★★★★★3.38
Innovation★★★★★★★★★★3.56
Theme★★★★★★★★★★2.92

Info

As society expands, some poor guy has to maintain it all!

With your job as the "Pipe layer" It's your duty to assure that all settlers have all the different kinds of crazy colored water that they demand!

Lay down some pipes, mix some colors together and have and have a slightly stressful evening!
I'd love to see how big your settlements can get!

Controls

#### keyboard
- Wasd for movement.
- Hold Space to pull hoses and handles.
- E for construction menu.
- Q for destruction menu.
- Z to zoom out.

#### controller
- Left stick for movement.
- Hold A to pull hoses and handles.
- X for construction menu.
- B for destruction menu.
- Y to zoom out.
- RB to choose building to construct.

Screen shots

You can see the color mixing wheel in the top left corner!
Genres: puzzle

Comments19

Lemonisred5 Oct 2021, 12:00
this is not my kind of game but i was still verry fun, maybe more indication in the tutorial would have been greate but the game is cool !
Skyward4d
Skyward4d5 Oct 2021, 12:01
Really cool concept!
The graphics look great, the building functions are all interesting, and I really like that you used the CMY convention so the colour mixing is really easy and intuitive.
Also, I like getting through the tutorial, and the game just opening up into a massive area.
Had some minor issues getting stuck in pipes, and the controls took a little while to get a hang of. But overall really liked it. Nice work.
Cr1stal
Cr1stal5 Oct 2021, 12:02
A fun game with interesting mechanics and music
Nicolas Triau5 Oct 2021, 12:04
The idea seems really intresting but the main mechanic is a bit too unfinished to make the game as fun as it would be. Nevertheless I like the concept ! Good job !
crotonyl_alcohol
crotonyl_alcohol5 Oct 2021, 12:14
Really cool idea! I only played part of the game but I like it very much
xpoho
xpoho5 Oct 2021, 12:22
Весьма занятный симулятор трубоукладчика. Разные жидкости - это вообще неспроста, химия... И бедный рабочий часто путается в проводах.
А так интересно, спасибо!
chesiq5 Oct 2021, 12:29
Really cool concept! I did not get to the point with more than 3 houses. Struggled a lot with controls, could not figure out what to do at first, then it became easy. Great game!
MTabasco
MTabasco5 Oct 2021, 13:08
A very cool and interesting game! I can see huge potential here.

I must admit though that it took me some time to figure out how the machines worked. More feedback on how the player's actions affected the machines might have helped here (sounds, particles, indicators...). Also, I would have liked the tutorial messages to stay on screen, as the cognitive load is quite big at the beginning and I forgot my goal at least twice. :sweat_smile:

Oh, and I loved how the game looks! It's not the art style that I'd have imagined for a game like this, but that makes it more special in my opinion.

Congratulations!
Tiago Cruz5 Oct 2021, 22:30
Nice concept and the art is pretty cool but my path kept being blocked by the pipes and having to go around them. But i had fun playing the game. Nice job.
zet6 Oct 2021, 12:35
Impressive, to think this was done in only 3 days! Very nice gameplay, fun and creative
JuniorA_
JuniorA_6 Oct 2021, 21:55
Really polished and a very interesting mechanic! dont play much games like this but it was still fun
LDJam user 265725
LDJam user 26572512 Oct 2021, 18:20
Raaaaahhhh! I'm so frustrated.

Your game idea is super cool and has a super vibe, something between a Zachtronics game and OpenTTD. I can totally view how the city will grow bigger and bigger and I'll have to manage tangling up pipes everywhere. But I think controls are an ABSOLUTE pain in the ass. I don't see how controlling a character add much to the game as a "god view" à la Sim City would probably fit better the gameplay (I'm interested to know the reason you went that direction).

To be clear, it's very good entry, just a bit sad to not be able to fully enjoy the experience.
Tannimun13 Oct 2021, 05:43
@concker-88 I'm glad you liked the game.
We had discussions about having a character or not and the first iteration didn't, but we wanted the core mechanic to be about managing the ever changing needs around the world and having it one click away in God mode didn't add any tension or feeling of instability.
With a character there is more stress to run around and fix everything and how to organize the pipes and minimize run distances becomes a more strategic part of the game.
We had a stretch feature of adding bridges that could be placed over pipes to create highways and access roads but unfortunately time ran out
LDJam user 263057
LDJam user 26305717 Oct 2021, 14:53
I think the idea of having the character in the game is genius, it adds a layer to the thinking process and setting up the pipes is much harder when you have to move after placing one and your way is blocked. This is a super interesting game and it's currently the one I see myself playing the most out of all the games I've rated so far for this jam. It helps that it's super up my alley, but it's also a nice twist on the "tubes and fluid" puzzles.
MattWoelk
MattWoelk17 Oct 2021, 14:58
Figuring out the topological problem of how to connect all the pipes was great.
I finished the tutorial and upgraded a building once, but then nothing else changed, so I guess I won. :)
I liked the physicality of the pipes.
Basset Romain17 Oct 2021, 15:21
Nice Game, I get stuck only after two houses but I get the gameplay, nice graphics. The only bug I witness is getting stuck inside a pipe when you put it in an house.

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