Minimalistic Color Labyrinth by blasphemous rumours entertainment studios

Update: I just solved it in 21 moves, so that's your goal!

Update: Version 1.1

Fixed some bugs and implemented a conversion counter (record 33 conversions, by me, should be solvable in 30...)
New time record by me is 58.01 and a friend got 78.41 seconds.

Original text:

Minimalistic Color Labyrinth is my first Ludum Dare Game! =D

Your objective as the white square is to reach the goal (upper right corner).
This is achieved by blowing up the patch by creating matched patches of colored blocks, and therefore minimize(!!!) the labyrinth before proceeding.

Matches are made by moving so you touch some colored block and then the whole matching patch is converted.
Red becomes Green.
Green becomes Blue.
Blue becomes Red.

When a patch is converted to a color, that new color is locked, so any patch of that color can't be converted until some other color is converted. Example: A red patch becomes green, now it is impossible to convert green patches to blue.
It is possible to convert another red patch into green, but it won't be possible to convert any green patches until a blue patch has been converted into

Exception: TNT is always blow-able, no matter if it's color is locked or not. And when it has exploded, all colors are convert-able again.

When touching the TNT-block, the whole patches explodes, opening up the way forward.

Totally mind-blowing features:
*Three different colors on blocks!
*Learning curve!
*Minimalistic music!
*Sound Effects!!!
*Completion timer which lets you compete against friends, me and yourself! (My record is a whopping 90 seconds!)

For some stupid reason, I've hard coded the level as it felt quicker than doing some level editor...

For the rest of my time, I'll try to create a leveleditor, so please check again if you enjoy the game!

Ratings

Coolness 48% 1284
Overall 3.19 532
Audio 3.15 285
Fun 3.14 416
Graphics 2.67 840
Innovation 3.36 372
Mood 2.76 668
Theme 3.61 483

Feedback

gamesaucer
29. Apr 2013 路 08:46 UTC
The game is not very innovative, but I had much fun playing it. It took some time for me to figure it all out, but it made for a fun to play puzzle game after I mastered it.

The entry fits the theme well, because "better" is not always better. I don't think the game would have been any more fun if it were a highly realistic 3d rendering of the current level. That said, the concept is clearly well developed to work with such simple graphics.

The graphics are not great, but they do the job. Better graphics, especially in a LD with as theme "minimalism", wouldn't improve the game much. Eyecandy is great, but far from necessary.

The soundtrack was fun to listen to and well made. It didn't get boring after a few loops like with some games, and there was variety enough to make it good. It wasn't very detailed, which is also fitting for the minimalism theme, so bonus points for the sound.

The game was fun to play, not just because of the simple concept, but because there is nothing more satisfying than having the TNT change color and then blow it up. It feels really great to finally figure it out and beat the game.

The mood was OK. I don't really know what to say here, but the game just kind of "fit". There weren't really any loose ends or "off" details, so I'd say this game is pretty good.
Salamander3
29. Apr 2013 路 09:08 UTC
Nice idea, had an issue with screen size (running from a laptop) and couldn't finish the level. Interesting mechanic though.
klianc09
29. Apr 2013 路 23:10 UTC
Nice puzzler. That the last color touched is locked, wasn't quit intuitive and confused me, but once I figured that one out, it added to the puzzle.

The level seems so empty, there could have been so much more. (maybe also a pushable block?)
YM
29. Apr 2013 路 23:11 UTC
116s 38 conversions. :)
gamesaucer: Thanks for the feedback and nice to hear you enjoyed the game! =)

Salamander3: I didn't really have time for implementing different screen resolutions and thought 1024x768 would be fine for most people. Sorry =/

klianc09: The last color touched isn't locked, it's the last color converted to that is locked. So you can't stand still and convert the same patch over and over.
But yeah, that's actually one of the central points of the puzzle. ;-)
Could have been more intuitive perhaps, or my explansion here and in the readme could've been clearer.
I got tired at the end, the last little bit took a a couple hours to design as I was figuring out the game mechanics my self.
Thx for the feedback. =)

YM: Not to shabby I think! :) If there was a star system in the game it would have given you 2 of 5!
Tom 7
29. Apr 2013 路 23:39 UTC
I beat it, though I confess I didn't really figure out the rules. By the end I understood how to avoid getting stuck at least and then it was just exploration. :)
ilo
29. Apr 2013 路 23:48 UTC
The mechanic is interesting, but I didn't find it intuitive to know which colours blocks would be converted to, or how locking worked. A bit more useful feedback (at the top maybe) to show which colour is currently locked, and maybe some simpler levels to warm the player up would be a good idea.
infernet89
01. May 2013 路 14:27 UTC
Original gameplay, very minimal style in graphics and puzzle too. I had some problems with height, my screen wasn't tall enough so i had to flip screen 90掳
f7f5
01. May 2013 路 16:10 UTC
Interesting and addictive enough to make me finish the level. Works great under Wine.
Yoni
01. May 2013 路 17:47 UTC
Audio loop was a bit too short, so it got a little annoying after a while, but a very good game otherwise
someone
01. May 2013 路 17:49 UTC
Nice game. Works in Wine but no sound.
Interesting mix of mechanics. Didn't really figure out the colour change order but changing at random seemed to work.
The interface could definitely do with some hints as to what is happening.
MegaBrutal
01. May 2013 路 18:38 UTC
Very nice game, good idea! :) I confess I couldn't beat it. :D Though I just need more time.

@someone: I also run it with Wine - strangely, first time it didn't even start, second time it worked without sound, third time it run perfectly with sound and everything. :D
Prudiiarca
03. May 2013 路 15:08 UTC
I liked this. There could have been some more levels, but hey it was fun to play... And annoying to fail and restart :)
Hegemege
03. May 2013 路 23:57 UTC
Nice small game, too bad it was only one level (although it was clearly in three parts). I spent quite a while on the bottomleft area trying to figure out how the colours work by spamming them, and in the final puzzle thought each part out first before moving. The soundtrack was goofy, minimalistic as a whole indeed.
StMatn
04. May 2013 路 00:05 UTC
Nice game! The window was a bit too large for my 15'-display, so I had to make guesses on things in the bottom line ;) Some more levels would have been nice, since it was quite fun to play :) Good job
hissssssssss
08. May 2013 路 13:46 UTC
The most unique take on a maze game I've seen so far in this LD. Nice job.
Snail_Man
16. May 2013 路 14:42 UTC
It was a good game, but the window was far too tall for my display, so I couldn't finish it.