Inside the Blockhead by Photon

[raw]
made by Photon for LD 38 (COMPO)

(If anybody knows why one's cover image wouldn't show up, please let me know! Clearly, mine doesn't appear to be!)

The Blockhead Hero isn't too bright. That's why he needs brain-cells like yourself to help him "control" his powers!

This game was more inspired by the theme than directly related to it but I'm OK with that! It was my first time finishing an entry without the use of proprietary game engine software, and I'm really happy about that! Hope you enjoy!

Windows Build : https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfe4w1uypssgale/Blockhead.zip?dl=0 Source : https://www.dropbox.com/s/4cbi5hun4ouogk9/LD38%20Source.zip?dl=0

Ratings

Overall 256th 3.35⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Fun 166th 3.45⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 50th 3.85⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Theme 518th 2.35⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 469th 2.55⭐ 22🧑‍⚖️
Humor 338th 2.25⭐ 18🧑‍⚖️
Mood 431th 2.625⭐ 18🧑‍⚖️
Given 12🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

notiiivan
03. May 2017 · 02:31 UTC
The control scheme was really original, it was really cool to be controlling the world more so than the player. It was, however, a little bit infuriating to use, but I think that's intentional challenge and I just suck :P. I really liked the color wheel mechanics, the fact that it was a wheel instead of a hotkey meant I had to manage movement and spinning the wheel around to the correct color.

I couldn't beat it, unfortunately, because at the end there was a bit with a lot of spikes and toggle-able blocks, and it was HARD. But hard isn't a bad thing, and getting to each checkpoint was super satisfying.
Manax
05. May 2017 · 17:16 UTC
Good gameplay, kinda fun, little frustrating.

There's a bit of a bug with jumping, sometimes player "bounces" along floor, rather than really walking on it, so jump doesn't work. That was particularly frustrating.

I didn't get through the multi-colored spike area either, got frustrated with jump not working and gave up.

Don't feel like this is too related to theme.

But it plays pretty well, and you've got a decent game. The first several checkpoints progress well, difficulty-wise.

Good work.
HolyBlackCat
05. May 2017 · 17:23 UTC
Nice job.
It lacks sounds and proper graphics, has some bugs, but feels pretty good for such a small game.
endlesspeak
10. May 2017 · 11:37 UTC
Quite an interesting plaything. Sadly I am a very bad player so I was not able to finish it :/. Also this concept could work better on mobile phones, try it out :)
DevOrc
12. May 2017 · 21:52 UTC
I love the concept! Considering this is your first game, you did a really great job. It was a lot of fun to play!
Jungle
13. May 2017 · 00:21 UTC
Very great concept! A mix of platformer and puzzle with UI controls, very original. I don't know if fits theme very well but this is a trully funny game, great entry for compo! Congratulations.
chispaLBC
13. May 2017 · 00:23 UTC
Nice work! It is not perfect but it is your first game. I liked the concept of the controls (but i'm so bad at it xD)
Sparrow
13. May 2017 · 17:02 UTC
Lovely game! I beat it! The last part is really hard if you don't take your time.
Mordokay
13. May 2017 · 17:58 UTC
Loved the concept and for some reason I love the graphics like this. very challenging and sometimes frustrating but when you lose you have only yourself to blame. Good Job!
🎤 Photon
16. May 2017 · 01:46 UTC
Thanks for all the love everyone!

To clarify, this is NOT my first game EVER; its simply the first game I've done "from scratch" for LD. ;)
sgstair
18. May 2017 · 09:41 UTC
I managed to beat it; really nice and original game. Level design was quite good, it does a good job of getting you familiar with the level by forcing you to make small logical leaps about how the system works - very good work with that. I encountered some issues with jumping on top of a colored tile block, but otherwise worked great.

I played this on stream at https://www.twitch.tv/videos/142659988 - time 0:27:20
Bernhard
18. May 2017 · 14:35 UTC
Finished it!
At first the control seemed weird but soon it all made sense. Nice!
Campbell
18. May 2017 · 19:41 UTC
Nice job! I loved the controls. I, too, had some troubles with the jumping, but I was able to persevere and make it to the end.
Vivoubos
18. May 2017 · 20:37 UTC
Wow hard game!

That last part was not easy!!! Good job for the level design. It's was so confuse too play with only the mouse.

But the Theme? ^^

Aniway that was a good experience, the concept is amazing! I can see that it's one of your first game so keep it on! I loved it!
Stoemason
18. May 2017 · 21:38 UTC
Well, there it is, the first platformer I've ever played that would actually be *easier* on a touchscreen. Really quite cool, but frustratingly hard. Though I'm bad at platformers in general anyway, so playing one with controls that are hard to use on purpose is quite the challenge.
SimplePotential
18. May 2017 · 21:59 UTC
I like it, though I did find it a bit difficult but maybe I just suck. As other pointed out, controls are interesting and it would probably be cool on a touchscreen.
🎤 Photon
18. May 2017 · 22:38 UTC
@Stoemason @SimplePotential

Oh yeah, it definitely crossed my mind during development that this would work better on a touchscreen. Ah well, hindsight and all that good stuff. :P