{"author_link":"\/users\/matt-tuttle","author_name":"matt-tuttle","author_uid":"1011289","comments":[{"author_name":"OrionDark7","author_uid":"1073239","time":"2018-08-13T03:00:36Z","epoch":1534129236,"modified":1534129236,"text":"Graphics were slick and gameplay was simple. The only thing I would add is a brief tutorial at the beginning. Nice job!","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"squirmonkey","author_uid":"1104353","time":"2018-08-13T03:13:25Z","epoch":1534130005,"modified":1534130006,"text":"This is a cool idea, and the look is slick. The game is too easy though, until the cross pieces appear it's basically impossible to lose. I couldn't figure out how the cross shaped pieces worked, they didn't collapse when I put them in a row like the other pieces, and they didn't work when I matched all their ends... not sure how to get rid of them.","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"Madar Games","author_uid":"1104346","time":"2018-08-13T03:15:05Z","epoch":1534130105,"modified":1534130105,"text":"I really like the sound effect of joining the joints? Wrenches? Together? It did take me a few tries to understand how to play, as I couldn't find a controls file or guide anywhere. I do like the minimalist design but I think you should add a \"predictor\" field where it shows what orientation would come after the current item I place. I lost a lot of space because I had no idea what was coming up. I also couldn't figure out how to expand until the option to came up at $450 and I failed to get to $450 the first two times I played. I can't get the things to intersect like in your picture at the top right. Also do the slanted things act as both vertical and horizontal things or are they their own thing?","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"matt-tuttle","author_uid":"1011289","time":"2018-08-13T03:24:05Z","epoch":1534130645,"modified":1534130645,"text":"@oriondark7 I ran out of time but a tutorial would probably help a lot.\n\n@squirmonkey Thanks for the feedback!\n\n@madar-games The screenshot is misleading. I should add a gif to explain the chain reactions a bit better.","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"Sekwah41","author_uid":"1106138","time":"2018-08-15T02:18:08Z","epoch":1534299488,"modified":1534299634,"text":"Nice simple game, though the joining together behavior seems a bit inconsistent with how it looks like they should work possibly. I may be misunderstanding it but i cant figure out exactly how it behaves\n\nEdit: Oh they merge when there the same box at each of its ends","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"arcadonauts","author_uid":"1010346","time":"2018-08-15T04:21:06Z","epoch":1534306866,"modified":1534306866,"text":"I'm always impressed when people make a puzzle game for LD. Great work!","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"namnam","author_uid":"1011052","time":"2018-08-15T09:50:24Z","epoch":1534326624,"modified":1534326624,"text":"Very nice, cool r\u00e9flexion game, really easy to understand and hard to master. A music would have been great.","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"Suchista","author_uid":"1101968","time":"2018-08-15T18:14:08Z","epoch":1534356848,"modified":1534356848,"text":"Wow, very addictive! I think that displaying a score would be a good idea, it would make it even more addictive :P  It's simple and very fun to play.","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"Raccoon_JS","author_uid":"1096215","time":"2018-08-15T19:10:20Z","epoch":1534360220,"modified":1534360220,"text":"This is very addicting that I almost forgot what I was doing. I love it!","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"JSMCAG","author_uid":"1043459","time":"2018-08-16T13:47:54Z","epoch":1534427274,"modified":1534427274,"text":"A surprisingly addicting game, with simple mechanics and satisfying visuals and audio.  \nHowever, I found the graphics can be a bit misleading - as it seems that the ends of the wrench have to meet the ends of another wrench (in a connect-three type of thing). This was quickly fixed by re-reading your game description, but maybe some other kind of iconography would make the rules more immediately obvious?\n\nEither way, great entry!","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"matt-tuttle","author_uid":"1011289","time":"2018-08-16T16:14:42Z","epoch":1534436082,"modified":1534436082,"text":"@jsmcag Thanks for playing! I agree that the graphics are confusing. I'm not sure what to change it to though.","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"Max Cahill","author_uid":"1005023","time":"2018-08-18T04:38:32Z","epoch":1534567112,"modified":1534567112,"text":"Straightforward concept, expands itself over time quite well.","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"Endurion","author_uid":"1009853","time":"2018-08-18T04:38:52Z","epoch":1534567132,"modified":1534567132,"text":"Very solid, nice game!\nHad a few close calls, but once your field is big enough and you have enough space for all variants (diagonal cross being the last?) you can keep playing forever.\nA total score would be a good addition, as the money pool obviously decreases for upgrading.\nReally nice!","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"matt-tuttle","author_uid":"1011289","time":"2018-08-18T04:43:25Z","epoch":1534567405,"modified":1534567405,"text":"@endurion Great suggestion! I'm keeping track of the total score secretly, because it's used to unlock pieces, so that would be a simple addition.","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"HYPRGLOO","author_uid":"1102143","time":"2018-08-18T07:15:57Z","epoch":1534576557,"modified":1534576557,"text":"Really nice concept, this definitely has the potential to develop into something very addictive. It plays very well as-is but I think it's missing a score counter (separate from money) as well as music and an in-game tutorial, but of course it's a jam game so time constraints :) Very satisfying to play!","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"wolderado","author_uid":"1013080","time":"2018-08-18T08:10:32Z","epoch":1534579832,"modified":1534579832,"text":"Cool game! But I think blocks shouldn't collapse at the center. Maybe it should collapse towards placing point(like 2048 game). Cause right now player can't move blocks and needs to plan ahead. But I'm not sure. Maybe it is better your way","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"matt-tuttle","author_uid":"1011289","time":"2018-08-18T13:13:42Z","epoch":1534598022,"modified":1534598022,"text":"@wolderado Interesting idea. I think you are right that not all blocks should pull inward. It makes combos tricky to get past 4 at the moment. Thanks for playing!","likes":1,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"schizoid2k","author_uid":"1000288","time":"2018-08-18T23:07:31Z","epoch":1534633651,"modified":1534633651,"text":"Fun to play.  I was a bit unsure when or why I needed to expand the board... then I saw the diagonal pieces. :smile: \n\nSolid game play, well done!","likes":0,"format":"md"},{"author_name":"diptoman","author_uid":"1003725","time":"2018-09-03T02:55:54Z","epoch":1535943354,"modified":1535943354,"text":"Very solid core mechanic - which works out well for it. On the easy side - but that's understandable. Good stuff!","likes":1,"format":"md"}],"format":"md","images":["ld42\/112372-239895886061c3016d127437b4c8a21d.png"],"links":[{"url":"https:\/\/media.matttuttle.com\/ld42\/source.zip","text":"Source code"},{"url":"https:\/\/media.matttuttle.com\/ld42\/windows64.zip","text":"Windows"},{"url":"https:\/\/media.matttuttle.com\/ld42\/macos.zip","text":"macOS"}],"metadata":{"g_key":"50339","g_author":"1011289","g_event":"LD42","g_eventkey":"73","g_subevent":"COMPO","g_urlkey":"233630","g_title":"Merge Machine","g_status":"USEAR3","g_place":"175","g_commentcount":"19","g_site2_node_id":"112372","g_hide":"N","g_has_icon":"Y","g_rqueue":"0","g_random":"0"},"nds":{"n_key":"112372","n_urlkey":"233630","n_parent":"97793","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/merge-machine","n_slug":"merge-machine","n_type":"item","n_subtype":"game","n_subsubtype":"compo","n_author":"11289","n_created":"1534110213","n_modified":"1534134453","n_version":"323387","n_status":"COMMIT"},"node":{"id":112372,"parent":97793,"superparent":9,"author":11289,"type":"item","subtype":"game","subsubtype":"compo","published":"2018-08-12T21:54:13Z","created":"2018-08-12T21:43:33Z","modified":"2018-08-13T04:27:33Z","version":323387,"slug":"merge-machine","name":"Merge Machine","body":"A puzzle game where you merge cells to gain money. When you start to run out of space, expand your grid by spending your hard earned cash!\n\n## Connect for Cash\n\nBy connecting similar joints they will be merged and you get a bit of cash.\n\n![Connect joints](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/1724d.gif)\n\n## Cause chain reactions\n\nWhen joints are merged they can impact surrounding the cells.\n\n![Cause a chain reaction](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/17255.gif)\n\n## Expand the grid by spending money\n\nYou can expand the grid with the money you've earned. Be careful though, it gets more expensive each time you expand!\n\n![Expand the grid by spending money](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/1725a.gif)\n\n## Joint types increase with grid expansion\n\nAs you buy more space, the number of joint types increase. Some require matching four cells.\n\n![Cross combination](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/172bf.gif)\n","meta":{"author":[11289],"cover":"\/\/\/content\/91c\/2\/z\/168b4.png","grade-07-out":"1","grade-08-out":"1","link-01":"https:\/\/media.matttuttle.com\/ld42\/source.zip","link-01-tag":"42332","link-01-name":"","link-02":"https:\/\/media.matttuttle.com\/ld42\/windows64.zip","link-02-tag":"42337","link-03":"https:\/\/media.matttuttle.com\/ld42\/macos.zip","link-03-tag":"42339","link-02-name":"Windows (64-bit)"},"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/42\/merge-machine","parents":[1,5,9,97793],"love":0,"notes":19,"notes-timestamp":"2018-09-03T02:55:54Z","grade":{"grade-01":26,"grade-02":27,"grade-03":28,"grade-04":28,"grade-05":27,"grade-06":25},"magic":{"cool":105.71882797418,"feedback":21,"given":21.375,"grade":26.833333333333,"grade-01-average":3.667,"grade-01-result":175,"grade-02-average":3.7,"grade-02-result":123,"grade-03-average":3.788,"grade-03-result":84,"grade-04-average":3.904,"grade-04-result":183,"grade-05-average":3.46,"grade-05-result":265,"grade-06-average":3.239,"grade-06-result":227,"smart":8.9902839136482}},"text":"A puzzle game where you merge cells to gain money. When you start to run out of space, expand your grid by spending your hard earned cash!\n\n## Connect for Cash\n\nBy connecting similar joints they will be merged and you get a bit of cash.\n\n![Connect joints](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/1724d.gif)\n\n## Cause chain reactions\n\nWhen joints are merged they can impact surrounding the cells.\n\n![Cause a chain reaction](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/17255.gif)\n\n## Expand the grid by spending money\n\nYou can expand the grid with the money you've earned. Be careful though, it gets more expensive each time you expand!\n\n![Expand the grid by spending money](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/1725a.gif)\n\n## Joint types increase with grid expansion\n\nAs you buy more space, the number of joint types increase. Some require matching four cells.\n\n![Cross combination](\/\/\/raw\/91c\/2\/z\/172bf.gif)\n","title":"Merge Machine"}