Catalyst by MoreRPG Team

[raw]
made by MoreRPG Team for LD34 (JAM)
For this LD we had planned to create a small puzzle game because we had very little time.

The idea of the game was that the player controls terrestrial ecosystems and their chaotic growth and blending. The player can influence growth of the ecosystems but only in a limited way. And in the end it is always the nature, that has the last word.


Instructions:

- You goal is to reach a certain limit of points.

- You gain points by filling every empty tile with a certain colour.

- The closer colour to the objective, the more points you get.


- You can place one sphere at a time.

- You can change colour of the sphere in hand for a penalty in points.


- Each placed sphere grows more spheres of its colour.

- When spheres of different colour meet, they blend colour.


Controls:

- Left mouse button – place sphere

- Right mouse button – change colour



Our team members:

- Daria Paramonova - programming

- Anna Sviridenko - art

- Vladimir Gaidenko - game & sound design

Ratings

Coolness 100% 1
Overall(Jam) 2.86 896
Audio(Jam) 3.35 327
Fun(Jam) 2.49 975
Graphics(Jam) 2.80 820
Innovation(Jam) 3.31 390
Mood(Jam) 3.08 627
Theme(Jam) 3.53 659

Feedback

bessdlan
15. Dec 2015 · 11:22 UTC
original concept ^^
Nega Drive
15. Dec 2015 · 14:17 UTC
Interesting puzzle idea. Nice atmosphere too. Good stuff.
refreshgames
15. Dec 2015 · 15:28 UTC
Cool puzzle game, I can see how some extra elements and sphere types could add more strategic play for a post-jam version perhaps? But yeah, in it's current state, it's a sold game, with some rather nice music, nice!
kernel panic
15. Dec 2015 · 19:15 UTC
The end condition seems to be a bit broken, sometimes I seem to win when I should have lost. The colouring rules are also a bit hard to memorise. I like the idea though.
anv
15. Dec 2015 · 19:35 UTC
Ecology meets Go. Interesting gameplay mechanic, involving a healthy dose of strategy - should I put undesired spheres in one group? Spread them out? How will they interact when different groups meet? Visuals and music fit into calm atmosphere of the game too. Could use some polish though.
Rocketship
15. Dec 2015 · 19:51 UTC
The concept is great, and the game uses it quite well. It is quite easy right now, I found myself winning most rounds by just placing spheres quite randomly around. The presentation could be a bit more exciting maybe but this board game type of way works too, especially with the calm music.
Bogden
15. Dec 2015 · 23:02 UTC
Interesting idea! A bit short though
KZdev
15. Dec 2015 · 23:15 UTC
All around good game. The gameplay, music, and graphics meshed well together, giving it a calm, relaxing vibe while still keeping me engaged. More levels would be cool, but even as-is I really enjoyed this one.
h.attila
16. Dec 2015 · 00:44 UTC
Interesting idea, a bit like Go or Reversi I guess. At first it was really difficult for me because the blending rules weren't obvious. Also, I don't quite understand the color switching function. Do I just get another random color then? The presentation is pretty nice though, it is a well made game.
tjxx
16. Dec 2015 · 18:06 UTC
Fun, but really challenging. I like the originality of it.
skripteriant
16. Dec 2015 · 18:35 UTC
it took me a few tries to understand what I was doing, but once I did it was really fun. very original puzzle game.

But It seems that the objective it tells you at the top doesn't match how you win. I think the win state might care more about the score then filling it with a specific color?
🎤 MoreRPG Team
16. Dec 2015 · 18:48 UTC
You get the score according to the colour specified in the objective.

So if the objective is to fill everything with red spheres, then you would get 3 points for every red sphere, 2 points for spheres of colour which contains red colour and 1 point for any other colour.

Colour values change with the objectives.
AzureAspect
17. Dec 2015 · 18:21 UTC
I was rather confused what I was supposed to do. The game said that I should fill the grid with blue balls. However in the end all my balls were green instead of blue...however my score was over 500 so I won the game o.o
Nice game concept though :)
simon.parzer
18. Dec 2015 · 10:41 UTC
Nice concept, great mood. It took some time to figure out how to play though.
tompudding
18. Dec 2015 · 10:48 UTC
Nice music and mood, but I was mostly confused about what would happen when the colours mets
Monochrome Bears
18. Dec 2015 · 10:49 UTC
good idea, but too boring, sorry.
mukult
18. Dec 2015 · 21:55 UTC
Interesting puzzle..
Hot Box Games
18. Dec 2015 · 22:32 UTC
Nice simple game, fun to play with friends - gets quite competitive! Sound got a bit repetitive.
EwChap
19. Dec 2015 · 06:20 UTC
cool concept. nice mood setting background music as well.
beetracks
19. Dec 2015 · 13:31 UTC
Interesting puzzle game. Nice ambience too.
luysse_l
20. Dec 2015 · 17:57 UTC
nice concept, fun game
crucknuk
20. Dec 2015 · 18:06 UTC
Nice entry. Be careful, I had a warning on my computer when I tried to launch your game on webgl version. It said that it takes to much memory so it can't be played. I am on a correct computer and it is the first time I have warning like that. Anyway, it is an interesting puzzle gam. Good job ;)
🎤 MoreRPG Team
20. Dec 2015 · 19:13 UTC
Thanks for the warning, I haven't noticed such a message before. We will look into that.
gebirgsbaerbel
22. Dec 2015 · 16:21 UTC
I really enjoyed the aesthetics of this game. However I never really understood the rules. No matter what I did, or where i clicked, I just always won.
DustyStylus
24. Dec 2015 · 10:40 UTC
I keep winning, but I'm not 100% sure how. :D That said, I'm not complaining! Beautiful music.
hunttis
28. Dec 2015 · 09:18 UTC
Interesting, could maybe work as a mobile game as well?

The win condition check didn't work for me. I sometimes filled the grid with the right color, but it still told me I had lost.
Haokarlos
04. Jan 2016 · 12:32 UTC
Nice idea