Orbit by Porcus_Pie

[raw]
made by Porcus_Pie for Ludum Dare 47 (JAM)

Orbit is a meditative puzzle game built around patterns and restoring the loop. The concept is simple, select a group of circles, and flip their order. But the more you progress the more you need to step back, and think about each and every flip. Atmospheric and calming, Orbit allows you to relax, and enjoy the puzzles in your own time. GameMaker_ Studio 5<em>10</em>2020 8<em>18</em>25 PM.png I barely had time this LD, but I haven't done it in ages so I wanted to squeeze this in. I ended up making this game in around half a day, with a few hours the next for final polishing. As one of my first HTML only projects, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I might take this concept and attempt to flesh it out even further. (feedback and suggestions for future updates are welcome) GameMaker_ Studio 5<em>10</em>2020 8<em>18</em>39 PM.png I hope you enjoy the game!

Ratings

Overall 348th 3.845⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Fun 358th 3.724⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 258th 3.845⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Theme 935th 3.5⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 726th 3.638⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Audio 274th 3.81⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Mood 177th 4.017⭐ 31🧑‍⚖️
Given 15🗳️ 25🗨️

Feedback

BeaverGames
05. Oct 2020 · 11:20 UTC
Pretty good game, when you hover over the circles the sounds can get a little annoying. But the mood is really good. I just don't get how it fits into the theme. With a little more effort, you can turn this into a really fun mobile game!
Cinar
05. Oct 2020 · 11:40 UTC
One of the best puzzle ideas that i reviewed in the jam so far.
Domin77
05. Oct 2020 · 12:00 UTC
I was very interested in the game and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend that if I hold the mouse button and select the circles and then go in the opposite direction, they could be unmarked.
🎤 Porcus_Pie
05. Oct 2020 · 12:05 UTC
@domin77 I like that idea! I'm hoping to flesh this out a bit more into a full game, and that's something I'll definitely look at doing. Thank you @beavergames and @cinar for your feedback too!
GibsS
05. Oct 2020 · 15:35 UTC
Good puzzle game, just the right amount of challenging.
Loig
05. Oct 2020 · 15:41 UTC
I found it very relaxing. I like the sounds when you touch the circles.

This is an interesting puzzle idea, however I also think it needs at least one more mechanics because, in its current state, I have the feeling that there is a systematic way to solve all the puzzles (move a circle at the end of a same-color sequence between two circles of the other color and repeat).
LeReveur
05. Oct 2020 · 23:47 UTC
I love puzzles, and I found this one pretty innovative! As other commentators said, I think you can't go really further with this concept without adding more mechanics, it's relaxing to play it as it's a jam game, so you don't have time to make a lot of levels, but if you try to add more this could be repetitive and need more challenge.
Whatever, Good job anyway!
Sieghart
06. Oct 2020 · 14:04 UTC
Well done! The game is fun and relaxing
SaraFilipa
06. Oct 2020 · 14:13 UTC
Charming, super relaxing, fits the theme perfectly! Fitting audio and visuals. Well done, one of those games I can easily come back to regularly. :thumbsup: Awesome entry!
loligxp
06. Oct 2020 · 14:15 UTC
Very relaxing game, the puzzles weren't too hard but it was enjoyable. I loved the text messages in between though ^^
DracesBane
06. Oct 2020 · 14:51 UTC
Very interesting concept. Great concept and interesting puzzles. Soothing audio. Quite enjoy this one, nicely done!
Geryon Games
06. Oct 2020 · 16:21 UTC
This is a great and relaxing game. The audio suits the game well. It would be nice to be able to deselect circles, but all in all, awesome entry!
Meap
06. Oct 2020 · 16:24 UTC
Amazing music concept integrated into a great puzzle game.
Krg
06. Oct 2020 · 16:33 UTC
great game everything was good audio was noice
GaryS
06. Oct 2020 · 17:39 UTC
This was a nice puzzle mechanic, though I once I'd got the hang of it the solutions were pretty easy, so I can't see how you'd make it more challenging without, as others have said, adding to the mechanics. Perhaps circles that can only move in one direction, immovable cirles, a larger loop, even multiple loops with a point of crossover - that kind of thing. I think if you built on it, this could be a great full game.
Asue
07. Oct 2020 · 08:06 UTC
Very pleasant game to play. The atmosphere and the aesthetics of the game are really enjoyable. Good job :)
Kaganobik
07. Oct 2020 · 20:37 UTC
Puzzle were simple and fun. Good work :)
Fatsheep
07. Oct 2020 · 20:38 UTC
Played it on https://www.twitch.tv/fatsheep__ Nice and short little puzzle game. I felt like some of the puzzles were a bit similar, and there wasn't a lot of variety, but it can be expanded on for sure!
Remus Rain
08. Oct 2020 · 06:54 UTC
This game is genious. It's simple and offers a lot of complexity. Full score for you.

It just took me a bit in the beginning to get what I was supposed to do. Maybe the hickup was that I didn't realize that the white tutorial outlines meant that I should connect these nodes in the beginning. Maybe if you made the tutorial text and the tutorial outlines around the circles colored and the same color (maybe yellow) it would be clearer that the belong together.

Also it might be confusing to the player that the circles make a sound when you hover over them (indicating that this has some form of effect), while in fact hovering over them does not affect gameplay. Be considerate with you audio queues.

But those are minor points and easy fixes.

I would also love to see this being developed further. I can think of two possibilities right now to add gameplay variation and complexity:
- Having levels where the interactables are different shapes than circles. You could have a triangle shape, which means that each object connects to 3 neighbors instead of 2. And still every node has to be different than to all of their neighbors. You can also do squares and actually any number of dimensions.
- You can also have nodes with different kinds of effects. Maybe there is one node that needs to have one neighbor that is the same state and one that is different. Or nodes that require all similar neighbors.
- Finally I thought about having more than two states (on or off). And immediately I though of graph coloring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_coloring. The goal there is also to give each adjacent node in the network a different color. Your game is actually a graph coloring game. Although you only have one color and perfect circle networks. But this might maybe expand your view on this.

Keep rocking! :) And thanks for the awesome review on our game.
🎤 Porcus_Pie
08. Oct 2020 · 07:12 UTC
@remus-rain Wow! Thank you so much! Your review has actually inspired me heaps about what to do for the future. I've already implemented another type of circle, and I was struggling with what to do next, but you've given me a lot of inspiration for how to take this even further. Thank you for the kind words!
Remus Rain
09. Oct 2020 · 16:43 UTC
@porcus-pie awesome man. I'm interested to see where this is going. We can keep giving each other feedback (remember you also gave great feedback on my game: Pseudogravity). Do you have twitter? Send me an update once you have something. I'm @RemusRain
🎤 Porcus_Pie
10. Oct 2020 · 09:53 UTC
@remus-rain Thank you for the offer but I dont actually have twitter! I'm balancing uni, work etc so progress will be hella slow. I'll probably post updates on this website however. Thank you for your excitement however!!!!
Remus Rain
11. Oct 2020 · 10:33 UTC
@porcus-pie ok. Good luck with that! :)
pkenney
11. Oct 2020 · 21:00 UTC
You really accomplished your goal of creating the moody atmosphere of chill where I could contemplate the puzzles with calm. If I imagine the same mechanics but with an countdown timer of maybe a bomb defusal theme, I am feeling very tense and not appreciating it as much. I really liked the decision to go with the chill contemplative abstract vibe.

The monochrome palette was a good way to emphasize that. And the sound was *almost* just right. I think the concept was right on point, but maybe the actual sound was slightly wrong. It was maybe a little too peppy to my ear. So still good, but maybe a sleepier more synthetic sound with a little slower attack would have had even more harmony with the rest of the experience.


The tactile interaction was nice. I liked the slow sliding movement of the puzzle when it wasn't being interacted with, though I was glad it was very slow because faster rotation would have been too distracting and caused me to lose the geography of the puzzle. I never once made an error in input, and when I was testing to see if I could swap non-adjacent pieces the result was clear ("you cannot").

Gameplay-wise the puzzles were nice. The length was appropriate for the depth, and I felt like you explored most avenues. Because there are only two types, and because the selection must be continuous, it felt like the possible ideas for you to explore were a bit limited. Totally appropriate for the game length and stayed engaging throughout, but I suspect you'd need some extra element to unlock further puzzle-space to explore.

My general strategy was "find the largest existing contiguous already-correct section, almost certainly the best move is to flip at its borders" and I feel like generally this held true. In the 3-move puzzles I generally made move 1 on blind faith on that basis and I never once had to restart. So a new element for an expansion would probably have to invalidate that shortcut.

Really a very nice all around entry, especially when I consider the limited time you had available! Great job on both puzzle mechanics and feel.
superjai
23. Oct 2020 · 02:05 UTC
I really enjoyed this. It was very chill and calming