Reinvent the Wheel by ratly

[raw]
made by ratly for LD36 (JAM)
A game inspired by the square bicycle (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/riding-square-wheels) and all of the other curious pairs of Roads and Wheels as described in http://web.mst.edu/~lmhall/Personal/RoadsWheels/RoadsWheels.pdf .

Controls:

Use Spacebar to jump over the gaps. Use the mouse to select and switch to the wheel in your inventory that matches the shape of the terrain. Good luck!

Feedback

pressxtoskip
29. Aug 2016 · 22:10 UTC
This is strangely hypnotic once you get going - I think it's the combination of the lift music and the rotating shapes. Had real trouble getting past the first wheel change, but after that I got the hang of it. Nice idea!
joemag
29. Aug 2016 · 22:28 UTC
Love the music, adds a great touch. Took a while to understand that jumping was required.
A very unique runner, although after playing through the straight forward early levels I didn't want to play through effectively the tutorial portion again. Would be great if there was a button that starts it at the harder random map.
qkerguelen
30. Aug 2016 · 01:03 UTC
Hey it was cool! My record is 1.87km, but I know I can do better!
dwhiffing
30. Aug 2016 · 01:20 UTC
Really nice! I would've liked to skip the tutorial after the first run through, and I didn't realize I could jump right away. Still had fun though :)
DragonZBW (SparkLight Games)
30. Aug 2016 · 02:56 UTC
Didn't quite understand at first, but once I got it this was very enjoyable. It's oddly satisfying to see the different wheel shapes fit so perfectly into their corresponding terrain types. It would be nice to be able skip the tutorial. Also, the default iMovie music gets a little repetitive after playing for a few minutes.
svyatozar
30. Aug 2016 · 05:51 UTC
The beginning was easy because of sequential switching, but then when random switching is required the difficulty suddenly increases, and then after a fall, i wish I had a shortcut to get to the difficult part without going a mile on totally easy sequential terrain.
UltraRat
30. Aug 2016 · 06:38 UTC
haha... I've sent that pic to people before when being a smartass. Glad I can not upgrade replies to something interactive.
Neonable
30. Aug 2016 · 06:43 UTC
Amazing concept! The game is really enjoyable and as svyatozar mentioned, it would be great to be able to play multiple times without having the first part being the same every time. I would definitely like to see a full version of this game being released soon with more wheels shapes and level variations. Hopefully we could get a mobile port as well!
Muel
30. Aug 2016 · 08:54 UTC
Nice take on the theme.
Actually, can't say that is not an inovation haha.
Linus123xbb
30. Aug 2016 · 14:46 UTC
It was a fun simplistic game, it took a while to understand what to do in the beginning and that I needed to jump tho.
Kizler
31. Aug 2016 · 04:24 UTC
Took me quite a bit to realize what I was suppose to do (jump and switch).Unfortunately my memory was terrible and once the tutorial was done, I met my end almost instantly after... unless it was a flat road.
reheated
02. Sep 2016 · 14:38 UTC
Innovation: Very clever!
Fun: Cheerful presentation and addictive gameplay! (After quite a few attempts my record is 2.52km which is probably further than I've ever made it on a real bike without falling off.)
Theme: Yep!
Graphics: I enjoyed the graphics. I like the way the stick figure's legs move properly. And you managed to get all the maths right for lining up the wheels with the road, so I'm impressed.
Audio: Just right for the game.
Humor: The humour comes from the quirky nature of the game, I think. I had a smile on my face while I played it.
Mood: A happy fun mood - it made me happy to keep playing.
(Bonus category) Education: Cool way to sneak some maths into a game. I wonder if it's possible to randomly generate some of the roads and matching wheels at the start of the game, so the player can't just memorise how they match up?
Overall: Fun and well presented.
Jelinib
12. Sep 2016 · 00:36 UTC
I learned a little about wheel shapes today, yay! Very cool!

I initially had some trouble with the jump at the end of the clover wheel portion, but after a few tries I discovered it's better to jump a little early rather than at the edge.

I love the way the music fits with something like this too. Very nicely done!
The Mad Strauss
12. Sep 2016 · 18:52 UTC
I think that the shape of the terrain is not very intuitive. Maybe that is the point (to remember) but you have to be very fast to change in time. I did 1,7 km after some tries.

Nice job