Delivering Better Worlds by T C

[raw]
made by T C for Ludum Dare 53 (JAM)

Load up supplies and launch your ship to inhabit new worlds. The better you pack, the more you pack, the better the world gets inhabited! Play through 4 levels of increasing difficulty, match spaces by color for bonus points!

Click and drag on pieces, and drop them from the top of the board! Use Q and E (Keys can be rebound in the options menu!) to rotate Clockwise/Counter Clockwise. Beware, once pieces are dropped, that's it! So plan carefully.

Text_Crawl.png

Ratings

Overall 915th 3.25⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Fun 703th 3.3⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 597th 3.33⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Theme 1084th 3.16⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 839th 3.25⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Audio 651th 2.94⭐ 52🧑‍⚖️
Humor 892th 2.554⭐ 48🧑‍⚖️
Mood 1006th 2.968⭐ 49🧑‍⚖️
Given 79🗳️ 110🗨️

Feedback

CrimOudin
02. May 2023 · 00:48 UTC
Can you beat my high score?
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/835412288336429056/1102770598867906590/image.png
Grizwhirl
02. May 2023 · 01:07 UTC
I really liked how the menu worked. That was an incredible neat and pleasing way to start my rating spree. (I came woefully short of that score)
the neon shark
02. May 2023 · 01:08 UTC
A clever spin on a tetris-style game -- very fun! I like the variation in level designs, though I didn't play for too long since it's not really my genre. Thanks for sharing this though, it's quite innovative!
Bo Dangles
02. May 2023 · 01:11 UTC
Fun puzzle game. It was pretty simple to figure out. Even though it has some similarities with Tetris, making it turn based really changed the feel.
Gabriele Marconi
02. May 2023 · 01:29 UTC
Nice Work! If my ears don't deceive me i think you wrote and played the main theme? Always great to hear that. Also the intro text is so good for immeersion!
🎤 T C
02. May 2023 · 02:37 UTC
@grizwhirl that was all @crimoudin! I thought it was super clever too! =) thanks for playing.

@the-neon-shark if you saw that the levels had variety, you were probably pretty close to the end! We tried to keep it short with only 4 levels. Thanks for playing!

@bo-dangles Yeah, we also tried leaning into the color matching aspect instead of getting full lines to make it a bit less tetris-like, which could have been a good or bad thing. Glad it was fun!

@gabriele-marconi Yeah, we had a live guitar riff played! It was recorded on a phone though so the quality isn't the best, but I liked it! We're a fan of making intro text crawls like that for that very reason. Thanks for the comment!
Braveskin
02. May 2023 · 02:51 UTC
I got a score of 2624 on my first go around. Pretty enjoyable spin on ye olde Tetris!
Vectrex28
02. May 2023 · 02:52 UTC
My score was 2670. I quite enjoyed this entry, but then I love puzzle games :P - Would've loved a few extra levels though.
Graphics were solid, had an EGA PC game feel to them. Sound was decent as well. Good game :)
Pouny
02. May 2023 · 03:17 UTC
Why is it so addictive to play ahah. Very satisfying sound effects aswell, great game !
🎤 T C
02. May 2023 · 03:24 UTC
@braveskin still a great score! Thanks, I think it's a decent twist on the tetromino stuff too!

@vectrex28 Thanks! I honestly cut down the number of levels just so people wouldn't think it took too long...... but I guess I should also consider people who like the gameplay! haha, whoops! Thanks for playing!

@pouny Thanks for the kind words!
Claybro2021
02. May 2023 · 03:50 UTC
The page graphic really pulled me in. I thought, who is this man with the mustache and beautiful purple top hat? I was expecting a text adventure and got a drag and drop tetris pattern-matcher delivery game. Matching the blocks with the background was really fun and challenging. I appreciated that it was a slower paced tetris-like experience. My only gripe is that I couldn't swoop a block underneath a poorly placed tertrinomino. I'm not sure how that UX works with the drag and drop scheme, but that could be cool. Overall really liked the game and the many faces of the magic purple top hat mustache man.
Adam Gaskins
02. May 2023 · 04:30 UTC
The menu was awesome, the intro graphic was hilarious (complete with "these 3 minutes have been added to your timecard"), and the gameplay was a nice fresh spin too :) At first I was spending all my time trying to make Tetris lines, but then towards the end I was just matching colors and ignoring gaps! Love the variety
csimpson
02. May 2023 · 05:48 UTC
A good, fresh take on a classic. It's a fun game.
peterfiftyfour
02. May 2023 · 09:38 UTC
Love the main menu idea xD I haven't played many twists-on-tetris games but this seems like quite a cool spin on it! Interesting to think about other ways this mechanic could be expanded!
TobiasD
02. May 2023 · 09:59 UTC
Good simple fun! It felt very satisfying to get all 4 colours matching! Felt it needed a clearer sign of a good score vs great score (F-S rank?). I liked the SFX but found the music a bit flat. Keep on (space) trucking!
Legingergamer
02. May 2023 · 10:37 UTC
Love me some good'ol tetris, took me a minute to realise the way it worked. Everything was grey and then it clicked what I needed to do. first try was at 600, second and 2500. Really liked it. But anything Tetris is dope
LDJam user 359614
02. May 2023 · 12:12 UTC
i though it's like a tetris, but playing in diffrent way
Oradimi
02. May 2023 · 13:38 UTC
Got 4133! A pretty cool game. The universe is also interesting, well done!
🎤 T C
02. May 2023 · 15:55 UTC
@claybro2021 Hah, we definitely could take the page graphics and make a game styled around them! I was thinking maybe letting you place blocks underneath, since it's a big feature in Tetris, but figured I'd say it added to the challenge, so you didn't have to start manually placing pieces instead of dropping them. It'd be interesting to try to make a version where you could.

@adam-gaskins We definitely tried to make the color matching more important, just to have a different twist on this style of game. Thanks for playing!

@csimpson Thanks for the kind words! Glad you had fun.

@peterfiftyfour Agreed, seems like there's lots of ways you could take the Tetris base and expand on it. Thanks for playing!
🎤 T C
02. May 2023 · 15:58 UTC
@tobiasd Thanks for the kind words! I agree, better feedback on good scores overall, and when you place a block, would really make the game feel that much better to play.

@legingergamer Yeah I think knowing Tetris well almost hurts you a little playing this, because the lack of being able to tuck under and things like that. Glad it did manage to click eventually, hopefully that meant it wasn't too far off base. Big improvement on scores!

@pralista Yep! We tried to make something similar, but different enough to feel distinct. Thanks for playing.

@oradimi Wow, very impressive score! Thanks for playing!
Obe Dot
02. May 2023 · 17:34 UTC
I really like the sound effects! The beginning where you have to drop the button in to the ship is really cool. Kind of like Tetris!
blobo
02. May 2023 · 18:41 UTC
HA! I loved the opening cutscene. I definitely was focusing too much on the fact that it looked like tetris. Covering up unused spaces felt bad, even if there was no real advantage to keeping them. I feel like there should be an incentive for filling a row, a-la tetris, but I don't know the best way to implement that while following the "match the background" pattern of the rest of the game.

I recorded myself playing to provide as much feedback as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGUPFjqkYdA
🎤 T C
02. May 2023 · 20:20 UTC
@obe-dot Thanks for playing! Seems a lot of people liked the opening menu!

@100th-coin Wow, I'm on T.V.!!! HI MOM!!! :) Thanks for the recording, that kind of feedback is always useful for seeing how new people experience it. Funny you get so wrapped up in your own ideas and time constraints that it's easy to gloss over making sure the player knows the basics! I wasn't sure on putting too much focus on traditional Tetris "mechanics" - with going for full rows, but honestly I don't see why not. Also, thought I recognized the LD name... I played your last LD submission with the harvest festival, and the blockbuster one. Great stuff!
JackOfCups
02. May 2023 · 20:26 UTC
@100th-coin That video is useful feedback. For sure we'll increase the font size next time, at the very least.
Zerovirus
02. May 2023 · 21:02 UTC
Got 3878 on my first run! Very fun tetris-alike. I found that the best way to play was to go against any instincts left over from past experience with tetris. Namely, don't try to get everything perfect, if a block gives you two or more points that's enough, just drag as many blocks as you can and try to get to the top asap without worrying overly much about cleanness or efficiency- the opposite of best-practice for tetris!

Definitely tested my improvisation-on-the-fly skills. Good game!
Shiiro 10psi
02. May 2023 · 23:53 UTC
I got 3487. It being not quite entirely unlike tetris is interesting. Trying to match colors while not blocking off too much empty space while getting enough cargo in the ship in the time limit presents a very cool challenge.
Paulsams
03. May 2023 · 14:44 UTC
Well, the idea of dragging in the main menu is cool, but not practical for a long time, as it seems to me.
Gameplay component itself... There is something interesting in this, but there was much less tactical component for which Tetris was loved. Here it is rather easier to play at speed and bet as much as possible. Well, that is, it does not make sense to develop this idea, as for me. And, well, I didn't really see the disclosure of the topic, or it seemed very strained for me.

But as part of the jam, it was fun to play this - thank you for such an experience.
🎤 T C
03. May 2023 · 16:55 UTC
@zerovirus Nice score! Yeah, it's funny how a small change or two really forces you to change up your priorities from regular tetris. Nice strategy. Thanks for playing.

@shiiro-10psi Solid score! Yeah, I found balancing score matching to fitting as much as you can in was pretty interesting, and a fun twist. Thanks for the kind words!

@paulsams :sweat: geez, looks like we came up short in pretty much every aspect for you, huh? :sweat_smile: Oh well, thanks for playing!
eharp
03. May 2023 · 19:42 UTC
I didn't really get how the mechanic worked from text description but after finishing the first level it stated to make sense. It's a clever puzzle, particularly coupled with the changing level layouts and tiling great job!

The theme did feel a bit tangential to the mechanics. I also started to get a bit sick of the scoring sound effects after a while but the rest of the art was really nice.
Phoenix Fireflower
03. May 2023 · 19:52 UTC
A clever and fun spin on Tetris, nicely done. My one point of criticism is that I sometimes end up clicking just outside of the shape, and clicking on its background does not count (thus wasting a bit of time). Would've been better if you could still grab a shape even if slightly misclick.
asfdfdfd
03. May 2023 · 19:58 UTC
Nice take on super-duper classic mechanic!
🎤 T C
04. May 2023 · 18:27 UTC
@eharp Yeah... we need to be better about having a small in-game playable tutorial to help out. Glad it eventually clicked! Also agreed, loading things up for delivery and the actual act of delivery are two different things, and we hope people aren't too critical of that distinction, but definitely understood! Thanks for playing.

@phoenix-fireflower Thanks for the feedback! I definitely noticed a bit too late how picky the clicking on pieces was, I agree that's a big thing to fix.

@asfdfdfd Thanks for playing!
Usenrame
05. May 2023 · 19:02 UTC
overcomplicated, but great implementation
CrimOudin
05. May 2023 · 19:20 UTC
@eharp @paulsams The mechanics of the game (loading a freighter) seem pretty close to the theme to me. And the game itself is all about delivering goods to a planet for the terraforming process. I don't see how we missed the mark on theme at all.

I played a game where you delivered a package to a house as a person. Mechanically it was a shooter, nothing to do with delivering. but the game itself was about delivering the package. If you want to compare pure mechanics of a game to the theme you can say it's "tangential" for any game in the jam.
Dzugaru
05. May 2023 · 19:30 UTC
A fresh twist on the idea, I liked it! Not worrying about tight packing and just frantically trying to get the needed colors fast is really cool! And hats off to the "win" animations!
Sylf
07. May 2023 · 20:15 UTC
I liked this little twist on classic Tetris, but had troubles figuring out instructions. Also had some problems with contols, they seemed a little bit lagy. But I must say, that in the end I was craving more levels, cause it was kinda captivating.
jelch
07. May 2023 · 21:40 UTC
Nice twist on Tetris, it is hard for me to go for matching colors over completed rows :laughing:
Flying Dog Fish
07. May 2023 · 21:54 UTC
That's an interesting take on Tetris.
JackOfCups
07. May 2023 · 23:04 UTC
@dzugaru I see what you did there. ;)
🎤 T C
08. May 2023 · 04:24 UTC
@dzugaru Thanks for playing and the kind words! I also thought the color matching turned out pretty neat. Also nice hat pun!

@sylf Yeah, without reading the opening crawl, or the main page, we didn't really do a very good job of having in-game instructions. Definitely a huge oversight on our part. Interesting with the controls feeling laggy, I didn't notice but I'll play it again with that in mind and see what went wrong there. Thanks for playing!

@jelch Hah, it is surprisingly tough to switch mindsets after playing enough Tetris! Someone else suggested maybe also having a completed row bonus, I think that would help ease people comfortable with Tetris into the game better. Thanks for playing!

@flying-dog-fish Thanks for playing!
tenlki
19. May 2023 · 21:01 UTC
I was just playing tetris at first but started to get the hang of trying to match the backgrounds and aiming for points instead of "cleaing" lines haha. Clever and I played through the game a few times trying to get a better score :laughing: