Matom Smasher by Shiiro 10psi

[raw]
made by Shiiro 10psi for Ludum Dare 54 (JAM)

How to Play:

Basic Controls:

Hover over a Matom to view it's details.

Click to select a Matom in the central grid. Click a neighboring (Horizontal or Vertical. Not Diagonal) Matom to merge the first Matom into the second. A new base Matom will be summoned into the Matom Smasher when a space in the grid is empty.

Aim to create the Matom displayed in the top panel. Create the Matom fast for more points.

Matom Basics:

Matoms are made of Orders and Elements. Orders are created when a pair of opposing elements are in the same Matom. There are six types of Elements, in the following opposing pairs.

  • Light <-> Dark
  • Fire <-> Water
  • Earth <-> Air

Matoms are only stable in configurations of a single Element particle, or when there are more Orders than Elements.

Matoms come in fourteen varieties. Six corresponding to the base Elements, containing only particles of that Element. There are then six stable Matom forms with two types of Elemental Particles

  • Energy = Fire + Light
  • Life = Light + Earth
  • Form = Earth + Water
  • Decay = Water + Dark
  • Death = Dark + Air
  • Illusion = Air + Fire

Finally there are two unstable Matom forms:

  • Strange = Any two types of Elements not in the above list.
  • Wild = Three types of Elements that do not form Orders.

Unstable Matoms will decay randomly. When a Matom decays, one Element particle will escape from the Matom and be captured by the Matom Smasher. The Matom Smasher can contain up to four escaped particles safely, and will shut down when a fifth particle escapes to protect the user. Escaped particles can be processed and removed from containment by completing goal Matoms.

Heavy Matoms are those that contain five or more Orders. Heavy Matoms will fall into a lower dimension and be replaced by a new base Matom. This is a good way to clear unneeded particles.

Ratings

Overall 884th 3.19⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Fun 1058th 2.636⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 86th 4.095⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Theme 817th 3.262⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 947th 2.659⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Given 23🗳️ 19🗨️

Feedback

LDJam user 373644
01. Oct 2023 · 23:39 UTC
It took me a few tries to figure it out, but once I got a feel for how the matoms interacted, it was super fun! Great concept!!
Phillip Scott
02. Oct 2023 · 23:25 UTC
was a lot to understand but forging the matoms and finding odd combinations is quite fun. found it a little hard to "read" the board and make the order, but after a little bit of trial and error it was interesting
Pax Lefay
02. Oct 2023 · 23:27 UTC
Cool concept, took a minute to get the hang of though. I think it really could do with some kind of tutorialising (just demonstrating the matom interactions)
Owinmowe
02. Oct 2023 · 23:27 UTC
It's a strange game, but i liked it anyway.
GreenPig
02. Oct 2023 · 23:27 UTC
I have found the controls rather challenging to use, however the game was surprisingly interesting, considering its graphics. I have played a solid 10 minutes with it and I got the hang of it. All in all, I think it's very innovative and unique. Good Work! :)
MarcoDeevil
02. Oct 2023 · 23:28 UTC
Really interesting concept. Game seems hard at the beginning, but it's really nice logic game.
Killnaprimer
02. Oct 2023 · 23:32 UTC
Thats a nice logic game, took a bit of trial and error but once you get the rules - smooth sailing! Great job
qdyer
02. Oct 2023 · 23:32 UTC
I was a little too stupid to figure out exactly how to beat a single level, but got close. Loved seeing the different matoms interact and combine though. Super fine and satisfying.
yndajas
02. Oct 2023 · 23:34 UTC
I love the strange and wild matom text! The design and UI is really cool, and the concept seems cool, but I can't quite work out how to translate the matom basics into instructions for playing the game. I made one of the target matoms, but nothing seemed to happen. I think if I figured it out, I'd wanna replay it a lot!
wiru
02. Oct 2023 · 23:43 UTC
Liked the concept, couldn't really figure out the matoms concept at the beginning but with a few tries i got the hang of it. it was fun!
bad_fetus
03. Oct 2023 · 22:08 UTC
Can't say I got the hang of the mechanics. But I enjoyed seeing what combinations I could make. Interesting concept. Good work!
Jordan Weatherby
04. Oct 2023 · 12:49 UTC
Really don't think I'm smart enough to understand this game but seems to work really well - puzzly type games are quite underrepresented in jams so happy to see something like this in!
LDJam user 248799
09. Oct 2023 · 13:45 UTC
Didn't understand it at the beginning, but I read carefully the description and I was setup :thumbsup:

It lacks sound and feedbacks, but I was fascinated but particles making circles. There is a bug, if the goal already exist it will not be taken it into account.

But well done!
TPace
15. Oct 2023 · 01:18 UTC
I love games with scientific premises (mine is one as well), great job creating that system!