Meticulous Microbes by Aspeon

[raw]
made by Aspeon for Ludum Dare 56 (JAM)

screenshot.png

This is a "rules discovery" puzzle game like The Witness and many games inspired by it. Each type of microbe has a secret rule of how it wants to be placed in the grid, and you need to place them while satisfying all of their rules.

Ratings

Overall 321th 3.773⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Fun 218th 3.786⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 70th 4.023⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Theme 596th 3.619⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 911th 2.833⭐ 23🧑‍⚖️
Mood 968th 2.842⭐ 21🧑‍⚖️
Given 39🗳️ 8🗨️

Feedback

The Quinnzite Mushroom
08. Oct 2024 · 04:30 UTC
Coming up with some of these puzzles must have been difficult.
I really like the concept and I think it could be expanded upon/more polish to make a really fun game
In my version it's bugged and the play area is very tiny[Screenshot 2024-10-07 212647.png](///raw/f74/16/z/67bac.png)
A Priori
08. Oct 2024 · 04:33 UTC
I imagine it's pretty risky to make a game such as this for a game jam - with no time for playtesting, but your puzzle design was excellent, though the solution for 3-5 threw me for a loop and I haven't gotten past 3-6 yet. Overall, though, great game and submission!
LDJam user 279610
08. Oct 2024 · 04:37 UTC
Brilliant. Really well done. I found the rules pretty easy to figure out but I wasn't 100% sure on details until I learned more. This type of game - you nailed it. As for difficulty I found it easy until 3-6, then it got hard. I think different people will find it hard at different levels which tells me you did a really good job balancing it, something that's so rare in game jam games. Well done!
Leo Fu
08. Oct 2024 · 04:38 UTC
I enjoy the strategy of placing micros within a cube! The UI looks tidy as well
Wesel
09. Oct 2024 · 04:06 UTC
The design of the levels were really nice and it scaled in difficulty at a good rate. Its a fun puzzle game and fit the theme pretty well.
Martingonn
09. Oct 2024 · 04:09 UTC
Cool. I had to figure out the rules myself though. Nice one!
ping78
09. Oct 2024 · 04:18 UTC
Well done, "rule discovery" puzzle game is easy to mess up, you didn't. As others say the last level indeed is a difficulty jump, but a satisfying one once you beat it. Good job.
Damien Black
11. Oct 2024 · 03:29 UTC
I love it. I'm definitely using this as inspiration in the future. I beat the game, but, uh, I never figured out the red triangle rule. I'm missing something. A few more levels and I would've figured it out...

![Screenshot 2024-10-10 212743.png](///raw/c58/06/z/688c8.png)
loveapplegames
12. Oct 2024 · 08:02 UTC
Great puzzle game! Good and challenging puzzles. I have some minor issues with the user interface. It is not possible to remove a microbe unless you select the type you want to remove first. Also, I found the crosses and checkmarks are in the way when trying to see which microbe is where. It would help to have an uncheck button to remove the checkmarks again. Maybe it would also help if the graphics could be enlarged.
Jamjamem
14. Oct 2024 · 08:35 UTC
Overall great puzzle game, but for some reason I couldn't figure out what the orange microbe's rule is? But really liked the option to make marks, nice touch, and also overall looks like a really nice game.
🎤 Aspeon
15. Oct 2024 · 04:01 UTC
@jamjamem I added the mark feature halfway through when I remembered that every time I played a game like this that didn't have that, I wished it did. :)
Urfoex
15. Oct 2024 · 06:41 UTC
Really nice puzzle!
Carraka
19. Oct 2024 · 02:57 UTC
I really enjoyed these puzzles! Played through to the end! I might have to admit that I never really understood the rule for the orange microbe--so after I had placed the green and blue for the last level, I was really doing trial and error. Definitely agree with @loveapplegames on those UI improvements.
Valmontechno
19. Oct 2024 · 15:24 UTC
This game is very interesting. I have not yet found the solution to 3-6. It really has a lot of potential, especially by improving the graphics and adding sounds.
Silliest Goose
24. Oct 2024 · 00:49 UTC
It was really nice to see another discovery type game like the witness. Not entirely sure what the triangle's rule is but I got through :P
Plasmak
24. Oct 2024 · 14:27 UTC
Cool sudoku-like puzzle game!