So I played some of this, stopping at the level where you pull the crates around. I really like the idea of it--the setup is cool, and so's the system where each level has an optional secondary goal. Up until I stopped, I did consistently go for that goal.
I'm not sure how much of my issues with it are user experience and how much is sokobans just not being my genre of choice, but there's a lot of little things that didn't click with me. I didn't like that Olaf short-teleports from square to square instead of walking (or pushing/pulling). (Or backwards-walking? I'm curious how I'd have reacted to that.)
I'm iffy on pull mechanics. I respect how they'd add variety to a sokoban, and I put up with them in Baba Is You, but the wide variety of mutable properties in Baba Is You was kind of the whole point there. Here in this game, hinging so many mundane tavern objects around them just felt...counterintuitive and frustrating. I tolerated them for the barrel level, but when some random crates in the next level also had that same "Here's another object you can't push, and if you move forward while it's behind you, you automatically have to drag it behind you" behavior, I decided I wasn't really in the mood. I think it's supposed to be part of the "Olaf is retracing his previous steps" gimmick, and I do wonder if changing the teleport-hops to another animation that shed more light on what he was actually doing would have helped it feel smoother to me, but yeah.
(Less critical, but when you beat a level, the restart/next level options are so close together in color that I didn't realize until a few levels in that they were different. I'm also not a fan of the fact that the reset button is a single click away and on the same part of the controller as the buttons you'll regularly use.)
The writing gets the job done. I really liked Cleme, and that kind of made me wish Olaf and the bartender also had that spark.
Regarding short-teleports - in fact Olaf's position is interpolated, but movement is fast, so it may still look like teleports. Barrels and boxes are currently parts of tilemap, I'll refactor that so they will have interpolated position too.
I think it's supposed to be part of the "Olaf is retracing his previous steps" gimmick
Yes, you are right. I think I can add popus over objects with possible direction when you are going to pull them, so it will be easier to understand what is going on.
Regarding restart level: I recently played in "So fart away" and liked how they implemented restart level, when you need to hold the button for some time. I think it will help.
Regarding buttons - I'll do some UI refactoring in overall, and will think how to make that modal better.
Thanks for kind words about writing! I send it to the writer. You can skip several levels and go to the sawmill, second part of the demo. I wonder what you'll think about Grimlark.
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So I played some of this, stopping at the level where you pull the crates around. I really like the idea of it--the setup is cool, and so's the system where each level has an optional secondary goal. Up until I stopped, I did consistently go for that goal.
I'm not sure how much of my issues with it are user experience and how much is sokobans just not being my genre of choice, but there's a lot of little things that didn't click with me. I didn't like that Olaf short-teleports from square to square instead of walking (or pushing/pulling). (Or backwards-walking? I'm curious how I'd have reacted to that.)
I'm iffy on pull mechanics. I respect how they'd add variety to a sokoban, and I put up with them in Baba Is You, but the wide variety of mutable properties in Baba Is You was kind of the whole point there. Here in this game, hinging so many mundane tavern objects around them just felt...counterintuitive and frustrating. I tolerated them for the barrel level, but when some random crates in the next level also had that same "Here's another object you can't push, and if you move forward while it's behind you, you automatically have to drag it behind you" behavior, I decided I wasn't really in the mood. I think it's supposed to be part of the "Olaf is retracing his previous steps" gimmick, and I do wonder if changing the teleport-hops to another animation that shed more light on what he was actually doing would have helped it feel smoother to me, but yeah.
(Less critical, but when you beat a level, the restart/next level options are so close together in color that I didn't realize until a few levels in that they were different. I'm also not a fan of the fact that the reset button is a single click away and on the same part of the controller as the buttons you'll regularly use.)
The writing gets the job done. I really liked Cleme, and that kind of made me wish Olaf and the bartender also had that spark.
Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it.
Regarding short-teleports - in fact Olaf's position is interpolated, but movement is fast, so it may still look like teleports. Barrels and boxes are currently parts of tilemap, I'll refactor that so they will have interpolated position too.
Yes, you are right. I think I can add popus over objects with possible direction when you are going to pull them, so it will be easier to understand what is going on.
Regarding restart level: I recently played in "So fart away" and liked how they implemented restart level, when you need to hold the button for some time. I think it will help.
Regarding buttons - I'll do some UI refactoring in overall, and will think how to make that modal better.
Thanks for kind words about writing! I send it to the writer. You can skip several levels and go to the sawmill, second part of the demo. I wonder what you'll think about Grimlark.
Awesome puzzle game, super fun! Good sound design and music, too!
Fun game, great take on "classic" idea 🤩
Visual and sound superb !