FACED by Sheepolution

[raw]
made by Sheepolution for LD30 (COMPO)
Controls: Arrow keys
Enter for next level

These faces want to be best friends, but they each need their own little space. Can you make the faces happy together?

Ratings

Coolness 56% 3
Overall 3.86 58
Audio 2.61 614
Fun 3.54 184
Graphics 3.21 468
Humor 2.99 214
Innovation 4.11 40
Mood 2.96 582
Theme 3.96 71

Feedback

rob
25. Aug 2014 · 03:18 UTC
This is a cool concept. I didn't get all the way through but I played maybe four or five of the harder non-tutorial levels. It doesn't tell you what level you're on so I can't be sure.

It's well thought out — good call with the dimmed out blocks showing you what's on the other side without having to look and compare.

I did feel the game would benefit from having more features to introduce as you progress through the levels. I think that would be a nice little incentive and would help break up the onslaught of difficult levels which are quite similar to each other.

Also, I love the faces! They're adorable AND useful to the gameplay, so good job!
alvarop
25. Aug 2014 · 03:20 UTC
Really enjoyed the game, the mechanic worked perfectly and felt pretty new to me (never played a game like this one before).

Good job, once again!
duncankeller
25. Aug 2014 · 03:25 UTC
Loved it! The mechanics were easy to learn, and I liked the puzzles. The angry faces were a great way to telegraph what needed to be done. Simple but effective visuals.

A couple things: I would have LOVED a backpedal button, similar to puzzlescript games. I couple of times I had a solution almost complete, but one accidental key press and I had to do the whole level over. Also, the speeding up music drove me nuts. Is there some kind of time limit I didn't realize? It really freaked me out.

Overall, I loved the game. Fun, nice presentation, and well put together. Good job!
oranebeast
25. Aug 2014 · 05:11 UTC
I like the papers please esque bouncing logo. Great little concept that would go well on mobile.
LostTrainDude
25. Aug 2014 · 13:54 UTC
At the beginning I was afraid that the mechanics would have been clunky. I WAS WRONG! :D

Great, funny, smooth puzzle game. I laughed a lot because of the music!

Nice design work with the transparent mirrored image between the two sides!
Ditto
25. Aug 2014 · 14:00 UTC
Neat, very interesting! I am such an idiot when it comes to pusslegames, so I had a really hard time, but the mechanic feels strange and interesting!
(Not) Ivano
25. Aug 2014 · 15:00 UTC
probably the most interesting concept so far, would rock on 3DS!
TautNerve
25. Aug 2014 · 15:23 UTC
Really cool idea behind the design, an addictive
little puzzle game. Like Ivano said this could be really
awesome on a 3ds
Steve
25. Aug 2014 · 15:32 UTC
Very difficult. Or maybe I'm just not good at this kind of game. I locked myself in at one point :( Maybe having a single step undo would be good. I managed to solve a few though.

It's a cool idea. The faces are pretty funny

The simple music is good at first, but the increasing pace towards the end is extremely maddening and I thought time was gonna run out or something. Really makes you nervous.
AdventureIslands
25. Aug 2014 · 15:54 UTC
Nice work! Pretty creative puzzler, I think that after the tutorial levels the game could have perhaps started with little easier levels, but overall this is very well done.
Wertle
25. Aug 2014 · 19:47 UTC
This is a wonderful approach to a slider puzzle, I love how it remains simple but incorporates a lot of complex things to consider for the player spacially (both in where the character can move and where the blocks need to move). My one suggestion would be an additional visual distinction between happy and sad positioned blocks, the face by itself makes it hard to read at-a-glance the entire board. Perhaps a saturation shift or something? Also the music stressed me out so i had to turn it off :O Great work!
cardboard
25. Aug 2014 · 23:27 UTC
The controls and gameplay are very easy to figure out. The music made things unnecessarily tense. The game is fun.
rjhelms
26. Aug 2014 · 02:10 UTC
Very cool interpretation of the theme. I agree with others that the speeding up moving was a bit confusing - felt like there was a time limit when there wasn't one.
jgthespy
26. Aug 2014 · 06:37 UTC
Great puzzle game and a fantastic take on the theme. I will probably play this again.
Devtactics
26. Aug 2014 · 08:42 UTC
Lots of nice touches in this one! I'm impressed that you were able to code it *and* come up with a decent set of puzzles all within the timeframe.
PTSnoop
26. Aug 2014 · 09:07 UTC
This is one of those concepts that... just makes so much sense, given the theme. I love it!
Xaychru04
26. Aug 2014 · 11:08 UTC
Really nice concept! Perhaps the post-tutorial levels could have been less random/easier to introduce the player to the game, but I enjoyed the game anyway.
(Also, the music made me laugh for some reason... ^^)
Windmill Games
26. Aug 2014 · 12:28 UTC
Nice to see a unique concept, well executed and presented. Even though graphics are quite "simple" they fit the theme well and don't bother me. Well done!
AtomicVikings
26. Aug 2014 · 12:33 UTC
Awesome game, awesome idea. nuff said. you're golden!
Druid
26. Aug 2014 · 12:37 UTC
What a game! Really interesting game mechanics!
kikito
26. Aug 2014 · 13:45 UTC
Well done! I especially enjoyed the cute faces. The only thing I didn't like much was the music.
Moosefly
26. Aug 2014 · 14:52 UTC
Fun and well done. Nothing bad to say. Simply Great with a capital G! :p
AlexDJones
26. Aug 2014 · 15:15 UTC
Good concept well executed. The visuals in particular are really well done as they convey all the info the player needs about the state of the game board really simply. Would have liked a way to reverse one or two moves per game to help get out of unwinnable states without having to restart the whole level, but on the whole an excellent little puzzle game!
Oli
26. Aug 2014 · 15:48 UTC
Great concept and completely fits the theme. I just turned off the music ^^
good job!
ponk
26. Aug 2014 · 15:53 UTC
SuupppeerRRrr well done game...!!
allenfreese
26. Aug 2014 · 21:07 UTC
Great entry!
IAmSpencer
27. Aug 2014 · 05:14 UTC
That was a relatively simple idea but you executed it really nicely! it got pretty challenging as well, great job! :)
Crocanti de Pollo
27. Aug 2014 · 18:22 UTC
Good puzzle game! I thought there was a timer when the music started speeding up :P
Pinqu
27. Aug 2014 · 18:44 UTC
Very enjoyable. The music really got me there.. I got to hurry up :P A timed mode would be an nice addition.
PixlWalkr
27. Aug 2014 · 20:50 UTC
Nice game mechanics
Alex Rose
28. Aug 2014 · 02:16 UTC
Got addicted to this. Played it for about an hour and complete every level. Enjoyed thoroughly. The only thing that minorly grated on me was the music speeding up and getting tense arbitrarily (and by arbitrarily I mean "when the track was ending"). Like, I would've preferred just the standard beat over and over forever.

But other than that minor gripe, absolutely perfect, enjoyed the shit out of it, great game and great use of the theme.
2HitMatt
28. Aug 2014 · 04:59 UTC
Really dig this game. Got my brain thinking, which is always good haha
rojo
29. Aug 2014 · 01:34 UTC
The core concept is pretty fun. Kind of easy. I think some kind of timer or move counter to mark performance might make things a bit more interesting. Some sound effects when you slide a character into a good or bad space might be nice, as well as a sound for successfully completing a level. The music speeding up was a little confusing as it didn't seem to be tied to any change in game state.
Rage Paint
29. Aug 2014 · 19:09 UTC
Great game idea! Escalated quickly. Maybe gradual difficulty in levels. Music made it seem like I was running out of time when I actually had unlimited time - might want to change that.
Artamus
29. Aug 2014 · 23:00 UTC
Nice game, congrats!
TijmenTio
29. Aug 2014 · 23:10 UTC
Super creative concept man! The faces are fucking hilarious. Nice mute button. But really, take on the theme is pretty clever!
Meedoc
30. Aug 2014 · 10:38 UTC
Nice game! Smart level design, even if become a bit bland in the end. Adding new mechanics through the game would keep the interest of the player.

Otherwise, I would have love a score system to challenge myself and an "undo" in addition to the restart ^^

Anyway, good job!
rogueNoodle
30. Aug 2014 · 13:40 UTC
Great puzzle concept - an evolution on the sliding picture puzzles. Seems like it could be really well suited for mobile play - hope you expand on it
5T4MP5
30. Aug 2014 · 14:21 UTC
Pretty novel puzzle idea. The greyed out faces, and changing expressions make for solid feedback on your progress. Very nice
noffle
30. Aug 2014 · 17:42 UTC
Cool idea! I enjoyed playing with the puzzles once I got a handle on how to play. A few things I noticed:

I found the first few 'tutorial' levels a little confusing, since it wasn't obvious "how" I was winning each of them: the relationship between the two screens and that the faces were overlapping was not immediately clear.

I almost immediately forgot which blocks could be pulled vs pushed. The gray blocks seemed immediately obvious: I think many games have built up our association for faded gray with "non-interactive". However, the other colours didn't suggest functionality in the same way. I wonder if other visual cues could have helped, like little handles on faces that you can pull, or pushbar-like pieces on the pushable ones.

The music had me a little worried the first time it played through: it began speeding up more and more and I was concerned that there was some time limit I didn't know about. I scrambled to try and finish more quickly before realizing that it was just part of the soundtrack and not linked to the gameplay.

Ultimately these are small quibbles, but I think you're onto something that could be a really fun, polished game. Well done!
0x0961h
30. Aug 2014 · 21:02 UTC
Mechanic is great, I like it. Hardcore as hell, though. :D
And yeah, music progression is pretty confusing. :)
Adam Thompson
30. Aug 2014 · 21:06 UTC
Very innovative, and excellent implementation of the theme. Very creative. Keep making more :) Cheers.
joseadrian
30. Aug 2014 · 21:15 UTC
Those faces! Liked it. I would play it on mobile.
Aske
30. Aug 2014 · 21:16 UTC
Great little game. It has really good potential for android/iOS . Consider it.. :)
Crefossus
31. Aug 2014 · 09:59 UTC
Each level could have a number to identify it in the actual game. I had to find out where to go after the tutorial.

More polish like a reward for completion (sound, etc) could help.

The music could start intense or be variable based on how many sad faces there are and lighten up/slow down as you solve the puzzle.
Benjamin
31. Aug 2014 · 13:30 UTC
I like the game, but I spend too much time searching for free space ( square with no face on both world ). I think some helper to see that, blinking light on free space for example, would let player concentrate on the pushing/pulling aspect of the game.

There's also a gap between tutorials levels and "full" level where you could insert some easier level with 25% 50% and 75% fill.

speed up on music on an unlimited time puzzle feels weird.
Pierrec
31. Aug 2014 · 13:55 UTC
This is the greatest puzzle concept I've seen since a long time! I love it!
I didn't feel the difficulty was really increasing though. Maybe las levels need bigger grids, or lesser reds.
Shide
31. Aug 2014 · 14:37 UTC
A great puzzle, I would definitely finish it, It's hard and I really like the smooth, colorfull design, though sound is a bit annoying. And user-friendly expressions is my favorite thing about this game. Really good entry
🎤 Sheepolution
31. Aug 2014 · 14:48 UTC
It's been a week, so I decided it would be time to respond to the comments.

@ rob:
"I did feel the game would benefit from having more features to introduce as you progress through the levels. I think that would be a nice little incentive and would help break up the onslaught of difficult levels which are quite similar to each other."

I can understand if people would find the game to become repetitive, but at the moment I can't think of any cool new features to introduce along the way that would benefit the game.

@ duncankeller:
"I would have LOVED a backpedal button, similar to puzzlescript games. I couple of times I had a solution almost complete, but one accidental key press and I had to do the whole level over."
Definitely adding this to the new version of the game!

@ orangebeast:
"Great little concept that would go well on mobile."
I will try to make this happen for sure!

@ rojo:
"I think some kind of timer or move counter to mark performance might make things a bit more interesting."
Right, both timer and move counter are something I will probably add in the full version.

@ Everyone else:
Thanks for all the nice comments! I know about the music, it was a dumb choice on my part. If you want to know when I release the full game, be sure to follow me on twitter! twitter.com/sheepolution
klianc09
31. Aug 2014 · 15:43 UTC
Great take on the Sokoban genre (is it even a genre?). Controls were really fluent.

The only thing I would suggest, is that you don't have to restrict yourself to a 5x5 grid, it doesn't even have to be a square, you could go wild be creating various shapes with the orange floor, to create some variety. (and also some levels for the progression from tutorial to hard ones.)
moomoo112
31. Aug 2014 · 16:03 UTC
A fun concept, really enjoyed playing this.
rnlf
31. Aug 2014 · 16:21 UTC
I don't think I am smart enough for this, but the idea is really novel and looks nice!
CoolIron
31. Aug 2014 · 16:42 UTC
Simple, but nice concept :) Great job!
Partially Exciting
31. Aug 2014 · 22:18 UTC
Excellent concept and execution. Tighten up the game and ship it man.
Noah Ratcliff
01. Sep 2014 · 00:18 UTC
Well done! Great mechanic, and great puzzle design to back it up. Loved the "Papers, Please"-esque title.
spotco
01. Sep 2014 · 21:53 UTC
Nice minimalist puzzle game, would have really benefited from some indicator of which blocks were overlaying.
Knowledge
02. Sep 2014 · 09:08 UTC
Great game:
Humor: You don't have it(n/a).
Music and Graphics: It's OK, but nothing special(3).
Mood: It's pretty tense(4).
Theme: You used the theme on very unusual way, but you don't have story that uses theme(4).
Innovation: Very unique game goal, but moving is too normal for 5(and I think that it even wouldn't be good if this game had strange moving system, it probably wouldn't be so fun)(4).
Fun: It's really enjoyment to play this game (5).
Overall: It's almost perfect, but almost(4).
Notes: In random mode when you reset it's different level, please set some other key for changing level in random mode (for post-compo version, of course).
SnoringFrog
05. Sep 2014 · 22:58 UTC
There's no 20, and you have two 26's lol. Good game though, but it did get boring after...well, I don't know how long it took, which brings me to my next suggestion: put the level number on the actual level somewhere. I hit 'esc' once and never could figure out which level I had just come from. Also, the way the music sped up like you were running out of time when it really didn't matter was kind of annoying.
pansapiens
07. Sep 2014 · 11:06 UTC
Really enjoyed playing this - puzzlers like this sometimes break my brain a little to quickly, but this one worked for me (the nice set of tutorial intro levels was well done). Love the whimsical faces, and the happy/sad transition was the perfect way to convey information. Thanks for sharing !
badlydrawnrod
07. Sep 2014 · 11:45 UTC
This is a solid game based on a good idea. I think it would have benefited from some sound effects and a bit of chrome to reward your progression, but it has the makings of being something very good indeed. I like it.
robbiehunt
07. Sep 2014 · 12:58 UTC
Wow very impressed with this simple little game! Well... seemingly simple. Get's challenging - which is good! I would love to see this developed further!

The music had me thinking that I was under a timelimit or that a move I did was wrong though.
Crowbeak
08. Sep 2014 · 11:38 UTC
I like the game, but I muted it pretty quickly because the music got annoying really fast. It speeds up, but for no apparent reason... and there's a well-established expectation that faster music means you're running out of time.
christopf
09. Sep 2014 · 12:25 UTC
great entry, found out through robert's blogpost about leveldesign.
NicePenguins
11. Sep 2014 · 08:59 UTC
Clever concept, really nice :)
headchant
15. Sep 2014 · 09:23 UTC
Great the idea! Some of them were very hard. It may be me but the learning curve might be a bit steep.
commodoreKid
15. Sep 2014 · 22:40 UTC
Too repetitive and not challenging. It gets boring short after it starts. Nice idea maybe but not a good realization. Would make a good casual mobile game probably.
sorceress
15. Sep 2014 · 23:02 UTC
Sheepolution for the win \o/
Managore
16. Sep 2014 · 00:19 UTC
I'm always impressed when someone comes up with a unique idea for a puzzle game, and this doesn't disappoint in the slightest. A move counter in the original would have been great for the extra challenge!
Rustam
09. Jun 2017 · 09:58 UTC
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