Morphing Maria by Frozen Fractal

[raw]
made by Frozen Fractal for LD35 (COMPO)
A 2D top-down puzzle game using HTML5, in which you change your shape to accomplish your objectives. Inspired by The Talos Principle, Portal and of course Sokoban.

Features:
- Pixels!
- Sounds!
- 10 levels!
- A storyline!
- Role reversals!
- A proper ending!

Made with HaxeFlixel, Tiled Map Editor, Gimp and jfxr. Tested in Chrome (runs smoothly) and in Firefox (runs tolerably). Safari has been reported to work, but without sound, sorry.

Ratings

Coolness 59% 3
Overall 3.94 47
Audio 2.88 385
Fun 4.08 19
Graphics 3.70 172
Humor 3.48 79
Innovation 3.12 459
Mood 3.57 123
Theme 4.17 39

Feedback

Sébastien Bernery
18. Apr 2016 · 08:45 UTC
Very good !
Danilo Bezerra
18. Apr 2016 · 22:31 UTC
Very nice combination of mechanics! I played it on Safari and it didn't have sound.
rockybdubs
19. Apr 2016 · 03:19 UTC
My favorite that I've played! My only beef was that sometimes I wish I could move the characters a little faster. Level 7 got tedious. Great ending :)
LandoSystems
19. Apr 2016 · 06:00 UTC
Great game, very lovely graphics with clever puzzles and fun gameplay. Excellent work!
Aaranos
19. Apr 2016 · 16:50 UTC
Good set of puzzles, wasn't just clearing them instantly.
Elemental Zeal Games Studios
19. Apr 2016 · 17:13 UTC
A very enjoyable entry, nice job!
Ivakha
19. Apr 2016 · 17:28 UTC
I got! Humor 5/5

P.S. Awesome game
remiv
19. Apr 2016 · 17:30 UTC
Interesting mechanics, I like those puzzle.
ezombort
19. Apr 2016 · 17:47 UTC
Probably the game I have enjoyed the most so far! Very clever level design. Well done! :)
Remicy
19. Apr 2016 · 18:39 UTC
Great game! I enjoy it very much! 5/5
fullmontis
19. Apr 2016 · 18:58 UTC
Cool gameplay mechanics! I think they work really well, and the game design is well done too.
leocvf
19. Apr 2016 · 20:46 UTC
I enjoy it, good level design and fun analogy.
Larzan
19. Apr 2016 · 21:21 UTC
Very nice idea, well implemented.
RedPanda
19. Apr 2016 · 21:44 UTC
Awesome game!
LeReveur
19. Apr 2016 · 22:08 UTC
I like puzzles, and this one is good. Well played !
TeamScripta
20. Apr 2016 · 01:19 UTC
5/5 Great game! Love the shifting in order to complete the puzzles. This is a seriously well-formed game in so short a timeframe. Great work, so much fun.
EpiFouloux
20. Apr 2016 · 11:35 UTC
amazing ! reminded of zelda soo much ! loved it, Hope you'll make new levels
RoboRob
20. Apr 2016 · 15:02 UTC
Really nice puzzle game. I enjoyed the game quite a lot.
ZpeedTube
20. Apr 2016 · 21:07 UTC
I was surprised over how good it was!
Really like the puzzle mechanics and also the humor! :D
(Played in chrome, worked good for me)
fin_nolimit
21. Apr 2016 · 00:39 UTC
Okay, for sure one of the top ten games I've played so far. My daughter and I had a blast playing your game. She loved the fact that it was the princess saving the plumber.. hahaa.. very funny twist. We got to level four and are planning on returning to this game to beat it. Nice job!!!
Malvern
21. Apr 2016 · 00:50 UTC
Great puzzle design! Difficult enough that you feel clever after you've solved them.

I do wish that the controls were a little less sensitive, I overshot switches far too often and having to restart so often was a little frustrating.
vini60
21. Apr 2016 · 01:07 UTC
Genious. Very fun and frustrating to play.
Cosmologicon
21. Apr 2016 · 02:58 UTC
Awesome! Really good looking. Good use of creative mechanics. The puzzles are a bit easy for anyone who's done Sokoban, but there's nothing wrong with that per se. :)
wboqm
21. Apr 2016 · 04:02 UTC
Enjoyed the game and found it fun, but felt like the snake could have been used more.
danbolt
21. Apr 2016 · 05:57 UTC
I really admire how well-structured your puzzles were! I could have benefitted from that a lot.

I really enjoyed floor 10's gameplay compared to some of the earlier ones, probably because of the resource management with the boxes. That was cool.

Thanks for uploading!
Cowa
21. Apr 2016 · 06:33 UTC
Nice puzzles and concept! But I really didn't like the sounds though.
Good job :)
MightyToastStudio
21. Apr 2016 · 07:58 UTC
Funny ending and very entertaining. I love this kind of game and yours is very good. I want more!
Pestel Crew
21. Apr 2016 · 08:20 UTC
Reminds me my childhood XD Loved it! One more game I would LOVE to play in my bad time! Please release it on Google Play! Waiting!
🎤 Frozen Fractal
21. Apr 2016 · 09:21 UTC
Wow, so much feedback! Thank you all! Let me answer to some people specifically...

@rockybdubs, @Malvern: You are basically saying opposite things about movement speed :) Perhaps level 7 got tedious because, frankly, it is. I meant for something more interesting to be placed halfway, but couldn't fit it in (neither into the time, nor into the map).

@fin_nolimit: Just your comment by itself made this LD worthwhile. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the levels!

@Cosmologicon: I didn't want to go to deep into hardcore Sokoban type puzzles, where you have to get 100 steps in the right order or you have to start over. I'd rather have something more forgiving, where you can never get stuck. I tried to find a reasonable balance there.

@wboqm: Yes, the snake might be under-used. The problem is that once you're a snake, the only limiting factor is crates. I think I'd have to add another snake-blocking tile to get more good puzzles out of it.

@danbolt: Level 8 is my personal favourite, which has a similar structure.

@Cowa: Sorry about the sounds. Eleventh hour, almost literally. Totally true that they could have been better.

@Pestel Crew: If this is highly enough rated in LD, I'll definitely consider a mobile port :)
cakeknuckles
21. Apr 2016 · 12:32 UTC
this is such a nice little puzzle game, really good interpretation of the theme!
GFM
21. Apr 2016 · 14:50 UTC
Nice game!

Morphing was an interesting new mechanic! :)
I also really liked the flavor texts... "Your pawns are to big to hold the key" was my favorite one. XD
zenmumbler
21. Apr 2016 · 14:57 UTC
Having heard the sounds now in Firefox I don't mind they were not present in Safari ;) Very well put together game marrying sokoban and shapeshifting in a great package!
LeftRight92
21. Apr 2016 · 15:27 UTC
Really nice entry, just slightly disappointed some of the puzzles were self-solving or too easy. Would like to see more
HolyBlackCat
21. Apr 2016 · 16:34 UTC
Wow, you've made a great game!
I really like mario reference, as well as interesting puzzle gameplay and nice graphics.

Sounds were ok, but some of them (snake and princess movement) were a bit unnatural. I suggest you to get a sound editor like Audacity and try to use the equalizer to cut high frequencies from some of the sounds. This should make them a lot better and pleasant to hear, especially this would help for noisy snake movement.

Btw, i'd make starting cell non-solid and act like normal floor. It just feels weird that I can't walk over it.

I've mentioned some things to be (in my opinion) improved, but they are tiny compared to all the nice things that the game has.
This is one of the few games out there that are interesting from the start to the very end.

Great job!
Sir Magic
21. Apr 2016 · 17:11 UTC
Haha loved Plumber Peat and Princess Maria xD
JoeManaco
21. Apr 2016 · 17:18 UTC
Sokoban with a cool twist. Great use of the theme.
joekinley
21. Apr 2016 · 17:50 UTC
Whenever I finish these kind of games, I feel really smart to have figured out all the levels. Obligatory end pun was obligatory, but the game was awesome
Dining Philosopher
21. Apr 2016 · 18:05 UTC
Haha, Plumber Pete, I had to think for a moment what the reference was ;-) Loved the graphics, especially the bear with the little moving crown. Sound effect of the bear had some crackling, otherwise sounds were fine.
Arskiainen
21. Apr 2016 · 18:37 UTC
So complete! Double nostalgia with a twist. The sounds are hideous! :X
shane1090
21. Apr 2016 · 18:38 UTC
Very nice idea, puzzles were enjoyable to solve!
APantaloni
21. Apr 2016 · 19:07 UTC
Very enjoyable and funny puzzle game. Maybe a little too easy. I'd love to see this expanded upon.
toastedgames
21. Apr 2016 · 19:16 UTC
Great game guys! I played the entire thing, and enjoyed all of it! Keep it up.
endel
21. Apr 2016 · 19:53 UTC
Theme was very well applied on this game, gameplay is not that innovative, yet quite enjoyable. Congrats!
themadknights
21. Apr 2016 · 19:55 UTC
Nice one! Good use of the theme. The only thing I miss was some kind of background music.
SamH
21. Apr 2016 · 20:41 UTC
Excellent level design, congrats! The puzzles are challenging enough, not too long, and the mechanics are easily learned. A nice little gem.
josefnpat
21. Apr 2016 · 23:39 UTC
This was clean and the puzzles weren't too hard! It would have been nice to bind reset to "R" but regardless wonderful!
Odyssey
21. Apr 2016 · 23:52 UTC
Loved the levels
bogdan.tana
22. Apr 2016 · 19:59 UTC
The level design is juicy! Fun to play, funny setting, great entry :D Congrats!
LadyEmaSkye
22. Apr 2016 · 21:57 UTC
Wonderful little game -- best one I've played so far! Clear and straightforward, yet very intuitive. Some of the puzzles were definitely a bit complex -- I had to play through restart several multiple times.
OysterKLAN
24. Apr 2016 · 07:27 UTC
Great game, solid art and well made puzzles!
egos
24. Apr 2016 · 09:53 UTC
well polished puzzles game
Good jobs
Roan Contreras
24. Apr 2016 · 12:30 UTC
Excellent use of the theme, I really enjoyed this game :D
Freank
24. Apr 2016 · 12:37 UTC
Hi, nice game ! it remembers me the tower of druaga :D
We're realizing a video with several games of the Ludum Dare #35.
Can you add your game on indiexpo.net ? (it's free)
So we can include also your game in the video ;)
p.s. write #LDJAM in the game's description
puppetmaster
24. Apr 2016 · 13:23 UTC
Nice puzzle game with cute pixel graphics.
Missing background music.
Keep up the good work!
marmpa
24. Apr 2016 · 13:31 UTC
Really liked the reverse mario type game.Loved you could transform
to animalist and the to a human.
DSSiege11
24. Apr 2016 · 13:34 UTC
Loved it, very clever puzzles!
🎤 Frozen Fractal
24. Apr 2016 · 14:14 UTC
@Freank: Please feel free to include my game in your video if you like!
Asturk
24. Apr 2016 · 15:08 UTC
You did very great with this puzzle game! Altough o think the puzzles is still kinda easy until last levels, for a gamejam, the level designs was great, the audio and graphics is amazing for this type of play! Great job!!
domrein
24. Apr 2016 · 15:18 UTC
Amaaaaazing! Best game I've played so far. Very very well done. The only thing it's lacking is music, but I really enjoyed it.
Felladrin
24. Apr 2016 · 16:55 UTC
Nice game! Had a good time solving puzzles!
SHLFStudios
24. Apr 2016 · 17:46 UTC
very nice combo entry. played on safari so wasn't able to rate the audio.
plko
24. Apr 2016 · 17:59 UTC
Toad!!It's you!?
tomlum
24. Apr 2016 · 20:42 UTC
Fantastic. Challenging and interesting.
Jun & Pate
24. Apr 2016 · 21:05 UTC
well done, one of the more "complete" games out there.
ijona
24. Apr 2016 · 23:21 UTC
I liked role reversal :)
urfbound
25. Apr 2016 · 02:22 UTC
Great game! Probably the best compo game I've played so far, really polished and creative. I love the art and sound, how they change for each form, and the level design is great. I especially liked level 8. Some suggestions I would make for future iterations would be a score system based on step count, and dynamic elements like enemies that move over time. Being able to start a level over without going back to the beginning is definitely great. Maybe an undo button would help too. I also found that the text looked kinda blurry, not sure if it's scaled or if you're working right from image resources but it was something i noticed.

Did notice one bug, but it can break a level where it occurs: if you are the human princess with a key and change forms at the same cell twice, it seems one of the keys will disappear (this might just be a graphical thing but I couldnt get back to the same cell to see).

Had a blast playing your game and it has a lot of polish! Hope you had fun making it, thanks for your submission!
🎤 Frozen Fractal
25. Apr 2016 · 09:42 UTC
@urfbound: Thanks for the detailed feedback!

Undo would have been great, but wasn't possible in the time available. I'd have to either clone the entire game state, or have some "reverse" operation, but because of hacky code (zero separation between game logic and display) neither was easy.

I'm not so sure about dynamic elements. I prefer pure logic puzzles over logic plus skill. I hated many of the moving mine puzzles in Talos, for instance. YMMV.

Not sure what the blurry text is all about. It should look crisp and pixelated, and does on every platform I tested. Not sure if this is a HaxeFlixel bug or I'm just holding it wrong.

The keys don't actually disappear, it's just that they're rendered on top of each other. I was aware of this but didn't bother to fix it, because as soon as you pick them up again it becomes clear.
Freank
26. Apr 2016 · 08:40 UTC
i can include it ! You should sign up and click on Upload. Only the devs can :(
Rock Eaters
02. May 2016 · 22:10 UTC
Classic puzzle concept, but nice exploitation of the theme. Like it.
wumpus
06. May 2016 · 11:49 UTC
Played it through to the end and enjoyed it. Almost gave up early thinking "it's just another sokoban game" but ended up sticking it out and enjoyed some of the later levels. They were nicely designed and challenging without being annoying. Nice job.
waveformmodulations
06. May 2016 · 13:59 UTC
Cute little puzzle game!
ermrk
06. May 2016 · 18:00 UTC
I like graphic of the beginning sequence. I am not big fun of Sokoban, but this was fun.
quadtree
09. May 2016 · 05:12 UTC
Nice! Puzzles had just the right level of difficulty.
Omiya Games
09. May 2016 · 23:33 UTC
Loved the puzzles: they were really well-made, giving just enough clues to complete, but not enough to make you feel smart. The sound effects gets repetitive very fast, so I would have liked more variety there. Thought it was pretty cool.