I'd appreciate any feedback on the experience. Did you manage to win? Where did you get stuck? etc.

at first i thought web page was broken, but it not: )

Wow, very unique experience, I've felt nostalgic and happy playing this - it's definitely an all-fiver.

Perfect learning curve, minimalistic, clean graphics and clever mechanics - this game is excellent! Great job, @zuf

I've only made it past 4, 'cause my brains are melting after compo, sorry, ahah.

P.S. I can clearly see your game played on a phone, so player can go back later after thinking on new mechanics.

@xart2012 Yeah, I took a risk with the start of the game. I hope people at least try to click or mash the keyboard before giving up.

@alex-lutay Thanks for the kind words! Getting past 4 is a good effort.

I tried playing it on my iPhone, but the text was messed up. That's the danger of doing all the development and testing on one browser. Maybe I'll fix it in a post-compo version. Saving progress between sessions is another possibility.

The link seems to be broken? I only get a blank page.

@appoxgames try clicking on the blank page

At first I was like "Wtf am I doing ?" but then I figured and went out to 4. After that I must admit my brain turned off, too much work these last 2 days ahaha

But honestly, you did very well, the game is great and the experience feels unique, the graphics are minimalistic but are way enough and do all the job.

Very nice !

The game idea is okay, but the game is also super confusing. I could not play any more when I got "Powers 1. perception".

Stuck with a 4 and a 0 right now. The first blank page almost made me close... and then I remembered the theme. Well done sir !

Wow very impressive. Although like many others said, the later puzzles get damn hard! I also got stuck trying to solve 5. If the difficulty curve was gentler this would be perfect!

@appoxgames ah i see, thanks

It does get pretty hard. I had to draw a map for myself while designing levels 5 and 6, and I spent hours refining it. To pass those later levels you need to simulate the effects of sequences of actions in your mind, and you need to backtrack to figure out how to get the slider to each destination.

@congusbongus A shallower difficulty curve could help. I got stuck coming up with ideas for more powers and I wanted to continue my pattern of `x` beacons for each level `x` (apart from 0), so the jump from 4 to 5 is a bit big. I actually reduced the difficulty of my initial version of 5 after realising it was so tough -- I moved some of them to 6 and added easier 5s.

@jk5000 If you click on everything that's clickable, that should be enough to pass level 2. All the things you can interact with should be highlighted slightly blue.

Really nice concept that fills the jam theme very well. Is interesting the way you present the concepts in order to the player learn how to play without beign tell explicitly what to do. It is, however, a bit hard. I only managed to get the first $ and stuck at there. Im not really into puzzles, specially after a whole weekened coding, but its a very interesting and fresh concept. Congrats!


I thought i knew the rules, i thought i was clever, then i got here
Lol

very nice puzzler

I really like introduction process(game starting) with blank page, as well as use of characters as graphics. But I dont exactly know what I'm suppose to achieve/ what is my end goal, and most importantly I dont know when I'm stuck and I need to restart.

@jakiteli Starting with no knowledge of the end goal or the rules of the game is part of its relation to the theme. You have to explore and discover what the end goal is. (I did implement a win condition.)

I designed it so that there should be no way of getting stuck and having to restart, but if anyone finds a way to get trapped, feel free to post a screenshot.

A challenge with building this sort of game is that I, as the designer and developer, know exactly what the rules are constraints are. But other people playing the game won't be able to form those same mental models with certainty. e.g. one of my rules is there must be no way to get trapped. But other players won't know for sure because there could be a counter-example down the road.

@zuf Yea, after the post, I played it a few more times and I started to slowly figure out what I'm doing. Before I got stuck because of a bug, where dots didnt remove.
I can tell now that when you get to 5s and get the navigation tool, its really tiresome to count where I will land after choosing direction, as well as it becomes quite claustrophobic with all the #. I didnt like this navigation system to the point of quitting, maybe I'll try again at some point to complete your game.

I don't think I ever fully understood what was going on, but I had a great time just clicking things and seeing what happens, so a success for us simpler minds as well :D A really cool thing you made there, and my fullest admiration for taking a risk!

@jakiteli Thanks for the feedback.

I watched someone else play and they got the stuck dots issue. Then I tried just now and found the issue:

```if (gameMap[r][c - 1].char !== '.' || c - 1 < 0) {```

^ The conditions here appear in the incorrect order, so breaks if `c` is 0. 😞(This happens if you extend the dots all the way to the left side of the screen. So in this version of the game you lose if that happens.)

That's definitely a game-breaker. Are we allowed to make bug-fix changes now or is it too late? If it's too late I'll fix it in a post-compo version.

I've also heard others express annoyance with having to look carefully to line up the paths of the slider. One solution would be to add a faint grid. My editor has visible whitespace, which helps a bit. But it still requires close observation.
Another idea is to show faint preview lines extending out from the slider so you know where it'll end up. The limitation of that is you can't see more than one move ahead, and for this game you (ideally) should be thinking multiple moves ahead.
And a alternate grid strategy is to only show the a + grid when you click on a square. It removes the noise of a complete grid and also lets you preview the possible moves of the slider from anywhere on the map. This could work quite well, but users may find it confusing.

I looked at the [rules](https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/rules):

> Certain Bug Fixes are allowed. You can’t add new features, but if something broke or didn’t work correctly as you were finishing up, you can fix this after the deadline. You are asked to highlight the changes you make in your submission (a short change log).

Here's my change: https://github.com/ZufengW/blank-page/commit/39af97322f28937c1b03538e1238a0c3b2c7cd6f

It only fixes the bug. And then I redeployed the app.

So it's entirely reasonable that the people who said they got stuck earlier really did get into an unwinnable state due to the bug.

Cool game. I rely like puzel games like this.

The game is very unique but im not fond of this style. Even so, it suited the theme well but it lacks controls fedback becouse its really hard to tell what I have to do

Took me a while but I had a lot of fun beating this game. I'm really impressed about the level design. Masterpiece.

@lex Thanks!

You're the first person so far who said they completed the game.

(You did everything and got the `100% Completion!` message, right?)

Approximately how long did it take?

Totally unexpected, good job!


I really have no idea how to activate all sixes.
Super addictive game! The intro is great and the level design is insane, even though it feels a bit grindy. Maybe a bigger distinction between black and grey question marks would be good, cause sometimes it's not obvious to see. I really like this entry, great job!

Fun puzzle game. Enjoyed trying to figure it out.

Man, the concept and execution are amazing, it fits the jam theme so well. I managed to get to 4 (gotta get back to work), but I'll return to it soon. Good job!

Finally got Mastery of Logic!
I absolutely loved this game. I was immediately interested by the ascii art on this page, and the simple start was so charming. And then, every step of the way there was an interesting and challenging puzzle that forced you to think. This is totally my type of game. Amazing :))

Oh my god... this might be the best level design in any LD game I've played over the many years of doing Ludum Dare. I have spent 2.5 solid hours on this, and it is absolutely brilliant. The way the game evolves, the way that you literally don't tell the player anything, and yet, by the end, the player feels like a badass, figuring out how to solve it, is absolutely incredible.

It finally clicked when I was doing 3's what I was supposed to do. The 4s were really fun. During the 5s I felt like my mind exploded with possibilities. The 6s are really tough. I've nailed down how to get the bottom 4, but the upper 2 are incredibly tough and I might just call it a night, as I've spent more time on this one jam game than any that I've ever played.

I loved the exploration aspect of this. Feeling like I was uncovering a treasure trove of new possibilities and places to explore. I think it's interesting that a lot of the later rounds involve this dual-phase approach, first explore, then solve. The use of the traps is incredible, and the fact that there's no way to ever truly get stuck is a stroke of GENIUS in the actual design of the mechanics.

It's such a simple game, with such an easy premise, but the way it slowly evolves, and the way the player slowly feels more and more empowered is absolutely brilliant. You really struck upon a genius concept and executed it flawlessly with the level design.

My complaints about the game are few - clicking a lot can get kind of annoying - I would have liked some keyboard shortcuts for abilities 2 & 3, and even for controlling the direction of 4. (WASD might've been nice). I also screwed up a few times because of counting reasons. A very light grid, maybe with a toggle would be nice to help players know how far to expand/retract dots for some of the levels.

Either way, I've gotten all the money, and am still trying to solve 6 right now, so I might solve it after I finish this message, but I just wanted to get this out of the way and voice my absolute LOVE for this masterpiece of design.

Well this was intriguing! Such a simple concept but still a complex and entertaining puzzle. I had a lot of thinking trying to figure out the rules and how to solve everything. Amazing job!

Well, I am so frustrated, I can not get the 4. BUT, this is a very nice game : rules are not complicated, the theme is well respected and the level-deign is great. Thanks for this game that blew up my brain

Thank you all for the feedback. I really appreciate it. Seems like all those hours I put into designing the level were worth it.

@aurel Keyboard shortcuts are a possibility. I could add those to a post-compo version. Maybe number keys 2 and 3 for the abilities and WASD or arrow keys for power 4. Mouse click will still be the primary way to control things though.

In an early iteration of the game, dots could only be expanded by clicking the leftmost symbol, but that was really tedious so I changed it to allow clicking anywhere in the line.

A few people have suggested grid now, so I'll try that to see how it looks. I want to keep the completely blank look of the start of the game, but it could be a thing added in Power 1. A full grid would give away the size of the map, but another possibility is to show it only for the explored areas.

@erilhir See @pandan's screenshot for a hint for how to do 4.

@suchista I could make the grey question marks fainter.

(**Spoiler**)
Here's the map I used to help with designing the levels:


(The meaning of the map is left as an exercise for the reader.)

This is a screenshot of the file open in my text editor. I have invisible characters set to visible, so here they act like a grid. It still requires counting to line things up though. I could try a similar appearance in the game. What do you think? Does it help?

@zuf Went ahead after waking up this morning and finally finished Level 6. I had been very close, I just didn't have the insight to notice the + all the way on the left. (Seeing the one expanding + on the map gave me all the hint I needed to be able to finally click together how in the world I could get that uppermost 6 grabbed.)

Another thing that might help isn't necessarily making the faint ?'s fainter, but making the active ones pulse between gray and blue - movement/animation of color can draw the eye to an activated element.

Absolutely genius. I really loved this.

@zuf Yea, I got the 100% complete message! I think I took me about one hour, maybe more.

My brain is already melting so i probably won't be able to finish the fame, i'm stuck at 5. This is an excellent entry, the design is super clever and designing the map must have been really hard. This is super impressive ! This only drawback for me is the used of ASCII. Don't get me wrong, i love the aesthetics of it but i find it hard to perceive distances with it (espacially since horizontal and vertical distances are not the same number of pixel. Once again this is woooooow. Amazin job !

I had many thoughts about this game and @aurel honestly covered all of them. I too played well over an hour but I did get stuck on the 5s. You definitely created not just the feeling of exploration, but of powering up over time. Every time you discovered a new node there was a chance it was a new tool to add to your arsenal and I've never really seen that before. Progression via environmental discoveries or something. And then every time you reached a new level and gained a new mechanic, that was a huge surge in power and it made you change the way you looked at the map itself. It was a super addicting game and it's a shame this was your first LD, I went to your profile hoping to see other gems!

Wow, amazing. Did 100% with a lot of fun! Took me more than a hour, cause I forgot a + that unlocked all for the 6s. Didn't succeed to unlock a wall, the first one of the 16th line (maybe because numbers disappeared?). Puzzle design was really impressive for a LD.
I love puzzle games and this one is a very good one. If you put art and sound it would be a perfect tiny puzzle game!

Awesome game ! Loved to hate it, or the contrary, not sure...
IMHO, it's what a puzzle game should be. Simple rules, really complex behaviour, and a learning curve.

The only thing that bothered me, was that a tile is taller than it is wide. But it seems it's already an ongoing discussion...

PS : Finished 100%.

Could someone give a hint of the first puzzle? I keep mashing my keyboard. individually spamming either W,A,S/D. And the arrow keys. Kept clicking my mouse and even used an auto clicker to try and click every inch of the page. And i kept seeing things like slight static. is this me getting crazy or am i not patient enough?

@rezerd this compo game has no keyboard controls, so mashing it doesn't help.

How far did you get? Did you at least see the first sentence after that clicking? (If not, what device and browser did you use?)

And it might not be clear enough, but everything that can be clicked to trigger an action is shaded slightly blue. Clicking all the blue things is enough to pass the first level.

If you're still stuck, post a screenshot.

That is an amazing game, congrats on a well-deserved gold medal! I finally managed to 100% it, and it was challenging and rewarding. Really nice puzzle design!

@zuf no i don't see any difference, let alone a text after madly clicking. I use a chrome (Copied pasted link) and firefox (the one it originally sent me to) just in case the browser is too bad for the game. I dont know the difference with my eye being tired and the slightly blue thing. Its kinda hard knowing which is imagination and which is clickable without reference. Screenshot :


@rezerd

I'll give away the start of the game: You click anywhere on the page and it makes some text increase in opacity. The text should be visible unless you're using a really small window.

So you probably have an issue with getting the game to run.

The most questionable part about the screenshot you attached is the URI in the address bar. Yours shows the path to a [local file](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_URI_scheme) on your computer. The intended way to play the game is on this website: https://zufengw.github.io/blank-page/ or at least with a [web server](https://phaser.io/tutorials/getting-started-phaser3). (However, I just tried running it without a web server and it still seemed to work.)

I think you should start by trying the [intended website](https://zufengw.github.io/blank-page). (You also need JavaScript enabled and, preferably, a recent version of your web browser)

If you can, [open your browser console](https://support.monday.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002197259-How-to-Open-the-Developer-Console-in-your-Browser) and see what error messages appeared.
When the compo game is running as intended there is this error message: `GET https://zufengw.github.io/blank-page/vendors.app.bundle.js net::ERR_ABORTED 404` and possibly another 404 error about `favicon.ico`.

If it still doesn't work, post the full URI (contents of address bar) and the contents of the [console](https://support.monday.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002197259-How-to-Open-the-Developer-Console-in-your-Browser).

It seems to be running functionally using the link. Thank you
Oops forgot to read the second part.
Url : file:///C:/Users/firezxv/Desktop/Carl%20BOX/Game%20BOX/blank-page-master/index.html
Console :
Indo (raw)
Gagal memuat <script> dengan sumber “file:///C:/Users/firezxv/Desktop/Carl%20BOX/Game%20BOX/blank-page-master/vendors.app.bundle.js”. index.html:140:1
Gagal memuat <script> dengan sumber “file:///C:/Users/firezxv/Desktop/Carl%20BOX/Game%20BOX/blank-page-master/app.bundle.js”.
English (translated)
Failed at loading <script> With the source “file:///C:/Users/firezxv/Desktop/Carl%20BOX/Game%20BOX/blank-page-master/vendors.app.bundle.js”. index.html:140:1
Failed at loading <script> With the source “file:///C:/Users/firezxv/Desktop/Carl%20BOX/Game%20BOX/blank-page-master/app.bundle.js”.

Excellent game. I had a lot of fun. I was not able to solve the last one (the 6s). Only able to get most of them except 1 I think. Very challenging, would love to see a solution video. Nice work! :smiley:

Cool game! Did 100% and spent almost 2 hours! I spent half an hour trying to figure out how to get to the bottom right area lol. It's really hard to get all the 6s and you cannot do any step wrong at last. Anyway, very clever design of the map and I love this game!

Are you still wondering how to get all 6s?
Then look at this!


Yet another solution to the puzzle. I just spent 1 hour thinking really hard on the last level. Nice game!

An amazing game! I like the last "6" puzzle so much. It's a bit hard but so fun. What a pity I find your game until now!