Quantum Splitter by thetatautau
Split atoms, and trigger chain reactions in this minimalist puzzle game.
If you are stuck, you can skip levels in the main menu. You can skip up to 2 levels that way.
I would love to have constructive feedbacks about this game, as I plan to devellop it further.

Tools
- Engine: Unity (nb. I use OdinInspector and didn't included it in the sources, if you want to look at the sources you'll have to install it or remove all the attributes).
- Sprites: Inkscape
- Music: Strofe (AI)
- Sounds: Audacity
| Improved version | https://thetatautau.itch.io/quantum-splitter |
| Compo version | https://thetatautau.itch.io/quantum-splitter-ld |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/quantum-madness |
Ratings
| Overall | 1th | 4.447⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 14th | 4.211⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 39th | 4.105⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 235th | 3.667⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 42th | 4.202⭐ | 59🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 37th | 3.963⭐ | 56🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 401th | 2.081⭐ | 45🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 89th | 3.712⭐ | 54🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 13🗳️ | 3🗨️ |

The last 2 stage is really challenging. Good job !
It would look very cool on smartphones.
This was really fun, but it felt like there was a difficulty spike around level 9, at which point every other level was a little too hard, that might just be me though, I gave up on level 20 since that's close enough to beating the game lol.
Regarding the specific feedback you requested on the itch.io page:
1. No tutorial required for native or high?mid?-level English speakers, as the titles of the early levels served as tutorial enough. A more visual tutorial might be better for increasing the range of people who can play it.
2. As I said, I think it spiked in difficulty around 9, but that might just be my inability to solve the puzzles. Overall difficulty felt fine though, and solving the hard ones felt really rewarding.
3. I liked both the easy and hard levels, as the easy ones helped me learn the mechanics and provide breaks between the harder ones, and the harder ones were more satisfying to solve.
4. I wish there was a hint system I could use for the harder ones. I don't think they're too hard to solve, but they're confusing to me. Some of the level titles helped like "round trip" but others only? described the start position like "h bomb".
Overall just a super polished, clever and fun entry. Amazing job.
- The way you designed the game, a tutorial would be superfluous. Each time there's a new feature, the level serves as a tutorial. If people find difficult to understand a feature, I'd suggest to rework the level introducing it.
- I didn't find the last levels very funny. I think it was because it wasn't possible anymore (at least for me) to figure out what the chain reaction will but more a die & retry process.
- As for the aesthetic, I thinks it lacks a bit of juicyness, especially when we win. Adding some effects could make big chain reaction even more satisfying (I obviously talk about something subtle to fit with your minimalist theme).
Anyway, it's a promising project and I wish you good luck for the future.
Thank you for your feedbacks.
Tutorial would be nice as addition, more like list of "opened" features.
Difficulty is just on point. I did not finishe last level, so subtle hints would be nice IMO.
I enjoyed hard levels, but I am puzzle nut-head :)
I think popping sound should be more... cristal? electronical? clear? ... if you want to stick with nuclei idea. But for bubbles it is perfect, especially with addition of little random pitch shift on each "boop" :)
Great entry. Good luck with your plans on this game!
You could definitely take this farther if want to, optionally set it up to have multiple level packs to be added in updates over time, and release it on sites like Poki (go for a revenue split), Coolmath (upfront pay, probably $500-$1000), and Armor Games (smaller upfront amount).
Great work, keep it up!
Best of luck!
I use to think these sites were dead in 2021, but il look like I was wrong. So I decided to try to make a few small games and try to sell them, as I have trouble finishing bigger games. I initially planned to re-make one game I made during a jam 6 month ago, but I will start with Quantum Splitter instead as it is simpler.
Completed all the levels. It was very tempting to just use trial and error in the last few levels, but planning ahead and tracing the electrons' paths in your head instead was a good brain exercise and it felt very satisfying once the chain reactions cleared the whole screen. Excellent level design.
You mentioned selling/licensing to those sites, I'm trying to go more of an app store release with ads. Not sure which is better or if both is possible. I don't have anything of my own out there yet, but I've made and put apps on the app stores for businesses. I'm definitely looking to polish my game for the app stores and add multiplayer. Let me know if you would want more info about that route. I'm not sure what your experience level is, but you seem like a cool dev. :thumbsup:
However I have no idea how much to expect from adds on the appstores. I followed a few projects and some games made thousands while other made cents, with no obvious correlation with the quality of the game or any other obvious factor.
I would love to hear about your experience with "app stores for businesses".
The beauty of this puzzle game is the fact that the difficulty comes from the intelligent design, rather than complex rules or mechanics. I was continually amazed at how intricate each puzzle was.
The pacing in which you introduced new mechanics and rules was phenomenal. Actually tutorializing your puzzle game is one of the most important things in ensuring that people find it fun, and not unfair, to play. You managed that incredibly well.
The satisfying sound and minimalistic graphics where the icing on the cake.
Superb entry, well done :trophy:
Subscription models are the best for apps, the 1-click pay options have made users significantly more likely to pay for apps. For this game, you'd probably have like 50 free levels and then users have a way to unlock more, but make it difficult. And then also sell your levels by the 50 or 100 pack for like a dollar. 1 dollar is somewhere around 1000 ad impressions, so definitely good to have a pay option. But with level packs, you can still have ads and maybe make ad-free be a yearly subscription, separate from buying levels.
Your game is also simple enough that it can be updated without app store updates. Your puzzles could be added and stored to a cloud database, and the new puzzles could be instantly available to the user. So you could easily build up a huge number of puzzles and maybe eventually charge a higher price to buy the level packs in bulk.
I may have poorly worded what I said, I've made apps for businesses and put them on the App Store and Play Store. They weren't games, not much fun to develop. But I learned a lot about cloud services and backend infrastructure making those apps. I need to follow my own advice above and get something out there and start making money. Working for businesses drained me, and I've just recently decided to pursue game development and be a teacher. Don't wanna sell my soul anymore and maybe I can inspire some kids to get into game/software development. Also gotta have a backup plan lol.
Just kidding :) Loved the game
As for feedback - I think it would be nicer to be able to run multiple actions at the same time (on the levels that allow multiple actions)
I have really appreciated how polished your entry is, with small details when we drag atoms and a smooth animation when an atom is clicked. :heart:

The extended levels are extra crazy in a good way, but the 14th deserves a "honorary PITA" award on its own.
- I would love to game a way to redo all the move one by one instead of resetting the whole level or restarting should be quicker.
- You can add some types of "walls" between atoms, that will stop the electrons as a new game mechanic. Or even moveable wall, that player need to find a place for to not interrupt reaction (wall cannot be put on edge).
- Edges on some levels can be a warp type (for example, an electron flying up will re-emerge from the bottom).
- Maybe atoms that interact with only atoms of the same color.
- Maybe same mechanic based on quantum tunneling or entanglement? For example, if you trigger one atom, the other connected to it, also will be activated.
Great job with the game
Again I really enjoyed it, I had to finish the game :)
Well done!
Outstanding work! I can't wait for the full release!
I already left a comment for this a few weeks ago. Wanted to pop in and say congrats. I mentioned in the previous comment that it was my favourite so far, and it stayed that way. Out of the like 50 games I played this jam, this was the best, was really happy to see it win.
Good job !
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