Gemstones by Spike Studio
Play Now on Itch.io! https://spikestudio.itch.io/gemstones
Pair gemstones together to get the highest score possible!
If you enjoy the game, be sure to check out my YouTube for when I post a DevLog: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcVCPcXA0nbhnVTwBTZ9XNw
Try to beat my top score of 623,610!

| Link | https://spikestudio.itch.io/gemstones |
| Original URL | https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/51/gemstones |
Ratings
| Overall | 434th | 3.654⭐ | 54🧑⚖️ |
| Fun | 252th | 3.764⭐ | 55🧑⚖️ |
| Innovation | 819th | 3.047⭐ | 55🧑⚖️ |
| Theme | 1216th | 2.029⭐ | 53🧑⚖️ |
| Graphics | 586th | 3.625⭐ | 54🧑⚖️ |
| Audio | 232th | 3.731⭐ | 54🧑⚖️ |
| Humor | 860th | 2.313⭐ | 42🧑⚖️ |
| Mood | 628th | 3.398⭐ | 51🧑⚖️ |
| Given | 47🗳️ | 83🗨️ |

I don't really like the idea that the only move that can change the board is so punished (diminishing combo and remaining move) but it fit a puzzle game where the choice you have must be though out a long time in advance.
BUT that not the theme here it's every 10 secondes so going the direction of a changing board every 10 secondes would have hindered the puzzle aspect for sure but be more dynamics. Maybe having gems do effect at the end of the 10 second or even SOME doing that
Good game, but does not fit the theme :)
- in-game tutorial is good, but I wish I could close it without having to follow it
- I wish the gem shapes implied their movement pattern
- Music is calming, the ui and everything felt good. There was nice feedback and polish
- I lost and I didn't really know why at the end, I guess I ran out of moves? I didn't know you could run out of moves. Can you get more moves? This isn't clear
- I'm in two minds if I think the theme fit or not. I understand your explanation and it is nice to see a game that wasn't just "normal game but on a timer"
An interesting fresh look at games of this kind. I think it will make a good game in the future. There is a lack of a bright wrapper and an easier start.
All sorts of explosions whistles and animation are the basis of this genre. But the mechanics are made interesting. Will it really work out to play it without thinking, but just poking the gems, as in games 3 in one?
You're good. However, I don't even see inspiration for the main theme of the jam.


Got 349k points :)
As I said on some twitch chat elsewhere, I really liked the asymmetric mechanics - and by making new gems unlock during progression it was easy to learn and get used to each one, that's nice.
If you intend to polish this gem of a game after the rating period, some small issues I had:
- sometimes the tutorial progresses by interacting with the board (like the first one, about switching gems), but sometimes we need to click on the pop-up, and it's not clear which is which (so maybe the tutorial pop-ups that need to be clicked should have a "close" or "next>>" button?)
- at some point in the middle of my playthrough there were two pop-ups at the same time, and one was in front of the other so I couldn't read the second one (and they both closed together).
Also, not an issue per se but maybe you should consider adding support for mobile/touch devices :)
I played this a lot. Really addicting game.
Oh and you went all out on your itch.io page. Nice. :D
Fun game! Took me a while to realise that I needed to avoid "movements" as much as possible.