bit bit blog!

bit bit blocks is now available in the App Store!

It's been more than a month since PAX now, and even longer since my last post. So many people played bit bit blocks and I want to thank everyone for stopping by to try it out. I learned a lot about what works and what does not. Since then many changes have been made, so I wanted to list them out here. From top to bottom:

widescreen

To accommodate a wider range of devices, and to make the new defense mechanic (explained later) more viable, the board has been resized. The original board was 8x11, fitting the 4:3 aspect ratio almost exactly. The new board size is 8x14, slightly elongated.

controls

Swiping turned out to be both too slow and too finicky for most players. Not only would players have to move one space at a time, but would often miss when trying to move quickly. Now players can drag the block from point A to point B instead, and all the switching along the path still happens.

can't tell when stunned

Originally, a stunned block would darken and gradually fade back to it's normal color as it returned to play. This created too many different colors and who was and was not stunned was unclear. Now a stunned block is darkened to a stunned color, with a timer overlaid to show exactly how long until it returns to play.

recovery

There were many moments where a player would have too many stunned blocks and would just be sitting there waiting to be able to play again. This loss of agency for the player is unacceptable, so I've added the ability to tap blocks to reduce the stun counter, usually un-stunning after a tap or two.

defense

One of the main goals of bit bit blocks has always been the interplay between two players. In traditional versus puzzle games, two players will have separate boards and affect each other, instead of directly playing against each other. I really want direct puzzle-combat in bit bit blocks, so the ability to "parry" an opponent's attack by popping the block they send has been added. If you "pop" an enemy block as it's falling towards you, it won't stun the affected blocks.

Game a Week 12 - Space Doodles

Game a Week 11 - Fire vs Fire