#SPELLTOWER PLAYTHROUGH UPDATE#

Like I mentioned in the previous post-mortem, I developed this game using the Adobe AIR SDK. We are all guilty of that from time to time, so don’t forget to listen! Having to telling people why a feature is implemented a certain way is indicative of poor design execution. And it’s an easy tool to program too! So blam! Beta test and listen to feedback. Spellvetica being a game of time-management and word-play, making this task more economical made sense in extending gameplay. I primarily developed this using an iPad to test, so when people tested on their phones, the same complaint came up: it isn’t easy to clear selections quickly. The other feature came straight from beta testing, and that’s the Eraser tool. All-in-all, very simple to implement, but important in giving the player ownership over the mechanics. I presented a pre-programmed block to drop (dedicated to my son, Nova) and created checkpoints to observe if the player had performed the prompt. It’s fairly straight-forward in explaining the game mechanics and took minimal programming to achieve. In doing so, the background color becomes more pronounced, and the transition from one level to the next is more apparent.Īnother feature that I added was an interactive tutorial.

While the previous version had a bathroom-tile styled play grid, the new version now turns that grid into a partially opaque traditional grid. The most marked change was the game grid. Visit his website and check out his reels, the guy’s got skills.Ī recurring theme from the indie community was Spellvetica’s visual similarities to the iOS hit Spelltower, so in this update, I wanted to differentiate the look more while still maintaining a simple design aesthetic. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing him for years now, and can tell you when it comes to development, he is a pro.

His skills in AfterEffects blow me away on a daily basis. Technically, this happened last, but it’s the one part I didn’t produce and wanted to give a shout out to the VFX whiz who did: Parker McCabe. So, without further ado, here’s the new features and how they came about! And as another thank you, included in the comments are some promo copies for y’all to enjoy.

If you haven't yet, grab a copy from the AppStore or Google Play for $0.99.

#SPELLTOWER PLAYTHROUGH UPDATE#

I wrote a post-mortem of the experience here and thought I’d share what went into the newest update of my Tetris-style word game. Back in August, I released my first commercial game Spellvetica for iOS and Android.

Spelltower playthrough