Spinpossible -- Mindbending Puzzle Game

I've been working with some friends from college on a puzzle game called Spinpossible that I wanted to get some feedback on from the TL community. Its our first game, and besides the massive downside of not having time to play SC2, creating it has been an awesome experience. I know there are a fair number of TLers interested in making indie games so if any of you guys have any questions about the technology/process we used to make Spinpossible I'm happy to answer them.

Spinpossible is a simple puzzle game inspired by classic puzzles like the rubik's cube and sudoku and there are free versions for iPhone, Android and web. We're still ironing out the game play, so we're looking for feedback and ideas on how to improve the game, suggestions for puzzles or game modes, comments on the art and sound, comments on difficulty and level progression, etc.

The puzzles are simple but can be mindbendingly difficult. You play by spinning groups of numbered tiles (see screenshots below), the goal being to arrange the tiles in order, 1 through 9, using the minimum number of spins.

Here are links to each version. You don't need an account or anything to try it, but if you create one then you can sync your progress across all devices.

iPhone & iPad (free)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spinpossible/id508679690

Android (free)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.spinpossible.Spinpossible

Web (free)
www.spinpossible.com

So far we've gotten a lot of positive feedback, although there have been concerns that the game is too hard. If you like the game, we're trying to build up our android/itunes ratings so any 5 star ratings/reviews would be awesome, but if you would rate the game one star I'd appreciate it if you could post here first with why so that we can fix it asap.

Also, if anyone has suggestions on how to go about promoting and distributing the game we’d greatly benefit from your advice. Maybe when can sponser starcraft tournaments

idk.

Anyways thanks to everyone who checks out the game. TL <3.

Screenshots:
[image loading]

Last edit: 2012-08-07 09:18:16

Caloooomi Scotland. May 02 2012 23:16. Posts 178

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Fun game, keep up the good work!

Booga booga booga~

sc2pal Poland. May 03 2012 00:58. Posts 520

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those swaps are kinda hard :D nice game

tarath United States. May 03 2012 01:10. Posts 366

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Awesome, thanks for the feeback guys, great to hear you like it

Also, just to help us work on the difficulty curve, if people who try the game don't mind taking 2 min to post here with what level they got stuck on that would be super helpful.

Last edit: 2012-05-03 01:15:58

Krowser Canada. May 03 2012 01:33. Posts 787

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I like how the app doesn't ask for permissions to every freaking aspect (SMS, email, yeah you don't need that!)of my phone.

I'm having some performance issues on the Nexus S, but it's a pretty cool game!

D3 and Pho, the way to go. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=340709

oob Sweden. May 03 2012 01:36. Posts 576

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Yeha, I got stuck on level 2. :D

kish

Beamer United States. May 03 2012 01:38. Posts 185

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On May 03 2012 01:36 oob wrote:
Yeha, I got stuck on level 2. :D

lol same here, can't flip over that 5.

EDIT: I've resorted to just trying random things and hope for the best. It seems to work a little.

Last edit: 2012-05-03 02:10:18

tarath United States. May 03 2012 01:53. Posts 366

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On May 03 2012 01:33 Krowser wrote:
I like how the app doesn't ask for permissions to every freaking aspect (SMS, email, yeah you don't need that!)of my phone.

I'm having some performance issues on the Nexus S, but it's a pretty cool game!

Hah yeah we all completely hate how so many apps are pull that crap these days so we were careful to only use the bare minimum.

Performance has definitely been tricky because we're porting from flash to the phones but I'm surprised on such a fast phone you're still having issues :/. What exactly is slow, is it the spinning, or lag in the sounds, or the menus (or all of the above lol). Appreciate any details you can give us!

tarath United States. May 03 2012 03:14. Posts 366

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On May 03 2012 01:38 beamer159 wrote:

Show nested quote +

lol same here, can't flip over that 5.

EDIT: I've resorted to just trying random things and hope for the best. It seems to work a little.

That is the level that everyone gets stuck on at first, we're trying to figure out a way to balance giving a hard and interesting puzzle early enough to be compelling vs driving everyone away with something frutrating early on, now that you've figured it out is there any kind of clue we could have given in the game or something like that?

We have data on what level people use hints on and swaps #2 is the most hinted level so you guys are not alone

Last edit: 2012-05-03 03:15:39

DEN1ED United States. May 03 2012 03:50. Posts 761

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THAT M-F'IN 5!. I give up lol. Fun game though. I'll try it out on my phone later and hopefully be more successful. I would probably suggest an easier lvl2. I would consider myself above average when it comes to puzzle games and I got stumped. Unless your target audience is just hardcore puzzle fans. Also, have you considered being able to spin two blocks that aren't right next to each other? Like spin top left and bottom right?

Last edit: 2012-05-03 03:58:28

tarath United States. May 03 2012 04:25. Posts 366

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On May 03 2012 03:50 DEN1ED wrote:
THAT M-F'IN 5!. I give up lol. Fun game though. I'll try it out on my phone later and hopefully be more successful. I would probably suggest an easier lvl2. I would consider myself above average when it comes to puzzle games and I got stumped. Unless your target audience is just hardcore puzzle fans. Also, have you considered being able to spin two blocks that aren't right next to each other? Like spin top left and bottom right?

I think you're probably right on lvl2, will think about what we could replace it with.

Not exactly sure what you mean by spinning top left and bottom right. Like say everything is rightside up and in order
123
456
789

What happens when you spin the 1 and the 9 together?

Definitely check out on your phone, we really designed it mainly for mobile as its a nice game for on subway etc. I'm sure you'll get lvl5 if you take another crack at it

Thanks for the feedback, definitely helpful.

Last edit: 2012-05-03 04:25:56

SkySpy United States. May 03 2012 04:43. Posts 220

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Just tried the website version so se what the fuss on lvl 2 was about ^_^. Was definitely the 1st level that took more than one try but wasn't a show stopper. (Looked at puzzle, said ok .... oh i only have 3 moves, failed. Try wide boxes, pesky 5 in the center was upside down >_<. then just tried to start from the left instead of the right and ez pz) Will keep moving forward till i get really stuck.

Edit : Damn you lvl 3!!! lol.. its like a double lvl 2 - after many tries I'll have to give in on patterns lvl 4

Last edit: 2012-05-03 06:10:49

DEN1ED United States. May 03 2012 05:41. Posts 761

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On May 03 2012 04:25 tarath wrote:

Show nested quote +

Thanks for the feedback, definitely helpful.

The 1 and 9 would switch places and be upside down and everything else would be the same. Thinking about it now though maybe that makes things too easy lol.

Last edit: 2012-05-03 05:42:07

KharadBanar Austria. May 03 2012 06:38. Posts 429

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I made a python script to bruteforce the shit out of level 2

After that, I felt like an idiot... But at least the script can help me on my other levels now so it's fine I guess

Really nice game, I'll try to solve the other levels the honest way (it's not working)

There's no such thing as a free lynch.

tarath United States. May 03 2012 07:43. Posts 366

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On May 03 2012 04:43 SkySpy wrote:
Just tried the website version so se what the fuss on lvl 2 was about ^_^. Was definitely the 1st level that took more than one try but wasn't a show stopper. (Looked at puzzle, said ok .... oh i only have 3 moves, failed. Try wide boxes, pesky 5 in the center was upside down >_<. then just tried to start from the left instead of the right and ez pz) Will keep moving forward till i get really stuck.

Edit : Damn you lvl 3!!! lol.. its like a double lvl 2 - after many tries I'll have to give in on patterns lvl 4

Wow dude you made it far for one afternoon. Patterns 4 is definitely the trickiest patterns. Awesome to hear.

On May 03 2012 03:50 DEN1ED wrote:
The 1 and 9 would switch places and be upside down and everything else would be the same. Thinking about it now though maybe that makes things too easy lol.

Ah gotcha, interesting idea! Will think on it. Not sure offhand how it would affect gameplay.

On May 03 2012 06:38 KharadBanar wrote:
I made a python script to bruteforce the shit out of level 2

After that, I felt like an idiot... But at least the script can help me on my other levels now so it's fine I guess

Really nice game, I'll try to solve the other levels the honest way (it's not working)

Hah yeah, we've had some people write programs to help them when they get stuck, but for the more complex puzzles even that can be a (fun) challenge

Talin Montenegro. May 03 2012 08:25. Posts 8169

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I always hated these kinds of games, and level 2 reminds me exactly why, so yeah, I'm done.

It's a pretty neat idea/execution though.

Krowser Canada. May 03 2012 08:45. Posts 787

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On May 03 2012 01:53 tarath wrote:

Show nested quote +

I keep my apps to a minimum, I have a handful of games and nothing weird running.

Performance: When i select the game mode or most options, the ''page flip'' lags, same with the spinning of numbers. Also the frame rate on the animation of the numbers (the squiggly squares) is at something like 10 FPS, but that might be how you programmed it.

The sound is good though. Reminds me of old NES games

D3 and Pho, the way to go. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=340709

tarath United States. May 03 2012 20:30. Posts 366

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On May 03 2012 08:25 Talin wrote:
I always hated these kinds of games, and level 2 reminds me exactly why, so yeah, I'm done.

It's a pretty neat idea/execution though.

Hah, yeah definitely not for everyone

, thanks for trying the game.

On May 03 2012 01:33 Krowser wrote:
I keep my apps to a minimum, I have a handful of games and nothing weird running.

Performance: When i select the game mode or most options, the ''page flip'' lags, same with the spinning of numbers. Also the frame rate on the animation of the numbers (the squiggly squares) is at something like 10 FPS, but that might be how you programmed it.

The sound is good though. Reminds me of old NES games

Thanks, definitely helpful, will think about what we can do to improve the speed more.

My partner did the sound and I think its one of the best parts, we definitely were going for a retro feel.

Abjurer Sweden. May 03 2012 21:17. Posts 112

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Really enjoying it!

You could perhaps make it more visually appealing but the gameplay itself is great. I see how the puzzles can be really challenging later on.

Introducing 3d (as in x*x*x) could make for some really nighmarish puzzles *shudders* An obstacle would be how to make it intuitive to use though.

bw<3

tarath United States. May 03 2012 23:08. Posts 366

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On May 03 2012 21:17 Abjurer wrote:
Really enjoying it!

Awesomem, glad you're liking it!

The art has definitely gotten some mixed reviews, with some of our friends telling us it makes their eyes literally hurt lol so you're not alone there. Any suggestions for a general theme you might prefer or does it just need more polish?

3d sounds insane, lol would be totally sweet if we could think of an intuitive interface. Like a rubik's cube on crack

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