Ok, here it comes: The reason why I got really angry with this game, and that is REALLY, REALLY rare:
On the plus side, you have PERFECT controls, SMOOTH removal of the blocks, NICE music, but on the minus side, you totally ignore the very rules of gamemaking, which could EASILY turn this game into a five star game (and this is the reason for me to be so angry! You are such a skilled developer but seem to want to avoid these basics!):
- Points shown when you remove a line? No. (Yes, your total points counter goes up, and IF the player would focus on the points going up, he could actually see that he earned 50 points for a line. But this is not his FOCUS, the moment he removes a line, the points have already been added and he does not know if he actually got any points from that at all.) Solution: Add 2 counters: One total counter (the one you already have) and a second counter that shows ONLY the points that the player got when he made his recent move. This second counter should flash whenever the player reaches a new maximum of points earned, so the player learns that he - this time - did something BETTER than he did before!
- Points distribution? This is where it goes COMPLETELY WHACK. removing a line with crytals: 150 points. Placing any block: 50 points. NOTHING ELSE. And THIS is what actually made me angry, and makes your game - up to now - only a pointless (double meaning intentional!) time-waster! So, here is how you fix this:
Item placing points:
Placing an item consisting of one block: 1 point
Placing an item consisting of 2 blocks: 2 points
...
Placing an item consisting of 9 blocks: 9 points (placing this 3*3 item is indeed worth more than placing a 1*1 block, because it is more difficult, so it deserves more points!)
Line clearing points:
clearing one line without a gem: 20 points (+item placing points)
(Now, for example, the second score mentioned above would flash, to indicate to the player "you´ve made a good move and broke your record of points made in one move, look here to see how much you made!")
clearing two lines without a gem: 2 * 20 points + 20 bonus points (+item placing points)
clearing three lines without a gem: 3 * 20 points + 30 bonus points (+item placing points)
clearing 4 lines without a gem: 4 * 20 points + 40 bonus points (+item placing points)
clearing 5 lines without a gem: 5 * 20 points + 50 bonus points (+item placing points)
clearing one diamond in a move: 50 points (+line cleariong points +item placing points)
clearing 2 diamonds in a move: 2 * 50 points + 40 bonus points (+l. c. +i. p. points)
clearing 3 diamonds in one move: 3 * 50 points + 60 bonus points (+l. c. +i. p. points)
...
And last but not least, color bonus points:
If as well as the gems as well as the color of the blocks in a line are all identical, 1000 bonus points - or another reward (for example only if this is done with all gems, a level could count as "really" completed) - should be issued (I ve never tried this, and it seems to be difficult to pull off). This would give the game a much higher long-term value. It may be necessary to change some of the levels. Also, there are currently too many similar colors: light blue and turqouise, yellow and orange as well as pink and purple are too similar, remove one of each.
Now the reason for the points system: only reaching a certain amount of total points will allow us to proceed to the next level (Think of the golden stars required to open the doors in Super Mario 64, or the notes to be collected in Banjo-Kazooie). I´ll happily rescore (if this is possible) after you worked on the points system. Give us a reason to reach for a high point score!
Next thing is: Time. Currently, there is no timing, but - similar to Loopz (an old game boy game) - you COULD (dont have to) implement time and make sth. like a "time attack" mode.