Wish there was a level select
Author Comments
Bumble Bots Re-Pair is an action puzzle game where you need to re-unite bots.
HOW TO PLAY
Extend the tracks using the provided tiles so the bots meet before they run off the track.
- Use the X-key to change the selected tile
- Use the Z-key to place it at the cursor on the grid
- Use the arrow keys to move the cursor
The tile must fit and extend an existing track. Once placed, a tile cannot be removed.
TIPS
The tiles that you are offered are randomly selected. However, you will always be offered tiles that fit somewhere on the grid. Furthermore, the tiles on offer will be unique. The order in which you place tiles and where you place them therefore matters. Exploit this to increase the odds that you get favourable tiles.
It helps to hedge your bets. Have a fallback plan in case you do not get tiles that match your perfect route.
At the start you may want to keep many open ends, so you can place "undesired" tiles somewhere. Towards the end you may want to reduce the number of open ends, to increase the probability that you are offered the tiles that you still need to complete your route.
All things considered, this is pretty cute and cool, but man is it weird to get used to! I've played pipe dreams, so I understood some of the basic mechanics, but being forced to work to bring two traveling things together then focusing on one thing to lead to an end was weird.
That said however, this was still a cool take on it, though the rng is a little annoying to deal with.
Perhaps a destroy tile function could be good to let players destroy at least one tile per puzzle so they can bounce back just a little easier?
Cool game all the same, nice work!
eriban responds:
Thanks for your feedback. I am happy to hear you enjoyed playing the game, even though it took some getting used to. It's not an easy game indeed.
I have given your suggestion of optionally destroying a tile some thought and see two problems with it. First, it makes the controls harder to understand (an extra option to learn). Although the game is difficult to play, it is easy to learn how to play, which I find important. Second, and more important, it can be used to "cheat". With this ability, I would immediately close off the track of one of the bots, so I can subsequently ignore it. After building the rest of the grid at a leisurely pace, only one bot to worry about, I would use the destroy ability to connect the isolated bot with the rest of the track. This goes against the idea of the game. It is meant to be stressful! :-)
Btw, as you already get a bonus life after completing each level, you effectively are allowed on average one fatal mistake per level.