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Magic Pearls

Name:	Ward De Langhe
Date Posted:	Sep 14, 2006
Rating:	5.0 out of 5
Public:	YES
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Blog post

Finally! Magic Pearls, a little 2D puzzle game I've been working on for too long now is released to the public.

Quote:

Your mission is to push the Magic Pearls into their assigned slots in as few moves as possible. The pearls can only be pushed, never pulled, and those slots can seem to have a mind of their own sometimes!

Sounds simple doesn't it? That's what we thought too.

Think you've got what it takes to beat this fiendishly clever game? Download the free game demo now and find out.

The game is released on FirstRateGames.com

You can read all about it, and download the demo here:www.firstrategames.com/gameinfo.aspx?id=1

Here are some screenshots:

I know this game has a very select public. I'm hoping people who like puzzle games like sudoku, sokoban (it is a sokoban clone), etc will like it. If you know any people who are into puzzle games, defenetly send them the link. Or if you have a website and want to link to it...that'd be great.

So now this one is finally out the door. I need to start working on a new game :) During the development of this game i came to realize that even the simplest game ideas take very long if you want to it right (and by yourself, and on a tight budget :) ). So the next game won't be too complex either, something I can finish in a month or 2. Maybe after that, I'll finally look into making a 3D game (with TGE or TSE).

Recent Blog Posts

List:	11/14/07 - game video 10/15/07 - Alchemist progress (TGB game) 07/06/07 - Time for another blog post... 04/22/07 - New game & some freebies 03/28/07 - TGB projects 10/22/06 - What i've been doing lately 09/14/06 - Magic Pearls 07/29/06 - Update

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Andy Schatz (Sep 14, 2006 at 07:58 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

A quality game with a definite audience, Seems like you should be working on distribution right now! Have you approached any of the portals? Probably not going to be the next big thing, but you could make some decent money on this, it seems to me. Well done!

Ward De Langhe (Sep 14, 2006 at 08:10 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Thanks!
I only tried 1 or 2 portals/publishers. Didn't get much response, but the game was still rough back then. Maybe I should try again... :)

Robin (Sep 14, 2006 at 08:11 GMT)

Looks very good !!! Nog veel geluk !

Mark McCoy (Sep 14, 2006 at 08:13 GMT)

Great visuals, and solid sokoban implementation. Congrats on finishing this one up. :)

Andrew Nicholson (Sep 14, 2006 at 09:27 GMT)

Congrats on getting it finished and out the door.

Canon (Sep 14, 2006 at 10:36 GMT)

Good job Ward! I really love the new backgrounds!

Christophe

Ward De Langhe (Sep 14, 2006 at 11:13 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Thanks! Feedback like this really gets me motivated to start working on a new game asap.

There are still some things left to do for MP though. I still haven't made a mac port (due to the fact I don't have a mac), but I think I should really do that asap. I think this type of game will be more appreciated in the mac community.

@ Mark & Canon: Special thanks to you guys! Your feedback on the beta version had a big influence on the look and feel of the game.
Edited on Sep 14, 2006 11:14 GMT

Adam deGrandis (Sep 14, 2006 at 13:11 GMT)

VERY tight, nice job Ward. :)

Steve Miles (Sep 14, 2006 at 13:46 GMT)

Nice game - I can't find anywhere in your older posts if it was built using TGB?

David Montgomery-Blake (Sep 14, 2006 at 14:30 GMT)

Very, very nicely done! It is clean, crisp, and plays very nicely. Great job!

EDIT:
And the artwork is gorgeous!
Edited on Sep 14, 2006 16:16 GMT

Todd Pickens (Sep 14, 2006 at 15:56 GMT)

Fantastic job! congratulations.

Andrew Douglas (Sep 14, 2006 at 16:29 GMT)

The improvements you've made are really impressive. I think this could definitely get some attention on portal sites. It wouldn't hurt to at least start a dialog with them as they may have some suggestions for making it quite successful based on their experience.

One question - Is there a way I can track what my best "score" was for each level?

Oh, and you should definitely add some nag screens (there was a really good presentation on that from the casuality conference. Here's the link to the discussion and slides: forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=7647. They also suggested using "Order" instead of "Buy".

Good luck!
-Andrew

Andy Schatz (Sep 14, 2006 at 17:30 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Quote:
They also suggested using "Order" instead of "Buy"

This one was disputed by all the other members of the panel. Brian from ArcadeTown espoused this one, but I'm not sure how much merit it has.

Andrew Douglas (Sep 14, 2006 at 18:21 GMT)

I agree it's a fairly minor point... Did the panel come to any kind of consensus except "it doesn't matter"?
The effectiveness of rotating "nag" screens - especially those that have game play going on was pretty significant I thought. Also the "landing" page and order processing once they click "buy" is very important. I don't know if it was discussed in that document or somewhere else. The fewer clicks, the more professional, etc. the higher the conversion rate. In this case I had to click the buy button in game, click Buy on the web page (again), click a "Make Payment" button (after reading text saying that it's okay that I don't use paypal, I still need to, essentially, use paypal) and then was forced to login or create an account, at which point, I stopped :(

I'm not trying to be negative as I know there are many games with far more hurdles (and far, far worse websites in general), but I wouldn't think you'd get many "impulse" buys with the way it's currently configured. I hope that helps.

-Andrew

Joshua Dallman (Sep 14, 2006 at 18:37 GMT)

gorgeous stuff and tight theme! big congrats!

Quote:
During the development of this game i came to realize that even the simplest game ideas take very long if you want to it right

here here. I was shocked how long sploidz took, a simple match-3. I think every aspiring FPS/MMO/etc designer should tackle a simple/retro/clone 2d game first. I'm glad to see this lesson being further spread :)

Ward De Langhe (Sep 14, 2006 at 20:21 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Wow, didn't expect to get this much feedback :)

@Andrew, I'll defenetly check out that link. For me the business part is a bit of a learning experience, so the advice is really welcome.
And about tracking your best score. Right now this isn't a feature. I wrote it down incase I find time to make an update :)
Edited on Sep 14, 2006 20:46 GMT

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