A Collapsi Divergence? - Update!

The original idea for Collapsi was a two player arcade style game in which each player is trying to be the last to make a legal move on the board.  As players move around the board, the tile they started their turn from collapses behind them, and it is closed off for the rest of the game.  That space is no longer open for movement.  One player will eventually be unable to make a move, and the game ends.  

It's been five days since I finished up the one week game jam that kicked off the development of Collapsi.  I knew from the beginning that a solo mode was possible using the number walk mechanism that drives gameplay.  For the solo game, you are trying to collapse as many cards as possible.  The hook is, you will begin on a starting space, and you must end the game on the finish space (and the layout is always randomized).  My cousin Jacob developed a solving tool for the solo mode of the game.   His work has been vital for understanding how these little puzzles function.  I have kept details about the solo game close to the chest because I am still not sure how I want to present it.  A card game?  A Pico-8 game?  A daily puzzle like Wordle?  Not sure yet!  I WILL have a fully dedicated post to that game soon.  

The multiplayer game has continued to grow and evolve while still staying within the original scope I had for the game (for the most part).  Originally, the concept was to use regular playing cards and anything else for tokens. It was to be an abstract game you could carry in your pocket and use whatever you had sitting around as the game pieces.  The base idea worked well, but I really wanted to add a little spice through special tiles.  Tiles that, when landed upon, allow you to do something extra.  The game really felt like an arcade experience, so I decided to lean into that.  I went from having too many effects (that were not that great) to only one effect, and now I think I have struck a good balance.  

Three of the cards are portals.  You can either move the number of the card or jump to another portal card regardless of its location.  Three of the cards are switches.  When you land on a switch, all of the orthogonally adjacent cards switch from open to closed or vice versa.  This feature introduces two new possibilities: portal and switch cards can be opened back up, and starting cards can be opened back up.  Starting cards are essentially wilds because you are allowed to move any number up to 6 on your first turn (6 being the largest number in the deck, for now).  This gave me the idea to add another wild tile to the deck.  All of these special tiles are hot spots that should come into play when setting up traps or breaking free of them.  This means that out of 25 tiles (5x5 grid being the new standard), there are 9 special ones that do something a little extra.  This exact setup will be tested more thoroughly this week! 

So here is where the divergence occurs.  The solo mode of the game is remaining a pure puzzle while the multiplayer game is heading more into the realm of an action puzzle game.  To me, this means that the solo mode is going to gain its own identity (mainly its name).  That is why it is taking so long for me to talk about it in depth.  It needs to become its own project here on Itch.  Honestly  I am still torn as to whether they should be split or packaged together, and I cannot make a confident decision quite yet.

Actions Steps

• Continue playtesting the new multiplayer setup to find balance for the deck's construction
  • Is a 5x5 grid good?
  • How many special tiles is enough?
  • How high should the numbers in the puzzle go?
    • Are 6's too high?
• Continue improving the puzzle solver so that we can determine the efficacy of the 5x5 solo puzzle and how to present it
  • Can we produce 5x5 puzzles and know the solution?
  • Can we introduce different shaped layouts to add spice to the puzzle?
  • Is the idea interesting enough for people to come back daily/weekly?

That is where I am at for now.  Stay tuned for more.