I wonder if it might be a nicer UX if you could choose for the Shift key to be needed to slide circles around rather than to move the selection. In my mind, conceptually, arrow keys are for moving the selection, and tessellating objects "requires more work" so I'd expect Shift to be needed for that - not vice-versa.
It was exactly the way you describe in the earlier prototype. But I changed it based on feedback. I guess there's no set of controls that can satisfy everyone. :)
I do think you develop muscle memory for it pretty quick. Additionally, you can also use mouse, which can be convenient based on your preference.
> In my mind, conceptually, arrow keys are for moving the selection, and tessellating objects "requires more work" so I'd expect Shift to be needed for that - not vice-versa.
Totally swapped in my mind too! I guess it's one of those "look up/down" thing in FPSs, you can learn the other way but it still does not feel as natural.
What's even more annoying is that the way this is currently implemented, I can't even use local overrides to change the behaviour since the site uses query strings for everything.
The most convenient way to play seems to be to use mouse for selection, keyboard for sliding. That would become pretty inconvenient if sliding required use of the shift key too.
Little off-topic, though, I love how Wordle kinda opened our eyes to the possibility of doing this kind of games in the web instead off a one-off native app. I recently made a word puzzle myself[1] which some of my friends enjoy playing and there's no way I would go through the soul-crushing cross-platorm native development ordeal for such a niche little app. But it can live in the web! (and pretty much for free thanks to Netlify). I'm now thinking of dusting and old Objective-C game that I wrote 10 years ago and never released, and rewrite it on web.
Idk, suddenly I feel excited about the web, again.
When I was a kid, I loved a game called [James Bond Jr.](https://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/james-bond-jr/screenshots...) that had these little puzzles that were super fun to do. Some of them were hair-pulling difficult, too. I never saw a modern rendition of those puzzles, so I thought to create one.
Eight Colors is the result. The rules are simply, but puzzles do get challenging after few levels.
I thought about a this game in the past, unfortunately it has a very simple to follow algorithm -- much simpler than that of a rubik's cube -- which does not make it that satisfying to play in my opinion.
1. Select arbitrary row and column. Use this row & column to arrange all other rows and columns.
2. Arrange the last row & column. This is always possible and should take <= 20 steps, left as an exercise to the reader :)
It wasn't my intention to hijack back button. I was merely pushing the links to the current level, so that it's easier to share the level you're playing. But it does seem there's a better way to do it. The URL itself can be changed without modifying the history[1]. I will push a fix soon for this.
Nice game! As others have mentioned, it feels like a 2D rubix cube, which I never managed to finish. Feeling more comfortable with this version.
I'd love it if it could be installed on the homescreen on mobile, with proper icon, splash screen and opening in standalone mode (i.e. not in the browser). I also sometimes trigger text selection on the grid or buttons, would be good to prevent it with `user-select: none`.
Fun but I’m encountering bugs or unexpected behavior. Circles disappear for no reason and then become immovable and/or impact other rows/columns inexplicably. iOS Safari
This looks fun, but I want to walk you through what I did when I saw the page. I started clicking on circles thinking I could move them by clicking. I saw the key commands, but thought, "No, I'd rather use the mouse. I'm not one of these power users that uses the keyboard for everything." But I couldn't click and drag. I could only click to select and then nothing would happen. You should make it more clear that the user needs to use the keyboard for anything to happen. Either that or ignore the mouse so the user says to themself, "Oh, this only works with the keyboard." As it is now, it's just really really confusing to a new user who isn't obsessed with always using the keyboard.
great game. It's like 2D rubix cube, which for me at least is a great way to actually understand how to solve it, in little pieces, rather than struggling with the whole cube solution. I just never had the spatial intuition for the 3D game to enjoy working on it much.
It's a known bug. But haven't been able to identify the root cause. Probably some race condition. I will fix it, but you can refresh too, which should resume the game from the same position.
Yes, doesn't work on iPhone SE (1st gen) or any iPhone set at larger text size (which is a similar resolution). Unfortunately many websites are not testing for this screen resolution any longer.
This is very fun! However, on iPhone SE-sized screens, it’s not possible to see the entire target pattern, nor is it possible to scroll down so the browser chrome (Mobile Safari) gets in the way. I got the first level by guessing
Nice! Fun little game - very similar skill curve to slide puzzles, where at first it's a little mind bending to try to move things where you want without disrupting the rest - but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very simple. Solving row-by-row top to bottom, and then doing a quick muscle-memory swap of the bottom positions if needed means any combination can be solved trivially in <1 min.
This is very fun. I get tripped up where my "control" line is and often make mistakes because the "control" line is not moving with the direction. For example, a shift to the left leaves my mind assuming the y-control line would move left as well so I could make a subsequent down shift on that column.
[+] [-] yboris|3 years ago|reply
I wonder if it might be a nicer UX if you could choose for the Shift key to be needed to slide circles around rather than to move the selection. In my mind, conceptually, arrow keys are for moving the selection, and tessellating objects "requires more work" so I'd expect Shift to be needed for that - not vice-versa.
[+] [-] shubhamjain|3 years ago|reply
I do think you develop muscle memory for it pretty quick. Additionally, you can also use mouse, which can be convenient based on your preference.
[+] [-] lloeki|3 years ago|reply
Totally swapped in my mind too! I guess it's one of those "look up/down" thing in FPSs, you can learn the other way but it still does not feel as natural.
[+] [-] mackopes|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Max-q|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emilfihlman|3 years ago|reply
What's even more annoying is that the way this is currently implemented, I can't even use local overrides to change the behaviour since the site uses query strings for everything.
I am irritated and annoyed beyond measure.
[+] [-] jsnell|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] armandososa|3 years ago|reply
Little off-topic, though, I love how Wordle kinda opened our eyes to the possibility of doing this kind of games in the web instead off a one-off native app. I recently made a word puzzle myself[1] which some of my friends enjoy playing and there's no way I would go through the soul-crushing cross-platorm native development ordeal for such a niche little app. But it can live in the web! (and pretty much for free thanks to Netlify). I'm now thinking of dusting and old Objective-C game that I wrote 10 years ago and never released, and rewrite it on web.
Idk, suddenly I feel excited about the web, again.
[1] https://palabrije.com/en (Sorry for the self-promotion)
[+] [-] shubhamjain|3 years ago|reply
Eight Colors is the result. The rules are simply, but puzzles do get challenging after few levels.
Hope HN likes it! Happy to hear any feedback!
[+] [-] psydvl|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] breckinloggins|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] staffordrj|3 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] pacaro|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brendanmc6|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SalmoShalazar|3 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] croes|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Underphil|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Palmik|3 years ago|reply
1. Select arbitrary row and column. Use this row & column to arrange all other rows and columns.
2. Arrange the last row & column. This is always possible and should take <= 20 steps, left as an exercise to the reader :)
[+] [-] xfour|3 years ago|reply
Other than that it seems nice and responsive. The popups for level complete are immersion breaking, perhaps a little more subtlety there.
[+] [-] shubhamjain|3 years ago|reply
[1]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History/rep...
[+] [-] redundantly|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tonetheman|3 years ago|reply
I might see if you can fix that at some point in the future. You probably have other things to fix first. Great idea though.
[+] [-] unknown|3 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] agust|3 years ago|reply
I'd love it if it could be installed on the homescreen on mobile, with proper icon, splash screen and opening in standalone mode (i.e. not in the browser). I also sometimes trigger text selection on the grid or buttons, would be good to prevent it with `user-select: none`.
[+] [-] dataspun|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] h-c-c|3 years ago|reply
Fyi, on mobile Firefox/ Android, the address bar obscures part of the legend.
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