transmewting (playdate)
A downloadable game
a playdate puzzle game played in portrait mode
Tiny Cat invented a machine to create blocks of his favorite things (Catnip Blocks and Fish Paste Blocks), but the machine is too efficient!
help Tiny Cat organize the blocks into square groups and use Transmewtation Bolts to combine them into energy before they overtake the room!
how to play
match square groups of blocks with Transmewtation Bolts to create energy
bolts can combine with square groups across the room as long as there is a continuous link
chain groups of multiple squares together to increase your bonus combo and score more points
if the room fills up, it's Game Over- can you make it to the end?
controls
in-game controls
Crank to move Tiny Cat left/right
A to drop blocks
B to rotate blocks
Playdate menu options
change difficulty mode (applied at beginning of next game)
return to title screen
tips
- there is no penalty for taking your time between/during your turn
- you can continue to place blocks while square groups are combining to continue your turn and create bigger groups
- groups connected to more than one matching bolt will use the connected bolt that has been in the room the longest
- blocks that are combining will continue to match with new square groups formed until they become captured energy at the end of each turn
- try classic and the other modes once you get the hang of pleasant mode to reach bigger combos and scores
- see if you can score more than 100000 points or beat a 100 bonus combo!
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- transmewting 2.0 update now available!Jun 16, 2022
Comments
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I like the sideways orientation for a big playfield! And also the lack of time pressure. Crank controls work great. Thanks for the game!
Tip for beginners—there are 4 types of square, and two of those are "bolts," as follows: groups of light squares disappear when they touch a light-colored lightning-bolt. Groups of dark squares disappear when they touch a dark-colored lightning-bolt. Diagonal touches don't count.
One question: why do some matching squares not disappear? I see in the GIF on this page that sometimes a falling block will lead to a "chain reaction" but some matching squares are included in that, while others aren't. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what a "square group" means.
(Also, for what it's worth: maybe higher contrast might be helpful in low light? What if the darker color squares/bolts were closer to black, the lighter ones closer to white, and the lightning bolts were not square-shaped, so they stood out more?)
Thanks for the feedback! Lack of time pressure and fluid crank controls were key aspects of transmewting's design, so it's great to hear you enjoyed them!
A "square group" is a group of 4 blocks of the same type (catnip or fish paste) arranged in a square. Blocks will remain in the room until they are in a square group and connected to a bolt.
Be sure to download the 2.0 update, one of the new features is a demo on the title screen that demonstrates various ways to combine bolts and square groups together!
Thanks, I think I understand now! I didn't grasp "square groups" (not even in the 2.0 demo animation) because the groups that highlight aren't 2x2, they are groups of 5 squares. If that's confusing to people, maybe they could be referred to as "2x2 groups" instead of "square groups" or something. (And/or the actual 2x2 square could be highlighted differently from the bolt when you match, so visually there is a 2x2 group to see.)