Dungeon Tetris
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
Dungeon Tetris is a traditional roguelike, with a tetris twist. Navigate the frozen lakes and dark pits of the Tetronimo Tomb by wielding a magic amulet that grants you the power over the platforms. Utilize the platforms to reach islands and hideaway rooms, in search for treasure, or to conspicuously avoid those tough enemies!
This game was made inside of a seven day period for the 7DRL challenge 2021, on top the bones of my entry for the previous year. Check out the Development log!
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Really fun gimmick.
The companion is a little overpowered, too bad I had none left when I reached the boss and managed to die when he had just one pixel left of his health bar =P
Hey thanks a lot! Great to hear you made it to the end!
I read your post about how you changed the names of the difficulty settings with this years 7drl game, that explains why this one felt harder despite me playing both on normal =P I completely agree with your assessment of most people avoiding a mode called easy though.
WONDERFUL combination of mechanics. FLAWLESS victory.
(totally playing this off stream btw, this is crack)
https://www.twitch.tv/tiger_j
Я ФАНАТ ЭТОЙ ИГРЫ!
Спасибо!
Hey Dev,
You game made it on this week's Indie Game Playlist. I've gotten better at it since the last attempt (not much but still a little) so there is hope I might one day actually beat it. This game definitely deserves more attention.
Video:
Hey, thanks!
Really interesting concept executed well. Rewards stategic thinking, I felt very big brain using the Tetris blocks to yeet the spawners. Your entries in 7drl are always a must play. Well done on another cool game.
Thanks, glad you liked it :)
Wonderful game!
I got to a miney indoor part and then stopped because it was to much too handle ^^
I managed to understand how I was supposed to not die from thousands of hurricanes and wasps at the begining.
I enjoyed the ride but I got exhausted very fast. Don't know why. Maybe because it is a bit like doing two things at the same time.
Anyway, very good entry. Congrats
Awesome, thanks!
My suggestion for the controllers would be the classic:
-WASD to move, 8-way movement will never be comfortable with a keyboard 8(
-QERF for interactions
-Make it so SPACE toggles between character and tetris controls so both get controlled with the same keys.
Again, I did enjoy the game but I think it would be more enjoyable with more comfortable controls and maybe a tutorial; Very impressive for just 7 days!
So this is a fantastic concept and has a lot of potential. As others have stated, the controls are wonky but I don't think its because they are unfamiliar or outlandish, I think its because the is SO much to remember and its just thrown at the player. With something so different from anything else on the market (at least in my experience), I think you need to slowly introduce the player to it before unleashing them on the world, since the world you have is quite unforgiving. I do think you need to implement holding down the movement key, that was a bit irritating.
How I would modify the intro:
- Don't introduce the Tetris aspect in the first 1-3 combats. Let the player get used to the combat and understand how you implemented it.
- Then have a Tetris only puzzle, no combat. Do this 1-2 times
- Combine them in an easy battle.
- Let the player loose
What this would resolve:
- I approached it too fast, having the combat first would help players unfamiliar with the genre get adjusted to how to play these types of games. I think this is TungstenCore's disconnect, it feels like you need to move fast but in reality, you need to go slow and consider each movement.
- The player would feel much less overwhelmed with the encounters.
- More players would be interested in continuing and learning the game since they invest more time in figuring out how to play.
I hope this feedback helps, you got a real winner on your hands here. let me know if you have any questions or want me to clarify anything.
I also played on easy and couldn't clear the second combat, maybe tone easy down a bit.
-Elit3hoboguy
Thanks for your feedback - I'll certainly take it on board for next time. I think gradual introduction in roguelikes can be very easily done incorrectly, because it increases the penalty for death in a genre of where dying is relatively commonplace. That said it can still be done correctly, such as by ensuring the ramp-up section is exciting enough to not be a slog for a non-beginner, or having it only optionally repeatable (like if it's on an alternate optional path, or adding a checkpoint respawn location or w/e).
I'll give something like that a go for next years jam! Unfortunately this is a throwaway game made just for the 7drl challenge, so it won't get any updates except for bug fixes.
Sounds like you have already figured out how to implement it the right way :)
I'll also never understand why people throw away a game that is 10-20 hours from being sold... This game is SUPER close to being ready to sell for 4.99$, even at its current state you could easily toss it on steam for a couple bucks and make at least a little money on the side to fund future projects.
can you make the controls wasd instead
Sorry friend, traditional roguelike needs (8 way movement) means traditional roguelike must.
yes but to go left up you could press wd
You could use QEZC for diagonals, although it does mean losing those keys for other things, on top of already losing WASD.
Using QWEADZXC for controls as suggested by @user0009182 seems to me to be really difficult to do with the misaligned bottom row, but regardless I've implemented alternate control schemes, which are available to switch between when the keys are presented at the beginning. This is available in V1.2.
nice
How did you manage this in 7 days?! I’m seriously impressed. When I first saw the screenshot of your plan, I was expecting the game to take place all in a tetris game, not this rich world you have included.
A simpler control scheme would have been great as I found the vast number of controls a bit daunting, especially as I could work out how to bring up help in-game. I also found it tough, even on easy, but that might say more about me than the game!
(Also, the jar works on Mac too in case you want to add the support icon!)
Thanks! It's not from scratch mind, it's made on top of the gutted 7drl entry from last year, which itself was made on top of the year before and so on all the way back to my 2011 entry. Standing on the shoulders of a giants and all that.
I struggled with the controls myself when I first implemented it, which is why there are a few different options for controlling the blocks. I kind of think this is unavoidable though because controlling two things at once is just a bit of a mind trip. To start with it might help to just focus on fighting, and only use W to bring blocks down faster when needed. When there's no space for them to go they fill in the holes, so you don't have to worry about fitting them in just right. Then you can start bringing in manual control over time.
Some tips for fighting are to make sure you are using your bow liberally. You can place blocks over the spawners to effectively kill them. You also have a wider field of view than everything else.
Iterating on the entry since 2011 is a wicked concept. I look forward to seeing what 2022’s improvements bring :)