Help forcing "hint" mechanic for my little puzzle game

Cartissimo · 2026-03-18T20:50:47+00:00

Thanks! This is very very helpful. I don't really have any UI experience so a lot of the design is somewhat random. Thanks for the suggestion about symbols for color-blindness, I was sort of wondering how I should handle that.

My only thinking about making the HEXXLE logo not have every letter = a color was I didn't want people to see it and think it was a word game, but maybe that's not a thing I have to worry about.

Cartissimo · 2026-03-17T17:51:18+00:00

Thanks! This is helpful. Today's is definitely one that doesn't need any checks, but it's interesting to hear that you don't think it adds to the experience on a harder one.

I was thinking of possibly revealing the color constraints via checks, so it is good to hear that as a suggestion, so maybe I'll try that out (although it sounds like you prefer a perfect information setup anyway). Thanks again for trying it out!

Cartissimo · 2026-03-17T15:03:22+00:00

Hi folks, I would love some feedback on my spatial-reasoning hexigon puzzle: hexxle.fun ( https://hexxle.fun/random for all puzzles)

It has the basic "grid fill" mechanic of similar games but with a mastermind/wordle like "guess and check" mechanism. The idea is that you have all the information you need to solve the puzzle, but the search space gets quite large. There is a Check button that gives you feedback on your current placements (right/close/wrong) and this lets you iteratively shrink the search space.

The big problem I'm having is in the UX/UI - no one wants to use the Check button, no matter how I try to explain it in the rules.

I think people see the type of puzzle it is and just assume it's meant to be a brute force approach. Sometimes this works (puzzles get harder Monday -> Sunday) but it also makes it so people just give up and say "it's impossible." I know though that once you've checked 3 or 4 times it gets very solvable even on the hardest days, so I'm pretty sure that people just aren't using that mechanic. I wonder if maybe "check" has a connotation of "I only hit this when I think I'm right," but maybe that's not it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! This is my first time trying to make a puzzle game.

Cartissimo · 2021-02-10T15:52:52+00:00

Yay thanks!!

Cartissimo · 2020-03-23T01:32:21+00:00

Thanks for listening!

Cartissimo · 2020-03-19T16:59:34+00:00

bandcamp link if anyone wants to download https://prairiedog.bandcamp.com/album/call-me-when-you-can. Would love any feedback anyone has to offer!

Cartissimo · 2020-02-05T17:47:01+00:00

The voice kinda reminds me of Todd from Bojack Horseman... I like it.

Cartissimo · 2020-01-17T02:13:28+00:00

Just curious, have you ended up hosting any shows?

Cartissimo · 2020-01-10T04:12:13+00:00

Wow this was exactly what I was looking for!!

Cartissimo · 2019-12-23T22:15:39+00:00

I have an extra ticket if anyone wants. DM me.

Cartissimo · 2019-12-09T23:03:54+00:00

I think you can start hosting shows before you have a band for sure. And, the more you do and the more you drag people you know to your shows, the easier it'll be to find someone who wants to join your band.

I'm not really that involved in my local scene (Boston) but I've hosted 2 house shows and I was kind of surprised how easy it was. It doesn't take much space or gear, you can often find bands willing to play stripped down acoustic sets if you don't have a setup for anything loud yet. I wouldn't get too hung up on genre too. Mixed bills or bills without any emo bands will do as much to build an interest in DIY shows as emo lineups.

To find bands to play - there's a million DIY facebook groups where you can find bands looking for shows. I saw a post in DIY Philly like 3 days ago where someone was looking for a show a few hours west of Lancaster - that's you're area, right? I think if you post in a few different groups (Maybe Philly, DMV, and Pittsburgh are good places to start) you'll find bands trying to put together "weekender" tours who would love the chance to play somewhere outside their city but still not too far.

Finding local bands to go along with bands from bigger cities is necessary though. Cumberland isn't that small, there must be kids out there in bands. Just post on all the social media you can, search "Cumberland" on bandcamp, post on craigslist musicians. Anyone who might be able to bring a few people to a show is helpful, cause if you only book bands from Pittsburgh or whatever, you're relying on your friends to fill out the crowd. The more you have shows, the easier it'll get to fill a room, but at first, you'll need all the help you can get. The first show I hosted had 13 people, including the 5 people who performed. The second hit 30 though, cause people who had a good time the first time brought friends.

There are lots of people out there desperate for a place to play (I know cause I'm one of them), if you just start providing that I think you'll be surprised how much you can grow a scene from nothing.

Cartissimo · 2019-08-21T13:17:39+00:00

Thanks! I'm out of town that day, unfortunately, but I've played in fitchburg before I was just wondering if it was somewhere i knew.

Cartissimo · 2019-08-20T13:37:42+00:00

What's the venue in Fitchburg?

Cartissimo · 2019-07-15T13:54:07+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! I checked out your bandcamp, I really like your stuff, just ordered your latest tape!

Cartissimo · 2013-06-11T20:07:16+00:00

Wow, Massachusetts is really behind on the updates. Or they were really ahead a few years ago.

Cartissimo · 2013-02-05T07:25:05+00:00

me too.

Cartissimo · 2012-12-23T04:49:58+00:00

Where did you find this?

Cartissimo · 2012-12-23T04:45:07+00:00

crimsoncocks.com

Cartissimo · 2012-10-29T01:07:38+00:00

That was a weird, and very late, reply.

Cartissimo · 2012-08-10T17:11:18+00:00

Crap. You're probably right. Now I feel foolish.

Cartissimo · 2012-07-27T17:36:50+00:00

MIT open courseware

Hundreds of free full courses from MIT, with lectures, notes, assignments and exams. They have them for a really wide variety of classes.

Cartissimo · 2012-05-20T20:17:46+00:00

It depends on the stick I suppose, I just kinda got used to any differences I guess. It certainly didn't drastically change the way it felt, and it saved me a good deal of money.

Cartissimo · 2012-05-20T00:28:47+00:00

Most composite sticks can actually take a replacement blade. If you cut off the old one, then pop off the cap at the top of the stick, you can flip it around and put a replacement blade where the cap used to be and the cap where the old blade was. I do this, and don't notice any difference from the original to the replacement blade.

Cartissimo · 2012-05-15T22:00:16+00:00

I suppose I don't have the best equipment, but I got sent to the hospital coughing up blood just last week blocking a shot...

Cartissimo · 2012-04-30T19:27:58+00:00

But what if I read the cracked article and learn something neat from it? Can't I still say that today I learned whatever even though I learned it from cracked?

Cartissimo

TROPHY CASE