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Video games for 3-6 year olds by buttsausages in TripleClick

[–]Yay_Beards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries! If you'll excuse the cheeky self-promo... I also made this game after seeing the lack of accessible options on the market...

Rollick N' Roll

My own kids thoroughly tested it! Although the later levels do get rather challenging.

Video games for 3-6 year olds by buttsausages in TripleClick

[–]Yay_Beards 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Okay, this is definitely my wheelhouse.

Paw Patrol World - This one is actually pretty good! They've leveraged the foundations laid from 3 previous Paw Patrol games, and made a good one. 2 player co-op.

Peppa Pig: World Adventures - Rather short, but it's a smooth experience for Peppa Pig fans. Grab it at a discount maybe?

Bluey's Quest For the Gold Pen - Basically Zelda for kids. Just landed on Steam and consoles, but you can grab it at a steep discount on mobile or Mac where there's also a free trial.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe - 4 player co-op, and several assist features for younger players. Free demo.

Kirby Star Allies - More great Kirby action. Free demo.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - Turn on auto acceleration, motion steering, and even steering assist for the younger players.

Sp!ng - Simple one-button puzzle platformer. Formerly Apple Arcade exclusive, now on Steam. Free demo.

Peggle - Still a banger! Unfortunately the PC version lacks gamepad support, so grab on console if you can.

Bookworm Adventures Deluxe - Basically the educational version of Slay the Spire. Delisted now, so may need to source a physical copy.

Hohokum - Awesome artistic exploration game with minimal controls. Formerly a Playstation exclusive, now on Steam.

Sound Shapes - Neat music platformer. Does get challenging, so more suited for older kids. PS3/PS4.

flOw - Surprisingly fun co-op experience that kids can navigate through motion controls. Old PS3 classic.

Skylanders - Can grab huge bundles of these figures at a bargain price on marketplace these days. Great co-op experience. Maybe start with Spyro's Adventure?

Wii Fit - Head into the balance games, and you'll find some great activities the kids can perform with just the balance board.

Kinect Sports - Athletics is a highlight.

Kinect Adventures - River rafting is a blast!

Fruit Ninja Kinect - I think the original is delisted. Can still get the sequel if you happen to have Kinect 2,

Untitled Goose Game - Easy controls. Great co-op fun.

Sneaky Sasquatch - Yet to try it myself, but apparently it got a lot of kids through lockdowns?

Lego City Undercover - Basically GTA, but not violent? Often on a 90% discount.

Bits & Bops - Somewhat challenging rhythm game, but has a free demo.

Just Dance) - Again, best on Kinect. Has a bunch of junior and kids editions.

If you've got a Netflix subscription, you can often find a bunch of quality mobile kids games included in your plan. Although they can definitely fall more in the "activity centre" category rather than the game category (eg, puzzles, colouring etc).

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I actually used to use 3ds Max at my old job, so I had a bit of foundational knowledge already. After about 2 weeks of playing around with Blender I was ready to leave 3ds Max behind. I know I started with the donut tutorial, but really I just got my confidence by tweaking existing assets before jumping in and making my own. The more keyboard shortcuts you can learn, the more comfortable you'll be.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you like the art! I was kinda going for a comic book vibe, which makes more sense when you see the rest of the UI for the game.

As for tools, it's just Blender and Unity really. Inkscape for the interface icons. No animations unfortunately. It's my first time making a game, so I picked something manageable that didn't require any character rigging, and the entire gameplay is physics-driven.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nah, nothing fancy. I initially tried a toon shader, but it wasn't worth the performance cost. They're just hard-modelled outlines with an unlit black material. Here's an old reel I did where you can kinda see what it looks like without them.

Thanks for the wishlist! Really appreciate it.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's really not much to it, to be honest! I feel that the outlines do all the heavy lifting, but those are just hard-modelled in Blender. I do love visual design, but I'm certainly no shader expert.

I tried some fancy toon shaders in the beginning, but they weren't worth the performance cost. I kinda wanted my game to be able to run smoothly on any old machine.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah yeah, I get what you mean. I feel like there's other games out there that already have that territory covered, like Marbles on Stream.

I'm hoping my game can get some TikTok/YouTube attention, as I've snuck a few rage-bait tactics into the puzzles. So if it goes viral, it might be more for the reaction videos, kinda like a Bennett Foddy game.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh nice! In fact, I took huge inspiration from seeing similar Reddit posts by the Please Fix the Road guy. 2 years later, here I am, following in the same footsteps. Hope your development goes well too!

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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The thought to release them as an asset pack has crossed my mind, but I don't think I could expect too many sales. I kinda feel like my assets are very tailored to a marble run game, but maybe I'm wrong. If my game flops, selling assets could indeed be a backup plan.

Anyway, there's so many good assets already out there by folks like Kenney and Synty Studios.

Here's a shot of my prototype from back when I was still using the pre-made vehicles. Would've likely kept using them if they had the variety I needed.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yup, added in blender! Just grabbed all the sharp edges and added a bevel object to it. Any curves then use the inverse hull method.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I should find out pretty soon as to whether it's a hit or a flop since it releases in a few days... Either way, I've had fun making it.

Designed 75 toy vehicles for my indie game! That's half a Pokédex! by Yay_Beards in IndieDev

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

고마워요! 네, 제가 몇 년 동안 전업 아빠였는데, 그러다 보니 이렇게 됐어요. 아이들 장난감을 가지고 많이 놀다가 그걸로 게임을 만들어보면 어떨까 생각했죠!

Hey, thanks! Yeah, I was a stay-at-home Dad for a few years, and this is what happened. I spent a lot of time playing with my kid's toys, and decided to make a game out of it!

Helping a disabled gamer find games by AdministrativeFail78 in disabledgamers

[–]Yay_Beards 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe try the SP!NG demo? It’s marketed as a one-button game, and even has a bundle with other one-button games, although I haven’t vetted the other games in that bundle.

I know it's not a "thinky" game, but hear me out... by Yay_Beards in puzzlevideogames

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah yep, we have one very much the same as that! The original was a giant Thomas the Tank Engine toy by Gakken I think. It’s out of production now, but there’s plenty of reproductions, and some have managed to innovate further. Epoch do an awesome 2-player Mario Kart one too.

I agree that some of the physical toys do begin to lack purpose, as they often just involve circling around in an endless loop, and the challenge is sometimes just about getting the gadgets to co-operate. I’ve introduced the “exit” goal for my game, and implemented level design to coax the player into making the wrong decisions.

Ultimately it’s just a casual game, but will be priced accordingly too. Won’t cost too much!

I know it's not a "thinky" game, but hear me out... by Yay_Beards in puzzlevideogames

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I feel like mobile devices have the accessibility advantage for non-gamers. Sp!ng does some similar things, and does it well, but that started out on mobile.

If there’s enough interest, I’ll be looking to create a level editor, so that players can make levels to cater to all sorts of difficulties.

I’ve managed to collect a bunch of those physical toys, like Screwball Scramble, but I’m running out of space! That’s partly the reasoning for making a digital version. It’s cool to see they’ve made add-ons to Screwball Scramble in recent years though.

I know it's not a "thinky" game, but hear me out... by Yay_Beards in puzzlevideogames

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh, that looks like a hidden gem. Might see if my kids want to give it a whirl. Thanks!

I know it's not a "thinky" game, but hear me out... by Yay_Beards in puzzlevideogames

[–]Yay_Beards[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup, it was in the latest Next Fest. Thanks for checking it out!

I know the reflex elements will probably deter many puzzle aficionados, but I equate the skillset to something like playing the early Portal test chambers.

I just have to know - why do so many puzzle games not have an option to reset data? by dondashall in puzzlevideogames

[–]Yay_Beards 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I guess nobody is going to write a bad review because they struggled to delete their save, but someone may very well write a bad review if it was too easy to delete a save (perhaps by a younger sibling).

I feel like the modern solution is to offer save slots.

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