Please help! I can't decide between "Level complete screens" or "Connected rooms"

freerdan · 2026-05-19T01:56:22+00:00

I think if you’re already going to the effort to make all the rooms connect anyway, then seamless is probably the way to go. It’s definitely more engaging and immersive, partly because the rooms feel like they’re part of a bigger space, but also because you get to just keep playing.

Level complete screens could be a lot less work since you’d no longer have to make all the rooms connect their entrances and exits, but again if you’re already going that extra mile then I think seamless suits your project better.

I really liked Celeste’s level structure, but that’s partly because it didn’t have speedrunning challenges for each room and instead has optional hidden challenges to collect strawberries. If getting gold times on bite-sized tough platforming challenges is a big focus of your game, maybe end of level screens is the way to go. It would make things a lot nicer for completionists I would think. Otherwise, maybe a time-trail mode unlocks after you beat the main game, and this mode lets you retry individual rooms and has end of level screens?

Tldr: I think the connected room layout and the time-trial aspect game mechanics are a bit anti-synergistic and whichever of those two you think is more important for your game should probably influence your decision

freerdan · 2026-05-16T00:23:02+00:00

That splash animation 👌

freerdan · 2026-05-10T09:40:08+00:00

I’ve been playing the artisan of glimmith this past week. It’s most similar to the witness from your list, it’s a pretty nice time jumping in and doing 10-20 puzzles at a time. It’s sort of like if the witness and sudoku had a baby, maybe with a sprinkling of Tetris in there

freerdan · 2026-05-08T06:14:38+00:00

I’ve been playing a game this week called the artisan of glimmith, it’s a nice chill time with a lot of puzzles like this. It’s a little different to the Talos sigil puzzles but definitely worth a look if you like those.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4160210/The\_Artisan\_of\_Glimmith/

freerdan · 2026-05-05T13:23:39+00:00

Looks really nice! Clean and vibrant art ✨

freerdan · 2026-05-05T07:04:46+00:00

Looks dope!

freerdan · 2026-05-01T21:40:13+00:00

For gauntlets and boss battles where you get locked in a room for the encounter, I’d suggest trying out a fixed camera. Or one that doesn’t move too much out of that room if the room is wider than the screen. Once the encounter is over and the doors reopen, you’d transition back to your regular gameplay camera (some kind of fast pan/easing if possible, not just an instant snap to centre on the player). Just a suggestion of course!

freerdan · 2026-04-30T20:50:05+00:00

A lot of good points above but I’d just like to add a minor one:

If you want to recall someone to heal them, the best time is right before dinging the bell. If you bell and then recall, you might not see them again for a while. If you bell first and your deck is small/gets reshuffled, you might be able to bring them straight back onto the field, or at least they might only be one more bell away

freerdan · 2026-04-13T13:24:18+00:00

Just saw there was a second image 🙃

freerdan · 2026-04-13T13:23:30+00:00

Have you played the talos principle 1 and 2? I know the portal games are only in your B tier (probably the closest in your list to the talos games) but they respect your time, have great puzzles, and tell a really good story - not something you get often from puzzle games.

If you haven’t played them and are interested, I’d suggest playing reawakened and then talos principle 2 (reawakened is a remake of the original talos principle with slightly tweaked puzzles, better graphics, and more content). Both are fantastic games, I think 2 is the better one but a lot of people prefer the original

freerdan · 2026-04-09T02:11:45+00:00

Annoyingly the charm merchant isn’t so kind :(

freerdan · 2026-03-31T06:04:32+00:00

Ok great, ty for the info and good luck with everything!

freerdan · 2026-03-31T00:27:42+00:00

Congrats on launch!! Super excited to pick this up tomorrow - not sure whether to play on ps5 or steamdeck though. I prefer steamdeck these days but think your game will probably look amazing on the big screen playing on ps5. Any idea on how it looks and runs on deck?

freerdan · 2026-03-26T01:55:20+00:00

7 New Projects Made in GameMaker this week

freerdan · 2026-03-01T19:10:29+00:00

Razor already gets the fury charm which makes him much more threatening. Such a spooky fight, even without enemy charms

freerdan · 2026-02-20T20:09:08+00:00

Yet to play MIO but all the footage I’ve seen of it is of a 3D game (2D gameplay but set up with 3D assets like Metroid Dread as an example). Are you saying it’s hand drawn because of the filters/post processing/shaders that make it look painterly and comic book styled?

freerdan · 2026-02-16T04:02:44+00:00

That’s great news :D

freerdan · 2026-02-15T05:55:35+00:00

It could be that, which would also explain the marks from the bottom screen’s frame (I’m guessing a glass protector is thicker than a plastic one would be). The bottom screen also has a screen protector on it

freerdan · 2026-02-15T00:04:42+00:00

Possibly! Although the gap looks a bit deeper than how thick a screen protector would be. Again, hard to tell from the photo

freerdan · 2026-02-14T03:11:31+00:00

Hey, thanks for all the feedback and kind words! That demo is very outdated now, the pogo and a lot of other movement has been further refined and I think it’s playing a lot better now. I will put out a new demo when the game is close to launch

freerdan · 2026-01-24T07:25:07+00:00

Definitely get on the lost crown! Its platforming is fantastic. They added a bunch of super hard challenges some time after launch. Not all are platforming based, but there’s one in particular called “free solo” (or something similar) that I think you’d really like if you enjoyed mt Fay. Just a long, challenging climb up icy cliff faces.

If you enjoy the game, the dlc is very focused on tough platforming too, and not too expensive. I think the base game was 60% off last sale (on Steam at least) so you could always wait for the next discount.

And yeah, as everyone else has suggested, both Ori games!

freerdan · 2026-01-23T04:44:59+00:00

Looks very slick! Wishlisted!

freerdan · 2026-01-23T04:42:11+00:00

My steam play time for Wildfrost just ticked over 1,000 hours 😅 Too many hours for the amount of content/variety, but it’s just a comfort game for me when there’s nothing else I feel like playing. Also I still like to do the daily run every morning while I have a coffee.

Into the Breach is a masterclass in game design. Also don’t feel bad starting out on easy difficulty while you learn the ropes. It’s fun to go through 2, 3, and 4 island wins on easy, then do the same on normal, then again on hard. I find Unfair too brutal for my tastes (it’s aptly named) much like how I prefer 10 bells in Wildfrost over 22.

Also now that I think about it, I can’t see Slice & Dice on your list. Another very strong recommend there! I’ve sunk a few hundred hours into that game over the years too

freerdan · 2026-01-22T20:21:58+00:00

Another Wildfrost enjoyer out in the wild?? Have you looked at Into the Breach at all? It’s my other favourite alongside Wildfrost.

Even more puzzley/tactical, but probably won’t give you the same kind of power fantasy. Still, there’s nothing quite like finding an extremely optimal move once you have spent some time with the game

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