Sprint! - A mini abstract strategy game

oldtimerza

Download : Current Version V0.1.0, Please see below.

HOW TO PLAY:
Pieces:
Green- player 1 pieces
Orange - player 2 pieces
Blue - wall
White- inactive player
Hollow Cross- Rout zone.

Object of the game:
To win : get one of your pieces across the line matching your colour.

Actions:
During a players turn a player may take one of the following actions:
1)Move a piece.
2)Sprint a piece.
3)Rout a disabled piece.

1)Moving a piece
Left click one of the edges of a piece to move it one space in that direction.
must move into unoccupied spaces.(Walls occupy spaces).

2)Sprinting a piece
Right click one of the edges of a piece to jump it two spaces in that direction.
Note: only the finally stopping point of the piece needs be empty. i.e pieces can jump over others.
Sprinting DISABLES a piece.

3)Rout a disabled piece
Left click the center of a disabled piece.
this "teleports" the piece back to the routing zone, only if the ROUT ZONE is entirely empty(the hollow cross on the start line).
Doing so REVIVES the piece.
Only DISABLED pieces can be ROUTED.

DISABLING/REVIVAL:
A piece becomes disabled if it cannot make any legal MOVES(not sprints) at the end of the turn.
for example when it is surrounded by enemy pieces and/or walls.

A DISABLED piece cannot make any moves or sprints in future until it has been revived.
A piece is REVIVED when an ally piece moves into any Horizontal/vertical adjacent square or when it is ROUTED.

Ideas:
implemented:
-ADDED: V0.02 A piece can move twice at the cost of becoming disabled.
-ADDED: V0.02 "no-go" zones on the board, maybe like crosses that count as immovable pieces and belong to neither team.( they just hinder movement around the board/allow for more dynamic disabling).
-ADDED: V0.02 colorful metro theme to make the prototype more palatable.
-ADDED: V0.06 Routing, please read rules.

on the drawing board:
-by @hermantulleken : Single Player game.
-assymetric board to allow for balance for player going second.
-board size too large , play with board shapes and sizes.

To be added in the near future:
-Level editor.
-Credits screen.

Change List:
V0.0.1:(2015/09/17)
-game release, first prototype.
V0.0.2:(2015/09/18)
-added SPRINT ability.
-fixed disabling bug , where walls weren't disabling.
-added barriers.
-changed look to something slightly nicer.
V0.0.3:(2015/09/18)
-fixed a bug where if all of a players pieces were disabled it would not switch turns.
V0.0.4:(2015/09/19)
-fixed bug where players could move during opponents turn.
-changed colour scheme.
-added effects to liven up prototype(and practice GM :P).
V0.0.5:(2015/09/19)
-fixed bug where pieces could move onto occuppied spaces.
V0.0.6:(2015/09/21)
-fixed minor bugs involving positions.
-Added Routing Mechanic.
-Added Text based level editor(not public yet).
V0.1.0:(2015/09/24)
-fixed more minor bugs
-added menu.
-added general polish to the game.
-changed and added levels.

Sash

Hey, neat Idea... Sooo I am an Audio Guy so I think its only fair for me to comment on the audio side first... SOUNDED GREAT!!!! haha I'm kidding...

Anyway I played it with my little brother, it was boring at first because theres like a set up phase - before anything actually starts happening due to it all being close proximity action. Maybe some kind of special piece or different kinds of pieces affecting different sizes of squares would probably liven it up a bit.

Also I agree that obstacles are a good idea, and the ability of a piece moving more squares in one turn with the cost of it being disabled would be a great add on.

I think I would need a lot more play time with it to give you more in depth feedback - So this is what I have from first impressions :) Hope it helps... even slightly.

oldtimerza

Ha ha :P , yeah sound will come later I'am afraid.

Good to hear some feedback , I'm hoping I'll have some time tonight to jam away at the code and add in those features, maybe I'll have a new build tonight for more testing.

Yeah I noticed the "set-up" phase as well, so the extra moves will hopefully help. I'm also going to fiddle with the board size as I think it's too large , starting closer together might help change that boring start into something more fun.

oldtimerza

Version 0.02 is up and contains quite a few changes, please critique away.

EDIT : Woops just realised the red disabled symbol is invisible on the red piece background.
EDIT 2: V0.05 is up.

oldtimerza

Just some questions to think about when writing feedback:

1)Were the rules difficult to understand?
2)What theme do you think of when playing?
3)Does the game feel like strategy is involved, or just wild luck?
4)Does the board shape and arrangement make sense?
5)Is the game too slow?
6)If the game was a physical board game would it be more enjoyable?
7)Were there any "Aha!" moments while playing?

sorry for posting so much , just wanted to help suggest feedback "themes" as it were.
Thanks for your time.

hermantulleken

Hi @oldtimerza,

I gave it a play (I did not have a second player here, will give it another go on Monday, so obviously my thoughts are colored by that).

1) No, they are pretty simple and clear in the Readme. (The infographic of your OP disappeared...)
2) No theme comes to mind. Are you looking for some ideas? (I don't necessarily think you need a theme).
3) I'll let you know once I've played against another player.
4) Yes, although I think you can experiment a lot in this area. (I will also be very interested to see what you experiment with, and what your reject and why. Just out of curiosity.)
5) I think it will be different playing against somebody else. The beginning as you noted, but also when a piece far off becomes disabled (which happens to me by accident... not sure if this is a valid concern.)
6) Not sure... keeping track of disabled pieces is convenient on computer.
7) When I discovered the "sprinting pair" construction (which allows two pieces to sprint each move alternately). This adds a nice strategic element. The board got a bit crowded to fully enjoy this feature (and possibly even longer chains). I particular like this type of thing in these games - it's something that extends beyond the immediate rules, and the more of these types of things you can get the better; it gives a good sense of mastery.

Other boards and arrangements could be interesting to explore. It can also be very interesting to explore even more asymmetric play (for instance, one player only gets one piece, but it can move 3 at a time).

I also think there is potential to turn it in a one-player puzzle game. (For example, similar to Free Cell).

pieter

Hi @oldtimerza

I was really surprised by all the strategies one can come up with such a simple rule set. The game is perfectly named as well, as it's all about the sprinting. And I agree with @hermantulleken, there is potential for this to be a fun one player puzzle game.

1) Rules were easy to understand. Though I don't know if this is a bug or an unexplained rule, but one piece was disabled even though a sprint up or down would have been a legal move to get out of the position.

2) Has a puzzle theme to it. I thought chess, checkers when I played it.
3) Initially I though it would just be a stale mate with players meeting each other in the middle. But it's the sprint ability that opens up the opportunity to sneak past your opponent. Disabling your pieces for added mobility really makes you think a lot of steps ahead about how you will activate them again.
4) Arrangement makes sense, and the obstacles heavily influence your strategy. There's lots of scope here for variety with different board sizes and obstacle positions.
5) At this size it is a bit slow, with lots of early game positioning. I feel smaller stages would be more action packed while larger stages provide for more strategy. There's definitely scope for both.
6) Since the pieces have only two states (enabled/disabled) you could have a disabled symbol on the flip side, so yeah, this could totally work as a physical board game.
7.) Yes :D when I realised how sprinting could get me around other pieces, and also when I had two pieces sprinting together. These two things made me stop and plan my next moves in order to take advantage of them.

oldtimerza

hermantulleken said:

1) No, they are pretty simple and clear in the Readme. (The infographic of your OP disappeared...)

Good to know, although I did spot an ambiguity after I read @pieter 's post , to do with moving , sprinting and disabling.

hermantulleken said:

2) No theme comes to mind. Are you looking for some ideas? (I don't necessarily think you need a theme).

I'm just digging for theme ideas, I also don't think it needs one. But if someone says "Hey, what about Theme Y?" and it fits so perfectly then I'll theme it up.

hermantulleken said:

3) I'll let you know once I've played against another player.

;) Ah yes, the age old problem with testing two player games :P.

hermantulleken said:

4) Yes, although I think you can experiment a lot in this area. (I will also be very interested to see what you experiment with, and what your reject and why. Just out of curiosity.)

For now I'm going to work on striking the board size that gives enough room to move around to build strategy , but just too little room to avoid conflict in the early stages. But yes, there are a number of ideas swimming around in my head right now.

hermantulleken said:

5) I think it will be different playing against somebody else. The beginning as you noted, but also when a piece far off becomes disabled (which happens to me by accident... not sure if this is a valid concern.)

Hmm, I'm hoping a board size adjustment will fix the beginning problem.

hermantulleken said:

6) Not sure... keeping track of disabled pieces is convenient on computer.

True that. But as pointed out by @pieter , the pieces can be flipped and have an appropriate symbol on the bottom to signal that its disabled.

hermantulleken said:

7) When I discovered the "sprinting pair" construction (which allows two pieces to sprint each move alternately). This adds a nice strategic element. The board got a bit crowded to fully enjoy this feature (and possibly even longer chains). I particular like this type of thing in these games - it's something that extends beyond the immediate rules, and the more of these types of things you can get the better; it gives a good sense of mastery.

Good to know that there are emerging strategies.
I feel the game is not quite complete. Although neat and emergent ideas happen because of the current rules, theres is still
just SOMETHING missing, something to push it over the edge and create a host of ways to play.

hermantulleken said:

I also think there is potential to turn it in a one-player puzzle game. (For example, similar to Free Cell).

Never thought of that to be honest, always kept thinking that it will have to be two player.
The initial idea for the game was to make a strategy game that slots between Checkers and Chess in terms of complexity, playtime and learning curve.

Thank you for your feedback.much appreciated.

oldtimerza

pieter said:

Hi @oldtimerza

I was really surprised by all the strategies one can come up with such a simple rule set. The game is perfectly named as well, as it's all about the sprinting. And I agree with @hermantulleken, there is potential for this to be a fun one player puzzle game.

Good to know. That was the hope that strategies would emerge from the rules. Wasn't quite sure if it would work out.

pieter said:

1) Rules were easy to understand. Though I don't know if this is a bug or an unexplained rule, but one piece was disabled even though a sprint up or down would have been a legal move to get out of the position.

Ah that would be a problem with the rules. A piece becomes disabled if it can't make any legal MOVES (note moves and sprints are different), I see that there is a problem with my phrasing that has cause ambiguity.
Although maybe a piece should be allowed to sprint away? I'll try it.

pieter said:

2) Has a puzzle theme to it. I thought chess, checkers when I played it.

Bingo! Those are indeed the exact inspirations for it, in fact the rules borrow elements from each game.

pieter said:

3) Initially I though it would just be a stale mate with players meeting each other in the middle. But it's the sprint ability that opens up the opportunity to sneak past your opponent. Disabling your pieces for added mobility really makes you think a lot of steps ahead about how you will activate them again.

Excellent! Initially the Sprint mechanic wasn't in , but @Sash and I agreed it needed to be added.

pieter said:

4) Arrangement makes sense, and the obstacles heavily influence your strategy. There's lots of scope here for variety with different board sizes and obstacle positions.

Maybe I should whip together a simple text based level editor and loader for peeps to fiddle with?

pieter said:

5) At this size it is a bit slow, with lots of early game positioning. I feel smaller stages would be more action packed while larger stages provide for more strategy. There's definitely scope for both.

I'll make the board smaller for next release. I'm just afraid of making the board too small and then "clogging" up the game.

pieter said:

6) Since the pieces have only two states (enabled/disabled) you could have a disabled symbol on the flip side, so yeah, this could totally work as a physical board game.

My thoughts exactly. It may become a bit tedious though to constantly flip pieces over, so I have another idea if this ever makes it to physical format.

pieter said:

7.) Yes :D when I realised how sprinting could get me around other pieces, and also when I had two pieces sprinting together. These two things made me stop and plan my next moves in order to take advantage of them.

:D those are the moments I'm hoping people discover, theres just one ingredient I feel is missing that'll create many more of these synergies. I'll keep experimenting.

Thank you for your feedback.much appreciated.

oldtimerza

New version is up : V0.06.
New in this version:
-new mechanic - *ROUTING MECHANIC !!*
-text based level editor to make levels quickly for rapid prototyping.

Please give feedback on which type of level was the most fun to play and if the routing mechanic adds or subtracts from the game , Thank you :)

oldtimerza

New Version is up: V0.1.0.
New in this version:
-minor bug fixes.
-changed levels.
-menu!

At this stage I'm happy with the general design of the game. Now I just need more feedback to fix / polish any problems.
If anyone is interested in doing any form of audio/art for me for free I would be eternally grateful :).

I really like the idea of a Netrunner-esque hacking style. As if the blocks we're moving around are blocks of malicious code that we're trying to get into an enemy main frame or something along those lines.
I will upload templates for the Sprites if anyone is interested.(of course you will be added to the credits for the game and share an equal stake in it's creation).

I would also very much like to add some audio to the game, so if anyone is willing to supply some basic ambient music/ sound effects for the game for free I would much appreciate it :).(of course you will be added to the credits for the game and share an equal stake in it's creation).

Any suggestions on theme would also be extremely welcome! :).

Thank you again for your feedback and time.

Sash

I'll do the audio stuff. . . I'll pm you with my details and we can collaborate??