0.1 - Release and Debrief

Writing this post two weeks after the fact, so my impressions have a little more distance. In case this is the first post you've encountered in the series, this game was made for my self-imposed game-a-week challenge.

Why  sokoban? After Faction Digital, I really wanted to see how much game I could make with no supporting text, but still in the artificial structure of a turn system. I also wanted to do level design, something that I often don't have time for in these weekly projects.

Actually implementing the rules engine was a breeze, partially because I skimped on storing levels in any manner more robust than just GameObjects in world space. In retrospect, I wish I had been a little more rigorous there, because then I'd be able to make a level editor instead of laboriously hand setting puzzles.

The puzzles themselves are surprisingly satisfying. There is a real elegance to the minimal sokoban, wheee you are there to see the one trick or thought the setter had before moving on. I prefer those brief experiences to interminable 10 box puzzles that mostly boil down to repeating the same gesture. I think the aesthetics of sokoban puzzles are really undertheorized (at least in public channels) and I could see doing some academic work talking about them.

This game feels pretty complete to me. There are a couple bugs that made it to the 0.1 build that I have a hard time reproducing and thus diagnosing, but the reset button and short level time keeps those in check. Overall, a success, in my estimation.