JupiLogy
commented
11 months ago Hi Moni! Great to hear you're enjoying the game (not that I've done anything to help with the development, I just like being involved in the discussion).
Firstly, I want to say that it's not my place to tell anyone how to go about solving a puzzle. And this could be a good aid.
There is a way of saving your puzzle state, but it requires saving the file to your device, and then re-loading that file when you want to go back to it, which is not as convenient as like, a save state in the app. Which is definitely a shame. However, in my opinion, adding an easy way to go back to a specific previous state could encourage people to brute force their way through a puzzle with guesses, rather than working through it "constructively". I know I said I can't tell people how to solve their puzzles, but well, that's just my opinion. It would take extra Dev work to make a function which encourages puzzlers to bypass the tricky parts of a puzzle, which they may not want to put in.
Now, some tips for the game.
My understanding of unruly is that the way the puzzle is generated, does not require the solver to think in advance, or place "maybe" marks. Sometimes it is very hard to see the next step, but it's always somewhere, hiding... 😉
The only fore-planning in unruly, I've found, is when there are too few white pieces (for example) for the remaining white pieces to go wherever in a row. So you need to make sure you place them so that the black pieces don't form a clump of 3 in a row.
I did some 14x14 unruly this morning and I can confirm that the games I played on "normal" mode only required some of that logic, and your usual avoiding 3 in a row logic. It's not one of my favourite puzzles, just because of the difficulty of searching for the next step.
I just wanted to make this comment to let you know why the feature may not be added, and I hope it also gives you an idea about how the next step is probably just hiding somewhere!
-jupy
MsMoni2U
Please add a tentative/pencil/placeholder option to Unruly.
I find myself avoiding larger boards and higher difficulty because I can't keep track of enough "what if" scenarios in my head. I would like to play the more challenging levels but I end up frustrated when I lose track of what the puzzle will look like in 10-15 moves from where I'm unsure. With other puzzles (slant, fill, loopy, bridges, galaxies, etc) as I worked my way up the frustration was a product of the puzzle itself - not the functionality. As it is, I need to remember to screenshot where I'm at when I switch from 100% sure to 80-90% sure (or straight up guessing), and then work my way backwards from the screenshot when I've made a mistake. If I forget to screenshot I end up just restarting the board.
Some ideas I've had while playing:
Something like Maps; a patterned fill to indicate when the player is unsure of a placement.
Alternatively, something like Light Up; a small block that can be used as a placeholder.
Or, a bookmark feature; something that allows the player to save the puzzle while working on a solution. Then, if their solution doesn't work they can go back to that point in time to try again. *This would be a fun feature for many of the games. :)
In any case, thank you for the game, I absolutely love trying new puzzles and training my brain to work on problems differently! The fact that it's ad-free just makes it that much better.
Thank you! Moni
Version 2023-02-10-1537-bd5c0a37