Chroma - a demo about energy and color

[Chris W]

Well, I figured it was high time I shared something that I made, and so I present Chroma - http://chrisweeks3d.com/Chroma.html

A few notes, first:  This is a game.  You can win and you can lose.  That being said, my grand vision is that, if done well, the visualizer portion of the game would be the main draw and the main reward, with the card game merely being the structure that drives it.  Kind of a synthesis, where the game part makes it accessible to more conventionally minded players, but with a visual reward compelling enough to grab them away from caring too much about the winning/losing aspect.  Maybe a certain subset of players would even stop trying to win and simply play with it with the goal of evoking the most they could from the visualizer.  Anyhow, the current incarnation that I've just made is not developed to that level, but I wanted to explain the vision behind it.

[ghostwheel]

I understand you're not finished but I have to assess this as it is now, not as you want it to be. I can't critique it based on a finished product that doesn't exist.

The game part is interesting and I like it, as a game. This feels like a PopCap game to me. That said, if it was a PopCap game, the visuals would be far more polished. As they are, they look half finished, like a lot of it is placeholder graphics. However, it's far too competitive and the visual payoff isn't strong enough to be anything but a game.

So in summary: if you want this to be all about the visuals, you should dump the game entirely. Though I rather like it as a game. I might buy this if it was in the App Store.

[Chris W]

Thanks for the comments.  Definitely critique it as you see it - anything that's not actually created doesn't count!  Point taken about not trying to make it be something it isn't, as far as game/notgame/etc.

[Michaël Samyn]

I have no idea how to play this.

(let me represent the non-gamer playtester for you )

[Chris W]

Ha!  That's actually kind of a fun and unexpected response, thank you.  If you don't mind - is it still kind of cool to play with, or does your inability to play the game make you lose interest immediately?

[Michaël Samyn]

I'm afraid I lost interest quite quickly. I didn't see any relation between my actions and the game's responses.