

Show HN: Colorbars – A challenging new take on the match three game genre - Sproutworx
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colorbars-fun-addictive-colorful/id898148928

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Sproutworx
This is my first game published in the App Store and was made with the help of
a developer friend, Chris. It's a simple interface but an incredibly
challenging game.

Would love to hear feedback. We'll also be doing a post-mortem on our first
few weeks in the App Store for those who enjoy that type of thing.

Here are a few promo codes. First come, first serve.

JEPKNLPEEAAT N4MFN39HX6P9 999NP9KTAEKA X6AF9YM46FPF NYEFN34AM7EF 7RTPFNR97TFY
M4RR3NA77R6F EPFMMANAMPHA

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tetristhemovie
Saving everyone else the time, these are all redeemed. 0.99c, though; not
sweating the cost.

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scottmcf
I enjoyed the game, but had a couple of suggestions:

Add a small colour wheel to the main playing area (maybe only for the first
few challenges per game?). It's on the pause screen already, but I know when
things got hectic I'd have liked it to be there in front of me.

The single colour challenges were pretty punishing, in that there really
weren't enough bars coming of that colour to push through to the next
challenge. Perhaps give a small amount of time for non-challenge related
matches?

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Sproutworx
Thanks, Scott.

Both points are great feedback on elements that I think we've struggled with
during development by being so close to it.

I think we've overestimated peoples knowledge of the color wheel. The data is
certainly showing it to. Scores from our beta rounds were much better than the
first couple days. My assumption there is the beta users got used to the color
wheel over time. Your idea of a hint during the first view rounds is a great
one.

Also, for the challenges, were you _only_ trying to complete the challenge?
This is another point that I think users are struggling with. Completing the
challenge is a bonus, but it's certainly not the only goal. If the challenge
says "Clear 10 sets of 5", you can still clear out sets or runs of 3 until you
are blue in the face. Challenges aren't required.

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_random_
Color combination in a line reminds me of Colossotron a bit:

[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.halfbrick....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.halfbrick.colossatron&hl=en_GB)

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yeukhon
I wonder if color-blind users can play this...? Any first-hand experience?

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Sproutworx
From some of the feedback we've received, not very well.

Definitely an interesting challenge to solve.

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eclecticcoder
The Dots game just solved the color blind problem,
[http://blog.weplaydots.com/post/92736184749/whats-new-in-
two...](http://blog.weplaydots.com/post/92736184749/whats-new-in-twodots-
outer-space-color-blind-mode-and). Although I am not colorblind so can't speak
from experience.

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Sproutworx
Yup, their solution was our first thought as well. The biggest problem is half
our game is about ordering colors based on the color wheel. So Red Orange
Yellow.

That doesn't pose the same challenge if that run corresponds to Square,
Circle, Triangle. Trying to remember a sequence based on random shapes seems
too unrelated. We'll need to do some tests with color saturation most likely.

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dangowango
why is this here? Its neither interesting, nor did I learn anything.

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jcoder
Then don't upvote it. Asking that people prescreen their submissions to not
offend your subjective definition of "interesting" or "informative", is
introducing a chilling effect.

