The Sorcerer's Detritus
An eight-puzzle game made with the theme "magician's hat."
Keyboard controls: arrow keys or WASD to move; [Z] to undo moves; [R] to reset. [X] will advance text or select options from the main menu, but does nothing in-game. [Escape] will return you to the main menu.
Touchscreen controls: tap at the main menu; swipe to move; open the tab menu in the upper left to undo moves and reset.
Hackable version: https://www.puzzlescript.net/play.html?p=c666ff2174192c180a806144e8a38155
Comments
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Just finished the game ... Took almost a month to complete it.
How can a game be so simple yet so difficult?
Saw The Sorcerer's Detritus on a list of hardest puzzle games, and just played today and love how difficult yet simple it is! I found the first 3 levels the toughest, and then once I internalized the movement the later levels were a little more intuitive, though still difficult. Thank you!
2 is the bane of my existance
(its gonna get worse from here)
V jbaqre vs gur fcnpr gb gur yrsg pna or hfrshy... (But you probably already solved it cuz its been a month)
Great game!
Sequel coming soon?
Unlikely, appreciate the interest though!
Very fun game! The puzzles were so difficult, which I loved. Such a good feeling to finally realize a solution.
What's your process like to create these puzzles? I found myself thinking some solution would work but then it would just barely not work out. Maybe I needed extra room to push or a slightly taller ceiling, only to be thwarted steps away from the goal. Do you plan out the series of moves first and then create a room around that? Or do you plan it around a concept and then figure out the moves and room?
Typically when I design puzzles I do the latter, coming up with a concept and then designing the level around that (though sometimes the concept is in fact just a short, key sequence of moves). For this game though, since I made it really quickly, I mostly just sketched something that seemed interesting in the level editor and tried solving it, and if it seemed okay then I removed extraneous space (often several times, after finding better and better solutions) and threw it into the game.
I don't actually recommend designing a puzzle game in this way, since it led to most of the levels not having any sort of intended logical key to them and they come off to me as a bit unfocused and bland as a result. I've seen multiple people solve puzzles somewhat accidentally and be like "wait how did I do that, I don't know why that worked," which isn't exactly the kind of experience I was aiming for. It seems like that may have contributed to some of this game's bizarre charm for some folks, though.
The only two levels I designed with a logical path in mind were the tutorial and #1.
Why is this so hard
Finally got it. Loved the little ending
I found this game a few months ago, couldn't beat level 4. Just sat down now and managed to beat the game in 3 hours. One of my favourite puzzle games I've ever played! Incredible design.
Amusing concept. I quite like how random objects get generated from the hat! haha. It adds a lot. I found myself really wanting the ability to put objects back into the hat; I imagine this is something you tried though.
I never actually really tried messing around with being able to put objects back into the hat, not because I never thought of it but because a fundamental part of the design for me was always the permanence of object creation and having to deal with the mess you made. Having that ability would trivialize a few situations in the game, but that's not to say a different experience couldn't be made with it.
Wow, really enjoyed this one!
the game feel in this is so satisfying and hilarious, especially pushing against a wall. the intro scene made me laugh as well, lovely!
oh wow 4 puzzles in and these are so elegant...
edit: 10 days later, finished it, one of my favourite puzzle games ever
I like the tagline of this game.
Looks simple but actually very tricky, impressive!