Haunted House Quest
Community Forums/Showcase/Haunted House Quest
| ||
| Hi All, We have just finished our latest game: Haunted House Quest http://www.therevillsgames.com/hauntedHouseQuest.html It's a "spooky" match 3 game:   You must make your way to the Haunted House to find the cure you seek. Can you find it before the time runs out? - 60 Individual Levels (12 Levels with 5 Sub-Levels Each) . - 3 Mini-Games to Unlock - 2 Difficulty Levels to Unlock - Hours of Spooky Match-3 Fun Gameplay Click here to download the demo! |
| ||
| Someone needs to make a match-3 game maker. Just choose your icon set, choose your background image, and choose your timer style. Bam, new game... Even you can make one in 5 minutes. |
| ||
| No disrespect to The Revills, but first Gunslinger Golf and now this, which looks again very close to a GA product, Holiday Bonus. Is GA selling source code? If so..I may want in. ;) |
| ||
| No disrespect to The Revills, but first Gunslinger Golf and now this, which looks again very close to a GA product, Holiday Bonus Not sure what you're trying to imply, but I'm quite sure Grey Alien didn't invent the match three genre, or solitaire, or Halloween.People can make what they want, and should be allowed to do so without being jumped on "because its like <game x>". |
| ||
| Yes, you are 100% correct ofcourse and I'm not putting down the genre, hell we all probably have match 3 games in development. ;) I'm simply stating the fact that if you play GunSlinger Solitaire and Fairway Solitaire, they are very similar. And if you play Haunted House Quest and Holiday Bonus, they are both again very similar. That's not a put down, or implying anything else than what it is...a fact. And I'm sure TheRevills realize that. :) Ohh... the selling source code bit was a joke. cmon... As a test, I let my wife play both Haunted Quest and Holiday Bonus right after each for the first time. She's right in the demographic for these kind of games. She preferred Haunted House and thought it was much better than Holiday Bonus. The fact that the underlying mechanic was similar didn't even click. Hats off to TheRevills, should be a nice seller this Halloween season! |
| ||
| It looks like a cute and seasonally timely game, but I do agree, if I put out a game and then just switched out the graphics and sound effects for another set and rereleased 20 times most people would probably laugh at how cheap that is, and yet match 3 games are out there by the thousands. What that suggests to me is that a) lots of people want a piece of the action and b) lots of customers are easily sold on something that `looks different` or `looks cute` rather than is necessarily deep in the gameplay department. But still, good luck with this one. |
| ||
| Even you can make one in 5 minutes. I wish ;-) It took about 3 months.... what it is...a fact. Sure is... a fact! I enjoyed Fairway and wondered how the game was done, so I programmed my own... Haunted House Quest was done to see how a match 3 game is done, or at least how I would code it... Hats off to TheRevills, should be a nice seller this Halloween season! Cheers MGE... so thats one copy to your wife then, wheres your Credit Card details? ;-) if I put out a game and then just switched out the graphics and sound effects for another set and rereleased 20 times most people would probably laugh at how cheap that is Errr... this is our first match 3 game.... But still, good luck with this one. Thanks :-) So what do people actually think of the game? |
| ||
| Comments at SyntaxBomb as always. |
| ||
| She preferred Haunted House and thought it was much better than Holiday Bonus Youch! ;-) Well hopefully that will translate into more sales than Holiday Bonus then because that game did pretty well. |
| ||
| Yeah just played it, nice intro! (BFG probably wish I hadn't given away that code as part of the framework)) And a similar graphical style to your previous game. Yeah it is similar to Holiday Bonus in quite a few ways, MGE is right; but don't they say "imitation is the highest form of flattery"? Anyway you've bought the framework and are free to do what you want of course, and like GfK says, it's not like I invented the match-3 genre. Anyway, the game is good but I think that the game needs more polish to do well on BFG. Oh you must add in the click and drag swap mechanic! Also it may need a map screen... That first mini-game reminds me of Cauldron on the C64. |
| ||
| if I put out a game and then just switched out the graphics and sound effects for another set and rereleased 20 times most people would probably laugh at how cheap that is Errr... this is our first match 3 game.... i think he was talking about the genre in general, over saturated but still selling well how many holiday's are there that could be just a different tile set add on instead of a whole new game i know both are coded by different guys but lets pretend that both this and holiday were the same team would you as a new customer buy the halloween game now because its nearly time and then rebuy the game with new gfx as the christmas game or being a registered user of halloween get a nominal fee gfx pack to enable you to play the exact same game with a chrsitmas theme (and any other seasonal packs as and when they become available) to the casual (no pun intended) cynic is this match 3 game any different to that match 3 game or any other? if not then why do some people (players) have 3 different match 3 games with little to no deviation in game play save the gfx |
| ||
| why do some people (players) have 3 different match 3 games with little to no deviation in game play save the gfx Whether there's "little to no deviation in gameplay" largely depends on which three match three games they have.You might want to compare, for example, Bejeweled 2, with Cradle of Rome. The success of Bejeweled 2 was in its simplicity but that isn't enough for the market any more. Contrary to belief, games within the match three genre are not purely clones of each other. |
| ||
| i cant really comment on the whole match3 scene i only have bejeweled* on my mobile (it had a 30 second demo and a buy me now button so i did cos 30 seconds wasnt enough) so ive not encountered these bonus games or how to access them nore have i played fairway or gunslinger solitair to compare them to normal solitair or my prefered card game of choice freecell, but whats been said about the two has hinted that they are nigh on one and the same beast save the gfx *the idiot as i cesorly refer to him as called it "beh jeh veld" for some bizzare reason, i think it stemmed from him deciding to write v's as their polish equivelant of w sometime last year and might have got flipped in his fragile limited mind |
| ||
| Contrary to belief, games within the match three genre are not purely clones of each other Agreed, there's lots of variations on the theme. e.g. Puzzle Quest, Ancient Quest of Saqqarah (several different play mechanics), Burger Rush etc. They all have different meta-game structures. It's a common misconception that all match-3s are the same. Like all kung fu movies are not the same as they cover a wide range of material and of course quality. |
| ||
| I thought the first levels were to simple, I know you have to introduce people to the game but maybe make it slightly harder. Was good though. The bonus game with the flying witch seemed to drag. Not many pumpkins fell. Is similiar to Holiday bonus, but Holiday had the edge. Maybe it just needs that extra polish. On the whole I liked it. |
| ||
| Very funny. I like it. A small funny game. |
| ||
| I thought the first levels were to simple, The demo includes the tutorial levels... Was good though. Thanks :-) Not many pumpkins fell. It is random... I'll up the chance of a pumpkin :) Very funny. I like it. Thanks Blitzblaster A small funny game. The full game is 60 levels and 3 minigames (plus 2 difficulty levels to unlock too)... I do try to had a bit of humour in the games :-) |
| ||
| We have just released the Mac version: http://www.therevillsgames.com/demos/HHQ/Haunted%20House%20Quest%20Demo.dmg |
| ||
| I suppose you can definitely say that all match 3's are not the same, there is a lot of graphical variety out there. I particularly liked Spandex Force which had a number of different approaches to matching the blocks, plus tied it all together with a nice city concept with people to click on and stuff, plus it was fun. However I would say that there didn't used to really be match 3 games, there just used to be `puzzle games`, and puzzle games were often quite different to each other in terms of what the puzzle involved and what you had to do to complete it. Back in the Amiga days there were quite a number of different kinds of puzzles, and I don't recall there ever being a match 3 game. It's almost as if someone made a single type of puzzle game and then everyone focussed on it so much that it blew it up into a giant market. So on the one hand I do still feel that `in the bigger picture` match 3 is only 1 type of puzzle which has been significantly duplicated, although within the context of match 3 games there has been a lot of work done to create the impression of differences, mainly based on appearances, how you move the blocks, what special features are present, particle effects, music, etc. |
| ||
| Yeah, it's just that match-3s are easy to grasp and addictive. I've played other puzzle games that are too hard or not as rewarding enough. |
| ||
| Just played the demo - not bad for a first match three at all. I have some ideas/comments: The pace of the intro section is too slow - it needs 'pepping up' a little because nothing seems to drive it along and I was impatient to play the game. The intro should either have slow creepy music matches the visuals and builds up to a crescendo on the crash zoom in, or you should make it all happen in at least half the time. Making it slow and quiet doesn't make it spooky so any impact of the sound effects is kinda lost. On the first level I clicked one tile and the level played itself to the end, because the tiles which dropped in just sorted themselves out. The second time I played it took 2 clicks to end the level - surely this is too quick? At the moment the title screen is more attractive than the in game screen which is where the player will spend most of their time. To make this less so, I'd love to see some animation in the backgrounds for example, the witch could fly passed across the background not be stuck in a static image in the background. Maybe on later levels she could cast a spell or two across the board? The spiders web should shake and a spider drop in or something. There shoud be fog moving across the bottom, and a few scudding clouds could move across the moon, or better still reveal it. A storm could be brewing, clouds could get darker and the background could change brightness or colour or something. I do not believe that this would be distracting, but it would seriously add to the atmosphere. I think that when you ask for a hint the timer should loose some time or there should be some kind of balance against getting a hint, you know what I mean? I would make the cursor a skeletons hand or something a little more spooky. Simple things will greatly improve a not bad first match 3 game. As for a comparison to "Holiday Bonus" I don't think these games can be considered as being in the same league! There's no innovation or real creativity here, main tile gfx are ok, but the hand drawn style is only a little above home grown, but nothing more. Sounds effects are few and far between and just adequate. Music is competent and sparse. There's little in the way of design in the game as a whole, its just a direct use of GA's framework. It would be a great example game to 'chuck' into the framework package to show how it can be done. Holdiay Bonus graphics, music, sound effects, animation, particle effects, presentation were all far superior to anything shown here. There simply is no comparison except that they use a match 3 mechanic and GA's framework. Download the 'Holiday Bonus' demo and check it out if you don't know what I am talking about! IPete2. |
| ||
| Played the demo as well. Good presentation. As usual with match-3 games, very addictive :-). |
| ||
| Nice game overall. Certainly addictive. I encountered what I assume is a bug in the demo though. I found I couldn't complete a level. There were no matches available, and no powerups to mix things up. I think I was on the last demo level (the one with the spellbook) which had a pyramid shaped board. I tried the hint button and one of the tiles spun around, but there was no match possible with that tile. I think that the tile was up against the top of the board, so the hint function may have been factoring in a square that wasn't displayed (depending on how the board works internally). This is all assuming that it is intended that a level is always completable, of course. |
| ||
| Thanks for the comments guys. IPete2 - Thanks for the ideas - I had a lot of ideas for the game, but I also wanted it out at the start of October... maybe Haunted House Quest 2 ;-) Bill was it this level:  I have got some code in which checks to see if a move is available... a lightning bolt should appear if no more moves happen. Which square did the hint button spin? BTW The hint button doesn't always show the piece which should be moved... |
| ||
| Yep, I'm pretty sure it was that level where the problem occurred. |
| ||
| Which square did the hint button spin? |
| ||
| I think it was the third row from the top, second square from the right on that row. The one right above the rightmost spellbook, in the picture above. The tile was a witches hat. There was a matching tile either to the left of, or below, that tile. I remember thinking at the time that the hint function could have been factoring in a non-displayed square, depending on how the data is organized for the sqares. |
| ||
| Thanks for helping me on this Bill. Just to confirm, the square which spun is where the pumpkin is this this screenshot:  But it was a witches hat... Do you remember if there were any witches hat around that one and where? Thanks again! |
| ||
| Yes I'm fairly sure it was the square were the pumpkin is in the image above (I should have taken a screenshot), and the tile was a witches hat. There was a matching witches hat tile either to the left of, or below, that tile, in the position of either the skull on the red background, or the spellbook. |
| ||
| Thanks Bill. Ive done quite a lot of testing and unfortunately I cant reproduce this. In my cheat mode I can place different items anywhere on the grid. I removed all the matches on the grid, then placed a witches hat in the place you said and placed hats around to see if I get the problem, but I always get a lightning bolt (to ensure that the level is completable)... |
| ||
| I haven't encountered that scenario since then, so it probably has a rare chance of occurring. It's possible I was mistaken, though I wouldn't think so. I spent some time checking the board for possible matches, and used the hint button. I'd recommend forgetting about it for the time being. If I encounter that issue again, I'll do a screen grab and post/send you the results. |
| ||
| so it probably has a rare chance of occurring. Yeah, I'm thinking that too... maybe something goes wrong after a while... I cant track it down... I hate bugs like this! If I encounter that issue again, I'll do a screen grab and post/send you the results. That'll be great! Thanks again Bil |
   |