Inventris Prototype
A downloadable game
Inventris is a prototype of an idea that came to me while organizing my inventory in diablo 2 for the 1000th time. While essentially playing Tetris to fit more items in my bag before going to town, it kind of hit me that that's kind of a game in itself, and what would a game that is purely centred around inventory organizing look like? The path was clear, Inventory Management + Tetris = Inventris!
How to Play:
Organize items in into 2x2 - 5x5 squares to make matches and increase your gold count. The more items in the match and the bigger the square, the more gold you will receive. However don't let your inventory get to full looking for that perfect match! Becoming overburdened (not having room for the next item) means its game over!
Controls:
Arrow Keys - Move Cursor
A - Pick up item / Put Down Item
B - Rotates Held Item. If no item is held, grabs the next item in the hold area
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Comments
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I love your game. Not just because I played Diablo 2 for 20 years. :)
It’s a really cool idea and I hope you get some time for it again.
Thanks!
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I'm definitely intrigued by Inventris - a game that rewards players for organizing items to fit them into squares of varying sizes! Sounds like a fun way to spend an evening.
You look like the type of person who'd enjoy this jam: WOW JAM
They have a very interesting platform and are even offering prizes xD
Neat idea! The knight acquires new items a little too fast though.
As a respectful alternate opinion, I think it's about right to make it a challenging game. It's just slow enough to allow the player to get their wits about them (once the rules are understood) and complete some squares, but fast enough to feel like the screws are being turned and not allow the game to last forever.
Ah, always hard to find the sweet spot for starting speeds. As the developer you tend to get good at the game cuz you play it so much and then its hard to know whats actually a good speed for a new player lol
I'm not very good at this yet but I like the speed of the knight for the same reasons Ryan mentioned. Very much enjoying this!
Do you also plan to release this for other platforms like windows?
I may in the future but at the moment I don't have the time to do so :(
Understandable, good luck with your projects!
Thanks!
This is more fun than I thought it would be.
I know this is still in development, but I have some suggestions if you're interested. You've probably already planned some of these for future versions.
• The crank could handle piece rotation, in addition to B.
• Matching graphics styles for the knight scene and playfield. I think changing the playfield graphics could enhance readability. Sometimes, it's a little hard to tell how much space the various items take up.
• Permanent scoreboard.
• I keep thinking about if there's a way to have more interactivity with the knight scene. Like, if you successfully make a 5x5, the knight encounters a bigger kind of enemy that takes more hits, giving the player a little more time before the next item drop. High risk/high reward, beyond just points. Something like that. Or different kinds of items: Potions, weapons, armor, etc. Make squares using all one kind of item, and the knights behavior changes in some beneficial way, adding another element of strategy. I don't know. Maybe these ideas push the game too close to Inventory Hero.
Anyway, cool concept : )
I like a lot of what Japhy is suggesting here. Just as a back-up (or alternate) opinion, here are some of my thoughts:
1. Agreed, crank-integration could be a fun additional way to rotate pieces, so long as the existing "B" functionality is preserved. If I'm being honest, I can't imagine ever using it over the B button, so if Kryptoid98's development time is limited, I'd likely de-prioritize this.
2. I'm a HARD AGREE on matching graphics between knight and inventory. Seems like the blocky aesthetic of the upper knight would be the way to go, especially, as Japhy mentioned, because occasionally it's a little tough to initially understand how some of the inventory fits into the individual squares.
3. I'm always a fan of scoreboards. That'd be a nice feature to prevent one from having to take phone-pix of each notable score.
4. These are great suggestions. I especially fancy the one about when achieving a 5x5 block triggering, "the knight encounters a bigger kind of enemy that takes more hits, giving the player a little more time before the next item drop." BRILLIANT, Japhy!
A. To piggy-back on scoreboards, ONLINE LEADERBOARDS would be KILLER!!!
B. At the end of the game, the screen kinda "greys-out", but when it does that it obscures the final score. If that's a score I'm proud of, I'd love to be able to take a screenshot or a picture and send it to a buddy or a group that I'm competing with.
Wonderful game, Kryptoid98! It'll be my pick of the week for our upcoming episode of the "Hello Playdate Podcast".
Wishing you all the best with further development...if that's what your plans involve. :)
Take care,
Ryan
Wow, to be honest I wasnt even sure if the game was going to be fun or not lol.
The clashing graphics are def just a result of me not being a artist and just going with what I could find for a prototype. A full version would never use Diablo 2 graphics and sound lol :P
Right now unfortunetly it is going to be a bit of a struggle to find time to continue this game as Im currently in full development of another game for playdate, but considering the good reception I may see what I can do to get it back on my plate in the nearish future!
I had some ideas for the crank outside of rotating the item, so thats why I hadnt gotten around to implementing that.
Thanks for all the input!
As it stands this is just a prototype idea, i actually wasnt sure if it was even fun enough to continue development of lol.
Since this is just a prototype and im not a artist I just kind of went with what I could find, a full version def would not have diablo 2 items and music :P
A full version would def have interactivity with the knight, but ya I would need to be careful to not get to close to Inventory Hero as thats already a good game.
I had some ideas for the crank outside of rotating the item, so thats why I hadnt gotten around to implementing that.
Sounds good, I hope you run with it and continue to develop the game!
Thanks!