Prompt 4: Describe what it was like solving a single level (tell us which level!).
The level that I am going to talk about solving was level 4, the first level that really made me stop and think about the rules in the game. The first thing that I tried to do to solve this puzzle was to walk over all of the darker spots on the floor once and then zig zag from the top row to the bottom row over all of the regular lighter brown spots. My strategy was almost aimless as I was just walking over every tile of the level and hoping that it would mop up the entire floor. I tried this multiple times because of how this worked for the more simple, previous 3 levels of the game. This led to me having to undo the level multiple times and realizing that stepping over all tiles in a level simply does not allow you to win due to the gaps between spots that are left. Furthermore, I realized the rule that in order to mop up all of the spots, you must not leave any gaps in the floor where there were previous dirt spots first. This led me immediately to work backwards from my previous strategy. I decided to still get rid of all the darker spots first, and then once the gaps were created when walking from one patch of darker spots to the other, filling those gaps in again with lighter brown spots and then walking over the entire remaining patch of lighter brown spots. Moreover, it seemed like it was easiest to simply create multiple rows and/or columns of spots together instead of trying to walk in straight lines as this grouping allowed for moving in a zigzag motion. Lastly, considering that I have played this level multiple times, I know that there are many solutions to the problem as I took many different paths when solving the level. Overall, I spent the longest amount of time on this level in order to figure out the rules in the game and how to use the rules to manipulate the tiles in order to create a solvable path. With that said, subsequent levels were much easier and faster to solve.
What stood out to me, and I think benefitted the game, about Wipe It in relation to those by others in class is the fact that the player is not pushing or pulling an object to solve the puzzle. This game was to me a big step away from the Sokoban mechanic, and for that made it entirely new and enjoyable to play. The player is slowly introduced to the rule that once they walk over a dark streak on the floor it will disappear through the first and into the second level. What the second level teaches the player is that if they walk over a darker still patch of floor that it will need to be walked over twice in order to make it disappear, and ultimately clean. This reminded me of similar games in which the player walks over ice that melts away in their wake as they walk over it. What is different about this game, and I think makes the experience more enjoyable to different player types is the ability for the player to keep playing and make up for any missteps they make later; Because, if they walk over a part of clean floor that spot will then dirty. I found myself using this to my advantage later when I mistakenly took the path that I didn’t want, and instead took more steps to correct it and complete the level. Having this fail-safe for the player made me want to keep playing without resetting the level, and ultimately made the game more enjoyable rather than continuously having to reset after a mistake.
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Prompt 4: Describe what it was like solving a single level (tell us which level!).
The level that I am going to talk about solving was level 4, the first level that really made me stop and think about the rules in the game. The first thing that I tried to do to solve this puzzle was to walk over all of the darker spots on the floor once and then zig zag from the top row to the bottom row over all of the regular lighter brown spots. My strategy was almost aimless as I was just walking over every tile of the level and hoping that it would mop up the entire floor. I tried this multiple times because of how this worked for the more simple, previous 3 levels of the game. This led to me having to undo the level multiple times and realizing that stepping over all tiles in a level simply does not allow you to win due to the gaps between spots that are left. Furthermore, I realized the rule that in order to mop up all of the spots, you must not leave any gaps in the floor where there were previous dirt spots first. This led me immediately to work backwards from my previous strategy. I decided to still get rid of all the darker spots first, and then once the gaps were created when walking from one patch of darker spots to the other, filling those gaps in again with lighter brown spots and then walking over the entire remaining patch of lighter brown spots. Moreover, it seemed like it was easiest to simply create multiple rows and/or columns of spots together instead of trying to walk in straight lines as this grouping allowed for moving in a zigzag motion. Lastly, considering that I have played this level multiple times, I know that there are many solutions to the problem as I took many different paths when solving the level. Overall, I spent the longest amount of time on this level in order to figure out the rules in the game and how to use the rules to manipulate the tiles in order to create a solvable path. With that said, subsequent levels were much easier and faster to solve.
What stood out to me, and I think benefitted the game, about Wipe It in relation to those by others in class is the fact that the player is not pushing or pulling an object to solve the puzzle. This game was to me a big step away from the Sokoban mechanic, and for that made it entirely new and enjoyable to play. The player is slowly introduced to the rule that once they walk over a dark streak on the floor it will disappear through the first and into the second level. What the second level teaches the player is that if they walk over a darker still patch of floor that it will need to be walked over twice in order to make it disappear, and ultimately clean. This reminded me of similar games in which the player walks over ice that melts away in their wake as they walk over it. What is different about this game, and I think makes the experience more enjoyable to different player types is the ability for the player to keep playing and make up for any missteps they make later; Because, if they walk over a part of clean floor that spot will then dirty. I found myself using this to my advantage later when I mistakenly took the path that I didn’t want, and instead took more steps to correct it and complete the level. Having this fail-safe for the player made me want to keep playing without resetting the level, and ultimately made the game more enjoyable rather than continuously having to reset after a mistake.