09/07/22 - Colour therapy in Alpha v6

I just released the 6th alpha version of my Android game Infinite Treasure (download here). This devlog will talk about the changes it makes to the game and the design decisions behind them.

Therapy through colour and sound

The most obvious addition is music! For many years, I've enjoyed the ambient sounds of myNoise.net - they've helped me concentrate both at work and study. I wanted to lean into the "relaxation" angle of Infinite Treasure and add some of the incredible therapeutic sounds available at myNoise. I contacted the owner Dr Stéphane Pigeon and we agreed an embedded license deal for 4 looped sounds of my choice:

• The background menus have a 1 minute loop of "Sleeping Dragon" (try it for yourself, it's mesmerising)
• Each of the 3 Relax Mode levels have their own 20 second loops. I'll leave it to you to play the game and figure out which sounds I chose - let me know which ones work well or not so well with each level. I'll be able to match the sounds to the levels better in future as I get more level themes to play with

To accompany the menu music, I added an animated "colour therapy" background, replacing the ugly blue background. I talk about how this background was made in this devlog.

To shift Relax Mode further towards being a gentle hypnotising experience, I replaced the somewhat stressful escalating arpeggio sounds played when items are collected with my first bit of foley: a "pop". This makes the item collection almost feel tactile, as if you're popping bubbles.

To accompany the new music and sounds, I added a settings screen to toggle these features. There's also a toggle for a feature that had been disabled up until now: vibration! I personally prefer vibrations disabled in mobile games, but it's an extra option for those who want more haptic feedback.

Challenge Mode - less is more

Challenge Mode received one subtle change, but one that I think will enhance the player experience. To recap how Challenge Mode works:

• Player must score as many points as possible in a time limit
• Rarer items score more points
• Collecting items quickly increases a score multiplier
• Missing reduces the score multiplier

Previously, the time limit was 2 minutes. I reduced this to 25 seconds for three reasons:

1. Easier for players to share their best runs on social media. I want to encourage competition, community and viral marketing effects via players' short videos (i.e. TikTok) showing how they got their high scores
2. Easier for players to strategise. Spending 2 minutes in an infinite world has too many possibilities, whereas 25 seconds limits the space the player can move around in. This makes it easier to figure out optimal paths to take through the level to get the highest scores. I'd love it if players could share their strategies with each other and discover new paths to take, just like in the speed-running community. It's also easier to communicate a strategy for a shorter level. Another layer I'm considering adding to this is showing the player their world coordinates as they play Challenge Mode - these could form the basis of communicating strategies (e.g. "go to (1,1), collect the rare item, then go to (1,2), etc...")
3. Shorter feedback loops lead to rapid player improvement. This reminds me of the Trials games where each level is only 30-60 seconds long - play those levels for just an hour and you'll know them inside-out. Players can master short levels very quickly, which can enhance player satisfaction as they feel their skill levels rising. One thing I'd like to add to this is an in-game restart button (like in Trials) - if the player makes a mistake, they can quickly try again and correct themselves

Wrapping up

Finally, some new art was added for the star and combo meter:

Before

After

I'd love to know what you think of the game and how I can improve it - if you have an Android phone, give it a try! I want to make this game the best it can possibly be and can't do that without your feedback and insights. I'm incredibly grateful to anyone who plays the game and reaches out to talk about their experience with it.

Cheers!

James