A happy 2016 from bontegames! Here's the first game of the year: an excellent puzzler by Reheated about building towns along rivers: initial conditions.
Hi! I'm Bart Bonte, a Belgian independent game designer and bontegames.com is where I blog about new interesting browser and mobile games. My own games are all in the left column (or at the bottom of this page on mobile). More info about me and my games on bartbonte.com.
Get in touch: email - twitter - facebook - youtube - instagram
nice game. not the strongest or most moving of story lines, but it was a ludlum dare game, so this is to be forgiven over the compelling game mechanic, which develops nicely.
ReplyDeleteSo this game seems to be down for the moment, probably too many bontegames visitors :) I'll try and contact the creator to see if maybe I can host the game, but I can't find any contact details of the creator...
ReplyDeletePlayed it earlier and wanted to continue :-( Nice game! Please bring it back.
ReplyDeleteJust finished. Very nice game.
ReplyDeleteIt's back up now! It got really tricky when the towns size increased to 4 and it was at that point I got bored and gave up. Depressing storyline and music but quite addictive for a while.
ReplyDeleteStill down for me :-(
ReplyDeletewhat an awesome game :)
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing that!
i really want more
great stuff
(In a follow up I really would like to have a restart button)
music is depressing - I agree - but you can turn it off :)
ReplyDeleteand it fits the storyline - reminded me of a persone heartbroken
Ugh, get rid of the stupid narration and just let me play the game already.
ReplyDeleteI love it Thanks Bart!
ReplyDeleteGreat game! Level 10 was a real challenge; it was satisfying to beat.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone needs the solution to level 10, I screencapped it.
Initial Conditions level 10 walkthrough solution: http://imgur.com/IWav0lo
The bonus levels were super easy, but still appreciated! Like dessert after the main course. :)
ReplyDeleteI liked playing, didn't like the narrative, but I guess it's partly there to "mask" the loading of each level? Anyway, nice game. Would like some more levels now :)
ReplyDeleteIs it still down? It doesnt seem to want to load past 0.9, but that might be because of the computer i am on.
ReplyDeleteThe author of the game gave me permission to host the game so the link should be more stable now! In case you want to continue your saved game from the original link, the original link was: http://reheated.org/initial/
ReplyDeletenote: I was going to just write a quick comment about how much I enjoyed the game and it sort of snowballed out of control into a detailed review. I think I've been reading too many (non-game) critical opinions lately, or maybe I just needed the catharsis, but here's my accidental review of Initial Conditions.
ReplyDeleteI was captivated by the narrative as it slowly unravels the complex "truth" behind the simulations we're going through. I played the game second time immediately after finishing, just to reframe the whole thing in light of the revealed context. (And maybe a little because I finished all the puzzles and wasn't quite ready to be done!) And yes, the music is sad, but it's so evocative! I physically feel the strings playing in my heart. The score goes so perfectly with the game's stark environment (if you can call it an environment) and gameplay. The puzzle framework seems so original and yet so simple that I found myself running through my memory to determine if I've ever played a game like this, but my mental inventory came up with no matches. The difficulty of the puzzles increases in scale with the gravitas of the one-sided "dialogue" that is spoken between levels. The speaker is just as terse when he speaks about his motivations and reactions as he was when he was stating the parameters of the simulation, mirroring how the level 10 is just as fundamentally simple as the mechanics introduced in level 1 and yet entirely more complex as the puzzles grow. Even the overly basic graphics onscreen - the grid, the boxes, the wavy curves of the rivers - fall in line with the motif of "simplifying the equation."
I love bontegames because I just love solving puzzles of any kind, but I have gradually grown to appreciate games like these as medium of human expression. There was a time when a game like this would have put me off with its spartan graphics and emotional narrative posing as an obstacle to my puzzle solving, but today I am glad that I can appreciate the artistic merit of this game while also enjoying its foundation in the logic of a simplistic puzzle game. I know it's too early, but I LOVED Initial Conditions and I think it could end up in bontegames top ten games of 2016. Thanks for sharing, Bart!
I like this style of puzzle very much. The story wasn't fantastic, but it didn't need to be.
ReplyDeleteSome of the bonus levels have driven me close to madness, which is all I ever want from a good puzzle, so I give this a thumbs up! :)
I enjoyed it, and will play again to read that storyline. I wasn't interested in it the first time around, just wanted to solve the puzzles.
ReplyDeleteLove that first game of year!
ReplyDeleteLove you Bart!!
:D :D :D
And Happy New Year!
hi all. Thanks Bart for this nice game. Following your site and games since about 3 years ago, still enjoying.
ReplyDeleteI have a problem for this 4th bonus : can't place 2 towns (4squares) on that top river.
@Ber: Yes you can. You just can't use any of the "surrounded" river squares toward the right. There are two useful squares, you just have to build away from the river and from each other.
ReplyDelete:/ It's not loading past the 'Decoding audio (this could take a minute)' page. Anyone else having that problem? Any suggestions?
ReplyDeletenvm. Wasn't loading properly in Safari. Worked just fine in Chrome
ReplyDeleteWonderful game!!!
ReplyDeleteReally, really nice logic game!!
ReplyDeleteI would be good to have a sequel with more levels! Some of them are quite tough and require a little bit of trial and error to be won
I liked it. Both the puzzles and the narration.
ReplyDeleteVery nice game. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteI played for about 5-6 levels before reaching tolerance point with the narration. It's not for me.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loved it. Just enough puzzle to exercise my brain without wearing me out or making me want to quit. Though I'll admit I didn't do the bonus levels. It's 3 AM and I'm not sure I can deal with that much puzzling right now.
ReplyDeleteGreat game, but I could've done without the narration as well.
ReplyDeleteAs many people have already expressed: the narration was ok, potential backstory was intriguing, and the puzzles were challenging, but not to the point of madness. Loved the game and the bonus puzzles!
ReplyDeleteLike both puzzles and narration :)
ReplyDeleteNice game
How do I solve level 7?
ReplyDeleteMake that level 9.
ReplyDeleteActually, level 10 now.
ReplyDelete