Sort a Pile
Is the act of taking apart a physics pile fun on its own?
Here starts the rapid itch prototype phase i promised, and Sort a Pile gets to kick it off. It was made in two evenings and has already collected more attention than AbsurDock ever did, though to be fair, my marketing effort for that game can’t really be quantified as “effort”.
Why make this?
Unless i’m late to the whole trend, the Steam audience has developed a taste for games with simple, smooth progression in the form of stacking scattered items onto shelves, and to hopefully enter that market “Sort a Pile” was made. All you have is a pile, three bays and three material types to accommodate. Bring materials to the appropriate bay, get upgrades, drag materials faster and more efficiently.
So, is it fun?
I can’t say i reinvented anything, and this feels more like a practice round for game feel than anything else, but i think i achieved the goal? I know, not exactly an unbiased opinion, but the game is rather satisfying. Sorting bits and progressing to take more bits at a time more efficiently goes quite well, especially with zero time or failure pressure implemented. With an actual setting, environment, graphics, a story, and a good ending, it would have a good chance of being a commercially viable product. As a prototype, though, it does the job.
What was learned?
A little bit of sound design, UX, and edge case handling, but more importantly, scope creep management. This time around i actually finished a simple project in a reasonable timeframe without it growing out of proportion (unlike Firekeep, which turned into something bigger than it should have). Keeping this up would mean releasing 3-4 prototypes a week, and at that rate, sifting through enough mud, i’d strike gold eventually.
What happens to it?
It’s a throwaway prototype, so unless it somehow proves its worth, it becomes another portfolio entry in my hopeless CVs. Not saying never, but i’ve had my fill of spending months on unverified concepts without any validation.
What’s next?
A multiplayer WebRTC game. It will take a bit longer because of the backend setup, but the concept build itself won’t keep you waiting — i have learned to cut corners.