Kabonk! News

Switching between work, family, and Kabonk! has kept us busy, but we're excited to share some new developments with you and speaking of switches... let's dive into the flip-flops.

Flip, Flop & Pressure
One of the core mechanics in the game involves solving puzzles and finding clever ways to clear levels as quickly as possible. But more on speed later.

The interaction mechanics include switches, buttons, and pressure plates—three different interactables with slightly varied outcomes. Pressure plates are only active when something is on them, while switches can be toggled on and off. Buttons function similarly to switches but are limited to a single interaction. These obstacles provide players to complete levels in different ways.



On the Other Hand...
We've been exploring the idea of making this a one-handed game without a traditional UI. This means you should be able to play from start to exit with one hand, leaving the other free for a snack, drink or a scratch on the head.

The challenge lies in implementing pause, continue, and exit functions. We've got the exit function mostly working, but pause/continue is proving more difficult. Pausing without a UI requires an in-game interaction system that allows movement and animation while the game is paused. However, pausing typically means no tick functions, no physics, and no animation so we need a more custom solution...



Leaderboards
We're still in discussion on how to implement a possible leaderboard and what the score should be. Hitting bricks harder lead to more points? Have special bricks that should be cleared as fast as possible? Or a more straightforward idea of rank it by time to complete levels.
And another idea is to have a leaderboard for each level (and maybe have the results next to it!) or an overal leaderboard.
So much choice.

So, there's still a lot of work to do and time is running out... Until next time!

With Steam's Next Fest around the corner, we're getting a demo ready, packed with as much bling, pang, and (Ka)bonk as we can manage. It'll give you a good taste of the game, but just enough to keep that inner craving for the full experience alive. For that, you'll have to wait for the final release!

[h2]The Bling & Pang[/h2]
Hmm, these GIFs don't seem to make any sounds...

We've been adding and fine-tuning the VFX, along with matching sound effects for when you break bricks. This is crucial, as it's one of the main ways to deliver feedback to the players.

[h2]Kabonk!?[/h2]
One of the goals in Kabonk! is to make the game playable with just one hand. The other? Physics-based ball manipulation. But what does that actually mean?
It means everything should be manageable with either a mouse or keyboard (or one side of a controller—though we're not quite there yet). But not both at the same time.
We're pushing the idea further by using the same controls for both the game and the menu. But why stop there? Do we even need a traditional menu (or UI)?
To test this, we've been experimenting with portals for traveling between levels—and even for leaving the game.


The other thing we're focusing on is communicate important information through in-game objects. For example, your number of lives is now displayed in a tube right on the screen.


There is a lot more work, so until next time...