noded - minimalist puzzle Pixel Envision Ltd. noded is a minimalist puzzle game with a simple goal: fold the geometric shape to solve the various challenges. To do so… TouchArcade Rating: Free Buy Now Watch Media Detailsnoded is a minimalist puzzle game with a simple goal: fold the geometric shape to solve the various challenges. To do so, you simply tap the connected nodes and the shape will fold along the line defined by the adjacent nodes. With a clean UI and simple rule-set, noded challenges you to complete 80 uniquely crafted puzzles with the fewest moves possible. As the number of nodes increases and different types of nodes introduced, more brain teasers will be revealed. Featuring the beautiful ambient music of Kyle Preston and without any time restrictions, noded offers a unique calming experience. Features: • Color Blind mode • Power Saving mode • 9 languages • 3D Touch (iPhone 6 or later) • Haptic Feedback (iPhone 7 or later) • Home Screen Quick Actions (iPhone 6 or later) • No internet connection required • Progress is synchronized with iCloud across all your devices • Game Center leaderboard & achievements with a fair scoring system. You will rank higher for solving more puzzles with fewer moves. Information Seller:Pixel Envision Ltd. Genre:Arcade, Board, Puzzle Release:Aug 02, 2017 Updated:Apr 25, 2021 Version:2.03 Size:68.1 MB TouchArcade Rating: User Rating:Unrated Your Rating:unrated Compatibility:HD Universal y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #2 y2kmp3, Aug 9, 2017 Last edited: Aug 10, 2017 I just found out this game by accident. Very surprised and impressed by the game's unique mechanics that appear deceptively straightforward but are actually quite tricky once the player is tasked to make more complex shapes. This is particularly true for shapes with a lot of acute angles and criss-cross lines. Pixel Envision, how many underpar solutions are known to you? For example, level 14 (the one that looks like a bowl with a half lid) in Metamorphosis can be solved in only 4 moves despite a par of 7 moves. Likewise, level 15 (the one that looks like a 7-pointed star) in Metamorphosis can be solved in only 9 moves despite a par of 11 moves. One problem I am experiencing is that many nodes can be hidden on top of each other, some of which have different properties. When I tap on a particular vertex, I have no way to control which node I will be moving. In some cases, it is possible that this creates unnecessary folds that ruins an otherwise more efficient solution. tuncertirnavali Member Jul 14, 2017 22 0 0 iOS Developer Ankara, Turkey #3 tuncertirnavali, Aug 10, 2017 Really cool game with simple and engaging mechanic, i hope it will get more success PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #4 PixelEnvision, Aug 10, 2017 Thank you for your kind comments, I'm glad to hear that you've liked it. I've deliberately left some with underpar solutions earlier in the game so it wouldn't frustrate not-so-puzzle-minded casual gamers, but also I was sure there are some levels that can be solved with better moves than I could. So, I've decided to log those with analytics. So, far I've logged 35 levels completed with the less moves than the moves set in the game. I might put those in the next update or not, I haven't decided yet. But, I can share the level numbers & # of moves with you if you're interested. And you're right about that node overlap problem with the complex shapes. Best I could come up was making sure that unmovable anchor nodes stays behind. I thought about making overlapping nodes selectable but it made the controls way to complex so I ditched the idea. If you have any suggestions to improve, please let me know! PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #5 PixelEnvision, Aug 10, 2017 Thank you very much! y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #6 y2kmp3, Aug 10, 2017 Last edited: Aug 10, 2017 Thanks for the explanation, PixelEnvision. I concur with you that it is a good idea to leave a margin for the par move goal in the earlier levels so not to frustrate players so early in the game. I love to see the list of underpar solutions. Please check your email for my message. Can you explain how you come up with the design of these puzzles? I am asking because of an interesting observation I made that it is frequently possible just by "random" manipulation of the nodes to come up with all sorts of "neat" geometric shapes which themselves would make good puzzles. In fact, there were shapes I "discovered" by chance earlier on that turned out to be shapes used in some later levels (for example, encountering configuration used in level 19 while playing level 15). If indeed this is the method by which most levels are created, does this run the risk that many of the intended solutions may turn out to be suboptimal solutions unless you troubleshoot each solution afterward to try to optimize it? For example, of the first 28 levels in the game, I was able to solve 8 levels underpar. Undoubtedly, I have likely missed many other levels in which other underpar solutions exist. This is because not uncommonly a level could be solved simply by trial and error, with little strategy used on moving the nodes to form specific pattern towards a purposeful discovery of the intended solution. I think this may be the Achilles' heel for this game from the perspective of a puzzler (note I am still unsure about this, as I am not far enough into the game to make a firm conclusion): the game quick deteriorates into a tedium of trial and error with little regard to strategic manipulation of the nodes. Lastly, there should be some option to skip a number of levels. For example, the game can make at least 5 levels open at any give time. The strict one-by-one unlock currently exists is too stringent. PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #7 PixelEnvision, Aug 10, 2017 I've got your email, I'll reply to it shortly. I've usually started with number of nodes, their features and a the initial configuration to reach a proper target shape. And some time reverse of this process. As some puzzles start with the same number of nodes, those can have similar shapes while working on the solution. But I've tired to differentiate those by using different node types & colors. The trouble with the solutions is, after some point possible solutions increases exponentially and it became impossible to find most optimal number of moves. That's how the idea of leaving margins and logging the moves born. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll consider adding level skipping in the next update! y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #8 y2kmp3, Aug 11, 2017 Last edited: Aug 11, 2017 Thanks, PixelEnvision, for the explanation. I have now completed all of the levels in Metamorphosis. I emailed you a list of all of the levels for which I was able to solve underpar. As the game was just released, I did not want to share this list openly on this forum in order to avoid spoiling the game for others. My favorite level so far is Metamorphosis-34. It is a very clever level and where the game mechanic truly shines, far better than other levels with numerous nodes to manipulate that require a lot of trial and error. PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #9 PixelEnvision, Aug 11, 2017 Great, thanks! And sorry for the delay replying your email, I was busy fixing few minor bugs and v1.2 is pending review, btw. y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #10 y2kmp3, Aug 12, 2017 Thanks for the list of remaining underpar solutions for the Metamorphosis chapter. I am a bit surprised that level 1-10 can be solved in Spoiler 2 moves as you stated in your email. This is the level with a square square which you need to unfold to a rectangle. Are you certain? With your analytic, did you collect the actual solution steps as well so you can verify independently that the solutions are legit? PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #11 PixelEnvision, Aug 12, 2017 Last edited: Aug 12, 2017 Yeah you're right, there was a mixup for 10. Internal level names and the level numbers on the menu different, my bad. Rest should be legit tough... edit: no it's not collecting steps, just the final move count. y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #12 y2kmp3, Aug 12, 2017 So what is the correct level name for that underpar solution you sent me by email? Also, as you are not collecting the exact solution steps, how can you verify if the collected stats are correct and use this info to troubleshoot or re-tune the levels? The game is sufficiently difficult that knowing only the "minimum" step counts provide at most little help to discovering the new solutions. PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #13 PixelEnvision, Aug 12, 2017 Verification will be based on the number of people reaching the same number of minimum moves. The data I sent you was the current early records I gathered and I havent looked at the hit counts (see below). I intend to collect more data before moving on with this. For some puzzles there are multiple underpar solutions. For example if the data says 100 peaople solved in 9 moves and 2 solved in 8, I'll use 9 till it's safe to say 8 is also valid. And I also itend to verify them if I could. Re the level name, I dont think it matters as i've just checked and it has only 1 hits. If it was valid there should be more... y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #14 y2kmp3, Aug 12, 2017 You have a good point. With a sufficiently large user base, this is a reasonable method to verify. Obviously, it is possible that some expert gamer has somehow discovered a truly unique underpar solution which no one else is able to figure out. Anyhow, among the underpar solutions I sent you, feel free to contact me if you need screenshots showing the solution steps for some of the tricker solutions. They may be particularly instructive for those levels in which there is a wide margin between the current target move counts and the move counts with the underpar solutions. y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #15 y2kmp3, Aug 13, 2017 Last edited: Aug 13, 2017 Regardless of the (wide) margin the developer wanted to establish in the score goal, a par value of 120 moves for Level 20 in Perambulation is simply too much and speaks to the intended complexity of the puzzle the developer was aiming. Yet, by contrast, a par value of only 11 moves was listed for Level 19 in Perambulation. The lack of consistency across the puzzles is a real turn-off. PixelEnvision Well-Known Member Jun 8, 2011 198 2 18 Indie Developer Brighton, UK http://www.pixelenvision.com/ #16 PixelEnvision, Aug 13, 2017 Thank you for your comment, I'm sorry it was a turn-off for you. But I wouldn't call it inconsistency. It's the only puzzle with a par value that big and that's mostly because of the number of nodes in that one and distance travelled. FYI, biggest par value in Virtuoso is 56 and mostly around 10 to 40 range. y2kmp3 Well-Known Member Jun 25, 2010 1,784 3 38 #17 y2kmp3, Aug 14, 2017 Last edited: Aug 14, 2017 I am about half way into Virtuoso (the last world) and want to leave my final impression of this game. There is no doubt that the developer has found a clever game mechanic and was able to leverage it to make some good early puzzles in the game. However, as the target shapes grow increasingly complex, the game fails to properly "arm" the player with the necessary skills to attack the puzzles beyond randomly tapping the nodes until they fall into the desired positions to solve the levels. Even having reached the last world, I don't feel as if I have gained any deeper insight in the game mechanic to help to attack the puzzles beyond the few basic swaps and moves. More often, I simply stumbled upon the solution for a difficult level. I imagine (i.e., guess) that it is also how many of the puzzles in this game were created. In particular, given a certain initial configuration and number of nodes, it is fairly easy just by random manipulation to arrive some "neat" complex geometric shapes located at some arbitrary location. It seems that the developer simply curates these discoveries into levels. The problem is that this approach does not create "clever" puzzles. Moreover, this approach explain the huge gaps (as large as 30+ moves) in the move counts between the more efficient solutions discovered by players and the par values listed for the stock solutions which presumably reflect (to some extent) the steps used by the developer to discover these target shapes. A good analogy to the above explanation is the maze puzzles. With few exceptions, most players do not consider maze puzzles to be "clever" puzzles. This is because any gain in insights or skills through repeated playing of maze puzzles will not likely make the player a better maze solver beyond the few initial tricks to avoid dead-ends. I want to thank the developer for the ongoing correspondence (both here and by email). For casual players who are not completionist, the game offers a lot of fun with the earlier puzzles. For completionists, however, the game may simply be too taxing at its current state with gameplay that quickly deteriorates into tedious trial and error. 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I just found out this game by accident. Very surprised and impressed by the game's unique mechanics that appear deceptively straightforward but are actually quite tricky once the player is tasked to make more complex shapes. This is particularly true for shapes with a lot of acute angles and criss-cross lines. Pixel Envision, how many underpar solutions are known to you? For example, level 14 (the one that looks like a bowl with a half lid) in Metamorphosis can be solved in only 4 moves despite a par of 7 moves. Likewise, level 15 (the one that looks like a 7-pointed star) in Metamorphosis can be solved in only 9 moves despite a par of 11 moves. One problem I am experiencing is that many nodes can be hidden on top of each other, some of which have different properties. When I tap on a particular vertex, I have no way to control which node I will be moving. In some cases, it is possible that this creates unnecessary folds that ruins an otherwise more efficient solution.
Thank you for your kind comments, I'm glad to hear that you've liked it. I've deliberately left some with underpar solutions earlier in the game so it wouldn't frustrate not-so-puzzle-minded casual gamers, but also I was sure there are some levels that can be solved with better moves than I could. So, I've decided to log those with analytics. So, far I've logged 35 levels completed with the less moves than the moves set in the game. I might put those in the next update or not, I haven't decided yet. But, I can share the level numbers & # of moves with you if you're interested. And you're right about that node overlap problem with the complex shapes. Best I could come up was making sure that unmovable anchor nodes stays behind. I thought about making overlapping nodes selectable but it made the controls way to complex so I ditched the idea. If you have any suggestions to improve, please let me know!
Thanks for the explanation, PixelEnvision. I concur with you that it is a good idea to leave a margin for the par move goal in the earlier levels so not to frustrate players so early in the game. I love to see the list of underpar solutions. Please check your email for my message. Can you explain how you come up with the design of these puzzles? I am asking because of an interesting observation I made that it is frequently possible just by "random" manipulation of the nodes to come up with all sorts of "neat" geometric shapes which themselves would make good puzzles. In fact, there were shapes I "discovered" by chance earlier on that turned out to be shapes used in some later levels (for example, encountering configuration used in level 19 while playing level 15). If indeed this is the method by which most levels are created, does this run the risk that many of the intended solutions may turn out to be suboptimal solutions unless you troubleshoot each solution afterward to try to optimize it? For example, of the first 28 levels in the game, I was able to solve 8 levels underpar. Undoubtedly, I have likely missed many other levels in which other underpar solutions exist. This is because not uncommonly a level could be solved simply by trial and error, with little strategy used on moving the nodes to form specific pattern towards a purposeful discovery of the intended solution. I think this may be the Achilles' heel for this game from the perspective of a puzzler (note I am still unsure about this, as I am not far enough into the game to make a firm conclusion): the game quick deteriorates into a tedium of trial and error with little regard to strategic manipulation of the nodes. Lastly, there should be some option to skip a number of levels. For example, the game can make at least 5 levels open at any give time. The strict one-by-one unlock currently exists is too stringent.
I've got your email, I'll reply to it shortly. I've usually started with number of nodes, their features and a the initial configuration to reach a proper target shape. And some time reverse of this process. As some puzzles start with the same number of nodes, those can have similar shapes while working on the solution. But I've tired to differentiate those by using different node types & colors. The trouble with the solutions is, after some point possible solutions increases exponentially and it became impossible to find most optimal number of moves. That's how the idea of leaving margins and logging the moves born. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll consider adding level skipping in the next update!
Thanks, PixelEnvision, for the explanation. I have now completed all of the levels in Metamorphosis. I emailed you a list of all of the levels for which I was able to solve underpar. As the game was just released, I did not want to share this list openly on this forum in order to avoid spoiling the game for others. My favorite level so far is Metamorphosis-34. It is a very clever level and where the game mechanic truly shines, far better than other levels with numerous nodes to manipulate that require a lot of trial and error.
Great, thanks! And sorry for the delay replying your email, I was busy fixing few minor bugs and v1.2 is pending review, btw.
Thanks for the list of remaining underpar solutions for the Metamorphosis chapter. I am a bit surprised that level 1-10 can be solved in Spoiler 2 moves as you stated in your email. This is the level with a square square which you need to unfold to a rectangle. Are you certain? With your analytic, did you collect the actual solution steps as well so you can verify independently that the solutions are legit?
Yeah you're right, there was a mixup for 10. Internal level names and the level numbers on the menu different, my bad. Rest should be legit tough... edit: no it's not collecting steps, just the final move count.
So what is the correct level name for that underpar solution you sent me by email? Also, as you are not collecting the exact solution steps, how can you verify if the collected stats are correct and use this info to troubleshoot or re-tune the levels? The game is sufficiently difficult that knowing only the "minimum" step counts provide at most little help to discovering the new solutions.
Verification will be based on the number of people reaching the same number of minimum moves. The data I sent you was the current early records I gathered and I havent looked at the hit counts (see below). I intend to collect more data before moving on with this. For some puzzles there are multiple underpar solutions. For example if the data says 100 peaople solved in 9 moves and 2 solved in 8, I'll use 9 till it's safe to say 8 is also valid. And I also itend to verify them if I could. Re the level name, I dont think it matters as i've just checked and it has only 1 hits. If it was valid there should be more...
You have a good point. With a sufficiently large user base, this is a reasonable method to verify. Obviously, it is possible that some expert gamer has somehow discovered a truly unique underpar solution which no one else is able to figure out. Anyhow, among the underpar solutions I sent you, feel free to contact me if you need screenshots showing the solution steps for some of the tricker solutions. They may be particularly instructive for those levels in which there is a wide margin between the current target move counts and the move counts with the underpar solutions.
Regardless of the (wide) margin the developer wanted to establish in the score goal, a par value of 120 moves for Level 20 in Perambulation is simply too much and speaks to the intended complexity of the puzzle the developer was aiming. Yet, by contrast, a par value of only 11 moves was listed for Level 19 in Perambulation. The lack of consistency across the puzzles is a real turn-off.
Thank you for your comment, I'm sorry it was a turn-off for you. But I wouldn't call it inconsistency. It's the only puzzle with a par value that big and that's mostly because of the number of nodes in that one and distance travelled. FYI, biggest par value in Virtuoso is 56 and mostly around 10 to 40 range.
I am about half way into Virtuoso (the last world) and want to leave my final impression of this game. There is no doubt that the developer has found a clever game mechanic and was able to leverage it to make some good early puzzles in the game. However, as the target shapes grow increasingly complex, the game fails to properly "arm" the player with the necessary skills to attack the puzzles beyond randomly tapping the nodes until they fall into the desired positions to solve the levels. Even having reached the last world, I don't feel as if I have gained any deeper insight in the game mechanic to help to attack the puzzles beyond the few basic swaps and moves. More often, I simply stumbled upon the solution for a difficult level. I imagine (i.e., guess) that it is also how many of the puzzles in this game were created. In particular, given a certain initial configuration and number of nodes, it is fairly easy just by random manipulation to arrive some "neat" complex geometric shapes located at some arbitrary location. It seems that the developer simply curates these discoveries into levels. The problem is that this approach does not create "clever" puzzles. Moreover, this approach explain the huge gaps (as large as 30+ moves) in the move counts between the more efficient solutions discovered by players and the par values listed for the stock solutions which presumably reflect (to some extent) the steps used by the developer to discover these target shapes. A good analogy to the above explanation is the maze puzzles. With few exceptions, most players do not consider maze puzzles to be "clever" puzzles. This is because any gain in insights or skills through repeated playing of maze puzzles will not likely make the player a better maze solver beyond the few initial tricks to avoid dead-ends. I want to thank the developer for the ongoing correspondence (both here and by email). For casual players who are not completionist, the game offers a lot of fun with the earlier puzzles. For completionists, however, the game may simply be too taxing at its current state with gameplay that quickly deteriorates into tedious trial and error.
