Nina_Birb

Belts and Discoveries by NinaBirb Janky game about conveyor belts

I've uploaded my game Belts and Discoveries to the ThinkyCon Jam. It's pretty janky and experimental, but I enjoyed making it.

It's Bunlith!!!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/bun...

She's so damn pretty, god I wanna kiss her...

Hey, do you wanna make out?

God, I'm sorry for denying your existance Thank you for this miracle I am now devote catholic

Silly lesbian comic

Almost complete with my game :3

I finished adding and polishing all the mechanics to my puzzle game, it's going to be a very short and simple game. I still need to add some quality of life, but that's for tomorrow. Would love to hear some guesses on what the game is about based on this image

This is an early screenshot and is subject to change

I'm joining the thinky game jam, and I'm making an experimental puzzle game. It'll have an astonishing count of ZERO puzzles... Wait what?

also, is it just me, or does time feel wrong. it's like there was some kind of event a few days ago where all the clocks changed, someone should look into this.

My favorite genre of letsplayers are those who have a specific profession that they integrate into their playthroughs. Psychologist, astrophysicist, biologist, lawyer, animator, writer, etc. they all bring so many interesting perspectives into the games they play.

I'm taking a short break, I came back home from a terrible 2 weeks of traveling and a family event, and I just need to recharge for a while. So I'm putting a pause on comics and game dev.

Billboard ads on highways are weirdly threatening. Just saw a billboard while leaving a state that said, "You'll be back." and there's a bunch of ads for an unnamed cave that sounds like it's leading into a trap, "Come to the cave." "Children love the cave." "We have ziplines in the cave"

I love my dad. He was the first family member I came out as trans to, and he immediately accepted me and called me his daughter, and he helped me pick out dresses when I visited him. He also pays attention to games I like and gets me merch from those games on birthdays and christmases.

Watching Youtube shorts of puzzle games is so funny because half of the comments are from people who don't play puzzle games, and they all talk about how there's an easier obvious solution while the person playing did the intended solution to the puzzle, and the "obvious solution" is always wrong.

I'm bad with horror games. Loud or surprising noises trigger panic attacks. That's why I loved Little Nightmares. It was scary, but it never triggered a panic attack. It's the only horror game I was able to finish. The game also influenced my art style. It's why my art has so much eye imagery.

When making puzzles, I often repeat 3 main steps over and over. The first step introduce, where I introduce a concept to the player. This can be the base mechanics, a new mechanic, or an interaction of the mechanics. You can see this through many of my games, a small lowering of difficulty where an idea is introduced to the player, either by showing the player immediately, or giving fewer options so the player is more likely to figure out what the idea being taught is.

The next step is to iterate, which is to make multiple puzzles that use the mechanic or interaction in different ways and scenarios. If an introductions purpose is to teach, then an iterations purpose is to test understanding. This is where puzzle difficulty usually begins to increase gradually as player understanding increases.

Finally I combine, I take past mechanics/interactions, and put them into puzzles with the new mechanic/interaction. This is, in my opinion, the best part of a puzzle game. This is where the player is challenged constantly to broaden their understanding of mechanics and how they work together. However, I need to make sure the mechanics have interactions with each other first, otherwise it would just be mechanics that are used in order, rather than used together, which makes boring puzzles.

Once I finish the 3 steps, I start them again, either with a new mechanic, or from the combination phase. This creates a cycle of teaching a mechanic, showing the nuances of the mechanic, and showing how the mechanic combines with other mechanics. This cycle isn't set in stone though, I often break it in many of my games. It's more of an outline to help the puzzle designing process go smoother. Tune in next time where I talk about secondary mechanics.

Nina's Puzzling Comic - The Cycle

"My last puzzles games have been really complex, so I'll just make a simple puzzle game about ladders so I don't need to program too much."

1 Month Later "I need to add 50 lines of code so my ladder can achieve a quantum state properly."

This is what it's like trying to make a "simple" puzzle mechanic

There are a lot of ways to design puzzles. For the purposes of this comic, I'll be focusing on a gradual difficulty approach. First I like to introduce very simple levels that show the player what the win condition is and how they achieve it. For instance, many if my games have a flag activated by crates and targets, so I start with an easy level where the objective is to just place the crates on the target and then touch the flag. I've observed that tons of games do this, showing the player how to win before they get into the meat of the mechanics.

Once I show the player how to win, I get into the main mechanics. I find it best to start with levels that show the very basics of the mechanics. I always have to remind myself that the players aren't me, and things that are obvious about the mechanics to me might not be obvious to them. So starting with easy puzzles where the solution is a basic function of the mechanic is a good way to teach players about the mechanics, and so they understand how they'll be using the mechanics in more complex future puzzles.

Something I do to better teach the basics of the mechanic is limiting what the player can do for its introduction. Things like having the player do forced moves, or making it so the only meaningful thing the player can do is interact with the mechanic in a specific way. Limiting the players options helps the player learn what the mechanic does immediately, and keeps them from doing unimportant actions that don't contribute to teaching them. If I didn't do this, the player is likely to get overwhelmed before they even know how to use the mechanic.

Once I teach the basic, I'll start making more interesting puzzles. But of course, the teaching process doesn't end after the introduction. Ideally the player will be learning new things throughout the entire game. I'll get more into that in my next comic.

Nina's Puzzling Comic - The First Steps

Nina: Oops! I almost started rambling there! Person 2: That's fine! You can ramble!

Nina: I'm sorry what did you say? Person 2: I said you can ramble about it!

Nina: A-are you sure? I wouldn't want to bother you. Person 2: You wouldn't bother me, I love hearing you ramble about things you like!

Nina: SO IT'S A TIME LOOP RPG, AND IT HAS SUCH GOOD WRITING! I LOVED EVERY CHARACTER, AND I CRIED SO MANY TIMES, IT'S MY FAVORITE GAME EVER! THERE WAS THIS ONE PART WHERE...

tOffse by NinaBirb Something's weird

Made a new puzzle game

I have a few methods I've developed for coming up with puzzle game ideas. The first method is visualizing a vague image in my head. For instance, the concept of Hologram came from the idea of a blocked path being opened because of a camera projecting a hologram of a path on the walls. Or how Reflection came from the idea of a block only appearing in a mirror, and being able to push that block with your reflection. Letting my thoughts wander is what helped me make some of my favorite puzzle games.

The second method I use is taking inspiration from other games I played. Lots of my games take inspiration from other games, Phase was based off Dream Crystals from modded Celeste maps, Transition partially was inspired by Braid, and Stamina came to me while managing my stamina in a Zelda game. Video games in general are a cycle of inspiration, taking pieces of each other until what comes out is completely new. I hope some of my games inspire others and continue the cycle as well.

Lastly, I use game jams to help me come up with ideas. Sport and Loopholes (Not to be confused with Loophole, which while good, is not my game) were both products of game jams, and both forced me to work outside of how I would normally design puzzle games. I didn't have time to make complex mechanics, and instead had to use simple mechanics and only a handful of levels, and that actually allowed for some interesting games I wouldn't have made otherwise. Also, you don't need to join a jam to use a jam theme. Push > Dead was the product of a jam I never joined.

Of course there is no right way of coming up with an idea, these are just my own methods. Once I got the mechanics, I start with designing the puzzles. There is a lot that goes into designing puzzles, so I'll be making multiple comics dedicated to puzzle design and the many methods and nuances that go into it, so stay tuned.

Nina's Puzzling Comic - Puzzle Game Idea's

There's too many cakes here.

HOLY SHIT! 5,000 CAKES!

Me when a new platformer or roguelike gets announced

I... I liked it....

Me when I watch a review of a game I played and it's an hour of them saying how awful the game is and that it isn't worth anybody's time.

I'm running out of ways to describe my undying love for video games as a medium.

People often compare my puzzle games to Baba Is You, and there is a reason. Baba Is You was the game that got me into puzzle games. I would spend hours making my own puzzles in the level editor for Baba Is You before I made my own puzzle games.

I wanted to make my own games for a long time, but I had trouble learning new engines, each time I would try to learn I would get overwhelmed and just shut down before I could make anything. I would often drop an engine a few days after trying to learn it. For a long time, I'd thought I would never be able to make anything.

But then I found puzzlescript, and it just clicked for me. It was easy to understand. I learned to use it by messing with the code for the example games, and I made my first game the same week I learned the engine. Shortly after I uploaded it to itch, and I was surprised how many people enjoyed it. And so I decided to stick to puzzlescript and make more puzzle games afterwards.

And from then on, I kept making puzzle games. And as I made more games, I learned more about how to make puzzle games better, so for my next comic, I'll talk about how I come up with ideas for my puzzle games.

Nina's Puzzling Comic - Brief History

Hello, I'm Ninabirb, and as you might know, I love puzzle games. And you might also know I like to make puzzle games. And recently I've wanted to talk about the methods I use to make my puzzle games.

So, I've decided to start a series of comics. It'll go over my history with puzzle games, the different methods I use to make puzzles, and bits of trivia about me and my games.

While I don't consider myself an expert, I do hope some of the things I talk about will help a few people with their own puzzles games. And if not that, at least share some interesting trivia about my games.

So stay tuned, the first comic of this series will be about... HOW I GOT INTO PUZZLE GAMES

Nina's Puzzling Comic - Introduction

Frames - Portals on Steroids, is exactly what it says on the title. The game revolves around these objects called frames, which act as portals. The game explores a lot of the paradoxical side of portals. Unlike the Portal series, Frames can be moved, be different sizes, lead out of itself, some frames change gravity, frames can even enter each other. Some of the levels get pretty hard, but there's a hint system in the game, and you can even get a step by step solution to the puzzle if you're truly stuck. Recommend this to anyone who wants a more brain melting game about portals.

CATO is a puzzle game where you control a cat and a piece of buttered bread. Separately they have very different controls. The cat can only walk, and the bread can only jump. If you bring them together, they can fly infinitely. The game has a very gradual difficulty curve that works very well for beginners, and it introduces a lot of mechanics that are explored pretty well. This game is well worth your time, especially for more casual puzzle gamers.

Squishcraft is an anomaly of a puzzle game. The graphics are misleading, it looks low effort with very memey design, you play as a png of a face and push around neko cat blocks. But the puzzles are actually good. The main mechanic is that you can squish blocks together, and there's a lot of nuance to this mechanic. It also includes a lot of laser puzzles and eventually meta puzzles mixed with the squish mechanics. A fair warning, this game is not for casual puzzlers. The puzzles get very difficult and I would only recommend this to the hardcore puzzlers. Overall though, it's a good game.

Loophole is a time traveling puzzle game where you need to work together with your past selves, without causing a paradox where they see you or any changes you cause. It's an extremely clever puzzle game, and might be my favorite of this year. The mechanics introduced compliment the time travel mechanic extremely well, and lead to very mind blowing puzzle solutions that left me wanting more the moment I hit credits. It's a fairly short game, but it's a very fun experience that is well worth your time.

4 more reviews, this time for puzzle games I have played.

Games mentioned : Frame - Portals on Steroids, CATO, SquishCraft, Loophole

If you have a room of infinite bottoms and compliment them all, eventually one of them should write the entirety of shakespear.

Metro Gravity is a game where there is no up or down. Your gravity is whichever way you're standing. There's also rhythm soulslike combat that leads to very memorable boss fights. The game is a little rough around the edges, some puzzles are a little finnicky, but despite all of its flaws, I adored this game, and the gravity mechanics were so fun. I would often spend an hour in a room just changing gravity.

Mosa Lina is a 2d puzzle platformer immersive sim with maximum randomness. You are given a random level, with 3 random tools, and must collect or destroy all fruits. The randomness encourages a lot of creative thinking, tools are extremely varied, and the amount of possibilities feels near endless. The game is never punishing though, if you die, the tools you had will reroll, potentially into more useful tools. The game is both fun in long and short play sessions. I'm addicted to this game.

Tactical Breach Wizards is a strategy game where you control different wizards. It has a medium length story campaign that is really good. The different abilities of each wizard allow for a lot of interesting and creative synergies, often defenestration. The upgrades for abilities are very useful and are never simple stat boosts. The game is also lax with moves, letting you undo infinitely up until the start of your turn.

In Stars and Time, this time looping RPG is my favorite game of all time. Characters are extremely lovable from the very start. Dialogue is so well written, from funny to heartwarming to heartbreaking. This game made me cry more than any other game, and the ending completely broke me down. I will never forget my time with this game and I will always sing its praises.

Reviews for some of my favorite games

Games mentioned: Metro Gravity, Mosa Lina, Tactical Breach Wizards, In Stars and Time

If you can't patent ideas in movies, you shouldn't be able to patent ideas in video games.

Lenna's Inception is a fun Zeldalike that tries to be it's own thing, and in my opinion, succeeds. The world procedually generated on start does not take away from it, as the world layout always felt natural and never made an impossible seed. The game has a meta story that left me pleasantly surprised. Overall, I reccomend this game.

Öoo is a fun puzzle Metroidvania platformer with knowledge based progression. The game uses a simple mechanic, and throughout the players journey, will teach new and interesting ways to use said mechanic. I had a lot of fun playing this one. It's short and worth your time

Silksong, It's fun, difficult, some sections I hate, but more often there's more of this game I love. The world building is also amazing. I recommend this to anyone who wants a good challenge, though I will warn some sections feel pretty unfair.

Date Everything, this game is a bisexual paradise. The game's title is accurate, you are free to date and romance or befriend everything, poly is allowed. Though the game is more of 100 small stories than anything, so keep that in mind. The writing is very good as well, characters are very believable. Also... you might be able to tell my type if you recognize these objects from the game. This gets bisexual seal of approval

Ever since I stopped streaming, I missed drawing the little announcement cards. So, as a way to keep doing them, I'm going to do spoiler free mini-reviews of games I've played recently with drawings to accompany.

Games this review: Lenna's Inception, Öoo, Silksong, Date Everything

My artist is [Insert passive description]. She loves to make many of her ideas come to life

However, not all of these ideas work, many never see the light of day...

Just like me, they they are will always be...

Unfinished Panel 4

I wanted to try something experimental

I'm a little late to this. Am I the only one who thinks that It Takes Two needed just one more level? The last level was fun, but it didn't feel like the last level. It felt like after we got levels focused on each character individually, there should be a level focused on both at once to end it on.