Elbowface Games

Introducing Special Dice 🎲
Override Mode is where things get wild. Collectible dice with game-breaking abilities. 36 special dice = 7,140 unique combinations. Every run is different.
#indiedev #roguelike #puzzlegame

14.11.2025 17:58 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

PARALLAX—a perspective-shifting, dice-based puzzle game, coming to iOS early 2026

Match poker-style hands by shifting perspectives. Your viewing angle changes everything, even how the board refills. Two game modes:
- Infinite (think: Tetris)
- Override (think: Balatro)

#indiedev #puzzlegame

05.11.2025 22:52 — 👍 2    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Leveling Up ☝️

Added a points and level system: rarer hands = more points and each level requires ~20% more points to advance. Plus, I also set the dark dice to spawn more frequently as you level up.

So your reward for playing well is… escalating tension!
You’re welcome.

#indiedev #puzzlegame

31.10.2025 17:52 — 👍 3    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Dice Throne Vanguard Four new adventurous heroes charge into your Dice Throne collection!

Dice Throne is probably my favorite dice-based board game, so backing their new set, Vanguard, on @kickstarter was a no-brainer! @dicethrone.bsky.social

29.10.2025 22:32 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

LASERS! 🔥

From the beginning I knew I wanted a retro sci-fi / arcade aesthetic. A laser grid is badass and it heightens the effect of the perspective shift. I started with neon green, but after I tried switching to neon blue, there was no going back. 🕶️

#indiedev #puzzlegame #retro #scifi

28.10.2025 21:55 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Oh yeah, there's nothing more satisfying than picking up the first 10-20% of a new skill set

28.10.2025 04:38 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Drop7, the greatest mobile puzzle game of all time

The Beauty of Games by Frank Lantz

One of my biggest influences: Drop7 🎯 by @flantz.bsky.social

This was one of the first games I bought on my first iPhone (a 3GS). I’ve been playing ever since. It brilliant and it’s part of why I’m making an endless puzzler. I hope it can stick with even one person that way.

#puzzlegame #indiedev

25.10.2025 18:35 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Not all dice are friendly 💀

Gray dice can only be cleared with large hands (5-6 dice). And if the gray dice ever show all six values at once in any one perspective? Game over.

Now you're not just making matches, you're managing perspective-specific threats. 👀

#indiedev #puzzlegame #gamedev

24.10.2025 19:13 — 👍 10    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0

Uniracers for Super Nintendo

I doubt anyone even remembers this one but...

23.10.2025 15:24 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Any plans for an iOS release of this? (Huge fan of Puzzlejuice and Threes! btw)

22.10.2025 23:30 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Implementing the perspective-based gravity system 🍎

The direction you're viewing the board determines how dice refill after you clear a hand. Makes every angle matter strategically. First time this worked felt like magic ✨

#indiedev #puzzlegame #gamedev

22.10.2025 21:15 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Parallax—a perspective-shifting, dice-matching puzzle game for iOS—mid-game, with a full house about to be cleared

Turns out, the month I announced my upcoming puzzle game, Parallax, my all-time favourite podcast, 99% Invisible, is releasing a series on video game design!

Elbowface Games is headquarted south of beautiful… downtown… Calgary, Alberta
99percentinvisible.org/hl/
@99pi.org @romanmars.bsky.social

20.10.2025 15:57 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Yeah, current social media is like a detuned radio

19.10.2025 16:29 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Jumping ahead for #screenshotsaturday! Here’s where Parallax is at now, about one month into development. The journey continues—follow along for the full story 🎲✨

#indiedev #iosgaming #puzzlegame

18.10.2025 20:00 — 👍 8    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 1

Yeah, that's very tough. A smaller step you can take is buying something familiar or comfortable and trying to add to it or improve on it some way. Or trying to create a side to pair with it. Basically building out from what you already like.

18.10.2025 19:00 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

I learned to cook late in life and these 3 things made the biggest difference for me, especially with new recipes:
1) No substitutions the 1st time trying a recipe
2) Carefully reading the recipe top to bottom before starting anything
3) Doing as much prep work as possible before touching the stove

18.10.2025 18:41 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Oh man, I’d love to have my game, Parallax, on here once it launches. I’d probably be aiming for the space where 999 currently is

18.10.2025 15:16 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Parallax game board with hand validation: showing a 5-die straight

Parallax game board with hand validation: showing Three Pair

Parallax game board with hand validation: showing a Double Triple

Parallax game board with hand validation: showing a Fuller House (4-of-a-kind plus a pair)

Step 3: Teaching it to recognize poker hands ♠️♦️♣️♥️

Straights, X-of-a-kind, full house, plus some new ones for 6-die hands!

Easier to implement than selection, but getting it working was SO satisfying. First time it felt like playing a real game 🎲

#indiedev #iosgaming #puzzlegame

17.10.2025 20:37 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

Parallax puzzle game dev log: selection logic was difficult to implement

Parallax puzzle game dev log: the hit detection was also an issue

Parallax puzzle game dev log: but once it was working properly upgrading the visuals was easy

Parallax puzzle game dev log: this was the first splash of neon introduced to the game

Step 2: Selection 🎯

Rule: You can only select dice in a straight line & each perspective has 2 valid axes for selection—along dice with adjacent sides. This makes perspective shifting matter because different views = different lines

Adjacency logic and hit detection were TOUGH

#indiedev #iOSgame

15.10.2025 19:42 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Nickel — and as a bonus Ni is its atomic symbol

13.10.2025 22:47 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Puzzle game fan here. Just tried out Nokoma and I like it! Nice simple idea that organically creates emergent challenges—really clever!

13.10.2025 22:44 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Initial board design for the new iOS dice-based puzzle-game, Parallax, in isometric view

Initial board design for the new iOS dice-based puzzle-game, Parallax, in west focus view

Initial board design for the new iOS dice-based puzzle-game, Parallax, in northeast focus view

Initial board design for the new iOS dice-based puzzle-game, Parallax, in southeast focus view

Step 1: Building the board 🎲

Here’s the twist: Parallax doesn’t just have ONE board—it has FOUR perspectives of the same board. Everything else is built on this. Getting all four angles working and switching between them was my Dr. Frankenstein “IT’S ALIVE” moment ⚡
️
#indiedev #iosgame #puzzlegame

13.10.2025 16:27 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Thank you :)

10.10.2025 19:17 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Announcement image for Parallax, a new dice-based iOS game

Concept image for Parallax, a dice-based puzzle game for iOS, showing the dice iso mode

Concept image for Parallax, a dice-based puzzle game for iOS, showing the dice in focus mode

Meet PARALLAX—a sci-fi flavored, dice-matching, perspective shifting puzzle game for iOS. 

I’m building this solo and sharing the journey from concept to launch—follow along! These are my original sketches from when the idea first hit me. Excited to share more!

#iosgaming #puzzlegames #indiedev

09.10.2025 18:02 — 👍 8    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0