Concept:
I wanted to make a strategy game inspired by Mancala. In Mancala you pick up the stones from one pit and drop them one by one into the pits that follow, so a single move spreads across the board. I liked that feeling of one action rippling outward and I wanted to build a game around it that is easier to pick up than the full Mancala rules. The game is called ‘Critical Mass’ (might change it). Players take turns adding a grain to a cell on a shared grid. You can only add a grain to an empty cell or a cell you already own. Once a cell reaches 4 grains it topples and sends one grain to each of its neighbors, and those grains turn the neighboring cells into the color of the player who caused the topple. If a neighbor also reaches 4, it topples too, so a single move can start a chain reaction that flips a big part of the board.
To win, you have to take over the board. If one player ends up with no cells left, the other player wins right away. To keep games from dragging on there is also a turn limit. If nobody has been wiped out when the turns run out, whoever owns more cells wins.
I am hoping on doing a two player mode where two people share one mouse and a one player mode against a simple computer opponent so it still works without a second person.
Progress so far:
So far I have only made the intro screen. It shows the title and a short version of the rules and a “click/press to start” prompt. I kept the instructions to four short lines because I want someone to understand the game in a few seconds without reading a wall of text.
Next I want to build the game and the game screen and add sounds and the mode select and the game over screen (which are going to be the most difficult parts). Also add more details and design to make it better.