2D puzzle "Biohazard"

[thewizardplusplus]

Here is a technical demo of my game. It lacks a menu and any settings, and the graphics are highly sketchy. My main goal was to test the idea of the gameplay.

Title: Biohazard.
Genre: 2D puzzle.
Date of start of work: Tue Jul 21, 2020.
Date of release: Tue Apr 20, 2021.
Developers: only me.
Screenshot:

Summary:
The game field is represented by a set of blue cells. Above them, there is the second layer of green cells. The player can control this group — move, rotate, and put it with the blue cells (only on the free spaces). After merging, the cells evolve according to the rules of the "Life" game for one generation, then new green cells are created. The player's goal is to minimize the amount of blue cells.
Description: https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazard/blob/master/docs/gameplay.md.
Controls:

• movement:
  • to the left:
    • via a keyboard: Left Arrow, A;
    • via a mouse/a touchscreen: <;
  • to the right:
    • via a keyboard: Right Arrow, D;
    • via a mouse/a touchscreen: >;
  • upward:
    • via a keyboard: Up Arrow, W;
    • via a mouse/a touchscreen: ^;
  • downward:
    • via a keyboard: Down Arrow, S;
    • via a mouse/a touchscreen: v;
• rotation:
  • via a keyboard: Left Shift, Right Shift, R, E;
  • via a mouse/a touchscreen: @;
• merging with the primary field:
  • via a keyboard: Enter, Space;
  • via a mouse/a touchscreen: +.

Builds:

• LÖVE game file (348 KiB): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazard/releases/download/v1.6.4/biohazard.love
• Windows (4.04 MiB): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazard/releases/download/v1.6.4/biohazard-win64.zip
• macOS (5.61 MiB): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazard/releases/download/v1.6.4/biohazard-macos.zip
• Linux (in AppImage format; 4.09 MiB): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazard/releases/download/v1.6.4/biohazard.AppImage

Source:

• this game (MIT license): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazard
• the library that implements the business logic of this game (MIT license): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/biohazardcore
• the library that implements the "Life" game (MIT license): https://github.com/thewizardplusplus/lualife

[ReFreezed]

Interesting idea. It's a bit difficult to predict what is going to happen after placing the cells. I got down to 7.

[knorke]

Interesting to use GoL for a puzzle.
Personally I find it impossible to predict how cells will change. I mean, I know the rules but in pratice it is just way too random.
Too much of the play area changes at once. Compare to board games like chess or even Tetris: Only a few pieces change per turn.

It does not help that the blocks you place are also randomly generated. If it is impossible to plan the impact of your actions then there is no real gameplay.

[thewizardplusplus]

Thank you very much for your feedback!

I agree that the result of the field transformation is difficult to predict. However, in practice, I found a heuristic like this: the player should try to place the green cells as close as possible to the largest cluster of blue ones. Then, after the transformation, most of these points will disappear.

Also, as an option, the player should strive to complement the sparse but extensive clusters of blue cells. In such clusters, many new cells can be born. After the complementing, this will not happen.