Minotaur Maze - demo

Thanks to the development of the Space Invaders concept, I was able to use the object detection method to create this game I've been wanting to make for a long while now. This is a game that is based off Robert Abbott's game Theseus and the Minotaur, which can be described as a logic maze. Theseus (you) are moving around the maze in a grid moving up, down, left, or right, one space at a time. Each time you move a space, the Minotaur will move two spaces towards you. The Minotaur will prefer to move left/right first before moving up/down. You can use this to your advantage and have the Minotaur get blocked behind a wall so you can gain some distance away from it. In later mazes, you'll have to trick the Minotaur to get blocked in multiple places within the maze just so you can get around it and reach the goal before it reaches you.



Download

Wow, this is similar to how I imagined the chess game thing I described in Jarek's VBA modification of johnr's chess and checker boards pptx. Guess that idea of mine will be shelved for quite a while.

Control is a bit janky, since its a virtual control pad. Though I found myself to be enjoying the nerve-wracking tension of rapidly clicking the button. "Wait, why are you rapidly clicking the buttons?" you might wonder.

The Minotaur will move 2 square towards Theseus every time he moved once, but not instantaneously. From what I can infer from clearing the entire game, the system tracked our position in real-time and adjust the Minotaur's next move accordingly. So because there's a delay in Minotaur's movement, you can actually spam click on the buttons to move Theseus away from the monster and manoeuvre him into hiding behind the nearest wall before Minotaur's delayed movement actually catches up.

It is also thanks to how Rusnak made it so that the Minotaur will always go straight towards you and not encircling the wall if any blocks the player. Definitely an "Its not a bug, its a feature!" moment. That, or its actually a deliberate game mechanic. I couldn't really tell, heh.

Btw, like I said, finished all the 20 levels!

Yes, the Minotaur's movements are deliberate, or else you really wouldn't last very long if it could be smart enough to move around walls when you absolutely need those walls to help you gain some distance away from it. There are a couple games out there that are based off Theseus and the Minotaur and all operate the same way. There's even the introduction of a second type of "Minotaur" that prefers up/down movement first, and then left/right. One even has more than one "Minotaur" in a level which really makes things super interesting. I may include those later on if I feel like adding onto this game.

This was a puzzle game I felt could have been possible to bring into PowerPoint when I had made Othello and Isolation, which are also games using a grid. However, I struggled finding a good way to have the game detect walls and obstacles without hard coding in levels. As I'm sure you've discovered, the code acts based off what is physically on the slides, and not hard coded in the back. If you start to move walls around, it will act accordingly if it detects a wall or obstacle or not.

As for "spam clicking" the buttons, thanks for testing that out. I thought I had a system in place to prevent that from happening, but it doesn't quite work the same as anticipated. I have since updated the file which can be found under the same download link. Let me know if you run into any issues or interesting game behaviors, thanks!

Ah, no no! You see, I also think the spam-click bug is a feature.

Quoting GMTK's 'The Games That Designed Themselves' video (embed below),


"There's a game design methodology called "Follow The Fun." It’s the deceptively simple idea that designers should ignore their plans and preconceived ideas - and instead look to the game itself to find out where the development should lead..."

I.E. When you built a prototype, played it, and found a certain game mechanic or unintended exploits that feels equally or more fun than the central gameplay idea you once envisioned to be the final game's main selling point, the game is likely trying to tell you that it wants to flesh out that part of itself, to become the best version of themselves AKA "a fun game."

"...And so it's up to the designer to be open and attentive to what the game is saying. To realize what's interesting, and be willing to explore those aspects even if they don't totally align with what you originally had in mind..."


IMO, the spam-click bug added another layer of complexity to the game. Leave the puzzle/strategy be for those who so desires to have a brain-brawl with the Minotaur, and leave the spam-click bug to those who wants to experience the thrill of nerve-wracking chase and quick-decision thinking to hide behind the nearest wall from the beast. Maybe you could separate them into different game modes? The mode where the bug is fixed and the other one where its not?

Or maybe you could leave it alone, but expand the so-called exploit in your next title as an actual game mechanic. I mean, realistically, when you're being chased, they won't stop until they either got you or lost track of you, instead of standing-still behind you when you're not moving, right?

Just something to ponder about.