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My apps

TILEMAZER

Background

My first android application developed end to end.

A simple game of moving tiles into a correct order, with the added twist of moving the tiles through a maze

tilemazer application icon

tilemazer screen example 1
tilemazer screen example 2

Key Concepts

There were a few key elements I wanted to incorporate into this app from the start

  • No adverts to get in the way of the game play.
  • A no moves or a time limit. While these limits do make games a challenge to complete the level, they can make the level difficult to complete and annoying that it has to be restarted, and those games with limited lives and having to wait a length of time before get a life back. What is that all about?
  • No random game play. I find it really annoying that a level can sometimes only be completed because the 'right' random generated pieces fall into place, Especially mixed with the games that provide a limited number of lives.
  • Unrestricted Orientation. Games that can only be played in either Landscape or Portrait orientation, even when the game board is square, so would work either way round.

How does this game differ?

Each level is the same each time it is played, the maze and the position of the tiles at start up, The levels start with a mixture of numbered tiles to order and a number of tiles that don't need to be ordered to complete the level.

The maze gets progressively more complicated (to a point with each level)

Take as long and as many moves as you like, the aim is to complete the level. How many moves you've taken to complete each level is recorded, so you can see how well you did last time.

There are no lives so you can keep completing levels one after another.

tilemazer screen example 3
tilemazer screen example 4

How to play

As simple as I could make it, touch a tile next to the blank space to move it to the blank space, of course you can't move a tile through the maze wall (the red lines).

Tiles in the correct place will display with their number in green (see number 3 in the screenshot, left).

Holding the 'view solved' button will show the level in it's completed state, once lifted, the level will return as in progress.

The quit button will check you do want to quit the level

Once all the tiles are in the correct sequence AND the blank is in the bottom right corner a Congratulations message will be displayed and the level statistics will be recorded.

Replay a level

The levels option from the main screen allows any previously completed level to be played again providing the opportunity to beat your previous best score.

The 'play any level' button allows ANY level between 1 and 9,999,999 to be played, even if it has not been played through the sequence via the main screen.

This option is only available if purchased.

tilemazer screen example 5
tilemazer screen example 6

Purchase an extra feature

Using the about screen, there is an option to thank me with a coffee.

This is a common thank you gift in my work environments for work completed by someone outside of the project or daily job commitments.

I know people like an opportunity to thank someone for their efforts and I thought it would be a good idea to offer this and provide a feature in return. There is no obligation, the game will play perfectly well without this purchase.