Balance Adjustments for Experimental Modes (4x4, 6x6)

In this update, 4x4 has been made easier and 6x6 harder (with the final stages being more forgiving). I apologize for the time it has taken to finalize these adjustments.

About the Tile Preview Feature

I believe this is a very effective change in helping players understand the tile appearance rules in LEVELS II. I have added the name of the person who suggested this idea to the credits. If there are any issues with the listing, please let me know (I apologize for the after-the-fact notification, as I had no direct means of contacting you).

LEVELS Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary This Year

A longtime player who has been playing since the original 2016 release brought this to my attention. While it's a bit retroactive, I plan to commemorate the 10th anniversary with various updates and releases throughout this year. I look forward to your continued feedback and comments.

Survey Updated

Thank you for participating in the survey. Thanks to your feedback, we have gained a deeper understanding of the development direction. We would appreciate your continued cooperation.

Click here for the survey
(Scheduled to be posted until the balance adjustments for the new modes are completed)

Issues Scheduled for Next Update

+ An issue in the tile preview feature where the color of the next appearing tile does not display correctly in dark mode

Known Issues in This Version

Due to a configuration error, the 6x6 mode in v1.2.0 has an unintended balance, causing an issue where tiles run out during long games and halt your progress. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please update to the fixed version, v1.2.1, once it becomes available.

Regarding 4x4 Balance Changes

Regarding the new 4x4 mode, we have received a lot of positive feedback so far. The main point of praise seems to be that it is "more strategic compared to 5x5".

Although 4x4 looks casual, it seems to be a mode suited for those who seek thoughtfulness and a challenge in LEVELS. The amount of information on the screen has decreased, but in the sense that you can't drop your guard, the cognitive load on the player might have increased.

Our impression is that even if we make the level up of red tiles looser, blue and yellow tiles will compress the narrow board, so it is bound to become difficult structurally.

We decided it is more appropriate to summarize the concept as a mode harder than usual, rather than simply a mode with a smaller board. Therefore, in this balance adjustment, we tuned the early to mid-game to be more difficult, and the final stages to be more forgiving.

For 4x4, we are aiming for a balance where there is always a sense of tension, yet highly skilled advanced players can achieve high scores on par with 5x5. We would gladly appreciate your feedback again.

Regarding the new 6x6 mode

Regarding 4x4, we also received feedback saying, "Since I'm looking for a refreshing experience, high difficulty isn't fun." We believe there might be many players who potentially feel this way.

From the perspective of a game creator, it's easy to assume that "something with a short playtime that requires thinking is good", but we decided to try the opposite approach as well. Therefore, 6x6, which was originally planned to be more difficult, was intentionally released with the same balance as 5x5.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this mode as well.

Replies

Since it offers gameplay similar to the arcade VS mode, I'd be happy if you could consider a "Score Attack Mode" aiming for a high score within a time limit.

The tile appearance rules in LEVELS II have low randomness, meaning "you can think many moves ahead", which can feel mentally taxing for some players. In that sense, we believe the arcade version with a time limit provides just the right experience. Since there are rankings, we need to consider anti-cheat measures regarding manipulating device time, but we would like to consider adding this mode as well.

Like in Threes!, it would be helpful for unfamiliar players if there were a navigation feature showing "what kind of tile will appear where" when you slide and hold your finger.

This is actually a feature we tested before release, but omitted because it didn't look very clean. After hearing your feedback, we've reaffirmed that there should be visual support for appearance rules. We will give it another try.

Unlocking tile designs (skins) and color themes

This survey revealed that there are surprisingly many requests for the decorative aspects of the game. We've also seen voices expressing disappointment that the hidden tile feature from the previous LEVELS was removed, so we'll look into expanding these aspects as well.

I want to play VS mode on mobile (perhaps there are issues I can't even imagine...)

The VS mode has been well-received, and as developers, it's a mode we want played more widely. We can't promise it with absolute certainty, but we want to take on the challenge.

There are various complications:
- Compared to other modes, it requires a lot more workload and is technically highly difficult to implement.
- Unlike the arcade version, mobile devices don't allow you to see the opponent's board. We need to verify if this is even viable.
- Since it will be online multiplayer, it's expected that players would consume premium tickets or something similar to play.
- The associated increase in support and operational costs.
For these reasons, we've found it difficult to get started on it.

We've also received various other opinions and ideas. Thank you very much. Please feel free to continue sharing your feedback with us.

About 4x4 Mode

With the reduction of tiles from 25 to 16, there is less information, which we hope makes the game more accessible. On the other hand, the satisfaction of defeating many red tiles to grow yellow tiles might be slightly diminished.

We would appreciate it if you could participate in our survey to let us know how you feel.

Regarding game balance, we plan to make an official release after tuning based on everyone's feedback.

Future Plans

We are planning paid options such as the original "LEVELS" and a port of the Switch version "LEVELS+". If you have any requests for improvements or additional features, please let us know.

Survey

Click here for the survey
(Survey end date will be announced later)