May 2, 2007

Producer and Lead Designer Explain Why There’s No Escape Like Puzzle Scape
by Louis Bedigian

“It's a delight to see people playing the game when they find out diverse and alternative ways to solve the puzzles and perceive new and different patterns in moving the blocks.”

Can there be more to puzzle games than Tetris? Is there life after Lumines? If there can be more, and if there is life after, the dream might become a reality in Puzzle Scape.

Combining high-paced blockbusting with what Samuli Poyhtari (Producer) and Juhana Virtanen (Lead Designer) refer to as “building dreamlike landscapes,” Puzzle Scape is not another block-dropping knock-off. Blocks do fall from above, but it’s not their descending placement that you manipulate.

“Blocks fall from the top, row by row,” they said. “You manipulate the blocks that have already landed (not the ones that are falling) by swapping them horizontally. You must build a 2x2 square of blocks of the same color to explode them. If you add more adjacent same-colored blocks, they will create a chain reaction and explode as well. It's all about the colors.

“By exploding blocks you create the background scenery. Every time you have exploded enough blocks, something new appears on the background. That's how the game progresses. There is also a substantial amount of different power-ups to spice up the game.”

The initial box cover shows an orb with several tentacles attached. What does this image represent as far as gameplay is concerned?

Samuli Poyhtari, Producer, and Juhana Virtanen, Lead Designer: The gameplay is based around building the landscapes and landscapes are divided into four different themes: Cells, Flowers, Machines, and Dreams. All the scenes in each theme have their own elements you can build the landscapes from. The orb and tentacles is a virus cell, which is one of the levels in the Cells theme.

How do you solve the puzzles? Are the multiple ways of doing so?

Answer: Puzzle Scape features two different single player modes: Artist and Architect. Artist mode is a free play mode where you explode the blocks as you wish. Architect mode is the objective/puzzle mode. In Architect mode, you have certain objectives to carry out in order to build the landscape and to complete the level. Completing the given objective at a time creates a corresponding element(s) to the landscape. An example of an objective could be “explode three 2x2 red blocks” or “explode a chain of 12 orange blocks.” It's up to player how one decides to do that. We noticed that people can have very different approaches on solving the objectives.

Does the game have more than one game mode? For example, some puzzlers have a standard endless mode, and then a "puzzle" mode with a limited number of moves.

Answer: The previously mentioned Architect mode has a time limit for completing the landscape. The other single player mode is Artist mode, where you build the landscape freely. The only limit in the Artist mode is the player's skills as it gets increasingly difficult.

You can play both single player modes also as two-player Co-op via the PSP system’s wireless connection. There is also a two-player Duel mode, where the players try to beat the other player in a given timeframe. Puzzle Scape also features a Bomb Run mode, which can be played by up to 8 players. In Bomb Run mode you have to destroy a given amount of each colored blocks before anyone else does. It's a very hectic mode and extremely fun, especially when you sit next to each other and shout out loud what's happening in the game.

There are stars, lines/slashes, and various colors on the puzzle pieces. What do all the differences mean?

Answer: The lines represent the blocks that are about to explode. The stars on the blocks represent Joker blocks (you get that as a power-up), which will go together with any color. The striped blocks are Blockers, which cannot be moved. However, there are power-ups to get rid of the Blockers...

I've noticed that there's a blue meter on the left that says Power-Up and a red meter on the right that says Level. I assume that the level rises whenever the meter fills. But what does the Power-Up meter do and how is it filled?

Answer: You get a power-up when the blue gauge is full, naturally. By exploding the blocks, the power-up gauge goes up. In Puzzle Scape you can have a maximum of two power ups at a time (one for each shoulder button, where they are initiated).

What are the bars on the top right and left corners of the screen? In some shots they say "empty."

Answer: The bars on the top of the screen are the slots for the power-ups. Each power-up has a distinctive icon and when you have a power-up in a slot, the name and the icon of that power-up is displayed on the boxes. “Empty” means that there is no power-up in the slot at the moment.

Can you give us an idea of how many levels the game will contain?

Answer: The game has four themes, each containing ten scenes, so it's 40 different levels.

The puzzle genre obviously targets puzzle fans. More specifically, who does this game target? Is the gameplay being built for the hardcore puzzle fan?

Answer: “Easy to learn, hard to master, impossible to put down” is certainly something of a cliche, but in the case of Puzzle Scape it’s a perfect description. It's a delight to see people playing the game when they find out diverse and alternative ways to solve the puzzles and perceive new and different patterns in moving the blocks. I'd say it's for hardcore puzzle fans as well as for casual puzzle gamers.

Let's talk about the visuals. What kind of effects does Puzzle Scape present?

Answer: The backgrounds of the levels are the biggest visual elements Puzzle Scape has to offer. There are 40 different backgrounds in total and each one of them is unique and has different elements to build the landscape from. All the backgrounds are animated and done in real-time, so they are not videos or pre-generated, it's all in the code :)

Techno is a common music theme for puzzlers. What does Puzzle Scape use?

Answer: I'm glad you asked! The soundtrack is filled with drum-'n'-bass, trance, house and techno beats. Each scene has its own song, so we have forty different tracks in total. The soundtrack of Puzzle Scape is extremely strong and we are very proud that we could find such good artists to compose for it. The soundtrack was composed for this game specifically and all the artists we worked with, who all are from Finland by the way, outperformed themselves and did brilliant job!

Will Puzzle Scape offer any multiplayer options? If so, single- or multi-disc?

Answer: Puzzle Scape has four different multiplayer modes which all require all the players to have the disc. However, we also have a Game Sharing feature provided by the PSP system where you can send one level demo to your friend and you can play that also in multiplayer modes.

If there is a multiplayer option, how do you compete? What are striving to accomplish, and can you negatively influence the progress of your opponent(s)?

Answer: The multiplayer co-op modes have the same victory conditions as the single player ones, but you complete the puzzles and explode the blocks together with your friend.

The Duel mode is a different thing, however. The players share and contend over the same blocks in a given time limit and you can “steal” the blocks away from your opponent. It is hilarious to play!

As mentioned, Puzzle Scape features a Bomb Run mode, which can be played by up to 8 players. In Bomb Run mode must destroy a given amount of each colored blocks before anyone else does. It's a very hectic mode and extremely fun, especially when you sit next to each other and shout out loud what's happening in the game.

Thank you for your time.

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