SHARK TURTLE

Tile-matching puzzle video game. Fully playable and feature-complete.

This is a version of SameGame (さめがめ) originally released under the name CHAIN SHOT in 1985 by Kuniaki "Morisuke" Moribe for Fujitsu FM-8 home computer. The concept is as old as Tetris, perhaps even older, and at one time SameGame in its many guises was more popular than Tetris in Japan. One version had an active modding scene and some had strategy guide books.

Shark Turtle was submitted and rejected in the first wave of submissions to Playdate Catalog. If I remember correctly the reason was, and I'm paraphrasing here: "needs more polish". At one point the plan was to wrap this in a theme/concept and give it the same sort of treatment that resulted in the great experiences of my other games like YOYOZO, Fore! Track, Bender 2: Bend Harder, but for one reason or another it never happened.

What is here is a fully-playable, feature-rich, albeit "no frills" version of SameGame with fast updates, solid controls, and great music. It's a lot of fun and great to play little-by-little when you have a spare moment, as you dictate the pace and progress of the game turn-by-turn.

Controls

• DPAD/CRANK = move cursor
• A = remove selected group of blocks
• B = undo 

Features

• Variable grid size
• Variable number of block shades
• Random Seed (to play the same game again)
• Pause menu game stats
• Multiple music tracks
• Dynamic sound effects

Hints

• Random removals will only get you so far
• It is a game of strategy
• Plan ahead
• Use undo
• Fewer block shades make things easier
• Larger grids are also slightly easier

Music

1. Cosmic Mini (MATSU)
2. はてなパズル (MATSU)
3. Starry Mind (Flehmann)
4. City Lights (Yuhei Komatsu)
5. Another Face (Yuhei Komatsu)
6. モラトリアム (Yuhei Komatsu) 

Notes

• This is almost final software, so there may be the odd bug lurking
• The game will not receive any future updates

Build date

• 29 June 2023