Welcome
Hi guys, my name is Rob and welcome to O-R-B: A classic 2D top down block puzzle game.
In this series of articles I will be discussing all the rules and puzzle elements that make up the game. Before delving into the pushable puzzle elements I would like to first cover the basic rule systems of the game.
O-R-B Basic Rules
This is O-R-B:
O-R-B is equipped with a pulse:
Reactor shields:
A trans-locator (which may, or may not make final release):
And a pulse charge:
Orb's game rules are as follows:
1. Orb can only move one block at a time.
2. Each move Orb makes consumes one energy cell. You can see how much energy Orb has by taking a look at the energy cell count located at the top left of the GUI:
3. Orb can move free blocks around by either pushing them, or pulsing them:
4. Stacked blocks are not pushable - I call it the 'double pushable' rule:
5. Orb may not cross over water, lava or acid:
6. When utilizing coloured puzzle elements - Orb requires at least one corresponding coloured cell:
Coloured pulses and coloured electric gates will be discussed in a future article.
8. As an Orb - your goal is to collect all orbs in the level, and pass through one of the jump gates (the square coloured objects - top row two images above) to clear the level.
Pushable Puzzle Elements
Now that some of the basics are out of the way - let's take a look at what block puzzle elements Orb has (at the moment):
Starting from the left, we have a wooden block, a stone block, a breakable stone block, an ice block, a lava block, an orb catcher and a TNT block. Each block puzzle element in O-R-B is movable in some way or another.
Wooden Block
Wooden blocks can be moved by Orb, Orb's pulse, or by an enemy pulse. Wooden blocks can also be pushed over water to build a path for Orb to safely cross over:
It goes without saying that only wooden blocks can be pushed over water. If you try this trick with lava or acid, I am afraid you'll end up one wooden block short of completing the puzzle!
Stone Block
Like the wooden block, stone blocks can also be moved directly by Orb, by Orb's pulse or by an enemy pulse. Unlike its wooden block counterpart - stone blocks will sink when you try and push them over water or acid. They will however cover the lava for you:
Breakable Stone Block
Like its cousin the normal Stone Block, the Breakable Stone Block is quite self explanatory: if the block gets hit by a pulse too many times, the block will break:
Just like the normal stone block, the breakable stone block will cover lava for you. This block is great when tying it together with a pressure panel and an electric gate.
Ice Block
The ice block can only be moved directly by Orb. If a pulse touches it, it will be destroyed. This block holds one more special property - if you push an Ice block over some lava, it will turn your lava into water.
Lava Block
While the ice block turns lava into water, the lava block turns water into lava - but be careful, as a direct touch with Orb on the lava block means instant death - you can only move the lava block with your pulse!
Orb Catcher
The Orb catcher is a special block - its primary purpose is to catch and hold enemies. Since this article is the first of many to come, and I have not yet introduced you to the various enemies in Orb, I will skip over the orb catcher in this article and cover it when I discuss enemies.
TNT Block
The TNT block is self explanatory - If you shoot it, it will explode. It will also destroy any block or enemy directly adjacent to it (including Orb, so be cautious around it!):
Please be sure to pop by next week for my next article, in which I will be focusing on triggers and targets (pressure panels, grates and electric gates) and how they can be combined with pushable puzzle elements to make fun and challenging puzzles.
Psyinx
