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[RyougaSaotome]

Developer: Eric Koziol (RevenantKioku here on GAF)
Platform: iOS
Genre: Puzzle
Price: $1.99 (App Store)
Release Date: March 6, 2013
Twitter: @SubakuTheGame
Official Page: http://whatisacrepe.com/software/subaku

Subaku is a puzzle game made by a white guy who lives in Japan. Is it a JPuzzle game, WPuzzle game?!

Update: The latest update adds music by Eirik Suhrke.


Numbers. Colors. Bleep-bloop. Kanji if you'd like.

subaku is a puzzle game. Tap a tile to reduce its value and increase the surrounding tiles by one. Match three in a row, column or diagonal to clear them from the board.

In puzzle mode the goal is to clear the board in as few moves as possible. subaku comes with 100 different puzzles for you to try to master.

In endless mode the board starts with a 4 in the center. Try to make as many matches as you can without letting the board clear. But watch out, every five moves something will happen to try to get in your way.

Reviews:

Simply addictive! ★★★★★
by DCharlie - Version 1.0 - Mar 6, 2013

A fiendishly addictive puzzle game that starts gently but quickly becomes challenging and engaging. The simple basic rule set created a game that is accessible and easy to understand - so much so my 4 year old loves it - yet provides a deep challenge. Addictive!

Easy to play, diabolically diffuclt to master. ★★★★★
by Steve RedSunGamer.com - Version 1.0 - Mar 12, 2013

An addicting number puzzle game to play when you are on-the-go. Once you get going you will feel compelled to best your last score. Fun chasing the leadersboards score.

Press:

Brian Ashcraft from Kotaku had this to say about subaku in his recent article about Bit Summit:

Others, I had never heard of before, such as Eric Koziol, who was showing off his new (and very interesting) iOS puzzle game, Subaku, on his phone. It was a game I stumbled upon, and one my son, whom I brought along, couldn't stop playing.

Screenshots:

Woosh. So subaku is RevenantkKioku's (long time member of GAF) debut iOS game, and it's stupidly addictive. Despite the simplistic visuals and concept, there's a lot of game time to be had in number explosion land. Me, Jonnyram, Dcharlie and quite a few other GAF folk have been going at it on the leader boards for the past few weeks. Basically all the cool kids are playing it.

At .99 cents, it's an easy purchase, and I definitely recommend to anybody out there who enjoys a fun puzzler. RK's been updating it and working on it nonstop, so there are more updates (and likely more content) coming.

It's also a universal app, for those of you who worry about those kinds of things. In any case, I can never pass up a chance to support a fellow GAFer.

 

[mehdi_san]

This is already in my 2013 top ten GOTY list.

 

[Fantastic Mr.Fox]

Maths and puzzle! Why not. Downloading it now.

 

[Hot Coldman]

So that's where that crazy guy went!

Sounds cool.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Oh kawazu, there are so many numbers!!!!!!

 

[Ratrat]

Requires ios5.1...

Ah, well.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

I know RK has been wanting to make a game for a really long time now, so I'm just happy it turned out as well as it has. It really is quite a bit of fun.

 

[thetrin]

RK is a good friend. He and I disagree on positively everything (except butt rock apparently) but I can't help but love the guy. Download subaku. It's good shit.

 

[zroid]

Didn't even know RK was working on a game. Looks rad.

 

[Hasemo]

Everybody who likes number based puzzle games should really give this a shot.

 

[Jonnyram]

Awesome to see this game has an OT!

At first I was reticent to play this, cos I'm kind of a stickler about design, and the colour scheme didn't exactly caress my design tastebuds, but RK's a nice guy so I gave it my time. The gameplay was initially difficult for me to understand, but once it clicked, it's great!

There are two modes — puzzle and endless.
I've kind of given up on puzzle for a while because I'm so hooked on endless, and that's the mode which has most high score potential. It's almost like a puzzle version of rogue, with random penalties that get more and more destructive as your score gets higher. There's some really tense moment when you're down to 2 or 3 tiles and you know the next penalty is about to drop.

Anyway, I know RK's working on the colour scheme, and other design elements, so I'm confident he'll be able to make this great-playing game look great too

 

[RevenantKioku]

Hi. What is going on here?

Thanks for the love. Nothing feels more awesome than when someone says that they enjoy it. When I was showing it to people at bitsummit, seeing faces light up as they began to get it was amazing.

I am going to start giving away some codes on the twitters in thirty minutes and every half hour until midnight (Japan. 11 EDT. It is daylight savings right now, yes?) Check it out. They will be nerdy riddles.

 

[Glass Rebel]

When I was still a lurker, the SaGa 2 thread was my favourite OT so I'm definitely checking this out.

 

[Haunted]

That puzzle concept sounds simple yet engaging, good job!


Just two things (and don't take this the wrong way, Kioku), but 1) the colour design looks kinda questionable to me. Like, pretty garish and not at all easy on the eyes. And 2) there's a severe lack of PEINS in those screens.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Oh yeah, I know about the colors. Themes are being prepared for version 1.2 so that is something to look forward to.

 

[mrklaw]

Got the first clue, thanks reverend kioku!

 

[vulva]

looks so cool. i hope it either ends up on android or I end up with an ios device eventually to try it

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Clearly you need a PEINS theme RK.

Let's make it happen.

 

[mrklaw]

12th in the leader board. You get a rhythm going and the suddenly you're down to just 1s on the board an two moves before one of those random things hit, and you just know Sod's law means it'll be a '-1' wiping out your board

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Endless mode really is a lot like a rogue-like in that way. Those damn random strikes can really fuck you up good.

 

[Riposte]

Those reviews reminds me of my first resume.

 

[RevenantKioku]

subaku mini just came out. For free, it is the first ten puzzles of subaku along with the ability to transfer your progress on them over to the full version.

 

[Jonnyram]

Looks like 1.2 update is out now.

subaku is turning into a sexy game, little by little, but this time was quite a large jump!
- new icon
- new default colours and introdution of colour schemes
- sound themes
- lets you listen to your own music while playing
- undo last move in puzzle mode

 

[RevenantKioku]

Yeah, I am getting happier with it. 1.2.1 has been submitted and I think it looks a lot nicer now.

Here, GAF. Have some codes!

http://tokn.co/nqrnxj8g
http://tokn.co/8cgzbmyy
http://tokn.co/teyph8c7

 

[mehdi_san]

Free codes! (But I already bought it...)
I hope actual GAF members got them and not lurkers (nothing personal, lurkers)

 

[cvxfreak]

Easy to learn, hard to master.

I love it.

 

[expel]

Tried this game on my old ipad. Tried the endless mode, and got 450 points, and i keep wanting to play the game, it is addictive! (Well mainly i wanted to beat mehdi's score lol)

 

[Echoes]

The new update adds new music by Eirik Suhrke (of Spelunky, Super Crate Box, Ridiculous Fishing). Beautiful one.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Here are two videos of what I have been working on, trying to make the game look snazzier and easier to understand. Thoughts and comments welcome! (Demanded?)

http://youtu.be/k38VeYBSZTo

http://youtu.be/6ITlZSyZzw4

Spoiler

Plus, a free code for the first person who grabs it!
http://tokn.co/h4qb64g9

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Yo, the new version of Subaku is fucking hot.

 

[RevenantKioku]

1.3 is out! The animations should help in understanding the way things change and clear.

If you find it too slow (I imagine most who game frequently will) turn down the Disappear Delay in setting. (Lower is slower.) The lower speed helps people who are new to the game.

And here is a free code for whoever gets it first!

http://tokn.co/37matfx5

Well! That was quick. Wonder if it was a lurker?