Why finishing a level felt like nothing, and what we changed

“I am not feeling that I have achieved something great,”

said Biswanath, the game’s maker. He was testing the game in the headset and had just finished a level. In Twist & Roll you hold a cube in your own room, turn its faces with your hands and tilt it so a marble inside rolls through a maze to a glowing eye.

He also said he “never felt like I will play next level”. We now start every level by showing you the cube solved, and then it scrambles in front of you. From Stage 2, it mixes in extra turns and a spin so you can’t just undo what you watched, and from level 6 its turns have no musical pitch, as our design note puts it, “a pitched break would be a hummable solution”.

Biswanath’s verdict on the earlier finish effects was “particles horrible”, and we cut brass flakes, orbit motes and an 80-spark burst. We also cut the particles shown while you twist.

Now, when the marble sinks, a comet runs your solved route from the eye back to the start. As each cell lights along the route, its tick goes up in pitch.

The cells take on a gold, brass or bronze finish matching your grade. Then curled metal shavings fly off the cells as they change.

Nothing on a level is timed. The proven minimum number of turns earns gold, labelled “Optimal”, one turn over earns brass, labelled “Within one”, and more earns bronze. Undo also counts as a turn, which rules out brute force as a way to gold. On a level with a minimum of 3 turns, 3 earns gold, 4 earns brass and 5 or more earns bronze.

While you’re playing a level, there are no numbers on show. Afterwards, a card shows how many turns you took against the minimum, as well as your grade and your best.