The game uses your phone’s Haptics in order to play a rhythm of “Tiks” (haptic vibrations). The user then has to try and recreate the timing of the rhythm they just felt by tapping it anywhere on the screen. It sounds easy, but getting the timing right is tricky, and so it usually takes a couple tries before your able to get it right.
The inspiration for the game came from wanting something to do in a really boring presentation. It would have been disrespectful to look at my phone, but I also needed a distraction. I typically hold my phone in these kinds of scenarios, and fiddle with the case, when it occurred to me: what if there was a game I could play just holding the phone anywhere (under a desk, in my pocket, to the side, etc.). Sometime later Tik! was born :)
I would love your feedback on it. The game is paid, but if someone would like a promo code to try it please let me know below. Link: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6720712299
Suggestions: - have an option to add 4 constant interval tiks at the beginning to help setup the base rhythm - hold down the small white dot to return to menu so you can see progress without exiting - have a way to visualize a rhythm similar to the example or skip it (maybe two finger hold?) if you are stuck - some rhythms feel to have slightly uneven tempo. Is the duration of the tick taken into consideration when generating the tempo?
Interesting game overall. Well done
- increase tolerance to slightly off taps, and gradually increase the number of ticks (not sure you already do this but right now it’s too hard win many times in a row)
- tik of the day mode. A long tick that challenges people who can win it in fewest trials
Also thank you so so much for the in depth feedback! I get what you mean about the game being pretty hard starting out - I was trying to balance between too hard and too easy but it seems I landed a little bit on the harder side - which is something I can fix!
Your ideas about adding a constant interval to the start, holding the white dot to return to the menu (love this one!), and seeing progress without closing the app are great! I will definitely take everything you said into account for future updates!
The timing of the Tiks is intentionally off to make the game a bit harder and add variety. I think the main thing that impacts how hard it is should be the tolerance of how close ur taps have to be to the Tiks, which is something. I can change to make easier, at least till the user gets around 40-50 correct or something.
I love the Tik of the day mode idea and is something I had written too to implement later on. Seriously all your feedback is amazing, thanks so much!! :)
Interval tiks would add "noise" to a game that has very limited output. How would I know if those tiks are the interval or the pattern?
I don't think I've ever gotten two correct in a row, but the fun of the gameplay comes from slowly learning the rhythm over a few tries. It's not entirely unlike Celeste or Super Meat Boy, where you learn the level over multiple attempts.
I'm worried that I would trigger any sort of menu accidentally. Two fingers might work but if I'm walking or something and gripping the phone in weird ways...
I will say that while walking home this afternoon, there was one pattern I got stuck on. Every other pattern, I was able to get past after a reasonable number of tries, but this one just seemed impossible and I had to quit and re-open the app. So I agree there either needs to be some way to skip patterns, or the pattern generation needs to be tweaked to avoid super hard outliers.
Edit: Fwiw, my stats are: 116 total attempts, 20 correct, 2 max in a row.
Triggering the menu by accident is a valid concern as well.
I will try and think of creative ways to balance all of this and make the end experiance even better. I appreciate your feedback!
1. Use “you’re“, not “your”, for “you are”. It is wrong in the first “screen” image in your App Store listing.
2. Use an ellipsis — three dots, “…”, never two dots. This is in two images in your listing.
Dead Comment
Where can I sign up for notification of a future Android (specifically Kindle Fire [Kids+]) release?
Maybe it works best by giving you a few bars of a tune and you make the percussion up to fit?
Whatever, I think there's something there.
It would be possible to use the touch screen for multiple inputs split into large regions, multiple fingers, etc.
If I ever release Tik! on android in the future I will reply back on ur comment again here ;)
I am just a web dev so I don’t think I have the skills to make it. Just leaving the idea here in case someone wants to build it
It might be possible to do this as a PWA, using https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Acceleromet...
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Audio_A...
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Vibration_A...
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Sensor_APIs
I also really agree that Haptics can be used in super unique ways for people with disabilities like blindness, since you are not dependent on visuals. Even for Tik! I tired to add some accessibility labels and support, but the possibilities are truly endless!
Feedback: it's pretty difficult even at the first level. As a distraction, even just easy 2-3 beat patters might be good to start with. So having difficulty levels would be great.
Maybe the difficulty comes from the strength of the haptic engine, but not sure how to easily change that (somewhere in Settings app I'm sure).
That is really nice feedback. The main thing that impacts the difficulty is how off the user's taps can be from the exact timing, and I tried to set it at a level that is not too easy/hard - but that is good feedback and will definitely look into it!
Till then, I would suggest tapping along to the haptics as they occur just to get a feel for the timing. After a couple of tries it should get easier..
Thanks again for trying it out!
I suppose I don't really buy the premise put forth from either direction; I don't buy that it's possible to be present while doing something else (for me anyway) AND I don't buy that this is gonna be immersive. I'm not stating these things as claims; this is just my reaction to the app store copy.
I did buy it and love it though. What really works for me is as a way to hang out with my kid when she's doing her own thing. I want to be available to be present at a moment's notice.
I tried to make the copy a little intentionally attention grabbing; The idea isn't honestly to be completely present in what is in front of you and on the app, but to use the app as a distraction since it takes your mind off of something in front of you (which is why I used the word immersive)
I am super happy to know that you love the app. If there is anything specific about my copy and marketing though that you think I could change to present it better please let me know.
Thanks!
I don't have an iPhone, but could you also play this with the screen off by tapping on the volume buttons instead?
Using volume buttons could be neat, something to keep in mind! Thx
It is quite fun, I like rhythm games.