- Hidden Gem Puzzle Games Bundle, out now. - 21 April 2023
I think everyone reading this announcement would agree: small indies have their own beauty. Their works might not be as polished as more commercial games, but they have the courage to show their personality. (In fact, one of these developers has the courage to show their face everywhere in the game) https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/31965/Hidden_Gem_Puzzle_Games/ This bundle includes five puzzle games from such developers: Yugo Puzzle, An Architect's Adventure, Squishcraft, Magnet Block, and Understand. If you are a fan of puzzle games with unique game experiences, give them a try! P. S. Steam Puzzle Fest is coming next week. You may want to wait a few more days to get more discounts.
- Understand is coming to Nintendo Switch - 30 June 2022
https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/understand-switch/ https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/software/70010000055613.html That is it.
- 14 Minesweeper Variants Demo is now available! - 9 June 2022
The game's title already explains what it is. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1865060/14_Minesweeper_Variants/ If you enjoyed exploring different rule sets and their unique logic, (like what we did in Understand) give this game a try!
- Finally, the save slots and a new game - 15 November 2021
About this update: Finally, Understand has three save slots. That's all. To be honest, Understand started as a small project, I didn't notice it would be a success until the success comes. That's why it is lacking some features and looks over-minimalized. Late is better than never. --- By the way, our new game, A=B, is now available. It's basically a Zach-like with some Artless personality. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1720850/AB/
- Announcing A=B, a programming puzzle game with only one instruction - 28 September 2021
After publishing Understand, I worked on a few prototypes and this one is my favorite: A=B is a programming puzzle game with only one instruction: A=B, which means replace A with B. In the game, you'll solve various problems with this minimalist language: From replace each letter with its uppercase, to multiply two binary numbers. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1720850/AB/ A demo is available during Steam Next Fest. Give it a try! By the way, a friend of mine published an "Artless-like" on Steam. If you enjoyed The Witness and Understand, you'll be enjoying it. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1602980/Insight/
- More than 10,000 copies of Understand have been sold - 20 July 2021
I just noticed the amount went beyond 10k a few days ago. It's more than I expected. Thank you all for playing my game. And thank you for supporting a solo developer. I also want to thank my playtesters. They suffered from harder puzzles than the published version. And the games inspired Understand. Including The Witness for the line-drawing concept, Baba Is You for the meta stuff, Nikoli's pen & paper puzzles for some rule sets, and Zendo for the rule-guessing thing. And I have to thank the streamers, who brought this game more attention. Notably LayerQ, 谜之声 and AliensRock. Watching their gameplay video feels like... I'm unsure if I should say this. Well, to be honest, it feels like, I was an evil scientist, watching people suffer from my doomsday machine. (EVIL LAUGHTER) In the end, it's time to share my future plans: I am working on a programming puzzle game about learning an origina…
- Minor bug fix - 1 May 2021
If you quit a level after completing and uncompleting it, nearby levels should be unlocked.
- Minor bug fix - 16 February 2021
Fixed a rare bug in level 7-?. (? levels not only break the game rules again and again, but also break the game again and again) Plus some minor changes on the credits level.
- Help me translate - 13 February 2021
Recently, I was told: Despite this game is language independent, many players still skip it because the store page is not written in their language. That's why I need your help. To submit a translation, just translate the store page (including the short description on top-right) into your language and paste it here as a reply. (Let's take the easy way.) Your steam id will be mentioned in the credits, and I'll thank you for your help. --- And, something else: I'm working on a programming puzzle game at the moment. If everything works correctly, a prototype should be available in a few weeks.
- Mac build for chapter - is available. - 27 January 2021
Changelog: --2 is removed. New level: --4 --3 and --4 are moved to --2 and --3. 4-? reworked. Mac build is online. Sorry for delaying the build. Finding a good replacement for the least welcomed levels takes some time. Future plan: I decided to set aside Understand for a while. Take a rest and move on to new game prototypes. Follow my itch account or join my discord server if you want to try them in the future. https://artless.itch.io/ https://discord.gg/UfZuFfeXum I still have a few concepts for Understand's new chapters. Maybe I'll work on them when I am tired of prototypes.
- Chapter - update - 20 January 2021
This update adds chapter - into the game. (Yes, its name is chapter -.) Other changes: Chapter 10 and chapter 11 are renamed. Level selection is reshaped to fill in the new chapter. Sorry for delaying the update. Hope you can enjoy it. p.s. 1. My discord server: https://discord.gg/UfZuFfeXum 2. Mac users have to wait for a few days as I have to borrow a device.
- Bug fix - 26 December 2020
Fixed bug: Missing symbols in 8-10 Game crash in 2-? An unintended solution in 9-? I'm still working on chapter 12. It's supposed to be available next month.
- Fixed a bug that causes game failed to load - 8 December 2020
I believe the bug is caused by a temporary unstable connection to steam server (according to the error code). It was fixed in a silly way: Ignore the error message and keep playing without connecting to steam API. (At the cost of not unlocking achievements. Achievements will be unlocked the next time game successfully connected to steam) I am still reading the documents at the moment, trying to figure out a better solution. Other stuff: Level 9-? reworked. I'm working on a chapter 12 update. It will be available before Christmas. 12.9. update: Found a better solution. Achievement should work again.
- Mac build available - 19 November 2020
The title says it all.
- Chapter 11 update, and future plans - 11 November 2020
Chapter 11 is available. It's placed below Chapter 7. Level update: 9-? is moved to 11-?, as it fits in chapter 11's concept. A new level is placed at 9-?. (Sorry, I am out of ideas on these levels.) Future plan: Mac and Linux build: In a few weeks. Android build: In a few months. Workshop support: Please tell me if you want to make custom levels for this game. I'm considering if Steam Workshop support is necessary. More chapters: when I come up with the right idea. Other: More than 1000 copies of this game have been sold at the moment. Thank you for your support.
- Fixed a bug that causes save file loss - 4 November 2020
The bug is caused by: 1. Close the game inside a level. In that case, some unlock progress is missing. But the line progress is still there. Visit locked levels should unlock them. 2. Draw on a board of large width (7-3-8 and 8-?-3). In that case, the game crashes on saving and save file is lost. If you can find a file named "understand_old.sav" in your game folder, rename it to understand.sav. It should restore your progress before yesterday's update. If you want to restore more progress, you may modify the save file by: First, make a backup. (Never forget to make a backup when modifying is what I just learnt) Open it with notepad. The level names within the first pair of square brackets are your solved levels. ? levels are named as EX instead. (For example, 1-? as EX-1) Just add what you need. An example: , (followed by your last visited level, version number of the game, saved lines,…
- Tips from the dev, and a few level tweaks - 31 October 2020
Level tweak: One more intro board are added to level 3-1 and 4-3. 4-9 and 4-10 are swapped. A few boards in 4-9 (previously 4-10) are reworked. If you find drawn lines in these levels missing, don't panic. 5-1 rules reworked. Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that causes game crash in 1-?. Functional: When you enter a level, the first unsolved board will be shown, instead of last visited one. Other: I uploaded a (mostly) spoiler free guide. Hope it can be helpful. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2273097339
