Bootcamp teaches you the language one idea at a time. Endurance Mode drops you on a virtual treadmill and speeds it up until you fall off. Puzzle Mode is the thing in the middle, and it's the part of Droning On I've spent the most time actually designing levels. Each level is built around a single idea, each one waiting to see what you do with it.
Every one of the thirteen was placed by hand, tile by tile. They don't share a theme, and they don't build on each other the way Bootcamp chapters do, or Endurance does. You can look at the list, pick the one whose name amuses you most, and go.
They're sorted into four tiers — Easy, Medium, Hard, and Very Hard — and the spread is real. Currently, there are thirteen puzzle maps, but I am actively working on more, each with its own unique challenge.
Bootcamp establishes how the world works: walls stop you, energy runs down, detect() tells you what's in front of you. Puzzle Mode is where I take one of those assumptions, morph it, and turn it into something more complicated.
One level makes the floor slick, so a move doesn't end where you told it to end. One makes the walls invisible but leaves them very much in your way. Others hand you levers, buttons that re-lock themselves on a timer, pits that undo your entire run, and hazards that are only dangerous some of the time. In every case, the language is the same language you already know. What changed is the world, and your script is the only thing that can adapt to it.
Every puzzle records two numbers: how long the run took, and how much energy Gizmo had left when he reached the exit. They pull in opposite directions. The fast solution burns power it didn't have to burn. The frugal solution stands around thinking about it.
Each level also carries a pair of developer-best targets, one for each number, and clearing either one pays out $crap. I set those by actually solving the level myself and then shaving off a margin, so they are beatable but not by accident. Both numbers feed global leaderboards, per level, so "I finished it" and "I finished it well" stay two different claims and give you bragging rights.
Bootcamp has the tiered hint system — ask once for a nudge, keep asking, and it will walk you to the answer. Puzzle Mode has none of that, on purpose. Bootcamp's job is to make sure you never get stuck for the wrong reason. Puzzle Mode's job is to let you get stuck for the right one.
That's also why Puzzle Mode sits behind Bootcamp. By the time it unlocks, you have the basics, so a puzzle can never be unfair in the "you weren't taught this" sense. It can only be hard... and some of them are really hard.
A generated maze has one shape and a hundred routes through it. A hand-built puzzle has one idea but has numerous ways it can be solved. It also gives me the chance to really push the game's design beyond the maze boundaries into something more creative and interesting.
I know thirteen levels doesn't sound like many, but try a Very Hard puzzle and let me know how you feel about the number afterward.
Thanks for reading. As always, your feedback is welcome. If you haven't already, drop a wishlist and come hang out in the Discord. It's the best place to share feedback, follow development, and engage.