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Show HN: FuseCells – a handcrafted logic puzzle game with 2,500 levels

(apps.apple.com)
37 points keini | 1 comments | 06 Dec 25 23:51 UTC | HN request time: 0.64s | source

Hi everyone, I built FuseCells, a minimalistic logic puzzle game where every level is handcrafted (no procedural generation). It started as a personal challenge to design a clean rule-set and scale it to thousands of puzzles without losing difficulty balance.

What’s unique: • 2,500 handcrafted levels across multiple grid sizes • Deterministic logic — no guessing required • A rule system inspired by constraint-solving and path-finding concepts • Daily challenges and global progress tracking • Fully built as a solo dev project

Technical notes for those curious: • Level generation tools I wrote validate solvability using a custom constraint solver • Difficulty is estimated via step-count of the solver • The game is optimized to run smoothly on low-end devices • Designed first for iOS, now fully adapted for iPad as well

I’d love feedback from puzzle lovers, game designers, and anyone interested in handcrafted logic design. Here’s the App Store link: [inserați linkul]

Thanks for reading — happy to answer any technical questions!

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Waterluvian ◴[07 Dec 25 01:59 UTC] No.46178517[source]▶
I loved how quickly the app started up and immediately had me at an interactive step.

I think you really need to have 10-20 levels, not 2, before interrupting with the CTA for paying. I had only just learned the basic rules and had no clue if I liked the game or what hints would even be worth to me.

I was going to comment that the frame rate and responsiveness was oddly bad but when I went back to check a few things it was buttery smooth. Dunno if that was just a weird one-off or something that happens on first launch?

Let me hide the timer. I know, it’s silly. But it truly affects my enjoyment of nonogram games.

I like the simple little beeps it makes when toggling. Have you considered picking triads from different keys? This can break the monotony. You could pick a random key each game and different chords from that key!

Overall this is well done. You should feel proud of your accomplishment!

replies(1): >>46179972 #
1. keini ◴[07 Dec 25 07:42 UTC] No.46179972[source]▶
Thank you so much for the thoughtful feedback — really appreciate it.

About the initial lag you noticed: that most likely comes from the first-time Game Center initialization. After that first launch, everything runs at full speed, but I’m looking into smoothing out that initial moment.

The timer toggle is a great suggestion and I’ll add an option to hide it. And the idea about using triads/chords for the sound feedback is surprisingly interesting — I’ll experiment with this.

Thanks again for taking the time to share this. Feedback like yours really helps me improve the experience.