Anastomosis
This Git-inspired puzzle game is about building a timeline. Each point on the timeline is a snapshot of your progress in the game. You will need to create branching timelines, move between them, and merge branches back together.
The Goal
Get to the right-most level and take a snapshot of the scenery. Most levels have doors and cliffs in your way, which you can get around with the help of keys, ladders, jetpacks, pressure plates, and your camera that can manipulate time.
There are 25 levels to complete, which will probably take a couple hours. For a shorter game you can press "Demo" in the main menu to skip the tutorial and play 4 sample levels.
Bonus Challenges
Each character will join you at the end of the game if you completed their optional challenge.
- Take at least 8 snapshots with Liv
- Take at most 40 snapshots with Pluto
- Buy a hat and give it to Pearl
- Beat Basil at one of his games
There are also 3 optional trophies that you can bring with you to the end.
What is Git?
Git is a system that is used to keep track of changes in documents. It lets you load old versions of a document, create a 'branching timeline' of changes, and even merge changes from different documents. This game uses some common features from Git, such as commits, branches, merges, reverts, and merge conflicts.
Feel free to copy this
I'd like to see and play more games that use Git as a mechanic. This idea isn't limited to puzzle games - I imagine it would work well with story driven games too.
Download
Development log
- Level List with ScreenshotsMar 31, 2024
- Game Fully Released!Mar 16, 2024
Comments
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Nice game.
I couldn't figure out how to do Pluto (ended up with 42, the extras being in the third room), though I did realize you can skip doing the puzzles properly by just bringing in a ladder/jetpack/key from an earlier room. I opted not to since it felt like the requirement was set to not need to do that.
I wasn't sure how to solve the jetpack revert puzzle so I just snapshotted and refilled my fuel in midair. The specific rules around when a dropping an object makes it not come with you are really confusing and I don't actually get them. Like, I was able to bring a ladder with me to get to the second trophy (although not a green key because they've all been spent... could get around that by reverting the respective green door open commit, but I got too lazy) but when I tried to bring a jetpack or trophy it just didn't let me for some reason.
Thanks! It means a lot to me that you've gone into so much detail.
It's intended that you're able to skip levels by smuggling items from earlier levels. That being said, it is possible to beat Pluto's third room in 6 snapshots without smuggling items (or abusing the physics engine).
I like your work-around for the jetpack revert puzzle! When you revert a snapshot that involved you picking up an item, the item will go back to its original position. To avoid this, take an extra snapshot after you pick up the jetpack but before you use it.
The rule about dropping items in a Merge is that it depends on the snapshot where the branches diverged. Here's an example:
Since I'm carrying the key in Snapshot #1, the game will focus on the fact that I dropped the key in the top branch, so I wouldn't get the key in Snapshot #6. If I wasn't carrying the key in Snapshot #1 then I would be carrying it in Snapshot #6.
I hope that made sense and that you can apply that explanation to the trophies. Good luck!
OH MY GOD IT GOT UPDATED dude i loved this game i stayed up until like 3am playing it with my friend.
Awesome! I'd love to see the solution you two came up with.
Excellent, I'll show it to my students.
Any easy way to erase my progress? I tried deleting local storage but it didn't work.
Awesome! I'm glad this is being used educationally.
You can erase your progress in the game by selecting Snapshot #0 then pressing the delete button.
I really like it so far.
I just wish there was a non-browser version.
Thanks!
Itch has an app that lets you play their browser games in a separate window: https://itch.io/app.
Could you try using this first, and if it doesn't work the way you want it to then let me know and I'll build an exe that you can download.
Thanks, this is better, but still not perfect for me.
So if you could buil an exe, I would be thankful. :)
I've uploaded it, though I warn you I've barely tested that it works. Enjoy!
Thank you very much! It seems to work fine. :)
Fun game, very challenging. Got Liv, Pearl, and Basil in my final snapshot, as well as one trophy (the last one). Unfortunately I wasn't able to get the first trophy because I had dropped it much earlier in the timeline, and I couldn't figure out how to get the second one. I also wasn't able to satisfy Pluto since I would have had to undo a big chunk of my progress. Maybe if I had a second album that tracked changes to the first...
I'm glad you found it fun, and good job getting so many of the bonuses!
You can still reclaim the first trophy if you create a branch starting at a different snapshot. There's also a way to get it using a Revert.
I like that idea of putting the album in a bigger album. It's always amusing when a puzzle game becomes recursive :D
Anastomosis Gameplay
Thanks for posting. There's so much more ahead. Is there something you could have brought with you to get out the hole?