🕳️ DEVOUR

find us a fun game from 11 years ago that we can use as inspiration for our next game

11 years ago = **2014**. Great year for hyper-casual! ## 🐔 **CROSSY ROAD** (Hipster Whale, 2014) 200M+ downloads. The game that proved "endless Frogger" was a billion-dollar idea.

try again- a hit from 8 years ago please

8 years ago = **2017**. Peak hyper-casual era! ## 🕳️ **HOLE.IO** (Voodoo, 2017/2018) Massive hit. You ARE a black hole. Consume everything. **The Mechanic:** - Control a hole in the ground - Move around a city/map - Swallow objects smaller than you (people, cars, benches, trees) - **Grow bigger** as you eat → can swallow bigger things - Compete against other holes in a time limit - Biggest hole wins **Why it worked:** - **Power fantasy** — you start tiny, end up swallowing BUILDINGS - **Satisfying physics** — watching things tumble and fall into the void - **Simple controls** — just drag to move - **Competitive** — multiplayer race to consume the most

Done. Pushed DEVOUR v1: - Tap to pulse gravity - Objects orbit around you - Consume things within pulse range - Grow as you eat

Not yet a game: there is no risk, no danger, no timer: I keep getting bigger, easier and easier to grow, never die. Find a reference game and borrow from it to add tension/risk/fail/difficulty

You're right — no fail state = no game. **Reference: Agar.io** In Agar.io, you're a cell that eats to grow. But you SLOWLY SHRINK over time — lose mass constantly. Stop eating and you disappear. The tension: grow faster than you decay. **Apply to DEVOUR:** 1. **DECAY** — Your black hole slowly shrinks over time. You MUST consume to maintain size. 2. **COLLAPSE THRESHOLD** — Fall below minimum size = game over. **The new tension:** - Early: "I need to eat NOW or I'll collapse" - Mid: "I'm stable but need to grow to reach bigger food" - Late: "I'm huge but decay is faster — need big meals to maintain"

This is not fun. Not a game. Just silly. Each of you propose a simple fix

**My fix: LET THE PLAYER MOVE** 🕳️ The original Hole.io works because YOU actively hunt for food. DEVOUR is passive — you sit and wait for orbiting objects to come to you. That's boring. **Simple change:** - Drag/swipe to move the black hole around the screen - Objects are scattered (not orbiting) - Pulse is now a "power suck" to grab a cluster at once - Chase your food, don't wait for it **Why this works:** - Active gameplay > passive waiting - You're making constant decisions (where to go, what to chase) - Matches the proven Hole.io formula One change: **add movement**. Suddenly it's a game. 🎮

**My fix: HOLD TO MOVE** Right now you're stuck in place. Add: - **Tap** = pulse (same) - **Hold + drag** = move the black hole Now there's positioning skill. Chase clusters, dodge big objects, set up combos. One input becomes two modes. Same code structure, adds depth. ⚙️

**FULL FIX: Movement + Competition** **MOVEMENT (Pit's fix is right):** - Hold + drag = move the black hole - Tap = pulse to consume - Now you're HUNTING, not waiting **COMPETITION (Hole.io's timer race):** **Option A: AI Rival** - One AI-controlled black hole spawns on the map - It hunts too, grows too, competes for the same objects - 60-second timer - Whoever is BIGGER at the end wins **My vote: Option A (AI Rival)** It's the closest to Hole.io's feel. You're not just growing — you're growing FASTER than the other hole. **New one-sentence:** "Drag to hunt, tap to devour, beat the rival hole before time runs out."

On it. **DEVOUR spec locked:** - Drag to move your black hole - Tap to pulse (consume nearby objects) - AI rival chases nearest object, pulses when close - 60-second timer - Bigger hole wins Building now. ⚙️

Done. Pushed DEVOUR v2: - **Drag** to move your black hole around the arena - **Tap** to pulse and consume nearby objects - **AI rival** (red hole) hunts the same objects - **60-second timer** — bigger hole wins - Size comparison bar at top shows who's ahead - Objects respawn 2s after being eaten Live in ~2 min: pixelpit.gg/pixelpit/arcade/devour ⚙️

It's growing way too fast- there should be a max size or something. How does that work in hole?

**How Hole.io handles size:** 1. **Diminishing returns** — Growth is RELATIVE, not absolute. A bench adds +5 to a small hole (big deal) but +5 to a huge hole (barely noticeable). You need bigger objects to keep growing meaningfully. 2. **Object tiers** — Small stuff stops mattering. At max size, only buildings move the needle. **For DEVOUR:** **Option A: Diminishing returns (elegant)** - Growth = object size / your current size - Small when small = big growth - Small when big = tiny growth - Forces you to hunt bigger prey as you grow **My vote: Option A** — It matches Hole.io's feel and creates natural progression.

Done. Diminishing returns now active: - Size 30 + eat 2 → +0.67 growth - Size 100 + eat 2 → +0.2 growth Small debris becomes meaningless as you grow. Forces hunting bigger prey. ⚙️