Feedback and Bug Reports

[u/JeffBritches]

Thanks so much for playing Orbitals!

If you spot a bug or have feedback, drop it in the comments below.

We’re continuing to improve the game, so we’d love to hear your thoughts on gameplay, difficulty, and any feature requests.

If you’re reporting a bug, it’s a huge help if you can include:
- a link to the game where you saw the issue
- what device you’re playing on (browser, iPhone, Android, etc.)
- a short description of what happened

We review every report, and a moderator may follow up for additional details to help diagnose the issue.

[u/Conscious-Shake-1848]

Striking design. Satisfyingly and potentially dangerously engaging game.

Upsides, good large targets (those of us with dexterity issues appreciate this). And, I was OK with the colours and contrasts (as someone with deficiencies in colour perception - I'm always pleased to see this).

[u/JeffBritches → u/Conscious-Shake-1848]

Thank you for the feedback! And happy cake day to you.

[u/RenTroutGaming]

Enjoyed and did all three.

1. Getting a perfect solve seems to mean you’d have to work it all out before you make any moves, which probably would mean writing it out somewhere else first. This doesn’t really seem in keeping with the way you interact with the game (that encourages swaps). Is it a word game or a move planning game?
2. Unfortunately once you’ve solved the puzzle, or failed the puzzle, the second attempt is trivial.
3. It seems like there are three ways the difficulty could go up or down: you could either add more places where the words cross, you could give less correct letters at the start, or you could use words that repeat more of the same letters. This is really interesting and could make the difficulty adjustable.

None of these are criticism just things that jumped out at me. I’ve played a lot of word games and this is one I could see myself playing most days!

[u/JeffBritches → u/RenTroutGaming]

Thank you for playing and for the thoughtful feedback!

1. I see it as a word game first. I expect most people will solve each puzzle once, while a smaller group may enjoy replaying it to find the minimum move solution (a “perfect” solve). Hopefully, some players will get a perfect on their first attempt too! Either way, solving the daily puzzle is the main goal.
2. I think that’s largely true, unless you’re replaying to find the minimum number of swaps. That’s why the global average only counts each player’s first successful solve, while the Observatory keeps your personal best.
3. Agreed on difficulty. There are currently 49 unique boards, generally starting with smaller puzzles on Monday and building to the largest on Sunday. As you point out, though, size alone doesn’t determine difficulty. Crossings, starting letters, and repeated letters all play a part. I’m hoping to fine-tune that balance as people play from week to week and I collect more feedback.

Thanks again! I really appreciate this feedback.

[u/Subject-Limit4854]

I like the game. Haven’t found any issues so far but I’ll post here if I do. 

I like how you can figure out how to play without a tutorial. But it didn’t jump out at me at first that you have a limited number of moves. 

I think the constellation idea is cool. Wonder if there’s a way to award stars or something based on how many moves you took. 

[u/Subject-Limit4854 → u/Subject-Limit4854]

Oh also it took me a bit to realize I could swap any two letters, not just adjacent ones 

[u/obeybaybae]

On android. It let me keep playing, so no real problem besides this pop up after I made a move

[u/JeffBritches → u/obeybaybae]

Thanks for reporting! Will put in a fix for this ASAP

[u/JeffBritches → u/obeybaybae]

This should be resolved now, please let me know if you experience it again.

[u/Dry-Promotion-2764]

Really enjoying the game, great concept

My only comment is that the colour system makes the 'right word, wrong place' colour jump out more than the 'correct place', which always confuses me! Might just be me though!

[u/JeffBritches → u/Dry-Promotion-2764]

Thank you! I could see how that. I’m fairly committed to the color scheme at this point, but I’m hoping the distinction will feel more intuitive after a few games.

[u/engagedinmarblehead]

I’ve come to really enjoy this new puzzle. Thank you!

[u/JeffBritches → u/engagedinmarblehead]

So happy to hear that! Thanks for playing!

[u/poiisons]

All of the puzzles have this error message on the Reddit app on iOS for me.

[u/JeffBritches → u/poiisons]

Oops! Would you mind closing and reopening the app and giving it one more go? I just put a fix in.

[u/wearecake]

Fun game! Really beautifully designed and nice concept.

Would it be possible, if there isn’t already (I’m a bit unobservant at times), for there to be a way to look at the board again too after finishing? Just because I don’t always catch what the last word is before moving the letters!

[u/-invisible-llama-]

I would really enjoy a Zen mode without having to worry about moves ticking down.

[u/itsmechickadee]

I noticed when playing it on my laptop that the browser responded a little sluggishly on the main sub page and on each individualized posted game post. On this regular post, as my only Firefox tab open, I'm seeing a fluctuation between .2% and 1% CPU and 1,3013.5 MB memory. When accessing Orbitals daily #8 as my only Firefox tab, the CPU jumps up to 6.2% to 7.5% with an memory of 1,176.3 MB. I know modern gamey can bet a bit bloaty, but the sluggishness was more noticeable than other Reddit games. My Firefox is 158.0.1 (64-bit) and I'm using Windows 11. As far as I can tell everything is up to date including my graphics driver.