With the first playable build published to Itch.io (Inverse by Jezza3137 (itch.io)), This marks the first completely playable version of the game. It's currently a brief experience, as the current design is optimized for feature development and testing. 

The game currently has 3 completed levels, each introducing the player to a new skill/mechanic related to inversing. Level 1 introduces the inversing mechanic, making the player stop between platforms to inverse, and continue. The second level makes the player do this mid-air between platforms, and the third level introduces a new kind of block for the player to toggle.

Image 1: A screenshot of the new block type, as shown in the game scene.

A new block type, which can be toggled like the purple and orange platforms, is a gravity field. While the player is the correct colour, they will be pushed in a direction. This direction is shown by arrow shaped particles and their movement directions, which spawn over time on the block. I have every intention of adding more iterations of this block, and maybe more others like it that influence the players movement in certain ways and can act as a puzzle component or obstacle to overcome.

Image 2: A screenshot of the level select menu, showing some sample high scores below each level number.

Instead of the original idea for displaying scores (in an independent menu accessible from the main menu), the player can now view them in an easier way that requires minimal menu navigation, that being the players best time for each level being displayed below the level number in the level select menu. This allows easy sharing of multiple scores at once, being able to fit them all on one screen, and easier accessibility, being able to check them from a single button press from either the pause or end level menus.

Starting in level 3, I'm designing levels with snapping enabled. This means that the structuring of the obstacles and objects are more consistent in separation distance, which is much better to look at rather than an incoherent jumble of different coloured blocks.  This also helps the gameplay, as subconsciously the player is able to measure the distance of a jump and think about whether or not the distance can be jumped. This makes the gameplay much more intuitive and easier for the player to digest.

With the first prototype of the game be published, I sent the link to a few of my friends for playtesting purposes, to find issues and room for improvement. A few minor issues appeared, such as the level select scores showing the most recent score, not the lowest one, the timer starting while a brief "cutscene" at the start of every level is playing, and a request for key bind options. The most interesting and promising part of the testing though, is that amongst our group, we started getting competitive over who could get the fastest time, as if we'd started our own small speedrun community. This was exactly what I had envisioned coming out of this gaming experience, and it happened naturally with the very first group of people to play it. This is very strong evidence that I'm moving in the right direction the current status of the game and its ambitions. 

The previously mentioned "cutscene" is being written in quotes, as that isn't exactly what it is, but it is the fastest and easiest way to describe it. When loading into a level, the camera shows the level's end point for 1 second, showing where the player needs to reach, before quickly moving over to follow the player in smooth motion as they play. This gives the player a clear sight of their objective, and where they are in comparison, making gameplay flow better from start to finish, and leaves minimal room for confusion regarding objectives.