Bubbles
Games
browser game
SHOW HN2025
How HN took it
14 positive, 19 neutral or asking, 7 mixed, 20 critical, out of 60 comments about the project. Thread score -0.06.
Design: 4 for, 11 againstExecution: 4 for, 6 againstPerformance: 1 for, 3 againstIdea: 2 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean, readable, dependency-free source code
From 4 comments
Really cool stuff, ehmorris. Your work harkens back to the early days of the web when bundlers and minifiers were the exception, rather than the rule. Work like this can really…
simpaticoder on HNYour source is nice and clean[1]. No dependencies is a wonderful goal. Status quo is inherently always against innovation. I like the approach the Go team took of rethinking new…
90s_dev on HNBeautiful JS code, happy to see this after people started to create DOOM using TypeScript types. Edit: yay, beat all levels after learning I can use slingshot multiple times
owebmaster on HNYour code is such a fresh air after being subject to a decade of bloat. Thanks.
hakaneskici on HN
Fun, addictive gameplay once learned
From 3 comments
Same as well! Game is fun once you get it
lukevp on HNGood old fashioned addiction
higgins on HNThis game is so good! Played on my iPhone
bryzaguy on HN
Good sound design
From 1 comment
Absolutely love the sound design on this.
wkirby on HN
Objections
Too hard and too fast early on
From 4 comments
Slick as silk! But too fast too quickly. Gimme some easy endorphin in the first few levels before I start struggling.
megadata on HNReally well built, and I love the tutorial... BUT Jeepers, it starts off so hard compared to the tutorial. 1. I was not expecting bubbles to move (since they are all static in…
stevage on HNWay too hard for me to be enjoyable.
herczegzsolt on HNWay too fast to start with. Is it design for phones? Because on desktop it is moving way too fast
tobyhinloopen on HN
Tutorial does not match the actual gameplay
From 3 comments
Really well built, and I love the tutorial... BUT Jeepers, it starts off so hard compared to the tutorial. 1. I was not expecting bubbles to move (since they are all static in…
stevage on HNThe tutorial has zero in common with the actual gameplay. Why would you do that? It's not a good onboarding experience. It just creates frustration.
blinding-streak on HNNice. It took me a few times to realize that I could do bombs or slingshots by clicking in empty space. The tutorial makes it look like you have to click on a bubble. Maybe the…
SamBam on HN
Poor touchpad and desktop controls, drag often fails
From 3 comments
A touchpad seems to really cripple the gameplay -- one idea could be to ask what device players are using and make slight adjustments. For touchpads, moving the cursor is slower,…
mjburgess on HNLooks neat... can't drag the ball in linux chrome (dragging works for me elsewhere), maybe I'll try later on my phone.
boutell on HN> and the drag-pull mechanism doesnt really work Doesn't work for me at all on both Firefox and Chrome (latest versions for both) on MacOS using the touch pad. I can't get past…
flanbiscuit on HN
Lives system frustrating; cannot replay a level
From 3 comments
Cool! Feedback: the concept of “lives” spoils the fun for me; I’d like to retry a level without having to replay earlier ones.
thih9 on HNHaving to restart over and over kills it for me. I’d much rather be able to repeat a level until I got it perfect then move on.
latexr on HNI want to be able to replay a level, don't force me into the next level.
fyrn_ on HN
Input lag on mobile
From 2 comments
input delay heavy on mobile browser, otherwise nice!
jrks11o on HNYeah it's kind of laggy too.
IshKebab on HN
Requests
Let players replay a level without restarting the game
From 3 comments
One more kibitz, each level should give you the option to replay at the end so you can hone your skills, and only your best score should carry over.
BizarroLand on HNI want to be able to replay a level, don't force me into the next level.
fyrn_ on HNHaving to restart over and over kills it for me. I’d much rather be able to repeat a level until I got it perfect then move on.
latexr on HN
Add a way to return to the tutorial
From 1 comment
Really well built, and I love the tutorial... BUT Jeepers, it starts off so hard compared to the tutorial. 1. I was not expecting bubbles to move (since they are all static in…
stevage on HN
Add more levels
From 1 comment
Also please add more levels and I’ll enjoy even more! I do think this could easily make some decent money as a mobile app.
gjohnhazel on HN
Save progress per level
From 1 comment
it would be nice if i could save my progress at every level so i could just keep working on one level at a time.
jsherwani on HN
Make the tutorial show empty-space tapping
From 1 comment
This. The 'black circle' in the tutorial is no good, maybe a dotted circle instead to make it clear you're supposed to be tapping empty space and not a black bubble.
a1r on HN
Questions
How are the bubbles implemented?
From 1 comment
so what are those bubbles? divs with a border-radius of 50% that transform X and Y with random values? how is this implemented?
vivzkestrel on HN
What do par and bogey mean?
From 1 comment
Really nice interactions. A bit too fast paced for my iPhone Mini, and I have no idea what this “par” and “bogey” stuff means (is it golf lingo?), but looks promising!
ricardobeat on HN
Alternatives named
Lander, the author's earlier game
From 1 comment
Flappy Bird
From 1 comment
I was on mobile and it felt like by the time I saw what was happening I was already losing. Very little reaction time available. I thought maybe it would be easier on a desktop,…
al_borland on HN