Designing Great Levels
The Level Creator uses the same board, pieces and rules as the game itself, so anything you can play, you can build. This guide walks through making a level from an empty board to a published community level, then shares what tends to separate a level people enjoy from one they give up on.
What you can build with
A level is made of five things, all set in the Level Creator:
- The board. Remove squares to make holes, and place the fixed pieces: Shuttles, Satellites and Astronauts to protect, permanent deflectors, curves and bars, and Alien Ships to destroy.
- The meteor's start. Choose one of 16 starting points around the edge of the board, which also sets the direction it enters.
- The wormhole. One square, which no other piece can share.
- The player's toolbox. The pieces players get to place: deflectors, bars, curves, red switches, and red deflectors, curves and bars. Players can rotate them, so one deflector covers both slopes.
- Setup time. How long players have to prepare, from 15 to 250 seconds.
Every level also needs a name, up to 40 characters. Your levels are saved as drafts in your browser while you work. You don't need an account until you want to publish.
From draft to published level
- Build the board, the start, the wormhole and the toolbox, then save.
- Test it. Your level opens on the normal play screen with the real game rules. If you lose, you go back to editing.
- Win to verify it. Your winning moves are replayed, and your score becomes the level's Perfect Score. If you later beat your own level with a higher score, you can choose to raise the Perfect Score.
- Edit freely, then verify again. Any change that affects play (a piece, a hole, the start, the time) removes the verification, so you'll need to beat the level again. Renaming doesn't.
- Publish with a free account. The MeteorBall server replays your winning moves on the level you send and refuses it unless they win, so every published level is guaranteed to be beatable.
Once published, a level is never changed behind players' backs. If you improve it, you publish a new version, which gets its own ratings and leaderboard while earlier versions stay playable. People who follow you are notified when you publish a new level.
Advice for better levels
None of this is a rule: the creator enforces only that a level can be beaten. But these habits make levels that players finish, rate well and come back to.
Build around one idea
The official levels introduce one or two new ideas at a time: the first deflector, the countdown, red switches, permanent pieces, alien ships. A level with a single clear idea ("the meteor has to cross its own path", "the only way in is through the switch") is easier to understand and more satisfying to crack than one that throws everything at the player.
Keep the board readable
Players solve MeteorBall by tracing the meteor's path in their heads. Every hole and fixed piece is something they have to read. Use holes to shape the route rather than to fill space, and make sure each fixed piece is there for a reason.
Give players a choice through scoring
The most memorable levels have an obvious way to win and a cleverer way to win well. Because protected pieces and unused toolbox pieces are each worth 1,000 points (see the scoring guide), you can create that choice directly: put an astronaut beside the easy route, or give players one more piece than the best route needs.
Be fair with time
The countdown is part of the challenge, but a level that can only be solved by someone who already knows the answer isn't much fun. Give players enough time to read the board and try an idea. Longer, more intricate boards deserve more setup time.
Watch the directions
When the meteor reaches a piece from a direction that piece doesn't support, the piece is destroyed and the meteor heads straight up, a rule kept from the original game. It can make a striking puzzle if you mean it to happen, and a frustrating one if you don't. When you test your level, check that it behaves as you intended.
Try to beat your own Perfect Score
Your Perfect Score is simply the score you won with. Before publishing, play your level again and look for a better route: fewer pieces, a protected piece you clipped, a longer flight. If you find one, raise the Perfect Score. Otherwise, players may find it for you, which isn't a disaster, but a Perfect Score that's hard to reach gives three stars real meaning.
Name it well
A good name hints at the idea without giving it away, like the official levels "Bouncer", "Rotater" and "Which Way?". It's the first thing players see on the Community Levels list.
After you publish
- Watch your level's play count and ratings on your Creator Dashboard, and read the comments. Players will tell you when a level is too hard, too easy or broken in an interesting way.
- Reply to comments: creators' replies are labelled so players know it's you.
- Publish a new version when you improve a level. Its earlier versions stay playable.
- Keep it friendly: published levels and comments follow the Community Guidelines, and moderators review anything that's reported.
Before you publish: a checklist
- The level has one clear idea.
- Every hole and fixed piece earns its place.
- There's a reason to look for a better route than the first one that wins.
- Setup time is enough to read the board and try an idea.
- You've tried to beat your own Perfect Score.
- The name says something about the level.