Update: Level 7 is now playable

Hi everyone,

I've released a new community test build of Fizzles.

The downloadable versions for Windows and Android now include Levels 1–7. The Web version will remain on the stable Levels 1–5 build for the time being.

What's new in this version
Level 7: The Mushroom Forest
a stronger focus on the Digger mechanic
a large mushroom is part of the puzzle itself and can be dug through
digging permanently changes the terrain
new balancing for all four difficulty settings
various technical and visual improvements

The early levels introduced the basic abilities step by step. Level 6 was the first larger puzzle to combine several of them.

Level 7 takes this one step further: the terrain itself now becomes an important part of the solution.

There are many places where you can dig, but not every route will get the Fizzles safely to the exit. The challenge is to find a suitable path through the mushroom while rescuing enough Fizzles along the way.

That also makes Level 7 particularly useful for community testing and balancing at the moment.

I'm especially interested in feedback about
the difficulty of the four difficulty settings
whether the intended solution is understandable and discoverable
whether unsuccessful alternative solutions fail in a way that feels logical and fair
Digger and Blocker behaviour
mouse and touch controls
terrain and collision behaviour after digging
performance, especially on older Android devices
technical issues or unexpected situations
Available versions
Windows: Levels 1–7
Android: Levels 1–7
Web browser: Levels 1–5
Play and download

https://hpwsoft.itch.io/fizzles

More information and community links

https://hpwsoft.com/fizzles/community/

Fizzles is now being developed with Godot 4.7.1 and continues to follow its basic principles:

No ads, no tracking, and no account required.

Thanks again to everyone who has tested previous builds and provided feedback. Especially with the later levels, this feedback is becoming increasingly valuable for improving difficulty, clarity, balancing, and technical details.

Future levels will also be released gradually as community test builds.

Test keyboard shortcuts

The following shortcuts are available for testing:

1 – Load Level 1 directly
2 – Load Level 2 directly
3 – Load Level 3 directly
4 – Load Level 4 directly
5 – Load Level 5 directly
6 – Load Level 6 directly
7 – Load Level 7 directly
R – Restart the current level
Esc – Quit the game

On Android phones and tablets, these shortcuts can also be used with an external USB or Bluetooth keyboard.

Hi everyone,

I've released a new test version of Fizzles.

The downloadable versions for Windows and Android now include Levels 1–6. The browser version remains on the stable Levels 1–5 build for now.

Level 6 marks the next step in the development of Fizzles. The first five levels mainly introduced the abilities one at a time. "The Crystal Cave" is the first larger puzzle that requires several abilities to be combined.

Abilities used in this level include:

Floater
Climber
Blocker
Planter / bridge building

The Fizzles must be protected from hazards, stopped at the right locations, and guided across several levels of terrain toward the exit.

Several other areas have also been updated since the previous version:

New Level 6 with its own background and music
Revised balancing
Improved ability order in the HUD
Assigning a new ability now replaces the previously assigned ability instead of stacking
Improvements to bridge and terrain behaviour
Various visual and technical refinements

Feedback from experienced players in the Lemmings community would be especially valuable.

I would be particularly interested in your thoughts on the following:

Is the solution to Level 6 understandable?
Is the increase in difficulty from Level 5 appropriate?
Does the puzzle feel fair, or does it rely too heavily on trial and error?
Are the available abilities and quantities well balanced?
Do the mouse and touch controls feel comfortable?
Are there any problems with bridge building or Fizzle behaviour?
How is the performance on Windows or Android?
Available versions
Windows: Levels 1–6
Android: Levels 1–6
Web browser: Levels 1–5

Play or download the demo here:

https://hpwsoft.itch.io/fizzles

More information and community links:

https://hpwsoft.com/fizzles/community/

Fizzles is an original puzzle rescue game inspired by the classic concept of guiding small creatures safely to an exit by assigning different abilities. It is being developed with Godot 4.6 and contains no ads, no tracking, and no account requirement.

Thank you to everyone who tries the new version and shares feedback. Further levels are planned to be released gradually as community test versions.

Tester shortcuts

The following test shortcuts are available:

1 – Load Level 1 directly
2 – Load Level 2 directly
3 – Load Level 3 directly
4 – Load Level 4 directly
5 – Load Level 5 directly
6 – Load Level 6 directly
R – Restart the current level
Esc – Quit the game

On Android phones and tablets, these shortcuts can be used with an external USB or Bluetooth keyboard.

Quote from: Strato Incendus on July 16, 2026, 04:30:41 PMNever would have expected that yet another Lemmings clone could look so interesting. Great job!

@mobius: I quickly discovered you first neet to click the fizzle and then the icon that pops up above its head. I guess this might be more challenging on levels that require quick skill assignments in succession.

I like your new take on the Builder, though! Reminiscent of the Ladderer in SuperLemmix, but of course the other way round.

Thank you very much! That is a great compliment, especially here in a Lemmings-related forum.

Fizzles is definitely inspired by the general idea of guiding small creatures through handcrafted puzzle levels, but I am trying to give it its own identity rather than make a direct Lemmings clone.

The control flow is one of those differences: in Fizzles, the player selects the individual Fizzle first, and then chooses the ability from the popup above that Fizzle. This was mainly designed with mobile controls in mind.

You are right, though: this can become more challenging when several skill assignments need to happen in quick succession. That is something I have to be careful with in level design and balancing. My goal is not to create unfair reaction tests, but the interaction should still keep some real-time tension.

I am glad you like the new take on the Builder. In Fizzles it became the Planter, because I wanted the bridge to feel more organic and connected to the world. The instant bridge also changes the pacing quite a lot compared to the classic Builder idea, which is intentional.

Thanks again for taking a look and for the feedback!

Quote from: mobius on July 16, 2026, 01:13:00 AMI took a brief look;

firstly; the graphics are amazing, great job on that. Music is great and fitting too. I almost get a Ori feel to it.

Unfortunately I'm totally confused; I can't even figure out how to make a fizzle do anything. Click on a skill doesn't do anything, I can highlight a fizzle but nothing else. How do you assign??

Thanks a lot for taking a look, and thank you for the kind words about the graphics and music. The Ori comparison is a very nice compliment.

The control flow in Fizzles is intentionally different from classic Lemmings.

In Fizzles, you first click or tap a Fizzle. Then a small ability popup appears directly at that selected Fizzle, and you choose the ability there.

So it is:

select Fizzle first → then select ability

not:

select ability first → then click Fizzle

In Level 1 there is already a small hint for this: if the player does nothing, a Fizzle is selected and a hand appears above it to show where to interact. But your reaction shows that this hint may still not be obvious enough, especially for players coming from classic Lemmings controls.

That is useful feedback. I will look at the onboarding again and think about how to make the first interaction clearer without adding too much text.

Thanks again for testing and for pointing this out. If the first action is unclear, that is definitely something I need to improve.

Hi everyone,

I have just uploaded a new version of the Fizzles demo and I am looking for testers.

Fizzles is a cute 2D puzzle rescue game inspired by classic "save the little creatures" gameplay, but with its own visual style and modern touch controls. The current demo includes five playable levels, each introducing or testing a different ability.

This new version includes several fixes and improvements based on previous feedback:

- fixed overlapping/double dialogs
- improved Level 1 tooltip and Fizzle selection
- fixed Level 3 stopper selection
- improved the HUD direction arrow from Fizzle counter to exit counter
- fixed stopper placement so stoppers can no longer be placed partly in the air
- cleaned up the Level 5 bridge behavior
- improved visual feedback for assigned abilities
- added new level music
- added new success intermission scenes between levels

I would especially appreciate feedback on:

- whether the early tutorial levels are clear
- whether ability assignment is understandable
- whether the HUD is readable
- whether Level 5 feels fair and playable
- any bugs, confusing moments or visual issues

You can play the current version here:

https://hpwsoft.itch.io/fizzles

Any feedback is welcome. Even short comments like "Level 1 was clear" or "I got stuck in Level 5" are very helpful.

Quote from: jkapp76 on July 08, 2026, 03:07:18 PMhttps://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZFOANVZk9l2lwdd445yJG90PRzSj8Q9d2nk

I like to suggest using the Lemmings Revolutions Music pack, downloadable above with this link. It's an underrated music pack for sure.

Thanks for the suggestion!

I agree that the Lemmings Revolution music pack has some really nice tracks. For Fizzles, though, I want to keep the music and atmosphere separate from Lemmings and build its own identity.

The song in the video was created specifically for Fizzles, so I'll probably continue in that direction. But I appreciate the recommendation!

Hi everyone,

thank you again for taking part in the Fizzles song poll.

Song 1 received the most votes, so I used it as the basis for an artistic music video for Fizzles.

The full music video is now online:

https://youtu.be/7MhnpG_5Pfo

Please note: this is not gameplay footage and does not show actual levels, puzzles, or final game content. It is only meant to visually accompany the song and capture the general mood of the Fizzles world.

The music and visuals were created with AI tools, then manually selected, edited, arranged, and assembled.

Thanks again for your votes and feedback. It really helped me choose the direction for the song.

Hi everyone,

I have been working on another Fizzles test update. This one focuses mainly on bug fixes, small gameplay improvements and UI polish.

You can play the current test version here:
https://hpwsoft.itch.io/fizzles

Fixed issues:

    Level 1 – Digger
    A tester reported that Fizzles could sometimes jump position or disappear when using the Digger ability near or on the ground. This has now been fixed.

    Level 5 – Planter / Bridge
    A tester reported that the endpoint of a planted bridge could sometimes behave like a blocking edge. In one case, a single Fizzle turned around at that point and got stuck in a loop, while other Fizzles continued normally. This has been fixed.

    Bridge transitions
    Additional edge cases around bridges and small height differences have been improved, especially where bridges connect to existing terrain or another bridge.

    Pause and music
    Pausing the game now only pauses the gameplay. The music continues to play and no longer restarts when the game is resumed.

    HUD buttons
    The Fast Forward button is now part of the regular HUD function row. The order is now:
    Pause, Restart, Menu, Fast Forward.

    Player menu
    The player name field now uses a fixed font size.
    Deleting a player now actually removes the player instead of only replacing the name with a default name.

    Delete confirmation
    The delete popup now gives a clearer indication of what action is being confirmed.

Most of these fixes came from testing and feedback, so thank you again to everyone who took the time to try the game and report issues.

Fizzles is still in active development, and I am currently polishing the existing levels before moving further into new level and ability combinations.

Feedback is always welcome!

Hi everyone,

thank you very much for taking part in the Fizzles song poll.

Song 1 received the most votes, so I decided to use it as the basis for the next Fizzles music/video work.

I have now uploaded the selected song to YouTube in the original Suno video format:

https://youtu.be/4LtntuXP2uM

Please note: this is not gameplay footage and not the final Fizzles music video. It is only the selected song version, so everyone who voted can hear the result of the poll.

Thanks again for your votes and feedback. It really helped me choose the direction.

Quote from: Guigui on July 01, 2026, 11:48:49 PMI think it'd be better to continue the discussion on the 5 levels demo in the correct thread.

Quote from: HPWsoft on July 01, 2026, 04:56:37 AMFor Fizzles, I still want to keep the core direction mobile-first and more real-time than NeoLemmix. I do not currently plan to make paused skill assignment part of the main gameplay, because that would change the feel of the levels quite a lot.

But your concern about the moving skill popup is very valid. If later levels offer four or five possible skills at once, clicking the correct icon above a moving Fizzle could become too fiddly, especially on touch devices. That is something I need to handle carefully.

Possible solutions could be larger skill buttons, a more stable popup position, better spacing, limiting the number of visible choices depending on context, or another mobile-friendly selection layout. The goal should not be to make players fight the interface. If a level is difficult, it should be difficult because of the puzzle decision, not because the correct icon is hard to tap.

So I will keep the pause design as a separate question, but I fully agree that the skill selection UI must stay readable and reliable once more abilities are available.

Another solution to make assigning skills easier may be to allow to assign skills from the non-moving bottom skill bar in addition to the popup above fizzle ?
Select a (moving) fizzle, have the (non moving) bottom bar highlight which skills are currently available to that fizzle, click on the bottom bar to assign skill to the selected lemmings.
This could be a flow different from Lemmings and not too prone to wrong assignements.

That is a good suggestion, and I can see why it might help in some situations.

However, I also see a possible downside with a fixed skill bar. The player would select a Fizzle in the play area, but then the actual ability menu would appear somewhere else on the screen. That could become confusing, especially on mobile: the player has to keep watching the selected Fizzle, find the correct UI area, move the finger or mouse there, choose the correct ability, and then return attention to the moving level.

In faster levels, that could create its own coordination problem. The player would have to track the Fizzle and interact with a separate UI area at the same time.

The current popup has a reason: it keeps the available actions visually connected to the selected Fizzle. You select a Fizzle, and the possible actions appear directly at that Fizzle. Hitting the correct ability button is part of the gameplay, as long as the buttons remain large enough, readable enough, and fair to use.

I also test every newly designed level myself. If I cannot solve it reliably, or if it feels more like fighting the interface than solving the level, then I adjust the balancing, speed, ability counts, layout, or UI until it works.

So I see the fixed skill bar idea as one possible option among several. I will think about whether it makes sense, maybe as an alternative input method or for specific situations, but at the moment I still think the current popup approach fits the intended Fizzles gameplay better.

The important goal for me is: the controls must stay fair and readable, but Fizzles should still keep its own creature-first, mobile-first interaction style.

Thank you, that is still very useful even without a video.

The Level 5 planter bug description helps. If only one Fizzle turned around at the end point of a plant while all others passed the same point correctly, then it may be related to a very specific position, collision edge, or state of that individual Fizzle. The note that it may have been the same Fizzle that created the plant is especially interesting. I will keep that in mind when checking the planter / bridge logic.

It sounds like the end of one bridge segment may sometimes be treated like a solid edge or blocker for one Fizzle, while the path is valid for the others. That is definitely not intended. Even if it is rare, it is the kind of bug that can become annoying in later levels, so I will investigate it.

About pausing: I understand your point much better now. Coming from NeoLemmix, assigning skills while paused is a very natural habit, and I can see how Fizzles feels different or awkward from that perspective.

For Fizzles, I still want to keep the core direction mobile-first and more real-time than NeoLemmix. I do not currently plan to make paused skill assignment part of the main gameplay, because that would change the feel of the levels quite a lot.

But your concern about the moving skill popup is very valid. If later levels offer four or five possible skills at once, clicking the correct icon above a moving Fizzle could become too fiddly, especially on touch devices. That is something I need to handle carefully.

Possible solutions could be larger skill buttons, a more stable popup position, better spacing, limiting the number of visible choices depending on context, or another mobile-friendly selection layout. The goal should not be to make players fight the interface. If a level is difficult, it should be difficult because of the puzzle decision, not because the correct icon is hard to tap.

So I will keep the pause design as a separate question, but I fully agree that the skill selection UI must stay readable and reliable once more abilities are available.

Thanks again. This is very helpful feedback, especially because it points to problems that may only become obvious when the game grows beyond the first tutorial-style levels.

Thank you very much for trying the 5-level demo and for the detailed feedback.
Small note first: I think this reply ended up in the older thread:
"Fizzles – Original Puzzle Rescue Game With Playable Level 1 Demo"
The newer thread for the current demo is:
"Fizzles – Original Puzzle Rescue Game With Playable 5-Level Demo"
No problem, though — I'll answer here as well.

About scoring and unlockables: I agree. It is probably too early to judge that properly from the current demo. The current version mainly shows the basic mechanics and the first five ability introduction levels. Scoring, progression and balancing will need more testing once there are more levels and more combined mechanics.

The pause / time manipulation point is very interesting, especially coming from Original Lemmings and NeoLemmix. Fizzles is intentionally a bit different here. At the moment, I do not want players to fully plan and assign skills while the game is paused, because that would change the core feel quite a lot and would make many current situations much easier.

The intended direction is that the player observes, reacts, fails, restarts, and improves the solution step by step. Early levels are still mostly tutorial-like and introduce one ability at a time. Later levels are meant to combine abilities more, so the puzzle aspect should become stronger.

That said, your usability point is still useful. Fizzles is being designed mobile-first, and the controls are intentionally placed on the right side, separated from the main play area and easy to reach by touch. At the moment, I do not know of a situation in the current levels where pausing and then resuming would make the player too slow to react. I also do not plan to design levels around that kind of tight pause/resume timing.

So for now, I see pause more as a way to interrupt play or think for a moment, not as a core planning and skill-assignment tool like in NeoLemmix. Still, I will keep the general accessibility and reachability of the pause control in mind as the game grows.

Thank you also for reporting the Level 5 bridge issue. I know the area you mean. If some Fizzles turn around at a bridge edge while others continue, that is not intended behavior and should be treated as a bug. The builder / planter bridges are still one of the newer systems in the demo, so this kind of feedback is very useful.

If possible, could you send me or link a short video showing the Level 5 bridge bug when it happens? That would be very helpful for debugging, especially because the issue seems to depend on the exact position and timing of the Fizzles on the bridge edge.

I'm glad you noticed the instant bridge behavior. That is intentional. The Planter is not meant to be a direct copy of the Lemmings builder. The idea is that a newly created bridge can immediately become part of the path for following Fizzles. As you said, this removes some of the timing headaches from classic builder mechanics, but it also gives Fizzles a slightly different rhythm.

You are right that slow builders in Lemmings create many interesting tricks and level ideas. Fizzles is currently aiming for a somewhat calmer and more accessible direction, while still leaving room for puzzle depth through ability combinations and handcrafted layouts.

Thanks again for playing and for taking the time to write this up. This is exactly the kind of feedback that helps shape the next levels.

Hi everyone,

I'd like to share Fizzles, an original puzzle rescue game I'm developing under the HPWsoft label.

Fizzles is inspired by the spirit of classic guide-and-rescue puzzle games, but it does not use any Lemmings, Pingus or other existing game assets, characters, levels or code. The goal is to build something clearly independent, with its own tiny round creatures, visual style, abilities, world and mobile-first interface.

The current demo includes five playable handcrafted levels. Each level introduces one Fizzle ability:

* Level 1 – Digger
* Level 2 – Floater
* Level 3 – Blocker
* Level 4 – Climber
* Level 5 – Planter

The demo also includes player profiles, difficulty settings, progression, highscore systems, music, sound effects, HUD, and a browser-playable version on itch.io.

Playable demo:
https://hpwsoft.itch.io/fizzles

The Kickstarter campaign for the next development phase is also live:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hpwsoft/fizzles-from-5-playable-levels-to-the-first-release?ref=bxjuid

The campaign is intentionally small and transparent. It is meant to support the next concrete development steps: additional handcrafted levels, new abilities, onboarding, mobile UI polish, audio and presentation improvements, testing, and preparation for a first public mobile release.

I'm intentionally not promising a huge game all at once. The current focus is to continue from the existing playable foundation and build Fizzles carefully, step by step.

I'd be especially interested in feedback from people who enjoy this kind of puzzle rescue gameplay:

* Are the goals and abilities easy to understand?
* Does the creature-first selection approach feel clear?
* Is the HUD readable?
* Does the demo already suggest enough puzzle potential for later levels?
* What would you expect from future abilities or level mechanics?

Thanks for taking a look.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on a possible theme song for my puzzle game Fizzles, and I'd love to get some feedback from the community.

For context, here is a short gameplay video:
https://youtu.be/WrmIY4axcb8

I have created four song variants. Which one do you think fits the mood, visuals, and overall feel of the game best?

Song 1:
https://suno.com/s/JCQKYv9sUJWtu9y8

Song 2:
https://suno.com/s/fTF4zOCY7sXsoOOA

Song 3:
https://suno.com/s/fMxZqjYSXKykc6Um

Song 4:
https://suno.com/s/vdD6NlWQSV2X59bX

I'm looking forward to your votes and, of course, any short feedback on why you prefer a certain version.

Thanks!

I'm currently working on the player/menu screen for Fizzles, and I'd like to discuss one design question with you:

What kind of highscore or statistics system would make sense for a Lemmings-like puzzle rescue game?

The current menu already supports:
- multiple local players
- four difficulty levels per player
- separate progress per player/difficulty
- music and SFX volume controls

My original idea was to add a highscore/statistics screen, but the more I thought about it, the more complicated it became.

A classic time-based highscore does not feel quite right for Fizzles, because I don't want the game to become mainly about speed or pressure. The core idea is still rescuing the creatures and solving the level calmly.

A few possible approaches:

1. Highscore per level and difficulty
Example:
Level 3 / Difficulty 2:
Player A rescued 8/10
Player B rescued 7/10

This is clear, but with many levels it can become a lot of lists.

2. Overall player highscore
Example:
Player A rescued 120 Fizzles in total
Player B rescued 105 Fizzles in total

This is simple and easy to understand, but then the question is:
Should repeated plays of the same level count?
Or should only the best result per level/difficulty count?

The main reasoning is:
The more Fizzles you rescue, the better you mastered the level.

Used abilities are not necessarily a good ranking criterion, because some levels are designed so that the optimal solution requires using the available ability, for example Floater.

So my current question is:

For this kind of game, what would you personally prefer?

- A highscore per level?
- A global player ranking?
- Something closer to "best rescue result" rather than time?
- No highscore at all?

I'm especially interested in what would feel motivating without turning the game into a stressful speedrun experience.

The screenshot shows the current local player menu. Each player can choose a difficulty level, and progress is saved separately per player and difficulty.