🌟 Elemedals

Overview

Elemedals is a refined elemental match-3 puzzle game featuring five distinct elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Light, and Dark. Built with HTML5 Canvas and vanilla JavaScript, it delivers smooth puzzle gameplay with strategic power-ups, combo systems, and progressive difficulty scaling.

🎮 Core Game Features

• Five Element System: Earth (🌳), Fire (🔥), Water (💧), Light (☀️), Dark (💀)
• Strategic Power-ups: Landmine, Line Clear, Element Drain, Scramble
• Combo System: Chain matches for multiplier scoring
• Progressive Objectives: Dynamic level goals with scaling difficulty
• Mobile-Optimized: Responsive canvas with touch controls
• Particle Effects: Visual feedback for matches and special abilities
• Professional UI: Clean interface with elemental color theming

⚡ Power-up Arsenal

• 💥 Landmine (3 uses): Clear 3x3 area around target
• ⚡ Line Clear (2 uses): Choose horizontal or vertical line destruction
• 🌀 Element Drain (1 use): Remove all blocks of selected element
• 🔄 Scramble (2 uses): Reorganize board layout strategically

🏗️ Technical Architecture

Technology Stack

Core Game Systems

Grid Management System

class ElemedalsGame {
  constructor() {
    this.gridSize = 8;           // 8x8 playing field
    this.elementTypes = {
      earth: { color: '#6B4423', symbol: '🌳', name: 'Earth' },
      fire: { color: '#8B0000', symbol: '🔥', name: 'Fire' },
      water: { color: '#4682B4', symbol: '💧', name: 'Water' },
      light: { color: '#F0E68C', symbol: '☀️', name: 'Light' },
      dark: { color: '#2F2F2F', symbol: '💀', name: 'Dark' }
    };
  }
}

Match Detection Algorithm

• Line Matches: 3+ consecutive horizontal/vertical elements
• Cascade System: Gravity-based falling blocks with chain reactions
• Special Block Generation: Larger matches create powered-up blocks
• Combo Tracking: Sequential matches increase score multipliers

Objective Generation System

generateLevelObjectives() {
  const numObjectives = 2 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 3); // 2-4 objectives
  const baseAmount = 8 + Math.floor(this.level * 2);       // Scaling difficulty
  
  selectedElements.forEach(element => {
    const variation = Math.floor(Math.random() * 6) - 3;   // ±3 variation
    this.levelObjectives[element] = Math.max(3, baseAmount + variation);
  });
}

File Structure

/home/thrax/unified-services/elemedals/
├── Dockerfile                     # nginx Alpine container
├── nginx.conf                     # Web server configuration
└── public/
    ├── index.html                 # Main game interface
    ├── game.js                    # Complete game logic and rendering
    └── manifest.json              # PWA configuration (if present)

🎮 Gameplay Mechanics Deep Dive

Element Interaction System

Elemental Properties

• Earth (🌳): Stable foundation element, brown/golden tones
• Fire (🔥): Aggressive clearing element, deep red coloring
• Water (💧): Flowing element, steel blue appearance
• Light (☀️): Radiant element, bright khaki/yellow styling
• Dark (💀): Shadow element, dark gray/black theming

Match Scoring System

// Base scoring with combo multipliers
calculateScore(matchLength, comboLevel) {
  const baseScore = matchLength * 100;
  const comboMultiplier = 1 + (comboLevel * 0.5);
  return Math.floor(baseScore * comboMultiplier);
}

Power-up Strategy Layer

Landmine (💥)

• Effect: 3x3 area destruction around click point
• Strategy: Best used on clustered areas or to break deadlocks
• Cooldown: None, limited by available uses (3 per level)

Line Clear (⚡)

• Effect: Choose horizontal or vertical line destruction
• Strategy: Maximize by targeting dense lines with many elements
• Usage: Click power-up, then select direction on grid

Element Drain (🌀)

• Effect: Remove all instances of selected element type
• Strategy: Target abundant elements to complete objectives
• Limitation: Most powerful but only 1 use per level

Scramble (🔄)

• Effect: Reorganize entire board layout
• Strategy: Use when no matches available or to create new opportunities
• Risk/Reward: Can create or destroy potential matches

Progressive Difficulty System

Level Scaling

• Objective Scaling: baseAmount = 8 + (level * 2)
• Element Variety: All 5 elements remain active throughout
• Move Constraints: Fixed 20 moves per level maintains challenge
• Power-up Refresh: Full power-up restoration each level

🚀 Deployment & Performance

Docker Configuration

elemedals:
  build: ./elemedals
  container_name: elemedals
  restart: unless-stopped
  networks:
    - services-network
  labels:
    - traefik.enable=true
    - traefik.http.routers.elemedals.rule=Host(`elemedals.playtopia.com.au`)
    - traefik.http.routers.elemedals.entrypoints=websecure
    - traefik.http.routers.elemedals.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt

Performance Optimizations

• Canvas Rendering: Efficient 2D context with minimal redraws
• Event Optimization: Debounced resize handlers and touch events
• Memory Management: Proper cleanup of animation frames and event listeners
• Mobile Performance: Optimized canvas sizing and touch responsiveness
• Asset Efficiency: Minimal dependencies with pure JavaScript implementation

Development Workflow

# Build and deploy
cd /home/thrax/unified-services
docker compose build elemedals --no-cache
docker compose up -d elemedals

# View logs
docker compose logs -f elemedals

# Quick testing
curl -I https://elemedals.playtopia.com.au

📊 Development Status

✅ Production Ready Features

• Core Match-3 Engine: 100% Complete (pattern detection, cascading, scoring)
• Five Element System: 100% Complete (distinct colors, symbols, interactions)
• Power-up System: 100% Complete (4 strategic abilities with proper limitations)
• Objective System: 100% Complete (dynamic generation, progress tracking)
• Mobile Optimization: 100% Complete (responsive canvas, touch controls)
• Visual Effects: 100% Complete (particles, combo indicators, animations)
• Progressive Difficulty: 100% Complete (scaling objectives, move limitations)

🎮 Game Status: PRODUCTION READY

Elemedals delivers a polished elemental puzzle experience with:

• Strategic Depth: Power-ups add tactical decision-making beyond basic matching
• Smooth Performance: Optimized canvas rendering for consistent 60fps gameplay
• Mobile Excellence: Touch-optimized controls with responsive design
• Progressive Challenge: Balanced difficulty curve with achievable objectives
• Visual Polish: Clean elemental theming with satisfying visual feedback

Elemedals represents a complete match-3 puzzle implementation that successfully combines classical gameplay mechanics with strategic power-up systems and progressive difficulty, delivering an engaging elemental puzzle experience.