I'm more than just thinking about a sequel for * now. I'm definitely going to try out in making one. At first I thought it was going to be just one of those "1.5" sequels that just add a few bits here and there, simply because I couldn't think of many things to add to it, but I believe that I can really expand on the game and make it better now that I've sat down and really thought about it..

Firstly, I definitely want to have the game be focused on two things; chain reactions and strategy. For that reason, I plan to work really closely with the items. I don't want to add random useless ones, but ones that can really change up your playing style. I also plan to enable it so that the player can combine several temporary items together (like health freeze and faster Orbs at the same time). I've come up with at least one good additional item: something that works like a spray can that freezes spheres' movement so that the player can fabricate his/her own chain reactions. Of course, the ability will be temporal.

I've also come up with several ideas for additional spheres. I'm looking at quad-directional spheres, spheres that release a small "cloud" that permanently freezes other spheres (like the paint can item), and spheres that release the same type of cloud that instantly destroys other spheres (the idea is to have chain reactions branch out from this). To add a bit of hectic-ness, I'm planning to add a "?" sphere that is just a random sphere out of all the possible ones (including health and damage spheres). Of course, there'll be an accompanying item that reveals what the "?" spheres actually are. (That one would definitely last longer than a regular temporary sphere though. I'll probably have it last all the way until you get to the next level or shop)

I've played quite a bit of * to realize that chain reactions aren't very…chainy-reactiony. They mostly last for a good 3 to 4 hits. It's really rare for a reaction to hit like 10 different spheres, and I really want to change that. Thing is, the way the original game works is that the spheres appear completely at random, and chain reactions are basically completely coincidental. That was my original intention, but I'm noticing that reactions aren't happening as often as I'd hope.

One thing to remedy this is to have a sphere appear, and when the next sphere is about to appear, have a small chance (like 1/20 or 1/25) of the sphere actually appearing near the other sphere. That would make spheres appear more often closer to each other, instead of having them be all over the place and they never hit one another.

Aside from that, I'm definitely thinking on having unlockables that are…well…unlocked….once you reach a certain level. IE, unlock background #4 whenever you reach level 35 for the first time. That'll definitely add an incentive for players to keep hitting that "start game" button.

Other than that, I'm fresh out of ideas, but I think that's definitely enough material to bring up the gameplay to another level. I'll talk about the graphical style sometime later.