Original Release: 2019
A Picross-esque puzzle game revolving around burning matches
Play Here (WebGL; has fewer levels than the app)
5 September 2026: Added link to App Store
6 October 2023: Added WebGL version of the game to this page
The idea for this came from my cousin who sent me a picture from his Mensa calendar:
I wouldn't say I was nerd sniped, but the puzzle was intriguing enough that I wanted to do more of them. There were a few similar offerings in the iOS/Play Store involving thermometers, but I wanted to try to build one with more intuitive controls as well as more variety in the puzzles (curved matches). My cousin agreed, so we built this game over the course of a year or two together.
The name "Embergram" comes from avoiding the word "match" at all costs because... well, try searching the app store for "match puzzles" and you'll find the results saturated with puzzles having to do with matches, but not of this variety. The scope of this game was originally much grander with a storyline and so on, but development was stagnating so I just wanted to get a minimum viable product published.
This game was originally released for iOS and Android as well since it was built with Unity. I stopped paying the Apply Tax and it was eventually removed from the App Store. Google Play kept forcing me to periodically update Unity SDKs, privacy policies, etc. due to their ever changing "Developer Program Policies". This became tiresome for a game generating no revenue, so I stopped maintaining the Android release. The game was removed from the Play Store when my entire Play account was disabled for inactivity.
If you're a Google employee and can help re-enable my Play account, I'll put Embergram back on the Play Store.
A WebGL version of the game can be played here.
Update: It's available again in the App Store! My cousin Matthew (the same one that sent the original picture from the Mensa calendar) expanded the puzzle packs, paid the Apple Tax, and got it back up in the App Store.