Connecting match-3 and car-trapping

The big problem with the car-trapping mode that’s appeared over the last few days is that there’s no way to reach it. The match-3 mode has no victory condition. As a stopgap I let the player instantly advance from match-3 to car-trapping by pressing the X button, but that’s not going to fly long-term. Today I decided to tackle that problem: there’s now a time limit for the match-3 mode (represented graphically as the passage of the sun across the sky), and when the sun’s gone, the car will arrive whether you’re ready or not. Note also the dirt pile to the left of the pit, which gradually grows with each match you clear.

We also figured the digger shouldn’t just stand there when the car arrives, so now he hightails it offscreen.

I suppose we’ll have to let him get hit eventually, if only so we have an excuse to use that bloody death animation from a couple weeks ago that’s still lurking in the sprite sheet.