Feedback request: Lumps

[esrix]

Our professor switched around our latest Flash/ActionScript assignment on us and, instead of making an MP3 player, we had to make a playable game.

So I decided to make a game to test the player's ability to adapt to near constant change in the environment. And thus was born Lumps. It's essentially a Tetris Attack clone with a slight twist :)

As it stands now, I do not plan to work on the game in it's current version anymore because ActionScript annoys me. But I would still like feedback so that if I decide to redo the game in my prefered programming language, I know what issues players may have.

System Requirements
Windows. Mac version to be compiled soon.

Screenshots (of Flash version)
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~tcurry20/lumpsscreen.jpg
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~tcurry20/lumpsscreen2.jpg
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~tcurry20/lumpsscreen3.jpg

Instructions
Use the arrow keys to move your cursor, space bar to switch the position of Lumps situated next to each other horizontally. Beware of any Lumps that are making strange faces-- they will play a trick on you!

::EDIT NOV 14::
I rebalanced the game a bit so the complexity of the tricks is based on the current player score. I also put some "recovery time" in so that the game didn't play a trick immediately after it finished playing one. Finally, I moved the cursor to the bottom of the board for quicker response at the beginning of the game. Because the game is known for taxing Internet browsers, I've compiled it into an .exe file.
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~tcurry20/game.exe

Known Issues
-Sometimes, the Lumps do not move correctly, or the color may not change properly. I've attempted to solve this problem several times and it doesn't happen too often now, but once in a blue moon...
-If you easily experience motion sickness, I SERIOUSLY do not recommend playing this game. I'm not joking.

[DadTimesTwo]

That's a pretty good idea. It plays well, although you've got the difficulty pumped up too high in the beginning. Introduce the twists (like the screen flipping) later on and split the game up into levels to confer a sense of progression before it gets hard.

[ChilledOut]

I like the game, and I really like the screen flipping. However, I think that the controls should stay the same when the screen flips. I found it too frustrating when the controls would change on me.

[DadTimesTwo]

Maybe make it to where a "bad bonus" of a particular color appears that makes the screen flip a certain way. You have to include it in a match in a certain amount of time or else the screen does its flip thing. And I agree with the above post -- keep the controls the same.

[esrix]

The frustration was actually the very thing I was intent on testing; the controls were made to stay relative to the board's orientation on purpose in an effort to force the player to adapt. However, I agree that the difficulty is too high from the very beginning and it would be best if I introduced the concept over an extended period of time and at different levels.

[esrix]

My professor requested some changes be made, so I rebalanced the game and made it easier to manage the tricks. For full details and a link, please see the end of the first post for the new .exe file.