It loaded fine, but I couldn't figure out how to actually play it. :*(
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Trailforge's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Uniqueness (Origniality of the game) | #16 | 3.103 | 3.583 |
| Balance (Pacing of the game) | #22 | 2.021 | 2.333 |
| Overall | #23 | 2.093 | 2.417 |
| Theme (How well the game fits the jam's theme) | #25 | 1.371 | 1.583 |
| Fun (Overall enjoyment) | #25 | 1.876 | 2.167 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Comments
This is a cool idea for a game, and I'm impressed that you said it's your first time implementing an upgrade system as it seems like there is a ton of upgrades and content to see!
I appreciate the boost option from the main menu because the upgrades were quite slow to unlock (or maybe I am terrible), so I never would have been able to see much of the content naturally. Similarly the music is fun but can get a bit grating after a while (maybe the loop is a bit short) so the option to disable it is nice QoL -- though of course it's not ideal to have no music playing, I guess
Some way to speed up the expedition would be nice, if there isn't one that I missed. Especially in the very early game I was often placing my paths and then just watching for a full minute or so each time, maybe there could even be some kind of reward for being quick to place all your paths and then you can watch them run through at 3x speed or something once you've done that? I dunno
Looks like you put a lot of care into this, with the intricate upgrade system and even the YouTube video explaining how to play. I think it's a cool idea that definitely has some room to keep growing!
Submitted
Concurrent SentencesRegarding the upgrade tree, yes, I usually make games where you get items by defeating enemies and can use them immediately. In other game genres, the upgrade tree requires a lot of thought and careful consideration, unlike incremental games.
The boost option is just a bonus because I didn't have time to properly balance the upgrades (not enough time to test). I apologize for this. The same goes for the music (using old songs I had saved).
Most importantly, thank you for the suggestions. I will try to balance the upgrades better and make the gameplay faster.
(I've now added A* pathfinding. The heroes look much more lifelike.)
Quite unique game. I appreciate how much it was done, with all the upgrades and level building.
For me, it was a bit hard to first understand how the gameplay worked and then to advance. Maybe having easier blocks at the beginning can help the ramp up on the gameplay.
Submitted
Yokai StoreThank you very much. I think I might need to create a tutorial system that teaches players how to place rooms for the first time (clicking on the starting point and dragging in a certain direction), but for now, I'll implement a system that won't start the timer until a player has placed their first room.
It's definitely unique, but I had a lot of friction with this.
1. The ingame "how to play" is completely off. Perhaps an earlier idea for the game?
2. You've taken a nodelike structure but the upgrade costs are really high with (mostly) very small effects. I was getting about 200-300 gold every 1m 15s, which *might* afford one upgrade. In a normal nodelike sort of game, you're buying 2-3 upgrades a minute.
3. This feels like it was built for an old games console, which is a cool vibe, but it's being played on a PC. I should be able to hover things for more information (are the different circle colours *actually* different?) or see more of the game by fullscreening. I had to zoom in on the web page to 160% just so I could see what's happening.
4. The heroes' movement is very dumb. They're quite happy to start going back on themselves through already-explored rooms even if there's a completely novel path right next to them. Some way of controlling them would help a lot. (I just ended up building a single path every time so they didn't have to make decisions)
Saying that, it's a neat idea and I think it could be a fun game with further development!
Thank you so much for the advice. I've only recently started studying and developing games in this genre. For example, the upgrade tree is something I've tried doing for the first time.
Regarding setting a limit on the upgrade rate per minute, I didn't actually set it beforehand. But I thought about the games I've played, and they actually allow upgrades much more frequently. So it's a very good idea to set it beforehand. 😊
Regarding the enemy's movement, I initially planned to use Astar, but it didn't have the time. My apologies.🙏
Anyway, I'd like to develop a PC version of the game (using a different engine). Your advice has been very helpful. I'll make changes after this jam session is over. I hope you'll continue to provide feedback. 🙏🙏🙏
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