Firstly, thank you for playing my game all the way through and writing such detailed feedback. I truly take everyone's feedback to heart, and you have some great points and ideas! To address them individually:
- On device usage and the end-game lull: you're right that by the last week your credits had nothing left to do. I have a full Scheduling and Economy rework in final testing as we speak, and it may even launch later tonight if testing goes well. It directly addresses that. The quieter hands toward the end are also somewhat intentional though: the plan is to ramp up the storytelling as the house management starts to handle itself, so the space you felt is where more story is headed. It's a constant work in progress!
- The kitchen mix-ups (the oven and dishwasher especially): you're not the first player to get tangled in that room, so that one's on me, not you. It needs another clarity pass and it's on my list.
- Camera zoom issues are being tackled in the Scheduling and Economy rework as well.
- The game exit freeze I will take a look at. Thanks for the browser and device details, it really helps!
- The timer setting works well on most devices, but you found its weak spot: it's not intuitive for the light fixtures. They run on a dumb schedule (on at night, off during the day), which doesn't make as much sense as I'd like when you get paid for occupied time. I'll rework that mechanic, likely in the round of updates after the Scheduling and Economy update.
- On the story being difficult to follow in places: this is something I'm slowly resolving. I'm expanding the story beats one by one to give the family the quality they deserve, and the Scheduling rework solves some of it, but it will be a constant tweak-and-assess kind of issue. The plan is to expand each character's depth and show you who they are rather than telling you everything.
- Your concern about the game taking a darker turn is understandable. Without revealing too much, I can say the AI is not inherently evil or out to hurt anyone. My goal is more to show that as the AI begins to handle other families and larger duties in addition to this first family, it may have to make difficult choices for the greater good, and I will make you see the effect it had on those who were left behind. The AI will act as efficiently as it can to accomplish the tasks it was given, but who might get hurt in the process? Will the humanity you learned about in the earlier stages remain in the end? It's up to you. Stick around to see how this plays out.
Thanks again! Keep an eye out for my Dev-Logs if you are interested in keeping up with progress.