Tiles and Indicators: Tiles feel like they need some animation, but I got the jist of stand at a tile edge get new tile kill monster move on to try and find the exit. I think the initial exploration needs a treasure tile or something early to encourage the player to explore more deeply.
UI: Its not pretty but its functional, the turn indicator is good, its not immediately clear what die rolls mean. Maybe keep them around until end turn so the calculation can have a tool tip? I think mainly it needs to have better impact indicators for targeted abilities like throw bomb, fireball etc
Controls: Yeah works fine MMB pan i find a little clumsy generally but it works great and its snappy. I felt myself trying edge panning initially i think mainly because of genre tropes.
Core Loop: I think the core loop is nearly there, but initially i felt no real need to do anything but find the stairs. I think pushing gold into treasure tiles would encourage exploration. Also i never felt particularly in danger because of the clerics infinite ability to heal. So theres no real need to make the decision to leave.
Combat: Needs more impact animations for it to feel better i think. The overall combat feels good though, Reminds me of the old Hero Quests on the Amiga. I actually think it might need some indication of who won a roll. Maybe make the winners dice flash or flair.
Bugs: Clerics Divine Wraith caused a soft lock for me once or twice. I haven't found anything else. Some items in the shop have no mechanical description, not sure if thats intended.
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Thank you very much for this feedback! This playtest I've been getting a lot more feedback about not enough push to keep exploring and just hunkering down instead. I've been building background systems to enable an escalation mechanic that will help push the player to keep exploring, but I was hesitant to add it as I thought it might be too much. But it sounds like it really is needed. And getting the Hero Quest vibes is exactly what I was going for with this, so win for me there!
I've noted all your feedback and will likely use most of it in the next iteration of the game, especially about being more clear on the dice roll results!