Started a fresh run in the embedded player: LV1, AT 7 / DF 4, HP 108/108, XP 0/10, 777 gold, one pink enemy on screen. First wall: once you are in the maze there is no on-screen hint at all. No 'move with WASD', no 'bump to attack'. The only place the controls are explained is the store description, so I spent the opening 20s guessing whether moving into an enemy attacks it and whether contact hurts (HP stayed full the whole time). A one-line prompt on level 1 that fades after the first move would fix the whole opening.
the music and atmosphere is pretty nice and it's easy to start playing.
I think mouse controls could be improved, I didn't know what the pickaxes at the bottom right indicated and almost didin't learn I can dig through the walls nor was it clear to me it's consuming a resource, so I think maybe if the player starts in an enclosed area and has to carve out to teach him that. Or you are in a smaller area and have to find the first pickaxe to get out... but then there is that issue if you dig the wrong wall you end up stuck. I found everything was reachable via the maze, so the digging wasn't that useful.
I've tried your game until level 3 and opened 1 chest. I saw the 2nd chest but could not find 2nd key after roaming around the maze so I stopped. Although I might not be your targeted audience, I still noted a couple of observations below, which I hope could be helpful:
as I moved and pushed the camera, the view jumped exactly 1 tile in that direction. Although I know you are trying to keep the feel of old games, visually it made me slightly dizzied after a while
feel redundant to have HP/XP numbers and green/blue bars at 2 different places, showing the same info
could not tell the difference between the enemy types (white eyes and yellow eyes). I guess later enemies are simply stronger, but couldn't feel the difference by looking at hp bar drops
once I found the 1st chest, as I was finding my way to it sometimes the chest just disappeared and later reappeared. Not sure if this is intended behavior.
When I get my first key, I noticed its icon at bottom right. That's when I saw the sickle icons which I assume to be attacks but couldn't find a way to use it
Hope you could also give my game a try and share your feedback :) It's a re-imagining of the classic Tetris blocks as part of a turn-based combat system. Jam page
Thank you so much! I’m really happy you played my game and gave me this feedback!
The chests and keys are intentionally invisible until you get close. I’ve thought about making discovered chests stay visible, or showing their direction, but since chests aren’t the main objective, I made them a little mean. :)
The “sickle” is actually a shovel! You can use it to make holes in walls.
I’m also still struggling with how “unfriendly” an old-school game should be. Modern players might move on if they don’t get some fun in 10 seconds. It’s difficult!
The issue I had with the chest was it already became visible to me, but then became invisible later as I followed the path to it. My guess is you placed a tile radius check, but I would suggest to turn it off once the player has discovered by being close enough to it.
In my opinion, it was not just "dopamine rush" and getting "fun" within 10 seconds, but the game currently doesnt have any clear objective for players to work towards. For example, a maze can have an exit but for some reason is locked at the beginning. Then players will be curious of how to get the door to open then will naturally start roaming around the maze.
Comments
Hey,
the music and atmosphere is pretty nice and it's easy to start playing.
I think mouse controls could be improved, I didn't know what the pickaxes at the bottom right indicated and almost didin't learn I can dig through the walls nor was it clear to me it's consuming a resource, so I think maybe if the player starts in an enclosed area and has to carve out to teach him that. Or you are in a smaller area and have to find the first pickaxe to get out... but then there is that issue if you dig the wrong wall you end up stuck. I found everything was reachable via the maze, so the digging wasn't that useful.
The hp bar + hp numbers sit apart.
I've tried your game until level 3 and opened 1 chest. I saw the 2nd chest but could not find 2nd key after roaming around the maze so I stopped. Although I might not be your targeted audience, I still noted a couple of observations below, which I hope could be helpful:
Hope you could also give my game a try and share your feedback :) It's a re-imagining of the classic Tetris blocks as part of a turn-based combat system. Jam page
Thank you so much! I’m really happy you played my game and gave me this feedback!
I’m also still struggling with how “unfriendly” an old-school game should be. Modern players might move on if they don’t get some fun in 10 seconds. It’s difficult!
Thanks again, and let’s both keep making games!The issue I had with the chest was it already became visible to me, but then became invisible later as I followed the path to it. My guess is you placed a tile radius check, but I would suggest to turn it off once the player has discovered by being close enough to it.
In my opinion, it was not just "dopamine rush" and getting "fun" within 10 seconds, but the game currently doesnt have any clear objective for players to work towards. For example, a maze can have an exit but for some reason is locked at the beginning. Then players will be curious of how to get the door to open then will naturally start roaming around the maze.