First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed comment. We must have a very similar perspective on video games, because it seems you have completely seen through the decisions I made during the jam haha, I’m really impressed!!
The Spider ship is a very risky choice, you can have a good run with it if you surround it with cards that give it buffs!
I'm glad you appreciate the idea of starting with four ships! At first, I had planned to start just with the starting ship, but the game was incredibly boring. In the first four rounds, you could hardly do anything since you only had one or two ships. So I looked at how other deck-building and strategy games handled it and decided to have a starting deck with the other 3 cards.
I included the option to go to the friendly planet on every turn because, with so few turns, there was a good chance that players would have different needs throughout the game. But I imagine that in a larger game, it would be better not to offer that option and instead have x stores scattered across the map, so players don't get frustrated about having to "waste" a turn instead of fighting.
"Years of similar games have conditioned me to think that "harder mission = better rewards", which is a very hard habit to break here since you do get better rewards, but only if you get a full clear. Had to train myself to take easier missions when I was really needing upgrades so I could actually afford them.
I love this feedback, I hadn't thought of it, but you're absolutely right. I need to think about this, because it's true that I don't know of any game where you don't earn rewards just by beating a level. And it's clear that most players are going to come in with knowledge of those other games!
You're absolutely right about the prices in the store. Once again, you've seen right through my decision. I had planned to create a more complex system, but due to time constraints, I decided to simplify it as much as possible. Giving the player 3 coins at the start was just a way to balance the game given this constraint.
As for the difficulty, you're absolutely right. After watching my girlfriend play for a while, I noticed that too. The game penalizes you for not completing levels, so someone who isn't used to these kinds of games can get stuck in a loop where they don't complete levels, don't get the rewards, don't upgrade their ships, and then don't complete following levels because of that. That makes the game either too easy or too hard. If I decide to expand the game, that's definitely something I'll have to change!
Thank you for your feedback on the layout previews. I didn't want to show all the information so that the user doesn't always choose the best option, but maybe I'm not providing enough information. I was thinking that perhaps if I show the total (aggregate) attack and defense stats of the enemy ships, or something similar, the user might be able to make better decisions.
Yes, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to complete the first rounds without losing any ships. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, to be honest, hahaha. In my playtests, you could always buy a ship after the first two turns to replace the one you lost, but maybe that doesn’t feel very satisfying. I need to think more about this... hahaha.
Thank you so much for this incredible comment. I wasn't expecting anything this good, especially in a jam comment. I'm so grateful, and I've learned so much from it!! If I ever make a bigger game, I'll have to put you in the credits, hahaha. Thank you so, so much!!!!