Hi! I'm making BarnRaiser, a cozy building game: take jobs from a small town, fell trees, saw boards, mine ore, and raise sheds, alone or with up to four friends on one screen.

It's early (no saving yet), and the first four jobs are a tutorial that's brand new. I'd love to know one thing most of all: does the tutorial get you through your first job without getting stuck? Where did you hesitate, and what did you expect to happen?

Play in the browser (or download for Windows or Mac): https://halfbuiltshed.itch.io/barnraiser A gamepad is best; the keyboard works too. Alone, WASD or the arrows move you, E picks up, Space works with the tool you're holding.

There's a 5-minute feedback form linked on the page and at the end of the game, or just reply here. Thanks for playing!

(moved to the right category)

First-job stickiness is the right question for a brand-new tutorial.

Tip I’d steal: on job 1, force one intentional “wrong tool” beat — pick up the saw when the board still needs a tree, or try Space with empty hands — then flash the expected next verb once. Silent fails feel like “game broken”; one labelled fail teaches the tool loop without a wall of text.

Also log where the cursor/thumb went in the 5s before they asked for help (or quit). Hesitation near the job board vs the tree line tells you whether the town-to-resource handoff is the snag, not the chopping itself. Form answers get sharper when you add that one “where were you looking” line.

Landing right on a long set of instructions feels like work. Is there a way to progressively describe what the player should do next? This kind of gives me stress that I'll have to remember these now. 

Wardrobe: It's weird that "Shift" is "Done". Why not escape or return? Why not clicking out? I appreciate the customization, why such limited colors? 

Why can't I fell a Tree with E? How do I fell the tree? I have to go back and read those instructions? Crap...

No instructions - OK yolo press things. Space? Oh, ok. And, I see now why you need both actions. 

Nice tutorial. Make it more clear you can learn as you go. 

If you'd ever like to watch how other first-timers handle those first minutes, I make Betacade (betacade.com) and I'd be happy to set you up.