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Looking for honest feedback: a small turn-based stealth puzzle in the browser (early build)

A topic by Dohopa created 9 days ago Views: 145 Replies: 6

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Hi everyone. We're working on a small turn-based stealth puzzle called The Ribcage, and we'd like honest feedback from people who have never seen it before. It's an early build and still rough in places.

You play K, who can't fight. She tries to slip out of a circus at night. Guards move only when you move, and she can hide by standing still against a wall of the same colour. 12 short levels. It plays in the browser on PC or phone.

We'd love to hear about anything that bothered you, for example:

the gameplay: did a level feel unfair, too slow, or confusing?
the screen and controls: was anything hard to read or hard to press?
the difficulty: where did it get too hard, or too easy?
anything else you noticed, big or small.

Play as long as you like. Stopping early tells us a lot too. When you stop, the level menu shows a result code (it starts with LN3-). If you can, post it here with a line or two on what you noticed. No account or email needed.

Page: https://dohopa.itch.io/the-ribcage Password: ribcage-test

Thank you for your time. Every note helps us fix it.

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Arrow Out9 days ago(+1)

Haven’t run a full LN3- yet, so this is about how the hide rule reads rather than a full level report.

“Stand still against a wall of the same colour” is a lovely verb, but first-timers will blame the guard path before they blame the colour match. I’d make level 1 force one intentional fail: stand against the wrong colour once, get spotted, then succeed on the matching wall with no extra text. That single contrast teaches the rule faster than a How to play panel.

On phone, keep the “same colour” walls a solid shape change (stripe / hatch), not only a hue shift — neon-on-neon fails in sunlight and the hide verb disappears. Guards that only move when you move are clear if the first “still” beat has a visible breath or idle, so standing still doesn’t feel like a frozen bug.

One honest line after you stop (plus the LN3- if you’ve got it) is already gold. Happy hunting in the circus.

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Dohopa4 days ago

Thanks, this is really useful. Showing the wrong colour once and then the right one is a much better teacher than a help panel, so we’re going to try that on the first level. Good point about phones in sunlight too: we’ll give the matching walls a pattern, not just a colour, and give K a small breathing idle so standing still doesn’t look frozen. If you get a run in later, the LN3- code and a line on where you stopped would help us a lot.

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chztea6 days ago(+1)

I tried the game, and here’s some feedback I’d like to share:

I personally think the first few levels should be easier so players can gradually learn how the mechanics work, how to navigate, and how to hide. The problem is that, in both Level 1 and Level 2, our very first move (WASD) resulted in a game over, which can be discouraging for new players. If we need to "wait" during that first move, I'd suggest to highlight the "wait" button. Then, the difficulty should increase gradually as players become more familiar with the mechanics.
The text isn't particularly hard to read, but some of the wording feels a bit off and can be confusing. For example:
- "A card table takes 1 dot." Perhaps the word "tile" fits better here than "dot."
- "Red X: step there and you're seen. Red ring: stay here and you're seen." This is a bit misleading because we typically associate an X with something wrong and an O with something correct. Having both indicate danger feels counterintuitive

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Dohopa4 days ago(+1)

Thank you for playing and for writing this up. Losing on the very first move in levels 1 and 2 is on us. That shouldn’t happen to someone just starting, so it’s the first thing we’re fixing. You’re right about the wording too: “1 dot” doesn’t explain itself, and a red X and a red ring both meaning danger is confusing. We’ll make both clearer. If you try it again after the update, we’d love to hear whether the start feels fairer, and the LN3- code from the level menu is welcome if you have it.

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Dohopa13 hours ago

A quick update for anyone who tried it: the first levels have changed. Your first move on level 1 or 2 can no longer end the run without a warning, red marks now simply mean danger, and walls you can hide against have a pattern as well as a colour. If you have ten minutes, we'd love to know whether the start feels fairer now, and which level you stopped on (the LN3- code from the level menu helps a lot).

Game page: https://dohopa.itch.io/the-ribcage (password: ribcage-test)

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cynamonshop12 hours ago

https://cynamonshop.itch.io/pagala

The initial sequence looks really good, lots of atmosphere that helped bring me in but the lengthy text / my lizard brain wanted there to be voice over. The instructions were hard to read / discern and I had a hard time really understanding what i was looking at first when the level started and just started pressing some buttons. But after getting caught a couple times I figured out what I was supposed to do! I was able to make it to level 2 and I had a really hard time with it and was getting pretty frustrated. I did learn some techniques like blending into the wall but not from side view but I didn't realize I could wait pressing space until after like 10 tries. I like the music a lot I kept it on in my background for a bit forgetting that it was playing kinna. I tried level three but didn't get the ghost lanterns? I do like that it is the kind of game that you need to play to figure out but I feel like it's too difficult too soon. More teaching moments with very intentional level design so you know how to blend and wait and other stuffs. I'd like to try again when I'm less tired. Thanks for sharing and hope to hear your thoughts on Pagala!

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