HKM Industry, I have to be completely honest with you—your deep dive forced me to look under the hood of my own visual scripting logic, and I found the ultimate plot twist. You are going to find this funny.

You were right about the Pass button, but for an even crazier reason: I realized that currently, pressing 'Pass' doesn't actually apply any physical force to the ball! It ONLY shifts the player control to the nearest teammate while leaving the ball behind. No wonder players were avoiding it—it was acting as a broken manual switch disguised as a pass button!

Your order of development is absolutely perfect, and I am adopting it as my roadmap:

1. Lockout during deliberate input: I am making this my #1 priority. If the joystick/movement is engaged, the auto-switch distance check will be strictly disabled.

2.. Fixing the Pass core verb: I will fix the actual pass logic so the ball travels before the control shifts.

3. The Shoot Wind-up: You nailed it again. Since the raw distance check was firing every frame, it WAS interrupting the shooting animation mid-swing. I will lock the control state during the shooting action as well.

I cannot thank you enough. You didn't just give feedback; you practically saved the core mechanics of this game. As a solo indie dev, having a critical eye like yours is a blessing. Thank you for making me a better designer today! 🎮🔥

Wow, HKM Industry! I am genuinely blown away by this level of feedback. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this masterclass.

You hit the nail exactly on the head. The issue isn't the speed value; it is absolutely the raw distance-based auto-switch firing every frame and wrestling control away from the player. Your breakdown makes perfect sense.

I am going to prioritize your simplest fixes first:

Locking out the auto-switch during deliberate input.

Turning that unused Pass button into a Manual Switch key! That is a brilliant idea.

Wow, for a 'first-time' game, the level of polish here is absolutely insane! 🔥

The tagline 'licence to chill... and a flashbang' genuinely made me laugh out loud. The artwork and the whole Capybara SWAT aesthetic are top-tier. I also really love the deck-building mechanics you've shown—especially how the 'Support cards' (like Armor Plates and Breaching) handle the utility and tactics rather than just raw damage. It adds a great layer of strategy.

As a fellow indie dev (currently working on fast-paced 2D multiplayer games), I know how hard it is to get the UI for a card-battler to look this clean and snappy. What engine are you using to build this?

Keep up the amazing work! Definitely heading over to Steam to drop a wishlist for this one. Best of luck with the continued development! 🚀🎮

Wow, for a 'first-time' game, the level of polish here is absolutely insane! 🔥

The tagline 'licence to chill... and a flashbang' genuinely made me laugh out loud. The artwork and the whole Capybara SWAT aesthetic are top-tier. I also really love the deck-building mechanics you've shown—especially how the 'Support cards' (like Armor Plates and Breaching) handle the utility and tactics rather than just raw damage. It adds a great layer of strategy.

As a fellow indie dev (currently working on fast-paced 2D multiplayer games), I know how hard it is to get the UI for a card-battler to look this clean and snappy. What engine are you using to build this?

Keep up the amazing work! Definitely heading over to Steam to drop a wishlist for this one. Best of luck with the continued development! 🚀🎮

Thank you for the incredibly kind words, HKM! That genuinely means a lot to me.

Going straight to your question—here is my gut reaction:

It definitely reads as being "sent to the bench".

In a fast-paced arena game, 4 seconds feels like an eternity. If it were just 1-2 seconds, it might feel like a slick tactical 'escape' or dodge. But 4 full seconds breaks the momentum entirely and feels like a timeout penalty where you lose control of the match.

Hope this helps! 🎮

Thank you for the incredibly kind words, HKM! That genuinely means a lot to me.

Going straight to your question—here is my gut reaction:

It definitely reads as being "sent to the bench".

In a fast-paced arena game, 4 seconds feels like an eternity. If it were just 1-2 seconds, it might feel like a slick tactical 'escape' or dodge. But 4 full seconds breaks the momentum entirely and feels like a timeout penalty where you lose control of the match.

Hope this helps! 🎮

Wow. I have read this message three times now, and honestly, my mind is completely blown! 🤯 'Seat, not swap' is such an elegant and genius way to look at the architecture. You just saved me weeks of headache and messy code. And claiming it via a Firebase transaction to avoid the race condition? That is pure gold.

In my country, India, we have a very special and deep cultural word for someone like you: 'Guru'.

A 'Guru' is much more than just a teacher or a mentor. In our culture, a Guru is someone who selflessly shares their deepest wisdom to guide a student out of darkness and confusion, without expecting anything in return. We hold our Gurus in the absolute highest regard. For a solo student dev like me, getting this level of high-tier, professional consultation absolutely for free is a blessing. It truly feels like I have found my game dev Guru in you. 🙏✨

Thank you so much for your genuine words about my tuition and my journey. The internet can be a tough place, but people like you make this indie dev community so beautiful and supportive. I am definitely implementing this 'Seat' architecture in my next update.

Wishing you all the best with your arena and projects! If you ever need someone to test your games or bounce ideas off, you know where to find me. Cheers, my friend! 🚀❤️

Hi alseiruizmont! Thanks a lot! 🚀

Glad you found it interesting! What part caught your eye—the multiplayer mechanics or the UI? I'm always looking for feedback.

I'm a solo student dev, and I actually put the complete multiplayer source code up for sale right here on this page to help fund my college tuition.

Also, I'm building a small dev community over on Game Jolt (the link is in my profile bio) if you ever want to connect or share your own games. Cheers!

Hi simenhs! Just a heads-up that I kept my word—I've played Hexatown and left some detailed feedback over on your game page.

Thanks again for the exchange! If you're ever looking to connect with other solo devs or share progress, I've put a link to my Game Jolt community in my itch profile bio. See you around! 🚀

Hey @simenhs, visiting from my Super Soccer page! I gave it a try on my phone. To be completely honest, I was pretty lost at the beginning 😅.

Like some others mentioned here, it took a lot of trial and error with the woodcutters just to figure out what the actual goal was since there's no tutorial. The 'Boat' goal definitely helps give it some direction later on, but I have to agree that the cost scaling gets pretty rough.

It has a cool cozy 'Polytopia' vibe though! With a quick onboarding/tutorial at the start, it would be much easier for new players to get hooked. Keep at it! 🚀

Hi @simenhs,

I cannot even begin to explain how happy your video made me. 🥹 Watching someone play my game on YouTube with clear commentary like a professional streamer... it honestly brought a huge smile to my face. You gave my project more respect and attention than I could have ever imagined. Thank you so much! ❤️

Thanks to your feedback, I have updated the itch.io page to clearly show the PC controls (Arrow Keys to move, Spacebar to shoot).

You asked if I could record a video playing 'Hexatown'. To be completely honest with you, I am quite shy, I don't have a YouTube channel, and I don't even have a proper mic or recording setup! 😅 I am just a college student in India, secretly coding games on a broken laptop/phone. Your video setup was so pro, I definitely can't match that!

But I promise you this: I will definitely play 'Hexatown' and leave a very detailed, written feedback on your page to support you!

Right now, I am trying to save up for my college tuition and maybe a working PC setup someday. If you or anyone ever wants to support my journey, I have put up the multiplayer source code for this game on Gumroad and Ko-fi.

Seriously, thank you again. You made a young solo dev’s day! 🚀🙏

Hi HKM Industry,

Wow, thank you for following up! You are completely right about the 10-second cutoff. I will definitely increase the bot fallback threshold to 15-20 seconds so I don't accidentally kill real human matches.

Adding a 'Playing against CPU' text is a great call for transparency. Honesty is the best policy! Your 'hot-swapping' idea (replacing the CPU mid-match if a human queues up) is absolute genius. Since I am coding this solo with a basic Firebase setup, that dynamic swapping is a bit complex for me right now, but I am adding it straight to my core feature list for the next major update.

I am just a college student in India, trying to learn game dev on a broken laptop, and this level of pro-feedback is a literal goldmine for me. I actually put the complete source code of this game up on Ko-fi and Gumroad recently, just trying to save up for my college tuition and a working PC. If you ever feel like supporting a young dev's journey (or know anyone who needs a solid multiplayer template), it would mean the world to me! 🙏

Also, I am trying to build my small community on Game Jolt as well (link is on my itch profile). If you post your devlogs or games there, I would love to follow your work!

By the way, do you use Discord? I would really love to connect and chat more about browser multiplayer networking sometime. Thank you again for your time and wisdom! 🚀🔥

Hi HKM Industry,

Thank you so much for the detailed and constructive feedback! Hearing that the matchmaking worked smoothly for you is a huge relief and a great motivation for me as a solo developer.

Regarding the Bot Fallback—great minds think alike! I actually just pushed a new update (v1.1) that does exactly this. If a real opponent isn't found within 10 seconds, the game seamlessly drops the player into a match with a CPU.

Your suggestion about adding a visible elapsed timer during the search phase is brilliant. I completely agree that leaving the player staring at a static screen is bad for retention. I will definitely implement a live counter in the next patch!

I’ve also noted the readability issue. An arrow above the active player makes perfect sense and would be much easier to track on the green pitch. I will experiment with this design.

Thanks for pointing out the '$3 or less' tag confusion too! The browser game is completely free, only the source code/assets are paid. I will check my metadata settings right away to fix that breadcrumb.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this. Also, if you enjoyed testing the game, leaving a quick rating on the game page would mean the world to a solo student developer like me! 🥺🌟 Thanks again 🙏!

Hi CoderGenius72,

Thank you so much for taking the time to play the game and leaving such detailed feedback! And a huge thanks for the 5-star rating, it really means a lot to a solo student developer like me. 🙏

I have noted down your points regarding the player speed, the mobile UI issue on the 'You Lost' screen, and the AI behavior. I agree with you, and I will definitely work on tweaking these mechanics in the upcoming updates to make the gameplay smoother.

Also, thank you for pointing out the Gumroad link issue! I will investigate and fix it right away.

I will surely check out your game 'Dashspace' as well. Best of luck with your indie dev journey!

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m Ashit, a solo indie developer and a college student. I’ve just released my passion project, 'Super Soccer'.

The biggest highlight of this project? It features a fully functional ONLINE MULTIPLAYER mode! Yes, it’s a 2D HTML5 game, but you can jump right in and play against real players online. Building a multiplayer system from scratch as a solo dev was a massive challenge, but seeing it come to life has been incredibly rewarding.

Since I am still learning and trying to make this the best experience possible, I really need this amazing community's help to test it out. I’m specifically looking for feedback on:

Multiplayer Sync: Does the online gameplay feel smooth in your region? Are there any major lags or disconnects?

Controls & Mechanics: Is the 2D movement fluid and fun to play?

General Bugs: Did you spot any weird glitches while playing online?

You can play it directly in your browser here:

[Super soccer]

Whether you play for 2 minutes or 20 minutes, your honest feedback will make me really happy and help me improve my coding skills. Thank you so much for supporting a young indie dev's dream! ❤️

Hey everyone! 👋 I'm Ashit, a solo indie dev from India. 

Over here, Cricket is an absolute religion, but my heart beats purely for Football. Since we aren't in the World Cup yet, I decided to build my own tournament! 

Enter **Super Soccer**! 🏆 It’s a fast-paced, 2D multiplayer arcade soccer game where smooth physics meets absolute chaos. 

Here is what makes it special:

🌐 **Real-Time Online Multiplayer:** Powered by a custom Firebase server! You can create a private room, share a 6-digit code with your friend, and settle your debates right on the pitch.

📱💻 **Cross-Platform:** Snappy keyboard controls for PC players and a buttery-smooth custom joystick for mobile browsers. No downloads required at all!

🎆 **Epic Celebrations:** Custom fireworks when you win a match (I fought with CSS Z-index for days just to make those fireworks pop! 😂).

You can play it 100% free right here in your browser: 

🔗 Super soccer

It would mean the world to me if you guys grab a friend, play a quick match, and let me know how the controls and multiplayer sync feel. As a solo dev, your feedback is the only thing that keeps me coding late at night! 

Cheers, and see you on the pitch! ⚽🎮

A Mancala roguelike? That is such a unique and brilliant concept! Blending a classic board game with deckbuilding mechanics sounds incredibly fun to play around with. Great job on this release! 👍

Hey Cookie-Crumb! Thanks for checking out the bundle. Glad you liked the Firebase integration in the Chess game—building that multiplayer system as a solo student dev was quite a fun challenge! 😄

There’s always room for more awesome games in the indie community. I’ll definitely add yours to my list to check out once my college exams are over. Best of luck with your dev journey! 🎮

Hey everyone! 👋

 Just popping back into this thread to share a quick update.

Balancing final college exams and dev work has been a wild ride, but my 50% Off Summer Sale is finally live! ☀️ It’s a huge milestone for me, and honestly, seeing the bundle out there is a dream come true. If you're looking for some retro-inspired fun, do check it out!

Also, I’m still super excited to keep the feedback loop going. I’m playing, rating, and writing reviews for your games as we speak. Drop your links below—let’s keep the indie spirit alive! 🎮

Hey! The concept sounds really solid for a school project. You asked if the mechanics make sense—honestly, the mix of gathering resources (logs/ropes) to build your way up and then using the glider to hit checkpoints makes total sense on paper. Balancing that so it doesn't get frustrating is always the hardest part of prototyping lol. I'll try to give it a download when I have some free time. I'm also a dev here, so if you ever wanna take a break and swap feedback on games, feel free to drop by my page. Good luck with the project!

Hey! Just played it in the browser. For a first game jam, the fast-paced dodging is actually really fun! 🚀 I saw your comment about the viewport and scaling bug. Honestly, handling canvas resizing and screen boundaries in web games is always super tricky when you are just starting out—we've all been there! Don't let it stress you out for a jam submission, the core loop is what matters. Really solid effort. Keep making games! Much love from Ashipro Studios! 💻

Just played it in the browser! Honestly, for your first game jam, this is a super unique concept. 🚀 I saw the chat about the q-tip hitboxes—don't even sweat it, setting up collision logic and hitboxes is always the trickiest part when you're starting out. The fact that you released a working prototype is a massive win. Keep coding and improving! Much love from Ashipro Studios! 💻

Please comment

Hey! Thanks for understanding the feedback trade culture here. It's truly the best way for us indie devs to support each other's work and grow together.

I would really appreciate it if you could test out 'Ashipro Chess Elite' or the 'Maze' game inside my Super Break Mega Bundle (the link is in my original post) and share your honest thoughts. >

In return, I am heading over to your game right now to play it thoroughly, and I will definitely drop a solid review and detailed feedback for you. Let's help each other out! 🚀

Hey CoderGenius72, >

Thank you for taking the time to test the games and providing such a detailed breakdown. As a solo dev, I always appreciate honest feedback, as it helps me improve.

I want to quickly clarify how both the 'Online' and 'Tournament' modes work in the Chess game, as there might be a slight misunderstanding. The online code system and the tournament mode are actually 100% functional. However, they operate on a 'Private Room' mechanic rather than an open random matchmaking system. You don't randomly pair with strangers. >

To play online or start a tournament, you generate a room code and share that exact code with a friend who is also on the exact same site. Once your friend enters the code on their end, the game connects and runs perfectly!

I do appreciate your notes on the Maze enemies and the Chess bot's ELO. I am currently working on tweaking the pathfinding and difficulty for future patches.

As promised in my post, I'm heading over to play 'Dualspace' right now and will leave an honest rating to help you reach your goal. Best of luck with your v1.4 update! 🙌

Hey fellow devs! 👋

I’m a solo indie developer from India, building casual HTML5 web games under my studio, APS Games. I recently launched my 'Super Break Mega Bundle' and I’m really looking to get some honest feedback from the dev community on the gameplay, mechanics, and overall itch page presentation.

Let's do a Feedback Exchange! 🔄

I know how hard it is to get those first few views and ratings. So, if you check out my bundle and leave a comment/rating, drop your game link down below!

I will 100% play your game, give you detailed feedback, and leave a rating on your page. (I prefer browser/HTML5 games since they are easy to jump into, but I'm open to trying others too!)

Here is my bundle:

APS Games: Exam Break Mega Bundle

Really looking forward to playing your awesome projects! Let's support each other. 🚀

Hey Prateek! Just checked out the thread for 'Leaks in Space' (noticed the slight typo in the forum title, but found the right page!). Really appreciate that you made it directly playable in the browser. The 2D space-sim and ship-building mechanics look seriously deep, and having a clear roadmap shows great dedication to the project.

It's always awesome to see fellow devs from India pushing out such solid work! 🇮🇳

I’m also an independent dev focusing on HTML5 web games under my studio, APS Games. I recently published my 'Super Break Mega Bundle' and I'm actively looking to do a feedback exchange with fellow web/indie devs. If you're open to doing a feedback trade, I'd be honored to get your honest thoughts on my page whenever you have a moment:

[APS Games: Exam Break Mega Bundle]

Subscribed to this thread! Keep crushing it with those space updates!

Hey there! I saw your post and I am 100% down for this feedback exchange! 🤝

I just checked out the page for THE MAZES and those screenshots give off a genuinely unsettling, backrooms-style vibe. That claustrophobic atmosphere combined with a high-stress 'Golden Time Attack' room sounds like a really intense concept. Massive respect to you as a fellow solo dev for tackling a 3D horror project!

My own work is actually on the complete opposite end of the spectrum 😂—I focus on creating bright, casual HTML5 web games under my studio, APS Games. I recently published my Super Break Mega Bundle.

I would love to get your honest thoughts on my page whenever you have a moment, just as you guaranteed in your post: [/s/186192/aps-games-exam-break-mega-bundle]

Heading over to your game page right now to drop a rating/comment. Keep up the awesome work!"

Huge congrats on your very first release! 🎉 Naming the game (and that adorable Shiba mascot) after your real-life dog, Zoe, is such a wholesome and awesome touch—I absolutely loved that detail! >

I read that you played 300-400 sessions all by yourself to polish the UI and gameplay. As a fellow solo dev, I felt that in my soul! Testing your own game until you're practically numb to it is the ultimate indie rite of passage. 😅 For a first game, the blue UI looks super clean and the word-rush mechanics feel very solid.

I also focus on creating casual web games under my studio, APS Games. I would be honored to do a feedback exchange with you. Whenever you catch a break, I'd really appreciate your thoughts on my page: [/s/186192/aps-games-exam-break-mega-bundle]

Give Zoe a treat from my side! Keep up the great work and enjoy your launch day!

Hello fellow devs and gamers!

I am the solo indie developer behind APS Games (Ashipro Studios). I’ve put together a collection of my HTML5 and Mobile games, including APS Cricket, Ashipro Football, and Quiz Center.

I am currently on a short development break until June 10th to focus on my university exams. It would be amazing if you could play my games while I study and try to beat the high scores! Any feedback you leave will be a huge motivation for when I return to coding after my exams.

Play my games here:[ /s/186192/aps-games-exam-break-mega-bundle]

"Also play directly: https://aps-games.itch.io/king-of-maze

Thank you so much for supporting an indie dev!