December 2024 dev update (v0.2.0)

I got some feedback from a couple of close friends on the prototype (v0.1), and finally had a chance to come back and address some issues. I also took some time to experiment with visual effects and sound effects to spice things up.

1. Added a "health bar" down the side of enemy cards so that it's more obvious how much power is needed to take them out
2. Changed the visuals of the Barricades to hopefully make them easier to grok
3. Added some hints to the "Spend" screen
4. Added some effects when Hearts cards target enemy cards
5. Added some effects when the Attack command is issued and carried out (and the score tallies up)
6. Added more sound effects (all sound effects and music are made by me)

In one piece of feedback I got, a tester got stuck on the Spend screen because they didn't know what to do next. During the conversation, they referred to this as some kind of "matching mini game". It's really just a placeholder interaction right now, and it's simply a matter of clicking the face-down cards until they're all flipped over, and then hitting the "continue" button. But, this comment made me think: what if it was some kind of matching game. So, next on the roadmap, look for big changes to the Spend screen.

Even with the special effects side-quest I took in this release, this is still in the prototype phase, and the graphics are more or less placeholders. I'll be working on some more mechanics and progression for testing before I move on to securing some legit artwork (from human artists).