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Great work! You managed to implement a lot of different features in such a short time span - impressive!

What stood out to me:

  • Music and SFX (!): didn't get boring throughout my gameplay, set the right mood, SFX also felt very responsive.
  • Artstyle felt very consistent - both on UI and gameplay side. While being super simple, I liked that a) day-night cycle was clearly indicating how much time I have left, important pickups were glowing and motivating me to try and get them, enemy attack animations had clear indication phase which was super important to nail these rolls. 

What were the weakest point in my view:

  • The game progressed too fast at the beginning. I didn't have time to explore surroundings nor think about different recipes/components I could combine. I felt like I have to already know exactly what I have to do to progress further. When I think of Don't Starve - they didn't introduce hounds (or whatever was actively attacking you) by night 4 or 7 (can't remember). The point is - player had a bit of time to prepare in advance and explore what's around. Here I must really quickly gear up and get ready as the first night proved to be lethal in my first 3 attempts :D
  • Day/night progressed too fast in my view. I didn't have much time during the day to gather my thoughts. Night also progressed so fast that by avoiding enemies I had the highest chance of surviving.
  • I lacked the clear goal. It's connected to the two points above - I didn't have time to explore surroundings to get familiar with a closed portal nor the vendor. But also a little bit of guidance would help a lot in my case (as an example think of a dropped note to self that tells you that you have to find a way out of there OR survive as long as possible OR find something specific). I wasn't sure if I'm supposed to defend by fireplace or run as fast as I can so the creatures won't get me.

In the end I managed to get to the giant scorpion which wrecked me without questions asked :D This game gives me Don't Starve vibes which is both a compliment (the vibe is great and I see a potential!) but also a warning (at the moment it falls too close to DS - I would love to see some unique elements that are not present in similar titles). I'm really interested in what post-game-jam dev will bring to the table! :)

Thank you for this comprehensive comment! I really appreciate the feedback!

First, I am glad you liked the art and feel! I like it, but that doesn't matter if others don't so it feels good to get some validation at this point. 

The progression pace has been a conflicting topic for me because the game is supposed to have short runs of about 30 minutes max. This sets it apart from DS in that it needs to become action packed more quickly. Therefore, instead of learning the game as you progress in one run, the player should learn the game by playing multiple runs. This has a similar structure to brotato, risk of rain, etc. It also doesn't come across that well in the alpha due to lack of content, but like those games, mine is supposed to have variation between each run depending on which blueprints you find and which bounties you collect from the "vendor". However, like you say, this style can be overwhelming in the beginning, as you don't have that much time to figure out what everything is for in you first run. 

A lot of the same goes for the day/night-cycle, but I have heard from others that the cycle is too short as well, so I will have to take it into account as I progress and do more testing when more content is added.

I completely agree that the goal of the game can be unclear right now, and it has been a difficult part of the design for this alpha. The fact that you made it too the scorpion makes me optimistic though. For the final game I want there to be 3 or 4 portals each run that takes you to other biomes where you have to fight a boss for each biome. There will also be a final boss that you kill to win the game.

Finally, thanks for comparing it to don't starve, I take that as a huge compliment, as I love that game! I believe it will be quite clear that it is different from DS in its final form, but I will keep the warning in mind. It is not my intention to make a clone.

Thanks again for the feedback, this helps a lot! I would love to hear your take on my thoughts as well, especially the part about progression pace!

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oooh, now I see the broader picture! So "Don't Starve but Roguelike" is huuuuge idea! Now you got me really curious how it's gonna turn out! 


It will take some time amd playtesting to nail pacing down. It's also something you don't typically do at the beginning because every future change will throw your balance off again and again. So don't worry - it was a general comment for the future consideration. I think this game is already packed for a game jam project! ;)