Thanks for playing!
Appreciate the feedback on power clarity. I’ll revamp that part of the tutorial on the commercial version. Alas, no dice on complete gamepad support in jam time. 😭
Definitely agree that the game is difficult without upgrades. We found in playtesting that the difficulty increased engagement by providing stronger motivation for the collection / upgrade purchasing loop, better power enhancement instinct fulfillment, and creating interesting risk versus reward decision-making on how long to continue a run. To balance that difficulty, we opted to make the first health upgrade and dash very affordable, as well as letting the player keep a small amount of collectibles even on death. In the end, difficulty was something I seriously considered reducing, but my playtesters consistently indicated that they didn’t want that. Sharing in case you’re curious behind the design process that led to that! The health system will probably be reworked entirely for the commercial version.
Once again, I appreciate your feedback! It’ll help make a better game.