I love this kind of game where we have to optimize our exploration, anticipate trade-offs, etc. It has some similarities with DragonSweeper, which I loved too.
A part of the satisfaction comes from the fact that it is cryptic. Every little detail I understood by myself gave me a little satisfaction boost, pushing me further to find the next detail. That’s great, even if you may lose a part of your “gamer audience” (the persons who don’t want to spend enough time to understand everything).
I was confused by the tag line: “you clear dungeons by making poker hands”.
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It made me believe each card had equal values (like with the real cards), then I realized getting 3 spade cards does not give the same number of points than getting 3 heart cards.
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I thought making some poker hands (like a full or a double pair) would give me some special bonus, but that’s not really the case. The player simply has to get as much as possible of a single card type to maximize points.
I found the point indications (“+1”, “+2”, etc.) a little confusing at start. I didn’t realize the first indication tells the points I will have AFTER completing a hand, and that the colored indications tells the points I HAD by the last hand completion. I had to look carefully at my current points and when they evolve, to understand how it works. I would say these indications could be better organized, but I don’t know exactly how.
The exit door ends to be a frustrating element. It is the equivalent of an invincible square that blocks the player for the whole game. I would not have put this door and I would just have added an opened door that magically appears once the whole map is cleared. You certainly read the other comments, many of which asks how to open the door.
What is the 5-hit-point monster supposed to represent? A carnivorous plant? A hydra? A sandworm?
I so love the “level design” of the shop! By using the base game rules, you give the player some specific choices: the player can buy a second “+” only after having bought 2 swords or 2 spades, the player needs to buy at least one “+” before buying jokers, etc.
I was dragged by the feeling of “just one more game to see if I can do better”. My max score is 590 points. Thank you so much!