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(5 edits) (+7)

Both Increlution and Terraformental have scaling built in, where you get better at actions over time. Maybe the "perfect solution" is to go in order B A D C on loop 18, but you can still get through with B A C D on loop 23 after grinding a few times.

Having that escape hatch lets the developer make the game more complicated, because the player doesn't have to be perfect to get to the next area.

It also increases tension and mystery during exploration, because the next step might genuinely be impossible until a few more loops. So you never know if you are "supposed to" be able to figure it out or not.

(+1)

It can still be complicated, have multiple solutions, one of which optimal as requiring more loops, but instead of having infinite scaling (which eventually makes all actions order a solution) I want the player to actually figure out the solution, like it should be in a puzzle

(-1)

the problem is your game is like walking through a maze, but take even one step off the "correct" path and you get reset back to the start. its a puzzle without any game, without any soul or fun. its like telling someone that to open a door you have to move forward or back left or right in a very specific set of steps, and after the first 7-8 steps suddenly there are no clues to go on and you have to brute force it.