itch.io

I found every large cavern 360 around the start before I call it quits. I think this is enough gameplay to start having educated opinions.

The core gameplay loop is solid, but the game is trying to be two things at once and it is creating a gameplay focus problem: On one hand the maker seems to want you to invest in building tracks and exploring the world.

On the other hand, the gameplay is optimized for short forays where you only spend maybe 30 minutes per level: the permadeath, expensive upgrades, items kept between death, there is only one biome per world gen within three gameplay hours of the starting position, the general lack of points of interest to keep you invested in exploring, etc.

The way I see the future gameplay working out while keeping the risk of failure as a gameplay mechanic is a mission system where a new floor is generated for each mission that takes 30-45 minutes at most:

• Break through walls and repair X length of track damaged by a cave in / run wire to mining beacons to light up the caves to see numbers

• Find 5 digging drill tanks that have been buried by a cave in and mark all the mines touching them

• Find X lost miners who have to be moved by minecart to the elevator

• Train robbers have laid mines near the tracks. Flag ’em all so the train can pass safely!

• Look for an elevator within x blocks of start

• Rob Mine 30 gold from the smurf village houses

• A meteor crashed. Used environmental clues to find the impact site.

• An archeologist studying the ancient, explosive-worshiping Trinitron culture wants you to uncover several buried buildings. Don’t disturb their artifacts too much!

• The company has broken into a haunted cavern and the local ghosts are turning all the numbers into question marks near their haunted gravestones. Using blessed candles that reveal numbers in a small radius, smash the cursed graves to free the anguished spirits.

Most of these involve trying to mine in particular direction towards some goal marked on the map. That would make the one biome system and permadeath work: you fail, you get kicked back to menu and pick a new mission, keeping certain resources and losing others for rescue and hospital costs or something.

Maybe there is a hub floor to build a base in with lots of points of interest and you can recruit villagers like terraria, mine ores in case you failed a bunch of missions and are short on cash, where dying has minimal meaning and creativity is encouraged.