Thanks for answering! 😄
I understand wanting agency, it's just on the longer scale that has some game design implications that come out of it. (As I mentioned in the original comment)
"And then we wanted to link the gameplay of this bar to tiles we’d obtain" "or you set up the wheel for the next turn"
Yeah these and that poison example was exactly what my shallow imagination couldn't come up with!
There you have a choice of what you're going for and it's related to the mechanic. That's perfect!
Still (personally) I'd prefer it's either full random or you get to pick the exact one without any hassles. (Or if it's mechanical then it should be like reaaally easy to control so it's essentially just a choice but you get the toy like fun still).
The depth is in the choice (stack poison or hit specific other tile)
Not in the mechanical skill (how precise timing you press the button to get what you want. )
Of course some games can be about physical mechanics like aiming, movement etc.
But those games have a lot of fun and depth in the mechanic itself.
In roguelike deckbuilder type games I personally feel that mechanical execution just takes away from the depth.
These games shine with the interesting non obvious decisions the player has to make. (Like the poison example you explained.)
There's some exceptions I'm sure but I'd bet that their mechanical skill is more in depth than one button timing.
And again this is just "If I designed this game what would I change" and not "This is objectively how this game should be how dare you".
It's actually really cool that you're sharing your perspective on what you'd change if you'd designed the game :D
I get what you mean about mechanical skill versus the depth of the game through deckbuilding.
Since, for me, you figure out pretty quickly what you’re going to choose, it’s rare to really mess up, and I didn’t find that messing up was too punishing. I think I’d rather keep this element than go for pure randomness, haha.
Thanks again for your feedback, it’s really interesting.
I replayed it once again and beat a run. (I didn't before)
For all these thoughts and suggestions I made the game would of course need completely different game balance and effects.
If you did make it random it would need a complete rebalance haha. I was more suggesting maybe having full control but I can understand keeping it like this.
"it’s rare to really mess up" I think that's what I meant with the "barrier of entry". You've passed it so it's trivial but new players haven't so they're playing on random with the game balance for "choose perfectly"
But honestly the barrier isn't as high as I initially thought. Falls a little closer to the "It's easy enough that it's a choice"
I'd still take a look at completely new players trying it of course. I initially gave up quite early so there's something that could be improved in the new player experience I'm sure.
Thanks for the discussion and good luck with your game!