I really like the premise and vibes. Sadly I don't get how to play this game. I seem to be not able to progress much.
I also wish I could tag tiles like in original minesweeper.
In original minesweeper the goal was to mark all of the dangerous tiles and uncover all of the safe ones. From what I gather the goal is different in this game. Stamina de-incentivizes exploration and weapons incentivize fighting the dangerous tiles. This is the issue of pre-existing expectations based on original minesweeper, but I think these expectations will be there for everyone who played the original.
None of these are game-breaking issues on their own but right now I don't know what the game wants me to do. I really would rather be rewarded for clearing the whole floor instead of getting punished by stamina.
Also deaths are always coming as a surprise, especially stamina ones. Usually I was not sure what happened or why exactly I died.
Thank you so much for the great feedback. All the points you mentioned are things I’ve been thinking deeply about. Since we’re still in the early stages of development, I’m sorry there are so many areas that need improvement.
First off, I strongly agree with your point about “sudden deaths and whether the stamina system is ruining the gameplay.” At first, I even considered removing the stamina element entirely, but since accidentally “stepping on” monsters doesn’t happen as often as I expected, I wondered if players were playing the game a bit too cautiously. So, I wanted the pressure from stamina to increase the game’s difficulty and make it more thrilling, but I feel like that intention hasn’t quite come across yet. I’m also considering whether I should add more warning cues or give players a slightly more generous stamina pool.
I initially tried planting flags with a right-click, but I wanted a game that could be played entirely with touch controls (so it could be played on an iPad). So I boldly removed the flag mechanic and created a system where you attack using weapons—which I’m personally satisfied with. -> I’ve always found the controls in the original Minesweeper—alternating right + left clicks and right clicks—to be quite tiring.
As for what the game aims to achieve… since I was inspired by “Balatro” and “Luck be a LandLord,” the goal is likely to build a deck and use synergies to reach higher levels. If the gameplay becomes a bit more user-friendly, I wonder if players will be able to focus on building those synergies.
In any case, thank you so much for the detailed feedback.