The main suggestions I have for the current version would be as follows:
Items (swords/shields/etc) seem to get stuck under the cart pretty frequently. The automatic ‘pull’ upgrade that launches them into the cart seems to be slightly problematic and could use some tweaks to prevent this sort of issue. Maybe have a look at the initial velocity and test how it reacts to various inputs? (Such as when the item is ‘grabbed’ by the cart when it is being affected by your own magnet effect, vs when you are holding the item) The main reason this is a major issue is that items are (correctly) regarded as not being in the cart when they are under the cart, thus do not count towards your earnings. At max upgrades this issue pretty much vanishes though, so there is that upside.
The fog effect could be tied to an upgrade and weakened by way of purchasing the relevant upgrade. Just an idea I had while playing. (Initial fog strength would need to be increased, thus decreasing the effective visibility range)
Most of the upgrade prices seem mostly fine as is, but the speed upgrades feel really cheap. If you get all the speed upgrades before maxing out the magnet you will end up losing most of your ‘magnetized’ loot just by walking at full speed. Kind of annoying. Maybe hike up the price of the speed increase?
Grabbing swords and such that are either held by or stuck in fallen soldiers can be frustrating due to the fact that you can also just grab the soldiers. I would like to see the ‘size’ of the items increased such that it makes it easier to grab the items instead of accidentally grabbing the soldiers. Maybe a 5~10% increase to their hitboxes without changing visuals, just to help a bit.
Some variance for the map would be a serious improvement. Going back to the exact same map every time is somewhat depressing. Like, how many battles take place in this one field anyhow?
In relation to the previous point: Lore. More lore is always a plus when the game doesn’t immediately suffer for it. I had a few ideas for this, such as journals that soldiers might have (most players probably wouldn’t go out of their way to collect these, but the magnet effects would grab them in late game anyway) or collecting soldier’s effects of some kind and then getting a small bonus from ‘their family’ for returning something of theirs.
Automation would be huge. Once you unlock servants, they can do exactly what you could do at the beginning and you can buy the same upgrades for them (for any character specific upgrades; not cart or timer related) with each servant costing more than the previous. I feel that having a single servant shouldn’t be reason for you to just chill… it should be reason for you to try to get a second, then a third.
I only saw it once, so I don’t know if this point matters, but having a few variations of the death animation would be a cool little detail. (Might already exist, dunno since I haven’t died more than once yet lol)
Once more content exists, I’d highly recommend reducing the price of the first servant - assuming you go along with the idea of each servant having their own upgrades (or even them sharing some/all upgrades) so the price of each servant goes up and appropriately increases earnings per run. It would take some testing and rebalancing to get the prices just right, so don’t fret too much about getting them perfect lol.
Distant future idea - Maybe at some point introduce other scavengers and some means of competing with them or sabotaging them/having them sabotage you. (Maybe only let them appear after you reach a certain threshold?)
Distant future idea - Monsters/creatures, same as above. These would be some form of hindrance to the player. Not sure if this world is meant to be a medieval era of Earth’s own history (maybe set in England/Britain, judging by the armor types) or if it is a fantasy world of some kind, so this one may not fit at all.
More weapon/armor/collectible types would be nice. New rare stuff, like eastern blades (such as katana) or shamshir, scimitars, etc. A big ass zweihander that you can’t even lift without a couple upgrades would be hilarious.
Lastly, I’d recommend playing through the game a couple of times and rebalancing some of the prices. Some felt too expensive and others felt too cheap. I won’t provide specifics because a lot of this comes down to playstyle and what the player ‘thinks’ is going to be worth it, versus what is actually worth the price at that point in progression. It’s difficult to give specific feedback on this point, sadly.
Talk to the rest of the player base and get more feedback on these ideas before going too far with it… everyone has their own ideas/preferences and these are just mine lol.