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(1 edit) (+1)

Great game! I think the idea and execution are very solid. Polish is incredible too. Some design suggestions + 1 bug report:


- I just got a game that went on for very long, and for this type of game, I believe you should strive for short and sweet sessions where losing is just around the corner (or else it gets repetitive and the player loses the will to think strategically due to fatigue). Being turn-based, this is especially true.


- I'm convinced ramping up the difficulty quicker will make the experience more enjoyable, increasing the feeling that every decision counts. This can be done is several ways (increasing 'bad events' spawn over time, ramping up speed of VOID quicker, adding more 'bad events', etc). To illustrate my point: the most fun I have in the game is when the VOID is near and I have to think carefully where to go next. When the VOID is far away and you are just chasing points, the game is the least enjoyable, in my experience. 


- If you feel increasing difficulty might reduce enjoyment for more casual players, might be worth adding a "hardcore" game mode or similar.

- EDIT: Forgot to add the request to save game - perhaps this would be less important if games were shorter (see points above).


- When switching upgrades, if you hover over the old ones (to be switched out), their text is bugged in several cases (but not always).

Finally, congratulations on making such a clever little game. Looking forward to updates in case you plan on supporting the game further. Cheers!

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Thank you so much for the feedback!

I am currently working on an update fixing the difficulty curve, and I totally agree that the games go on for too long atm, and that the most fun is had close to the VOID.

The idea of multiple diffidulties is really good! I'll have to try it!

Thank you for finding the bug, think I found a fix :)

and Thank you so much for playing! I'm really happy you enjoyed the game :)

(+1)

Thanks for getting back! Very nice to hear an update is in the works focusing on difficulty balance.

I do feel like the game has all the ingredients to be very replayable (more than most "jam" games) - the design choices are incredibly solid, with so many trade-offs and different resources at odds with each other.

I've given it some further thought so might as well share some ideas in case useful at all:
- Adding additional "dangerous" events like the bear or volcano  might be clever, as it would attack two fronts: increase difficulty + add greater variety. Plus, I think it is more interesting dying due to events than simply the VOID moving faster and faster
- On the same point, new "dangerous" events could cause you to lose a random ability - this would be a new type of setback to deal with in addition to food and water
- Since you have the coding in for "cycles", these could probably be used to tweak ramp-up of the VOID. This means being efficient from the start gives you an advantage, which is nice
- Might be worth giving bonus points proportional to time you take to get to the next altar? This incentives sticking to the game's goal and finding the best path towards the altar. Speaking of altars, I'm not sure how many generate at once, but might be worth only 1 (or 2?) generate at once?

Finally, would highly appreciate you keep putting up Mac builds =) (I am more often on that)
Cheers!

I am super greatful for your feedback!
Great suggestions all around! The way the next patch tackles difficulty, is by decreasing the spawn-chance of some events the further you get, so especially food becomes more scarce, but "dangerous" events don't.

Having more "dangerous" events (snake, troll, geiser...) is a great idea, I might even increasing their spawn-chance over time :)
For now I won't introduce anything that takes away upgrades, but it is definitely a good option, game-play wise.

Decreasing the spawn-rate of alters, while giving bonus points for finding them, is a good idea. I do feel they are a bit too easy to find and get to.

Also I will keep posting Mac builds :D I just hope they work! (have no way of testing them)

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Very nice to see the updates dropping in! Will try and give it a spin sometime soon. Changes sound really promising to an already super solid game! Keep em coming (and Mac builds if possible xD).
Cheers!

Haha, I'll get the mac build up asap