Elements are a great addition to the game, but their effects aren’t obvious, especially when the player is focused on fighting. I realised I had to show what they did in a simple way. I decided to use an icon approach with simple animations. Designing the icons and animating them took time, but it was worth it in terms of clarity and simplicity.
Here are the five element icons. I went for a simple look emphasising diagonal lines to fit the game’s style.
And here’s how they look in actual gameplay:
Cells can have multiple elements at once, and the icon system represents that as well.
I’m hoping to release this update next week, so fingers crossed that it’s happening.