I beat level 40. A very chilling experience.
Eyy, thank you, and congrats on making a badass game ^^ It's not a new theme or genre but this still feels really fresh and emotionally affecting.
It took me a couple tries to understand the severity of the explosion mechanic, but honestly I didn't struggle with lvl 40 (i took the easy way out and didn't get perfect). This game strikes me as very easy if you're trying to pass levels, and very hard if you're trying to 100%. I gave up on perfect levels pretty early on, although it feels bad to let people die. I always did my best, but it was pretty hard. I'm not a big puzzle guy so take that with a grain of salt. I actually wonder... Is it possible to beat the game with no deaths? Or are there impossible rescues scattered around?
Oh yeah, and if you're looking for constructive criticism, I think it would be nice if the game explains the mechanic of: infected tiles building up to 4 levels of bubbles, and then exploding on the next turn into an impossible-to-destroy infection-source tile, damaging nearby structures. The sudden explosion confused me throughout gameplay, where my people suddenly died and I struggled to figure out what happened. I think I only figured it out in the last 5 or so puzzles. Also, I'm still not sure what some of the buildings actually do? Like the purifier and the amplifier.
Everything else, like the art direction, the music, the length of the game, the writing, the ui, and the game engine are basically perfect, nothing to note there :3
I hope you enjoyed making this and I hope you enjoy making more games in the future!
Thanks for the detailed feedback and for the kind words! 🤩
The "not-having-to-save-all-houses" was a "choose your own difficulty via gameplay" kind of solution, although I would've loved if there was a progression system that could've incentivized you to save everything.
I totally understand the need to improve the learning curve and how key elements are explained (or rather not explained). It's something I did improve a bit with the latest update but it's still not as clear as I prefer it to be. For now, I've added your feedback to the list and will take it into account for possible future updates!
A bit late because you already beat the game, but:
- The Purifier cures everything around it, giving you the option to cure several types of tiles at the same turn (as well as tiles that cannot normally be cured).
- The amplifier makes every building around it protected (which means it cannot be infected, unless spore arms emerge, then it will be destroyed), at the cost of a turn. There can only be one activated at a time.
- And it's absolutely possible to perfectly beat all of the levels, yeah.
I had a blast making this game and the update, although it was a long and difficult journey that took way more time than I expected, but there are no regrets! I learned a lot, I love this creation and I love seeing how other people enjoy the game, so I'm very grateful and happy I managed to finish this game and ship it, dents and all.
Cheers!