itch.io

I’ve gotten pretty far, but not that far. Nice job!

information overload for new players

Yeah, it’s a busy screen. Plus side, the most important things take up lots of space, so you immediately get the gist. Enemies are coming at you, use cards and spellbook to defend.

Minus side, there’s little icons everywhere. So here are some ideas to rearrange and simplify. (Maybe you’ve thought of these, but maybe you haven’t, so might as well post them.)

• As mentioned above, move icons closer to things they relate to.
• Try to move less-important details into tooltips.
• Split up the icons into categories: HP, statuses, and intents. Put each in a different spot around the enemy.
• Maybe the HP and shields can be merged into a single bar, using red for health and blue/grey for shield.
• Combine HP and shields into a single number, with a tooltip for the details. I figure that unless the player is running poison, they don’t really care about the difference.
  • You can switch the icon to convey more information. The default icon is a heart, meaning the number is just HP, nothing else. Then when an enemy gets shields, switch to a “heart partially covered by a shield” icon to indicate the number shown is the sum of both defenses.
  • Speaking from experience, having two side-by-side numbers tripped me up. I’d scan the battlefield, see no numbers above 3, and expect my 3-damage AoE attack to wipe them out. But then they actually have 1 hp + 3 shields, or 3+2, etc. (Disclaimer: this might just be me and my tendency to take shortcuts on easy problems.)
• Other games put intents above the enemy’s head, but in this pseudo-3d view it makes more sense to put them below, overlapping the enemy’s sprite a little. Make it look like they’re holding that sword out at you, or holding up a shield to block.
• Statuses can go above or alongside, it doesn’t really matter as long as they’re separate from intents. In fact, statuses like swole can be de-emphasized, since their effects are already included in the intent’s damage. Try making them smaller, allowing abilities like wail to stand out by comparison.
• Highlight statuses that react to the player’s current spell. Highlight wail if they’re using zap and have enough damage to kill, and highlight that other one (forget the name) if they’re about to draw cards.
  • In addition to highlighting the icon, maybe put an exclamation point near the enemy’s head (or whatever passes for it), to show that they’re going to react. But exclude enemies who will die from the spell.

I’m still having trouble getting into the game. To give you an idea of where I am, I just died to the second boss, and I’m not sure I feel like retrying right now.

I think the largest and easiest-to-fix problem is that it feels like I’m spending too much time dragging cards around for too little gain, especially in the early game. So here are some ideas to speed up user input.

• What if you could double-click the boon/school/force on a card to instantly put it in that slot?​​
• The “fill all slots” tab fooled me a couple times into thinking it was a button. So…maybe it should be. What if you could click it to fill all slots? You’d use it when you have a bunch of interchangeable cards, and just want to get through the turn faster.
• Similar to the above, the “choose 1 target” tab looks like a button. I’d like to be able to click it and select a random target. Or better yet, the target with the lowest HP. (And of course, click “choose 2 targets” to pick two, and so on.)
• If there’s only one target left, it should be selected automatically, without making me click anything.
• When it’s time to cast a spell or end turn, what if the corresponding tab poked out farther? Per Fitts’s law, making a button larger reduces the time it takes to click that button. Plus, it’ll help emphasize it. I know you already do that with color and particles, but it never hurts to add motion.

Next, some ideas for displaying information.

• I’d like to be able to see my HP when picking cards, so I can decide if I’d rather heal.
• Put the mana burn icon near the cast button, so you can see it when deciding whether to cast. And maybe make it fill up as you get closer to 4.
• You’ve got this nice pseudo-3d effect, especially in the first area. It would be neat to show your shields in the middle of the screen, as a visible barrier between you and the enemies.
• I like how when a card is placed in a slot, the non-relevant parts fade out. But what if instead of fading, they were covered by something? I’m envisioning a little pocket that the card slides into, precisely shaped to cover everything not relevant. Relating mechanics to everyday objects is a great way to make them more intuitive.
  • The middle card is tricky, since you have to cover some of the top and some of the bottom. Maybe a pocket with a clear cutout in the middle? But it’s right on the fold of the book, which seems weird. Perhaps some flaps that fold over once the card is in place?
• The card names are really fun, and I like how they can fit together or clash. What if the combined name popped up when you cast a spell? Or appeared on the cast button? “Cast Abra Bibidi Boo!” (The button should have room if you pop it out like I mentioned above.)

Finally, some ideas for early game enemies:

• In the gremlin fight, the strategy is to take out one a turn, if at all possible. If you can’t, it feels like you wasted that turn as you eat six damage. What if they had a debuff that when you damage them, they don’t attack that turn? Now dealing chip damage doesn’t feel like a waste, and there are rare cases where you’d prefer it over taking one out. (Mainly when it’s a choice between targeting two, or killing one. Or if another enemy has Wail.)
• I’d like to see an enemy that does more damage, but skips every other turn. If you have to spend a turn blocking, it doesn’t feel like a waste because you know next turn you’ll have a chance to press the attack. Plus, it adds a sense of urgency to finish them before their next hit. Even if it’s the same amount of damage on average, it feels more interesting.
  • A lot of roguelikes have their enemies go through a whole sequence of actions, probably stored in an array. But you can implement this using only statuses. You’ve already got summon sickness, just add another status that applies summon sickness to self after attacking. But maybe call it “resting” or “cooldown” instead.