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Return into the Abyss

Real-time action card game (no-turns). Descend into the Abyss, build your deck, and face the Pit Lord. · By proteus236

Game Feedback

A topic by taylorrexe created 47 days ago Views: 35 Replies: 1
Viewing posts 1 to 2

From your Readme! 

Does the combat feel exciting, clear, and responsive?
The idea of a real-time card game seems interesting and is what drew me to the game! However, I was barely through the tutorial before becoming frustrated with the mechanics, and didn't really want to continue by the time I got to the final boss. To me, a real-time card game should be one where I can at least queue up several actions/cards. In this game I feel like I'm not being rewarded for making smart choices quickly, and it currently sits in a weird limbo of "not turn-based, but you still take one action at a time".  I think the combat is exciting and somewhat clear, but not knowing how cards target and resolve was a bit frustrating. During the tutorial I would pick cards that I thought were a debuff only to see that it didn't resolve because a -20 crit healing multiplier was supposed to go on me instead? What I like about RTS games is being able to pull off combos and have faster reflexes than my enemies, and what I like about card games is having the time to thoughtfully strategize. I do like the concept of RTS card games, but here it feels like the worst of both worlds


Is it easy to understand how to play and when to use cards?
In a fast-paced real-time card game, the mechanics of dragging a card to play it is simple enough, in my opinion. However, I think it might be a bit of a learning curve to know what all my cards do, and then learn what enemies can do and how to counter it. I spent most of my time looking at my own cards, and panicking when my health was too low and I needed to draw more cards to hopefully find some healing. 

How is the pace of battle? 
It could have just been me playing faster than the game intended, but I wasn't a huge fan. There's cooldowns on interactions while I'm waiting for cast time, but the damage the enemies do even in the tutorial create pressure for me to do more damage and kill them before they kill me, or draw more cards to heal up. The clunkiness of cast time + one card played at a time slows down the player's pace, but the enemies getting twice the action economy since there's 2 of them meaning more damage means it speeds up the battle's pace. 

Developer

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to write such thoughtful feedback, this is incredibly helpful!

You’ve touched on a few points that really resonate with me, especially the part about the “limbo” between real-time and turn-based. The current system is indeed limited to one action at a time, but I’m experimenting with ways to make combos or queued actions possible, so your suggestion lines up perfectly with where I want to take it next.

The confusion with targeting and card resolution (like buffs/debuffs applying to the wrong unit) is also something I plan to clarify with better UI indicators and tooltips. You’re right that in a fast-paced game, the player shouldn’t have to guess what will happen when they cast.

Your thoughts on pacing are super valuable too — balancing tension without frustration is tricky, and your perspective helps me see where it currently leans too far.

I'm also planning on redesign and make a complete overhaul of the tutorial.

Thanks again for sharing such detailed impressions.