Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• Overview Tiny puzzle roguelike. Has potential, but the 7DRL build is too simplistic and random. Completeness No obvious bugs spotted. Quite unbalanced, but that's the "fault" of core game mechanics. Aesthetics Nice graphics, but the text is tiny and hard to read. Fun I would really like to give Abyss the better mark here (it's 3/5 right now), but I just can't. Not right now. I really like the core game mechanics (tiles disappear and floor shifts when the player moves) and its consequences (risk/reward management). The problem is that player can't really plan ahead. I know that the author in the post-mortem wrote about "pushing your luck", but I think it would be much more fun if the player could plan more, and if the floor changes would be a bit less random. Innovation A rather basic roguelike, with an interesting twist. Scope Tiny. One small floor, few enemies, gold, and pots. Traditional Roguelikeness If Hoplite is roguelike, then Abyss is one, too.
• Completeness 3 The only reason I didn't rate this 3 for Completeness is there are no sound effects or music. Otherwise, the presentation was very good, up to the standards of a mobile indie puzzle game. Aesthetics 4 The graphics are good-looking and functional. The state of the game is very easy to read. The controls are simple and obvious. Fun: 4 The 7DRL version kept me engaged for a solid 30 minutes, and I played a bit longer to make sure I saw everything. The well-chosen set of mechanics and good balance made me constantly consider new information and think of new tactics. Innovative: 3 This is a well-executed genre mashup with solid ideas to tie the genres together. Scope: 3 Roguelike: 3 Meta-progression, lack of interlocking systems, and other things disqualify this as a True Roguelike to me, but it does have many roguelike characteristics. I am probably stricter on this category than most reviewers. Notes I would be happy to have this game on my phone if it had a bit more content. The content that made it in is well-balanced. The rules for the shifting map are mysterious at first, but are explained well and feel like a good balance of predictable, risky, and strategic. The map size also feels perfect for the gameplay. Adding the notes as in-game items was a fantastic idea. I felt like I was given enough information to get going, and as I got better, I learned new information at a good pace and played better as a result. They're like the "tips" screens you see in complicated software like IntelliJ but I actually want to read them. I do wish they had become more rare on subsequent runs so I didn't see repeated information.
• "Abyss" is a nice little broughlike about collecting loot in a disintegrating dungeon. I think the decision to hide the game rules (or at least the floor tile rules) in scrolls in the pots is a brilliant way to avoid help screens and have an interactive tutorial. Planning a route that leaves you with a guaranteed escape is an interesting problem/puzzle to solve, although I did not find it engaging for long. I wanted to find all the different loot types, but only encountered 3 or 4 - if there is more, perhaps it would help to give the player a hint that they have more to unlock? I also did not notice the enemies have substantially different behavior; if they do differ, it would be nice if the game demands the understanding of their abilities in order to do well in dungeons.