I'm very glad I played this game! Going into the mines for a loved one is a very touching way to connect gameplay and story through a mechanic--really well done. In addition to that, it was also fun to figure out a good strategy and get rewarded for it (getting upgrades and eventually learning recipes feels great). I felt pretty frantic trying to figure out how to get the health potion, which honestly felt like another really good way to connect the player to the story. I also liked the art!
Here's some more feedback if y'all decide to continue this game:
- My first attempt I died in the mine. I didn't actually understand that being in the mine was hurting me. I just didn't really realize it, maybe because it wasn't really giving me feedback. I guess as a general note, I didn't really immediately understand a good amount of the UI (eventually it makes sense though)
- I thought I had to do something to deposit materials (also didn't realize you only deposit coal). I tried a handful of keys until eventually I realized it happens automatically because I had more cash than before.
- When I first opened the store, I thought I was going to be able to buy the cure with gold, so I was a bit confused why the price was low. I just completely missed the icon next to it that told me it used gems for some reason. Might have just generally seemed unclear at a glance for me.
- I thought at first the order of the gems might matter. In one of my playthroughs where I was still learning, I tried different orders in desperation to get some potions. After I made my first potion I fortunately tested the same gems in a different order to realize it didn't matter after that point.
- Minor visual bug: I think the scaling of the fear meter gets a little messed up as it goes down. It's super minor, just tripped me up a bit because I was trying to visually gauge whether the amount remaining was the amount that took me to get to that node. In a way it made me more paranoid as to how accurate it was, which I guess is a fitting experience to have haha!
Really great job! I think it's rare to see gameplay really fit a story like this, well done!