Thank you all for the great comments! I did not have time to complete everything that I wanted to within the game jam time limits, so I will take your points and try to make improvements later on.
This is what I originally wanted the game to be (way too ambitious, as I quickly noticed):
- I want customers have XP leveling system, which affects their stats and ability to take on higher level enemies
- GUI needs to look better and offer help to explain concepts. Screens also need better transitions
- Bazaar area needs to feel more alive (occasional dragon roars, screams, smoke, customers covered in soot...)
- I want to have more customers with variety of weapons and accessories (Customer queue should take care of the walking issue)
- I want battles to be a bit more nuanced (details still under consideration)
- I want customers mostly take care of their own battles, and they would not ask for battle assistance for low level enemies like rats
- I want loot system to be a bit more nuanced, rewards should increase in deeper dungeon dives
- The bazaar needs to have more items to sell (weapons, armor, rings, pendants, potions, bombs, traps etc.)
- The bazaar should also sell food rations, and their quality affects customers' stamina and how far into the dungeon they can reach (so number of completed rooms would no longer be random, like it is now)
- Items have a weight, which affect customers' carrying capacity and food consumption
- Old weapons can be reforged, and with certain rare ingredients they can become something special and able to help with higher level enemies
- Some customers can be very poor but extremely capable. In those cases you might want to borrow your best weapon and get a cut of the profits
- However, a failed expedition can result to quick retreat and lost equipment... Let's hope that customer wasn't carrying anything you borrowed!
- Having commercial space in a dungeon isn't free! You need to make enough profits to pay the man, and larger selection of goods requires lots of expensive real estate
- And finally, I need to balance all of the above, so that game loop works (that's probably the toughest part)
I have some other ideas, but I want the game to fit into casual category. Also, I'm just starting with game development as a hobby, so it's better to avoid complexity at this point.
Wish me luck, and send me ideas, especially if you think there's something important missing! :)