Nice prototype!
I like the concept at the very start that you are tethered to Altars and need have limited time/power to act before getting tethered back. It could lead to some nice puzzle gameplay.
First, bugs:
- When a follower grabs an item in the top right, they try to bring it to the isolated altar despite not having a path to reach it.
- If you click with the mouse you can replace tiles with grass/cobblestone. You can replace walls and spiritwalls this way.
Now, suggestions:
- Procedural world exploration like in Build The Sun by punkcake
- Find an interactable spot to start an Altar, bring resources to it to upgrade it, making you hold more essence when recharged by this Altar.
- As the Altar grows, other stations spawn that you can upgrade for benefits like a longer tether for this Altar, creating Fertility Idols or other vanity items, or spawning new followers
- Shrines, handmade puzzles that you can discover, with a gate at the start that resets your Essence to the appropriate amount for the puzzle
- The time-based Essence decay could be reworked into a Trail system: threading new ground costs Essence and leaves a trail, moving back along the trail does no cost Essence
- Some enemies could attack you to reduce your Essence, others could instead clear your trail