itch.io

I found this game too frustrating to enjoy.  Here's why.  

1. Even after I read the instructions all the way through, it wasn't until the fourth play and reading the instructions a second time that I understood how to play.  
2. It wasn't until the second play through that I figured out how to grab parts.  
3. Even once I knew how to play, the repair round timer seemed arbitrary.  It wasn't uncommon for my robot to need five or six parts in a single round, even though I barely had time to deliver two, even when I was already holding one.  
4. There seem to be invisible barriers everywhere.  I have to be standing six feet upstage of the conveyor belt to walk behind it, and debris seems to have magical invisible boxes extending in unpredictable directions.  Speaking of which, trying to clean up debris first requires me to play hide and seek with the particular pixel I have to walk into in order to get the SPACE prompt.  

It seems like most of what didn't work for me was just a failure to communicate.  Here's what you can do to help, if you're interested.  

1. Make a tutorial level.  As a suggested outline: Have the robot request one part, stop time and explain to the player that they need to go to the shelf, then wait for the boxes and drop it in.  Let them do that without a clock.  Then have a piece of debris fly off.  Once again, stop time and explain to the player how to clean it up.  Don't let the game progress until they succeed.  Then have the robot need two items at once.  After that (untimed) repair round, turn the player loose.  
2. Think about where your player's focus is.  When I tried to grab parts from the shelves, I didn't realize that I had succeeded and kept trying.  That's because the only indication that I've grabbed a part is on the other side of the screen, and it's not readily apparent that that's my inventory, and not, say, a reminder of which part is needed.  Have the part appear at the shelf, and have the character carry it.  If you don't want to animate that, have the part appear at the shelf and then fly up into your inventory.  
3. Think about game language.  In most games, an empty box or shelf with a sign above it showing an item means "When you find this item, you should place it here."  I spent the first play through trying to grab items from the boxes so that I could bring them to the shelves.  
4. Try to match collision boxes to the visuals.  When using a 3/4 overhead perspective, I've found putting the bounding box where I imagine each element touches the floor to be a helpful method.