Post by Maaack in Flip a Talk comments

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Hi there! I've played a bit of While True: Learn() and found it cute and enjoyable. I appreciate getting to see your other work here.

I really like the premise behind this and I do think it can work. I believe Signs of the Sojourner (I haven't played) also ran with a similar idea. This game also has cute art, a sense of humor, and charm.

In it's current state, however, this game is failing to hook me. The mechanics appear to be simultaneously mysterious (what are my enemies doing?) and too simple. The cards appear to have little personality beyond the thematic title and accompanying dialogue. All the cards I've seen modify the same 4 variables. Unless there is more to it, I could write a script to make my gameplay decisions for me.

The lack of polish on the UI also creates for some annoying issues. Ex. clicking the # to spend a card, only to have it pop up and "Whoops!" I flipped the card instead. That's happened 4 times with my first 2 enemies.... I did it on accident again while writing this and updated the previous line from "3 times".

Overall, I felt a lot of friction trying to get into this game, and maybe the rough edges are just too rough for me right now. I do believe that the mechanics need a revisit, as well. I'm still happy to have a found this and I will be following it's development. I hope you get more feedback and good luck!

Maaack4 years ago

Guess I should have just waited 3 hours...

Luden.io4 years ago

Thanks for sharing your thoughts anyway! In any case, your feedback correlates with what we wanted to change about this prototype, so it makes us think we're heading in the right direction

What do you think of this next version though?

Maaack4 years ago (1 edit)

The new card icons were the first thing that stood out to me in the battle scene. I felt like I was making more deliberate choices between cards and sides. In the previous version, I had completely avoided using the red side of cards, whereas that was not an option here. However, with the cards forgoing combined effects, the mechanics feel simpler than before.

I liked the change to enemies telegraphing their moves. I found this also helped in understanding the aggression mechanic. There's still a lot of mystery and figuring out what-to-do on the side of the player, though.

Overall, I think this was a step in the right direction. This update encouraged me to flip my cards more often than I was in the last.

Good luck with the next update! I have a release planned for later this week and would love your feedback when you get a chance.

Luden.io4 years ago

Thanks for the new portion of the feedback. The new version is under development at the moment. Can't wait to check your release out. Would you mind to send me a link?

Maaack4 years ago

I published it today! Here's the link: https://maaack.itch.io/battle-deck-energy-premature-release

gamescodedogs4 years ago

Thank you folks. Players like you @Maack and @tgreatblueberry are a true source of motivation for us. We've experienced it a number of times (with Learning Factory and while True: learn() as well) when the only north star is players like you. If we read this kind of feedback we understand that finally found something interesting to work on, something that matters.

You are always welcome to join our adventure with making this game a really useful and fun tool for learning effective communications :)

https://discord.gg/W8KhjSf @gamescodedogs#2228