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This game was pretty hard to get into. I played the web version. When you're put in that room with a million tutorials and the dreaded perk room, it's very tempting to go straight into the game.

OK, let's pick easy mode, then! I'll learn the mechanics while playing! Well, it turns out easy mode is pretty hard. Try again and die a few more times.

Let's read some tutorials! OK, so you have to hold A to aim while attacking, unless you're in claw mode, in which case... you can walk while attacking... Why are the controls so complex? That's asking a lot of me to remember all that.

I read it all one more time to make sure I got it. Nope, I shouldn't have to read about special abilities yet, I don't have any of those, right? Let's just try again, this time I'll pick the slow mode. I manage to shoot an enemy twice. Proud of my achievement, I quickly notice it hasn't died yet. I run around for a while, trying to use the scratch ability and managing to fire two more shots, but so far no enemy has fallen. The enemies surround me from all sides, and defeat me in an instant.

I think the problem here is the amount of depth in the game, which you're exposed to from the very start, without training wheels. I think if you simplified the controls to start with, hid away the perk room and the character customization, and introduced one concept at a time in a series of linear training missions (with waaaay weaker enemies), then even I could learn to play this game. Right now I can't do it. It's like asking a cat to play badminton.

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Easy mode is still hard? LOL. Tbh I DO NOT know how hard my game is to other players because I can play it just fine. I think why it was hard for you was because you ditched the tutorial, though. (which was VERY important because aside from controls, there were core concepts in there too that will help you out a lot). Okay, I will make a graphic, intuitive, easy-to-understand tutorial...TODAY.

Also, you DON'T have to hold 'A' while attacking. You just have to press 'A' once and hold 'Z' to shoot, then press 'A' again to exit aim mode. You CAN walk during aim mode but not run, but you can run while in claw mode. (wait, that's pretty confusing.)

Those stone enemies are resistant to scratch attacks, so it'll take about 20 hits for them to fall from it. However, if you shoot them with magic they'll fall in 4 hits (or 3 hits in the next version, which probably would come out today with better tutorials.). Additionally, you get a fleeting 'invulnerable frame' after you get attacked, where you'll be able to walk through enemies and escape, in case you get cornered.

It was that way in the downloadable version (you get a tutorial only where you need it without dumping them all in your head.). Unfortunately, that version also contains loooooooooooooooong cutscenes that apparently made most players bored before they could even get into gameplay. I think I'll just cut out all cutscenes, dialogues, and story from that version and put it into the browser to replace the current one. That way the problem would most likely solve itself.

Imo that analogy is pretty bad though. You could eventually learn how to play a game no matter how hard it is to get into, but a cat couldn't play badminton even if it tries all its life. (unless it transforms into a human or something XD)

Thanks for playing and commenting!

Ah, you're right it wasn't the best analogy. Maybe this is better...

Teaching players to play your game is definitely one of the hard problems in game design, and I can sympathize. A new player launching the game will want to start playing immediately, but to enjoy it they first have to learn how the game works. If it takes too long before they can start playing, the player will get bored and give up.

But don't worry too much. Sometimes you don't get the difficulty curve right, especially as a rookie dev. Learn from those mistakes, keep trying, and eventually you'll be making games that everybody calls "easy to learn, hard to master".