Hi, thanks for playing.
1. Feels like there should be some actual slot component to the game where 3 across awards you with something.
What do you suggest should happen? I'm not sure a match like that would happen often enough for it to be a core game event, but maybe something could be added to make it fun when it does.
2. I keep collecting things and avoid dragons because its easy to see them scroll by but I'm not advancing. Feels like Im missing something.
The core gameplay loop is to try to build up resources in the wheels, and use them to get enough resources to purchase or forge swords, and then use the swords to slay the dragons. If you feel like you're not advancing, try using a different strategy in what you're buying from the merchant, and in which wheels. But also, don't get too discouraged – it takes a while to build up to the point where you get some good jackpots that let you do something good because you start out with the wheels stacked with dragons and spaces; you have to get enough resources in the wheels to have multiple wheels land favorably to start landing the better rewards.
3. Don't understand why I would want the wizards unless you have to clean out old items but it seems to risky to bother. Not clear.
Wizards are useful for cleaning your wheels of things you don't want (other than dragons – dragons kill wizards). They're good for clearing out empty spaces, small coin values, etc., and making the stuff you don't destroy with them come up more. But they're really only a good purchase in the mid-to-late game, because using them early tends to make dragons show up more often. Generally, you want them in the late game to whittle down the wheels to make your swords and dragons come up more often in the dash to the finish.
4. I'm enjoying the blended game but not the journey. I'm like 40+ rounds in and nothing is happening. The slot items to the right are always blacked out and it's not clear to me why that is. I've collected a ton of metal but the sword slot never unlocks.
Hm, there used to be a bug in the game where if you remove too many slots with wizards, the wheels don't have enough slots to display properly. What you describe sounds like that, but I thought I fixed it a long time ago. Were you destroying a lot of slot spaces with wizards? In the mean time, follow the advice above and don't use wizards early (thus risking destroying too much of the wheel) to avoid this problem.
As for getting swords, there are two ways to get swords:
- You can buy them from the merchant. They cost six gold, though, and since you lose gold at the end of the spin each time, you have to collect six coins in the other three wheels, which means at least three 2-gold's or a 3-gold, a 2-gold, and a 1-gold. That's hard to get to, but can be done if you focus on ramping up money.
- You can forge them yourself. To do this, you need to use a forge on an ingot. (Getting metal is not enough by itself.) Ingots cost 1, so they're easy to acquire, but forges cost 4, so you still need some purchasing power. Once you land a reel with both in the same row, selecting the forge will let you choose an ingot in that same row to forge into a sword.
Once you get swords, you can select them to kill all dragons in the same row. Kill all dragons to win.
Anyway, sorry you didn't feel engaged by the game, but thanks for taking the time to give feedback and report that bug! Appreciate it.