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I really love the "Desert Golfing" or "Golf on Mars" vibe in this game.
However, I somehow feel that something is missing in Tapioca Rider, and it might have something to do with the score.

It might be very personal, but once I have finished a level, I don't see myself replaying it to improve my time. And thus, I lack an incentive to perform well. But "Golf on Mars" does it a bit differently : somewhere when downloading the app it says "it is a par 3 golf", ie "we are good if we finish a hole in 3 hits". I don't really care if the RNG was fair or not... I gives me a target and the incentive to do better next hole, if I screwed up before.

Also, the total number of hits is given, which helps me estimate how far I am on a large scale, from that 3 hits rule.

So with Tapioca Rider, maybe you'd get that vibe just by saying "Good drivers finish a track in 25s", and give the sum of each times up the current track at the top of the screen. Maybe with a cursor below showing a vehicle moving at your average speed in previous levesl.

At least for me, that would add a nice meta-level of gameplay and an incentive to perform well without have to replay each level to improve my score.

> "Good drivers finish a track in 25s"

This would be a lie. Golf on Mars can say it's par 3 because that's an easy assumption to make - and it's effectively a prank. Because some of the holes technically are par 3 but they're nigh impossible.

There is no score in Tapioca Rider, nor is there a median track length, there is only a record of how long you took. And no, I do not love UI programming so much that I will record all manner of statistics. It was easy to track the time, here is your time.

I'm sorry the game isn't more interesting for you. It entertained me enough whilst making it, which is why it is what it is. If I feel differently in the future then maybe I will add a new mode but that's not where I'm at right now.

(2 edits)

Thank your for reply !

Hey I am not saying that I don't like tapioca rider 😉. It just gave me some fuel for thoughts one how score (and meta score) can transcend such minimalist games.

And I believe that there is something great hidding somewhere there.