Really enjoyed this game. There's something off about the math though. Often, at high worker counts, even though I have much more production in blue stuff than consumption (calculated via blue bar production / 4), my stores are stuck around 0.
One recommendation is to have the units "earn mana" be visible: ex. a number popping up as they die, or just periodically blink to show mana production.
Otherwise, it's just guesswork if you're doing well or not.
I've played all the "progress / tower" games, and this one is one of the best made, balance and lore and "connectedness" are all well done.
My biggest gripe with this one is that item stats are really hard to read. Showing both the item stats and removed/recalculated stats in the same side panel makes it quite hard to see the actual item stats. The equipment UI needs a rework.
Overall fun little game. Cannon was interesting. The dice rolling animation is fun in the beginning, but it becomes tedious later, especially once you figure out a strategy (rolling cannons under 10 then firing maximizes expected value. )
An option/upgrade to roll dice instantly, would help a lot.
sound design is really great. It would be awesome if it synched up with the music.
I think the bullets having multiple production stages is actually really cool. Instead of an upgrade that makes it 1-step, having an upgrade that automatically triggers each individual step would be better.
Same basic complaint as the other commenters: On my first character I had a farm setup that lasted too many years --- no more need to plan, and a grind to replant the same things every year. If there was a way to "replant" automatically every spring, it wouldn't be such a grind to plant x 15 times then next season x4. I think the shrine having exponential buffing power is a little too strong, Alternative would be tweaking the balance so it's not possible without cross generation planning. Ex, shrines that remain in place grow in power, or the possibility of building more powerful shrines on top of boulders.
I like how the dungeons rooms are connected, and the controls are smooth and visuals clear. The guns also feel nice.
Some quick improvements:
Keyboard Q/E to switch weapon. Wheel is prone to switching more than once accidentally. When picking up a new weapon, print the name of the new weapon. This makes it clear if you're picking up a duplicate, or something you've seen before. Text popup when collecting items (heal, key, etc.)
I didn't notice the rage mechanic. I did notice that the berserkers were going at pretty crazy speeds, and juggling them required a snaking path, where they would constantly hit the snags.
Easy / Normal was doable without juggling. I needed to juggle at the start for Hard on maps where there wasn't a built in maze.
Happy to play test, and thanks for making the game.
I think the stats thing is a question of audience match. There's a specific type of player who likes convoluted TD games with minimal graphics, and I think those players are also the same ones who are not afraid of number crunching.
Also, another feedback.
I like the idea that barriers can be bought for cheap in bulk, but because you can easily buy / sell barriers for free, on many maps, playing harder difficulties, the only way to win was to create two long paths, and buy/sell barriers alternating which one led to the exit. This strategy can basically beat any enemy in the game, but is super tedious, essentially "optimizing the fun away". I think a potential way to fix this is to make selling the free barriers return negative money. (Free to buy, but pay to demolish)
The problem will probably be better, once meta upgrades make it unnecessary to do this on harder difficulties.
Really enjoyed the tower upgrade system and design. They're quite thematic and interesting, especially how they change quite drastically depending on upgrade path. The flavor text is also pretty good.
I would play the s*it out of this if the planned meta upgrades were just as interesting as the tower designs.
My main gripe with this game is the lack of info: how big is the kobold bonus? Which towers are buffed by the kobold ability? How much burn does the first flame effect upgrade give vs skipping to the second one? How much health does the spider web have? etc
Also, it really should be mentioned somewhere that lava turns into walkable but un-buildable tile when the wyrm dies.
Finally, a "bug" with the spider (ba-dum-tsss). The web doesn't become larger after range upgrade until the previous web is destroyed.
Very unique and cool concept. Lots of ways I can see this being expanded.
I liked the snapshot at the end. I think "infinite scrolling arcade" games should do this more often.
One thing that I disliked: The ship is almost always struggling against gravity. I'm holding down the booster constantly, and I often struggle to gain height. I think the game would be improved if gravity were turned down to the point that players only need to be boosting 50~80% of the time.
I had an idea for this game before, but this contest gave me the push to make it a reality. Also the 4-page restriction is quite limiting, but I think it forced me to streamline the design, ultimately making it better. Thanks for hosting.
I'm not familiar with itch.io, but I don't see a "Submissions" tab like the EGU Videogames Jam. Hopefully it went through. Hoping to see what other people have submitted or are working on.
