As I mentioned in the description, the values can use some tuning, and the scope of the prototype ended up with a cap on the upgrades, in theory though I would like them to continue with further upgrades. So right now, if you play well enough you can get to a point where you have maxed out the upgrade paths and then you may still lose but it could take a long time running the game until that happens so it appears stable.
Really appreciate you playing the game to completion though!
In idle games and clickers the fail state, such as it is, is usually that you're using your own time inefficiently, as you build towards something. In the case of your game, the player is building to delay and hopefully stop something that is otherwise going to happen.
There's definitely something interesting there, but I think the challenge will be how to avoid it becoming an optimisation task, as the player's inefficiencies will eventually determine whether it's even possible for them to win (I suspect it won't be fun if the player has effectively mathematically lost after 5 minutes, but won't realise this for another 5 or 10 minutes).
It might be worth exploring some secondary loop that exists independently of the loop in the prototype. For instance, perhaps you can invest experience/some other currency in long-term upgrades that allow each failure in the underlying loop to set you up better for the future.
In terms of the prototype itself, I wonder whether you could find another dimension for interaction. In idle games there's often a tension between clicking and passive abilities, with upgrades being available for both.
I definitely agree with the extra wrinkle of coming up with a secondary loop to complicate the gameplay and strategy. And I really like the idea of the primary loop failure states being soft failure states that allow the player to continue and potentially be working on a larger meta strategy that is focused around a higher level gameplay loop.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
is it impossible to lose? I still had fun
Thank you for playing! I'm glad you had fun.
As I mentioned in the description, the values can use some tuning, and the scope of the prototype ended up with a cap on the upgrades, in theory though I would like them to continue with further upgrades. So right now, if you play well enough you can get to a point where you have maxed out the upgrade paths and then you may still lose but it could take a long time running the game until that happens so it appears stable.
Really appreciate you playing the game to completion though!
In idle games and clickers the fail state, such as it is, is usually that you're using your own time inefficiently, as you build towards something. In the case of your game, the player is building to delay and hopefully stop something that is otherwise going to happen.
There's definitely something interesting there, but I think the challenge will be how to avoid it becoming an optimisation task, as the player's inefficiencies will eventually determine whether it's even possible for them to win (I suspect it won't be fun if the player has effectively mathematically lost after 5 minutes, but won't realise this for another 5 or 10 minutes).
It might be worth exploring some secondary loop that exists independently of the loop in the prototype. For instance, perhaps you can invest experience/some other currency in long-term upgrades that allow each failure in the underlying loop to set you up better for the future.
In terms of the prototype itself, I wonder whether you could find another dimension for interaction. In idle games there's often a tension between clicking and passive abilities, with upgrades being available for both.
Good luck with it :)
Hey thanks so much for playing!
I definitely agree with the extra wrinkle of coming up with a secondary loop to complicate the gameplay and strategy. And I really like the idea of the primary loop failure states being soft failure states that allow the player to continue and potentially be working on a larger meta strategy that is focused around a higher level gameplay loop.
I appreciate the feedback!
the mouse dissapears when over the game screen unplayable...also what is this game coded in.... so i can avoid it in the future
Hi! This is a prototype game made in one week in Pico-8. The game does not use the mouse, but instead uses the arrow keys and x button to select.
I hope you give it another try and enjoy it. I worked hard to make it.
Nice art!
Thanks!