hello.
for about 3 months now I have been developing a bird’s eye view cell survivor game, also known as Cyto Survivor. your goal is simple, collect food orbs and evolve into other cell types.
even after reaching the final tier, you have the option to start over but with permanent buffs called mutations. there are 4 unique biomes with their own set of NPCs and features.
the game so far seems to be well received sitting at 82% like/dislike as of this post.
however despite spending a lot of robux on ad runs the player engagement seems to not last very long. I would like to know what can be added or improved that will increase play time from visits.
Spawn more AI, and make new varieties.
Possibilities:
Some small, harmless, low reward AI that spawn frequently.
Some fast moving, colorful AI moving very fast.
AI that spit clouds of stuff; cause damage
Implementing more sound effects into different actions/attacks, scaling up UI, being able to tell when you can perform the next action, leaderboards, background music on a per-biome basis, being able to tell differences between choices when choosing what to evolve into, and using particle effects more often are just a few things you can do to spruce up engagement.
Check out Spore’s cell stage for inspiration.
I had a feeling it was.
At the core of the game, it just doesn’t feel like players have a strong impact on the game, but more effects like tweening UI, particles, sound effects, and music can make it feel alive.
I definitely have spotted some user experience flaws in the game that would lead to players being frustrated. At some points of the game I would be stuck in an obstacle with no way to escape. The game also suffers from some aesthetic issues. Although the ‘gooey’ text of the game does seem to fit the nature of the genre, I would have rather preferred to have clean san serif text instead, that is easier for the players to read.
Although I have not tried the game on mobile, I highly recommend catering your next development steps towards features that make mobile gameplay easier for the players. Aim on increasing overall usability and visibility of the game and add a factor in for customization as players typically enjoy being able to change the look of their Actor.
Although customization may deviate from the original intention of your game, there is strong evidence in other games that have lead to improvement in engagement.
Feel free to reach out to me if you would like some more feedback
could you elaborate on what areas players are getting stuck in?
also ice mentioned the images provided are mediocre and too bright. should I just tone down the color contrast? and by meteocre is the overall map design just not well designed?
I remember evolving once and then getting stuck in some sort of dark circle and was not able to do anything. If I have some time I’ll point it out later. I think rather than map design, the way the game assets are presented should be considered.
You will have to answer questions such as: How can we show the player that you are approaching a threat without explicitly telling them? (Possible solution: Screen vignettes darker or blurs as approach or take damage from deadly threat)
On top of that, you can also the game loop flow as well. How quickly can we re-enter the game after dying? Does staying alive for longer than last time provide any intrinsic rewards? Was I penalized for dying faster this time? Consider these scenarios when designing this.
Based on the nature of your game, I recommend studying games with rapid deployment (fast re-entry) such as Agar.io, or Mope.io and really take into consideration the attributes of the game, noting everything down that feels like it enriches the experience for your players.
