How is the core gameplay loop of my game?

[niroqeo (niro)]

Hi DevForum!

I ran a small ad campaign for my game MONKEY THEORY and have noticed that the average playtime is quite low (~9 minutes) and the average session time is also pretty low (4.9 minutes). I am worried that these stats are a result of a bad core gameplay loop.

Here is the game link: MONKEY THEORY | Play on Roblox

I’m not sure if there will be players by the time you may see this post (the campaign ends pretty soon) but I would appreciate any and all feedback you may have as a first-time player.

Thank you!

[La0Kriss0o0 (2o03h12c)]

hello, i played one match in your game to see how the gameplay aligns with your metrics, and i noticed a few core game design flaws that explain your low D1 retention and playtime

currently, playing as a monkey feels punishing rather than rewarding, here is what’s killing your core loop
broken risk vs reward:
the issue is that sneaking up on a human while avoiding flashlight beams requires patience, however, hitting a fully charged spear attack doesn’t even one shot or deal massive damage (i hit a human twice, and npc monkeys had to finish him), so if a player successfully completes a stealth approach, consider making payoff feel huge, increase the max charge spear damage significantly or grant stun/stagger on the human

the “crawl” ability trap
the “crawl” speed boost ability only goes on cooldown after you untoggle it, this means after making an attack you are forced to retreat at default slow speed, making hit n run tactics almost impossible, consider changing the cooldown logic so players have a viable escape window after an strike, or add a resource based stamina bar instead of a hard toggle

camera and mobility
the max camera distance is way too zoomed in for the monkeys, it creates claustrophobia without adding tension, also, just running on hilly terrain feels basic for a primate, so either lock the game to forced first person or increase the max camera zoom out distance for monkeys, also add vertical movement, monkeys should feel agile and own the high ground

players are leaving after ~9 minutes because the “stealth - attack - escape” loop is currently broken at the “escape” and “payoff” stages (at least for monkeys, haven’t tried human gameplay), fix the combat feel and mobility first, and your retention will go up (e.g: make it more dynamic by increasing spear bar charging speed, or make it deal more damage/oneshot the human)

[niroqeo (niro)]

@La0Kriss0o0

rewarding, here is what’s killing your core loop
broken risk vs reward:
the issue is that sneaking up on a human while avoiding flashlight beams requires patience, however, hitting a fully charged spear attack doesn’t even one shot or deal massive damage (i hit a human twice, and npc monkeys had to finish him), so if a player successfully completes a stealth approach, consider making payoff feel huge, increase the max charge spear damage significantly or grant stun/stagger on the human

the “crawl” ability trap
the “crawl” speed boost ability only goes on cooldown after you

Thank you for the feedback!

I’ve just included Crawl being toggleable rather than having a cooldown, I’ve allowed monkeys to zoom their camera out more, and I’ve buffed up the charged spear attack. If you could give the game another go, I’d really appreciate it - and if there just isn’t enough time, that’s okay too.

Thanks!

[La0Kriss0o0 (2o03h12c)]

i’ll surely do, sorry for being late!

[La0Kriss0o0 (2o03h12c)]

hey so i played your game again (you probably already know it), here are a few more observations after playing several matches as both factions

monkeys currently have permanent ESP while humans struggle with basic navigation, the submarine-like audio radar doesn’t provide directional info, visibility for humans is poor (i know humans see worse in dark compared to monkeys, but still it could and should be balanced, if one team has power, other should have counter), also having to manually turn the flashlight back on every time you swap weapons creates unnecessary friction, consider limiting the monkey’s ESP (e.g: tie ESP to a cooldown/resource, or make it only reveal humans who are sprinting/moving fast), for humans you could give clear directional radar, keep flashlights toggled on when swapping weapons, and show the objective waypoints immediately after the intro scene so players aren’t wandering blindly

another problem is standing for around ~1 minute at 3 pretty distant objective points feels passive for both sides, for humans it’s a boring waiting simulator, while for monkeys it encourages camping in a bush, landing a spear attack, retreating, and repeating, consider making core gameplay more dynamic or interactive instead of a static timer (e.g: active minigames, shorter timers with wave/event defenses, or fewer static wait times) to keep the pacing high

counterplay issue: hit-and-run is annoying to play against when humans have zero tracking/punish tools, even if you land a few shots as a human, you can’t hunt down the escaping monkey, combined with instant monkey respawns, humans are constantly worn down by monkeys who know their exact location at all times, you could give humans a way to punish bad retreats (e.g: blood trails/footprints when a monkey is hit, but make it visible, dont just paint the terrain because you still have tunnel vision with either weapon flashlight or regular one), also, consider putting a delay or penalty on monkey respawns so killing a monkey actually gives humans a breath of fresh air to push the objective

that’s all i came up with (because im in a bit of hurry), if i’ll think about new solutions i’ll let you know, hope that helps, good luck with your game!