I recently free-released Heroes! 2, the sequel to my semi-hit Heroes! of a few years ago. Launch did not go well and some glaring issues were apparent pretty much straight away and I’ve since resolved many of them. However, my audience isn’t growing. My suspicion is that the learning curve for the game is too steep. I’ve tried to alleviate this with a few key features, but I have very little ability to determine if it’s actually being effective. Talking with the current audience isn’t very productive since none of them have given up on the game like many of my new players seem to do. What I’m asking from y’all is to play the game and, if it makes you want to stop playing, tell me why so that I can possibly resolve those issues. I’d be grateful.
Here are some notes about your game:
- In the first 7 seconds I am exposed to unloaded assets and the start of a text-filled tutorial. The first 7 seconds should show me why your game is fun. If I’m a 21st century gamer, I have hundreds of thousands of games to choose from, and I don’t have the time or patience to thoroughly examine yours.
- The tutorial is drawn out with far more text than is needed. People will think “Why can’t I just get to the good part?”.
- The animation of the dagger stabbing the map was a nice touch
- Overall the UI is just very confusing. Consider making important buttons larger and color coding to make things more obvious.
- I’m personally not satisfied with the lack of click-to-attack. While I can see the logic of making the attacks automatic, at the same time there’s a charm to getting feedback for your inputs. Do the thing → Get rewarded for doing the thing (feedback) → Be happy. In this case, the first step has been removed so it loses some of that appeal in my opinion. It’s as if 50% of the gameplay has been taken away.
- Playing with the map open at all times feels like the optimal strategy. Maybe the center of the screen IS the best place to put it, but I’d at least explore other possibilities like the top or bottom if you haven’t already tried that.
- Some of the music choices are questionable. As I write this a fast-paced triumphant choir is screaming, but in the actual gameplay I’m just casually trudging through the dungeon.
- It would be nice if hitting enemies had more visual flair and possibly knockback.
- The pure white light surrounding the player isn’t what I would expect from this game. I would expect more of a yellowish light as if from a torch. The candle light doesn’t look like candle light (same reason). While the visibility is probably better this way, it also damages my immersion.
- The camera might be zoomed out too much. Again, something to experiment with if you haven’t already.
- In summary, while I can see that this game has many qualities (in fact it’s better than most of the games posted in game design support), I am personally left feeling unsatisfied, unimmersed, and confused.
I see why your audience can like the game once they start. It’s rewarding once you begin. But the start is just kind of bland:
- The UI are bland. They aren’t themed, rounded, or perfected.
- The auto-click is just boring. I want to do other stuff than move.
- The builds are simplistic.
- The lighting is kind of depressing.
Those are some general things. In terms of the learning curve, no, there isn’t one.
I myself am annoyed that I can’t move my camera in the lobby area. I understand there is a special format for fights, but that’s when something is happening. It kind of gets boring to be hovering over myself as I walk around the map in a single position doing nothing and not looking for “danger zones.” I want to be able to move my camera while not having an objective/ need to attack.
I haven’t played along far enough to know what happens later on, but I would introduce new things as the player keeps going if you haven’t. That means things such as magic, flying enemies, object interaction, chests, etc. Just makes everything a little more engaging and rewarding to continue onward.