Hello!
I am working on a mining game. It’s unique but the basic idea is the same as many other popular mining games, to go underground and find resources. I also have a base building feature.
The issue
Currently, everything in the game is a one-time purchase using in-game currency. There are structures you can buy for your base as well as upgrades for your player (which are probably going to be expensive enough to sink a lot of money at the beginning), but most structures you can buy are either really cheap or you only really need one of them. It’s also the case that for building walls and decorative things you don’t spend money but rather resources. This means there’s not really a good way to get rid of money other than player upgrades and I’m worried about experienced players getting so much money that there’s barely a point to playing anymore.
Current ideas
I’m thinking of adding enemies and other ways to take damage, which means that I can add some one-time-use food and health items for getting back health underground. I’ve also thought of a gardening system for this though so I’m not sure if that’s something that will last long. Another idea I have is to add some explosives for mining out larger areas, and possibly other power ups.
What do you think, is this an issue I should be worried about? If so, do you have any more ideas?
Let me know if you need more details about the game.
This concern is completely viable. Of course you want a game which attracts players yet you also want them to keep coming back for more, and most importantly you want those “veteran players” to feel satisfied.
… Note: This is all advice from the information you have given, if you can go more indeph on mechanics and what player loops you have feel free to reply back here or send me a private message
First, we need to think about how much time those experience players will have to put into the game in order to have a surplus. If they have to put down tens of hours it may be reasonable to allow them to keep their money. Its just a big ol’ balancing act which you may not be able to entirely fix until you have players at that cap.
Fixes:
The most common fix that I am seeing now for this issue, is by implementing rebirths of some kind. Although, insanely grindy games tend to use this model, if placed in properly I don’t think it would be too big of a problem.
Alternatively you can add a leveling system, as players get higher in rank xp will be harder to achieve and locking certain upgrades and building mechanics to levels opposed to just money.
Gems or higher ranked currency opposed to just money can also help slow down completion.
I also feel like your idea with one time use items would be great, and with those enemies you can also include quests and possible bosses.
Gardening sounds pretty neat, it can give the player something else to do opposed to just grinding the main game out. (Maybe plants which can give off certain buffs/resources )
I think the best thing from this for my game, other than the consumable items I mentioned before, would be a higher currency of some kind assuming players could trade up to it. I was also thinking of adding some sort of cosmetic system so players can just have something else to put money into. Since this is going to be partially a building game I can have a lot of decorative items to place down!
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