Our game, Weird Strange Librarian, is not retaining players well, with average visit times around 5 minutes and very low completion rates.
This could be due to players not understanding the core mechanics quickly enough or the initial library experience being too overwhelming. The low session time suggests we’re losing players before they get hooked. We’re not sure, as we’ve tried to engage players as much as possible.
My target time for computer users is about 12 minutes, and for mobile users, it is 8-10 minutes.
Could you all provide feedback so we can improve the game? It would be a big help, and any feedback at all is helpful! Please provide a 1-10 rating of the game as well, as it could help me summarize your opinion of the game!
Weird Strange Librarian is a mystery horror exploration game where you survive a possessed librarian in a library during the night, collect your textbooks, refuel the generator, and eat to stay alive. It takes inspiration from Weird Strict Dad, Doors, Baldi’s Basic, and such.
Game Link: Weird Strange Librarian [HARD MODE] - Roblox
Thanks!
7 Likes
Alright, here are a few notes I took while playing:
- There shouldn’t be a waiting timer if all slots are filled, especially if it’s solo (might also consider a party system later if the experience gets more players, so they don’t have to wait, or make servers small for the lobby).
- There should be a settings menu for different things, such as toggling camera sway.
- There are some weird delays with updating to the next “stage”. It’s not long, but I don’t understand having to wait a few seconds before the next thing happens.
- The tutorial right before it starts shouldn’t have a timer if you’re solo (could also have a short tutorial in the lobby, but it seems simple to understand either way).
- I couldn’t pick up books no matter what. Clicking didn’t work, none of the keys work, touching it didn’t work.
- The generator counter doesn’t update once you refill it (remains at 0/100), though it doesn’t seem that you have to refill it more than once per night.
- Sprint is really overpowered. I usually complain about how little stamina you get in horror games, but sprint still seems too powerful as things are now. While you don’t have to reduce stamina or speed, I’d at least recommend having sprinting produce sound that would attract the librarian or something. I like this idea of needing to keep quiet.
New content suggestions:
- I would suggest a peeking mechanic and/or hiding spots, but the “monster” seems pretty forgiving as it is, so this isn’t really needed at least as it is right now.
- Perhaps add later nights where it gets more challenging like FNAF, maybe adding new enemies and making it more challenging each night. I’m not sure how the current story can be adapted for future nights, but just an idea for continued playtime. I also say this because it was really easy to complete as it is right now (although I technically didn’t win because I couldn’t collect the books).
Players could just be leaving because I imagine most players are younger and are probably too scared to play alone. Horror experiences on Roblox seem to be most popular when played with friends, although I personally find that horror can only be had when playing alone. I actually liked the experience, I just wish there were more enemies or things to force me out of certain areas. You’ll obviously first want this experience to grow first, but I think this has a number of directions that it could go in.
Anyway, those are just a few things that came to mind.
6 Likes
I have went ahead and fixed all of the problems you mentioned and tested more thoroughly. It is back to normal functionality.
Overall, thank you for the feedback! I’m open to any ideas you have on how to keep the player more engaged as I do understand that the books (when they work) can be easily collected within 2 in-game hours and so then there is about 4 minutes of hiding time.
If you played the game within the last hour, it was being worked on and probably broken. I have pushed my final changes (I hope) for now and I would recommend you play again to get the full fixed and tweaked experience.
Sorry for the inconvenience! If your suggestions are game independent (ie. a new mechanic, changing of a mechanic that you don’t suspect was obviously affected by a bug, etc), feel free to keep them with your reply.
(I played the newest version)
My biggest complaint is the heavy lack of music and noise. Music plays a big role in retention, and is one of the most important aspect of a game. Your game presents little to no ambience noise, and music only plays when getting chased. Music fills the void, and makes us remember that the time is ticking.
The pacing is also a little bit strange, the car ride was very quickly shown at the start, the camera does not follow the direction of the car which makes it feel a little poor in quality.
I personally had trouble seeing / finding the books at all, it was a little dark and lost my way a couple of times. I had my laptop on full brightness and could only see a little. Add an option to skip dialog too please.
Theres a few areas that can be polished, when joining the game, being directly thrown into the car without context is a bit strange, perhaps lore behind why we’re going to the library could be interesting. No transition screen either, even a fading black screen could make it a little bit smoother.
1 Like
All very reasonable suggestions. I have been trying to figure out what to add for more sound design and music. I’ll probably add some background music that changes pitch based on the game state so that the background noise is there, but it is still immersive.
The books have a highlight which I’ll decrease the transparency of so you can see better, totally understand that it is hard. I’ll add some dialogue during the car ride of you discussing your exam or something, no problem. And yes, I’ll add a fading black screen to the very beginning.
We’re still looking for more suggestions! It has been hard work, but we have implemented 95% of the recommendations so far and continued to polish up the game. Any new perspectives are much appreciated and we will work hard to get any changes implemented on-demand.
