Why do players leave after 5 minutes?

Help and Feedback Game Design Support
#1

Okay, so I have this game I have made, I sponsored it to test the current game play loop, and players leave after around 5 minutes. I am not entirely sure what I can do to keep players engaged. One main way I would assume is a social aspect such as having other player’s to interact with but I can’t get players to keep playing so I can’t have more than 2 players at a time. I am at a loss.

Here’s the game:

Why do players leave after such a short amount of time?

3 Likes
#2
  1. Add more content, levels, challenges, or features to keep gameplay fresh.
  2. Evaluate the difficulty curve and balance to provide an appropriate level of challenge.
  3. Clearly communicate goals and objectives to give players a sense of direction.
  4. Incorporate social aspects to encourage player interaction and engagement.
  5. Implement progression systems or adjustable difficulty settings to cater to different skill levels.
  6. Regularly update and add new content to keep players interested.
  7. Consider gathering feedback from players to identify specific areas of improvement.
  8. Optimize the game for performance and fix any technical issues that may be causing players to leave.
8 Likes
#3

This is very vague and sounds very AI generated, you good bro :skull: :skull:

8 Likes
#4

I tried out your game and it looks cool and it is entertaining to me but yeah I think its that the players need to socialize more. Maybe try to make it look more singleplayer, to be honest i dont have a good tip because im not a popular dev

2 Likes
#5

I’m currently playing it to test it out and already noticed a few things right off the bat.

  1. You get lost easily, there is an objective but not a clear path to getting closer to completing it.

  2. NPC speech bubble speed is non-adjustable, I find it a bit too slow as I read really fast. Being able to skip or adjust speed in settings would be nice.

I am further exploring the game and may update this list as I find more things.

2 Likes
#6

I’d guess that people didn’t pay attention to what the dummy said, didn’t find the mayor, and left.

2 Likes
#7

Okay I’ll just write a new post instead, I played the game until the moon hit the earth.

Here is my honest review, it might be opinionated.

(Take with a slight grain of salt, I want to help you improve and not straight up insult your game.)

  • Starting off, the beginning is vague. The goal is there but no obvious way of reaching it.

  • It took me way too long to figure out I could just grab a sword behind the weapons guy but it’s a pretty weak sword that breaks after killing a single enemy. The combat mechanics are wonky and there is no shift-lock or target lock-on option.

  • The moon moves really fast, I think I only had like 10 minutes when I joined?

  • The world is littered with enemies but their AI is simple, not engaging and they are quite stupid and near-sighted as you can easily walk past them and dodge them.

  • The jokes are funny but some of the NPCs make sounds way too often and it makes my ears fall off at some point.

  • Speech bubbles are slow and also really loud. Can’t skip text or speed it up. Can’t lower the typing sound effect.

  • Where you can find fruits to sell or how to make money is very vague and unclear and spend a lot of time looking around.

  • The town is hard to navigate, there are little to no signs on where to go or what is where and feels like a maze.

  • The game lacks a tutorial or some basic directions, you are not given enough time to learn about the game. Time is ticking, the moon is about to destroy the whole ahh planet and good luck figuring out how to stop it.

  • The map isn’t very optimized, half of the lights/torches feel useless with their short range and the torches themselves cast shadows that block out 90% of the light.

  • Why does the sword break after killing a single enemy with it, whyyyyy? I consider low item durability like that a sin, this should be a video game sin. Game devs please stop doing this.

  • Inventory and status could use some polishing. Not very obvious where your items are and what you’re holding. I didn’t see any weapon durability bar or how many hits I had left, status was not very clear (damage, speed, etc).

  • The NPCs are buggy and will keep walking even if you talk to them, they sometimes break the rules of space and time and teleport.

  • The game title feels like it would belong to a generic cash grabby simulator game despite your game maybe not being one.

  • Overall, I feel rather confused in this game than challenged.

2 Likes
#8

just tried it out. here’s some things I

  • I disliked the “going to npc to npc” type stuff. Meaning, I interacted with this npc, just to be told to go to another. wastes time, bored me fast.
  • obviously a nitpick but the obvious troll spelling and grammar did also make me skeptical on if the
  • kind of just felt thrown in. no guide, just got told to interact with who at the beginning.

game was good

however, obviously, there are some ups I did like.

  • the random npcs running around in town (surprisingly)
  • the simple and obviously good (junky) building style. appeals to me for some reason and makes the game feel old. the noob npcs pair with this. just my style ig.
3 Likes
#9

I would recommend adding spatial voice to the game. This could increase attention spans + social aspect

2 Likes
#10

Thank you for this feedback, I appreciate the detail you’ve went into. This really helps, thanks again.

2 Likes
#11

Thank you thank you I appreciate this feedback.

1 Like
#12

nice AI generated text lol what ru doin bro :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

3 Likes
#13

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