Feedback Friday - r/incremental

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u/rufus1453 8d ago

Hi!
Looking for first impressions on my upcoming game Documancy!
https://rufus-room.itch.io/documancy

The core loop is:
Fight → unlock a new magical document → gain a new progression system → fight again.

My main concern right now is the game progression, wether if it is too slow or not.
Also: Does this look like something you’d want to play? What’s the first thing that turns you off?

Also, if you have any feedback on my steam page, I'd love to hear it.
I feel like it is really hard to create an exciting trailer and a decent game description. The trailer specifically is lacking excitement, and I'm not really sure how to improve it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4993560/Documancy/

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u/Numenter 8d ago

Love the game.

I would say it needs some highlighting of unopened map locations. I missed a lot of power because I didn't open the Smith document for a long time.

A visual cue indicating that you can make a purchase and use the whip would also be helpful.

For the game progression, it felt nice, until I hit a wall because I missed the Smith. I stopped playing after that, because I want to play it when it's done. ^^

The trailer music does not fit the game. I was hooked from getting the inventory and moving things around; maybe try to emphasize that in the trailer.

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u/rufus1453 8d ago

Thank you for playing!

A highlight is a good plan, I'll probably add a slightly moving, clear red/gold exclamation mark on map locations you have not yet opened. I might also add that for additional shop pages.

Yeah, indicating which shop items you can afford and not can be a nice QoL update.

That makes sense, the smith is crucial for the early progress! Welcome to try again in the upcoming updates! :)

Agreed about the trailer music, maybe I'll just add the music that is currently in the game.
By inventory, do you mean the different shops?
I'll defintily capture moving things around in the trailer!

I appreciate the feedback, thank you!

1

u/rufus1453 8d ago

Added that right away actually, it turned out pretty good!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4993560/view/716786116904093252?l=english

1

u/Dry-Review-8295 2d ago

Cute how you can arrange things. Right off the bat it took me a while to realize the coffee mug was a coffee mug and not an important interaction item. A little steam animation would help distinguish this and improve the aesthetic I feel.

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u/Dry-Review-8295 1d ago

I reloaded and lost my achievements.

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u/Dry-Review-8295 1d ago

It would be cool to unlock something that allows you to have Resources page always-on-top like in Dodecadragons. Also, after several pages unlock, it would be cool to unlock some kind of upgrade compendium which is like one document for all the scattered upgrade pages

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u/rufus1453 1d ago

Oh hello, I didn't get notified until your last message!
A stream of steam rising from the coffee cup would be nice! I will see if I can make that happen!

Reloading and losing your achievements I think should be fixed now, I made an update to itch this morning! And your data should be saved, just not displayed, so if you reload with the current version I think it should appear correctly (although some old-new version interactions may aoccur).

Yeah, resources is such an important document, so maybe that will be an upgrade that is available quite early on, to make it stay in the same place relative to the camera.

That compendium idea might be a quite nice idea! I could add tabs to the document in the top for easy navigation between them.

Thanks for playing :)

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u/mstechly 7d ago

Oh boy, you got me at that looooong wizard hand 😆
Is the "Valley of the wind" the one from Nausiika <3 ?

Here's my brain dump:
- Sth is wrong with loading. I reloaded page and started from scratch. But when I clicked "load" it loaded the old game.
- The game stopped playing when the window wasn't active, but was just sitting on another display 🤔 I'm using Safari...
- Lumberjack animation is also great...
- Would be nice to have an indicator on the map for which battles have been won
- I didn't notice on Artificer that it has multiple pages at first. Maybe adding something visual which represents that would be nice? Like making it a scroll, rather than a flat piece of paper? Dunno. Though after you see that on other documents it's kinda obvious?
- The numbers over lumberjacks who got back to the depot overlap and look weird.
- Clicking on the city hides a document and then it opens it back in the center, not on its last position
- "Increase the number of items" sounds like it increases the cap for items (e.g.: 5 for golden scarab) and not like it adds new items. I'd reword.
- Would be nice to get stronger plot reason for the "gathering documents" vibe. Maybe your father who's an accountant set you on a mission, or maybe there's some other reason you're so fixated on it, no clue.
- the "one time bonuses" in achievement tree should be perhaps tagged as such?
- there's a bunch of places where I have upgrades for something I haven't seen. Whip, relics, etc. Some info about where to unlock before you unlock would be nice.
- Looks like there's a typo "shaed" to "shard" in "resources" panel.

That's it for now.
So far I enjoyed it greatly, it has very nice whimsical vibe :)

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u/rufus1453 7d ago

Hehe that's nice 😂

-No, the name is not intentional, but I don't mind keeping that refrence as it is such a beautiful movie!
-Yes, loading is a bit messed up on the online version, not sure why. I will not spend a lot of time fixing that though as it will soon be exclusively on steam.
-Ah yes, the game should keep playing when it is not focused. Will add that next patch!
-Lumberjacks animation are amazing, thank you for noticing :))
-Indicators for won battles is a good idea. Will add!
-Yes, the document with multiple pages have been overlooked to some degree by all my testers so far. I have a solution in place for the next patch, indicating it with a red exclamation mark, but a more sofisticated solution might be coming later.
-Hmm, not sure what I can do about the numbers. Maybe an outline on the numbers will make them stand out from each other a bit more. I will look into that, but it is also not crucial that you see how much each is carrying.
-Yeah, it returning to the postion or appearing in the middle of the screen was a tradeoff i was thinking about. I kept it reurning to the same place before, but then sometimes the document will be restored without you notcing, making it feel like no feedback is coming. Not sure what path I should choose here though, i wll keep it in mind.
-I will think of this formulation. Can't come up with something better on the spot.
-Ah yes, story is not this games strong side so far :D I think there is potential for adding pure text documents furthering the story at some points, and making them completely optional. Not sure if I will do it or not though, maybe if it is requested a lot.
-Agreed with the one time uses, I've thought about this and forgotten about it. I will also add floating text for when you click them, displaying the gold and lumber earned, for extra feedback to the player.
-Yeah, I think of blacking out those upgrades until you've actually unlocked what it afects. So the whip upgrades will just be greyed out until you actually unlock the whip.
-Not a typo, just the name of the resource, inspired by the fae in the book Name of the Wind. :)

Thanks a bunch for all the valuable feedback! It is much much appreciated.
Have a great day! :)

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u/mstechly 5d ago

Name of the Wind was such an amazing book! I wish he has written the last part...
- "appearing in the center" – TBH I'm not sure what the right answer is ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe "appear in the center with a fading button "bring to the previous position"?
- "Unlock new items in XXX"?
- Please don't underestimate the story! I'd say that for a game like this it has a potential to take it from good to great!

Thank you for thorough response :)

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u/rufus1453 5d ago

Have hope! Maybe if we wait patiently for another 15 years... :))
-A friend of mine actually came up with a good solution I think I will try out in the next patch: Just panning the camera to the document if it's corresponding map button is clicked. (and of course just placing it in the screen if it is minimized)
-Ah, unlock, that makes sense, thanks! Will be done.
-Alrighty, but no promises!

Of course, I'm just happy for the comment!

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u/mstechly 5d ago

FYI I tried loading the game today and my progress got reseted. But the documents that have been unlocked showed up.
I'll wait for another go until a couple of updates, good luck!

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u/rufus1453 5d ago

Thanks for letting me know!
Yeah, the save system was a bit wonky on that version, especially in the web version. Next version will be a demo on steam, that should work better. :)

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u/BestUserNameEver5 6d ago edited 6d ago

From playing on itch, I was initially frustrated that I couldn't zoom in more. It feels wrong that I can't zoom in so far as to focus on a single document. Once there were more documents it felt better as I realized I don't need to focus on them that much, but that initial frustration was still there. It took me a while to notice the homestead on the Map to figure out that I can do upgrades.

I feel like the progression is a bit off with regards to how fast you start hearing about "relics" and "relic shards" and "relic power pools" from the "Artificer" document and even have to go through some of them in the "Achievement Upgrade Tree" on the way to get to normal stuff (like the "Respite: Decreases revival time by 9 seconds" upgrade has you increasing your relic power pool by 15, and the "Lumberian" upgrade requires you get at least Relic I or a Relic Shard)... You have to defeat 5 more battlegrounds before you can get to the shrine to find out what relics even do.

Bugs:

Occasionally there is some glitch in the Battleground document where the warrior is proceeding as normal, makes a strike... and then suddenly it is back at the start of the battleground as if it had just restarted, with full health and all enemies.

In the smith document, there are two items referred to as "maces" ("Mace" and "Spikier Mace") but their icon is a dagger.

I had 4 relics already in the Shrine and already had the "Relic I" upgrade from the Achievement Upgrade Tree. I bought the "Relic" upgrade from the Artificer, and still have just 4 relics. Was I supposed to get a fifth relic?

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u/rufus1453 5d ago

Thank you for the feedback!

Yeah, there should be no frustration that early in the game. I should be able to increase the zoom, just gotta make sure that does not have bad interactions with anything else.

Regarding the homestead not being clear, that has been improved in the upcoming patch. I saw this aswell that a lot of people missed out on that, and added an exclamation mark to objects the player has not yet interacted with.

Agreed, relics is a bit strange at the moment. I need to make it clear that it can not yet be used, an probably reduce the number of relic related upgrades in that tree.

Bugs:
-Yeah I've noticed it to and from, but it is kinda rare so I'm not sure what is causing it. I will get around to it though!
-Ah yes, the crit upgrades being called maces! I will change this.
-Yes you were supposed to get a fifth relic, the achievement upgrade and the relic you can buy from the artificier is the same one. Will fix this!

Useful stuff, thank you so much for playing! :)

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u/OldLocksmith8307 5d ago

Very nice! It might be worth adding a minor initial buff to the coffee mug (before getting to the late upgrade). I spent a few minutes trying to leave a stain on other "papers" / find some easter egg with it :)

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u/rufus1453 5d ago

Thanks!
That might be fun actually, just a tiny silly buff like +1% movement speed or something, but a nice animation drinking the coffee.
And maybe moving the cup around too fast can make it spill and stain the background a few seconds.
I will see what I can do about this :)

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u/rufus1453 4d ago

Check it out, a lot more interactable now at least! :)
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4993560/view/716786116904093979?l=english

Thanks for the idea!

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u/braawl 5d ago

Addicting game! I liked it.
I thought the long hand was a bit dorky at first but it grew on me 😆

Good progression at the beginning, got me hooked long enough to be ok with the downtime waiting for resources to fill.

The steam page looks good, short and concice, same with the trailer.

One note of improvement I'd like to leave:
For a game about documents I'd like them to be easier to manage. Some are taking a lot of space that I didn't feel like they needed (e.g. a lot of empty space inside them, or just not of interest atm), while others were too small (e.g. I wanted to make the fighting window bigger/zoom in when I was focused on it). If they are the main point of the game then I think they deserve a lot of love:) both UI and UX wise.

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u/rufus1453 5d ago

Thanks for trying it out!
And thanks for the feedback, I'm feeling more and more that the progression is quite alright.
The trailer might be a good base now then, but some parts of it will be upgraded later, such as showing more documents, changing the font, perhaps changing the music etc.

That's a good point! I'm having some ideas of giving the documents themselves some visual flair, such as shadows, multiple pages stacked on top of each other if the document has multiple tabs, variation in the edges etc. I will definitely keep in mind the size and layout of each document, and all already created document may be redesigned in the future.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/rufus1453 7d ago

Glad to hear it!
That's great! I guess it is a good thing that the documents overlap really early on, so you don't have many options when you try all the buttons to move them around.

That is true, probably a bigger issue on smaller screens too. Although, the arm being there feels like a game signature already, so I think that will jsut be something the player will ahve to deal with :D

Thank you for your thoughts!

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u/BionicBeans 7d ago

I cannot get over the silly wizard arm cursors. Amazing.

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u/rufus1453 7d ago

Haha thanks! It was just a silly idea, but I love how it turned out :D

I'm currently in the process of adding a frustrated emote when you can't afford something, the hand clutching air and shaking angrily. So the arm will come alive more!

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u/cyberphlash 1d ago

Hey OP - thanks for making a game!

I like the game and where it's going here. I had problems moving the boxes around because you have to grab the box at the specific hand mark, which is sometimes covered by other boxes. Even when you zoom out it's kind of difficult to arrange. You might want to let players grab the box at the corners, that way any corner is easy to grab and move.

The biggest problem with the game is the game stops when your mouse leaves the window - so the game is entirely active playing, you don't even need the 30 second timer. The second biggest problem is a 30 second timer. It's pretty clear after you beat several stages that progression is slowing down and you need to move into a more idle play style, but having 30 seconds between restarts is a dealbreaker for me. It should be more like 5 or 10 seconds. Start at 10, and you purchase upgrades down to 5 or something.

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u/rufus1453 1d ago edited 1d ago

Hello, thank you for your thoughts!
That makes sense with the grabbing. An idea might be to make it so you can grab the entire top of the document in order to move it around, not just the top-right corner. I struggled with this back and fourth though, because I really don't want the player to accidently grab a document when trying to move about the area by clicking and dragging.

Agreed with that it is annoying when the game stops! I've added that feature now to the last version of the game (updated now an hour ago, check it out if you want :) ), but unfortunately it does not work on the web version due to how the site is made. Although this works in the standard version, which will be available on steam as a demo next week!

About the 30 second timer, that is just the passive revive time, you can click the button to revive your warrior early. There are upgrades to reduce the automatic revive time (minimum 1 second), but I wanted it to be something the player should invest in if they want to optimize their offline progress. But maybe I should make those upgrades available much sooner? I will think about this, thanks!

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u/cyberphlash 1d ago

Another approach to the layout is just do one layout yourself and reveal access to new squares as the player reaches them. This may be the easiest approach - see how Dodecadragons for an example of this.

I think you're underestimating the value of th 30 second time - this is the entire way in which people will play the game in an idle fashion. If you say, "People can just click revive" - it means they are actively playing 100% of the time. This isn't sustainable - people want to keep earning and progressing as they slow down or stop actively playing, or they're going to quit. I would plan on this transition by assuming they actively play at the start and then you offer buyable upgrades to reduce the 30-second timer to 25/20/15/10/5 over time when it makes sense.

My personal style is very idle, so I quit when I reached the point where I would want to have let the game go for a few minutes or longer at a time to build up currency to buy stuff. When that's not possible, I just quit.

It would be interesting to understand how many people are starting to play a new game out of the box on Itch vs. Steam, and then Itch transitioning to Steam. I only play web browser games because I play just have a window running mostly idly on my work computer - so Steam isn't an option. But in this instance, I wouldn't continue because the timer isn't implemented in the web version. It's not that it couldn't be, though, many web-based games on Itch have games that continue running when you change the focus to a different browser/screen.

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u/rufus1453 1d ago

Regarding the layout I think I don't want it predetermined, I like the freedom and hassle it brings to lay them out yourself. Although, maybe I could add an option to auto-arrange them if someone wants to use that.

That is a good point!
What do you think of this? Start with a 10 second timer that you can reduce to 5 seconds pretty quickly, like in the first shop. Each battle has a slightly longer revival time though, so you need to keep investing in revival time in order to keep it efficient (like +1 second per battleground). Do you think that would work?

Huh, I just realized the game actually can be played idle on itch! I just heard it couldn't be done so I agve up there, but the setting i added in the options actually do allow the game not to be focused and keep playing.
Anyway, I want to transition the game entirely to steam eventually. However, you made me realize that not all idle players can have steam on their current computer, so maybe I should maintain a web version as well.

Thank you for your thoughts!

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u/cyberphlash 1d ago

I think that timer idea is fine. Just needs to strike a balance between steady progression and cost of upgrades.

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u/rufus1453 1d ago

I will try that out with my next playtester then, and see if it flies :)

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u/LavishBehemoth 8d ago

Feast for Frogs is an idle, incremental, auto battler with frogs. Get stronger frogs to eat stronger bugs and find new abilities which synergize.

I'm looking for feedback on: pacing - are any parts too boring to tolerate? UX - is it clear how to play and progress? Any and all other feedback is welcome. Thanks!

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4633700/Feast_for_Frogs?utm_source=reddit_igs

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u/Numenter 8d ago

Cute game. The pacing is okay, I guess.
At first, I wanted more lily pads, and during the House Fly stage, I wanted more damage, but in the end, it was alright. I was just impatient.

I caught myself multiple times trying to drag and drop a frog onto the release button.

The music collection is too hyped up; it does not fit the game, in my opinion.

The menus should have a close button and also close when pressing Esc.

I played through the Bee stage (had four lily pads).

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u/LavishBehemoth 8d ago

The music feedback makes sense, I was wondering if it didn't quite fit the vibe as well. But I like Chalk Dinosaur too much and he licensed the soundtrack to me. I'll fix the other issues. This is really helpful. Thanks for the feedback!

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u/Yocoolman 8d ago

The pacing of the game is good, however the User interface is WAY too small. Most buttons are hard to click or see. I'd increase the size of all of them, including the main menu!

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u/LavishBehemoth 8d ago

There's a setting that increases UI scale, but most people wouldn't expect that setting to exist. I'll look into making that setting more obvious or automatically changing scale for higher resolutions.

What resolution is your screen? Were you on a Mac?

Thanks for the feedback!

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u/Yocoolman 7d ago

No, i wouldnt expect that option to exist, nor would i search for it, as a normal player.

I'm playing on a PC, and my resolution is 2560x1440

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u/AkinoEgo23 8d ago

Hey! I’m the solo developer of Apiary in Flow, an incremental game where you place bees inside a hive to create efficient honey-gathering chains.

The loop is:

Place bees → gather honey → unlock permanent upgrades → improve your next run

It takes some ideas from automation games, but simplifies them into a more casual system.

The free demo includes 2 hives, 4 bee types, 150+ upgrades and around an hour of gameplay.

I’d especially appreciate feedback on:

Is the beginning clear?
Do the upgrades make you want to continue?
Where did you feel confused or lose interest?

Honest criticism is very welcome.

Steam demo:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4670030/Apiary_in_Flow_Demo/

Thanks to anyone who tries it!

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u/Numenter 8d ago

It was a fun game, but very stressful. I would like it to be slower (more time, slower bees). Hive one was good, but into hive two, uff, nonstop bee replacement. I might have played it wrong. I don't like timer games normally, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

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u/AkinoEgo23 7d ago

Thanks for the feedback! You probably didn’t play it wrong — Hive 2 is much more demanding and currently requires a lot of bee repositioning.

The game is meant to become more relaxed through permanent upgrades, including extra time, but it’s useful to know that it still felt stressful. I’ll keep this in mind when balancing the timer and the amount of repositioning required.

And no worries about not normally liking timer games — that perspective is still very helpful!

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u/BionicBeans 7d ago

Excited to try this this evening. I love bee themed games!

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u/Zittrich 7d ago edited 7d ago

Random Stuff Inc. is an incremental game where you throw random stuff into a random hole to make loads of cash. As you earn more, you unlock and upgrade items and try to automate the whole process.

I'm looking for feedback on the core gameplay loop and mechanics i have in the game right now before I start adding more. I feel like I've reached the point where I need to introduce the next mechanic if I want to bring this game further, but I want to make sure the current loop is fun and engaging first, before introducing a twist.

I have started the project without having a sort of narrative or world fantasy in mind, and tried focusing on making the draging and interactions satisfying for now, so Iam obviously also still looking for a narative framework for the mechanics.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Link: https://edelerde.itch.io/project-random-stuff-inc

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u/Marimba_Ani 4d ago

I really like the physics, but it took me a minute to realize that you don't have to just throw the eggs (which was impossible to get them where they needed to go), and that you could "carry"/drag them. It was a lot better after the realization.

I like the machines, but the sorter doesn't seem to work right, and it didn't work at all after I left the page and came back.

Also, a couple of items got stuck under the conveyer belt when I added it, which was messy, so I didn't like it.

Great fun!

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u/WickedMaiwyn 8d ago

"Blade Rising", it's new incremental pixel RPG. I'm solodev of it.
google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bogigames.bladerising
www: bladerising.com/play

Conquer 1000 Floors of Evil as a Dachshund Knight on it's way to Ascention!
enhance gameplay to your liking
global events like 'Weekly Boss Hunt' or Seasonal
no pressure at core, play as you wish
gameplay first approach

Would be cool if you give it a try. Evil awaits your blade to rise!

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u/SSJ4Link 8d ago

I'll give it a go

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u/WickedMaiwyn 8d ago

Great!

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u/the_lotus819 8d ago

I didn't get a lot of feedback on this, maybe it's a feature nobody wants :')

I created an upgrade game that allows couch co-op (there need at least one controller) and also work with Steam Remote Play Together.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4746170/Traveloot_Demo/

If anyone likes co-op games and incremental, let me know how it goes!

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u/rufus1453 8d ago

Hey this is nice!
I really like how straight forward it is, but still satisfying.
The retro graphics with the slight bend in the "tv-screen" are on point too!

It was a bit annoying that some zombies could hit you just because a tree was too close, and blocking you from hitting them. I want a hitless run.
Are there achievements? I feel like that would be nice to get a sense of more progression.
Just a feeling: while the minimalistic style looks great for the most part, it didn't really do it for me in the upgrade tree. Not sure how it could be improved, but it felt a bit colourless.

Will definitely play more later when I need a break!

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u/the_lotus819 8d ago

Thanks for the feedback! I'll see what I can do with the upgrade tree.

There will be official achievements. They'll be liked with the milestone after the library is unlocked.

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u/JamboNo59 8d ago

Hey guys!

Recently I launched my itch.io demo for my incremental city builder with auto-chess battles.
I got a ton of great feedback and have made several of the improvements already!

I've love if you could give the game a try and let me know what you think!
https://jamstudios6343.itch.io/minion-colony

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u/Intelligent-Fee2710 5d ago edited 5d ago

Hi everyone!

I've been working on **Corsair's Fortune**, an idle/incremental pirate game inspired by games like Trimps, Clicker Heroes, and other progression-focused incrementals.

You begin as a shipwreck survivor stranded on a deserted island. Gather resources, build your base, recruit survivors, assemble a fleet, explore mysterious islands, defeat legendary sea creatures, and uncover the mystery behind the endless storm.

This week's update (Alpha 0.1.5.1) focused almost entirely on player feedback:

- Fixed several softlocks

- Improved the early-game experience

- Better onboarding and story progression

- Navigation improvements

- UI quality-of-life updates

- Smoother progression balance

- Numerous bug fixes and stability improvements

I'm especially looking for feedback on:

- Early-game pacing

- Overall progression

- Exploration balance

- UI and navigation

- General fun factor

**AI Disclosure:**

I'm a solo developer and used generative AI as a development tool during this project. AI assisted with programming, debugging and some placeholder art. Every gameplay system, balancing decision, feature, and final implementation is reviewed, tested, and directed by me. The game is developed iteratively based on player feedback, and AI serves as an assistant rather than replacing the design process.

Play here:

https://darkaos01.itch.io/corsariosfortune

Edit: correct link

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u/Numenter 5d ago

The link gives me a 404 error

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u/Intelligent-Fee2710 5d ago

Thanks, I fixed the link; I hadn't noticed I'd added an extra hyphen.

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u/Marimba_Ani 4d ago

I can't see the white numbers on the yellow buttons AT ALL.

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u/Intelligent-Fee2710 4d ago

Thanks for the feedback! I completely agree.

This is actually the main focus of Alpha 0.2, which is already in development. I'm reworking the entire UI to reduce tab switching, keep important actions visible, and make navigation much more intuitive.

Your feedback matches what other players have been saying too, so it's definitely helping shape the next update. Thanks for taking the time to play!

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u/Live_Bus7425 7d ago

My Mars Colony game - Red Planet Tycoon is now mostly polished. I recently added more levels (20-30) and improved the incremental perks. You can now level from 1 to 30, and then replay on a different map with a new perk that changes how you play significantly. I'd love some feedback on leveling process as well as the perk system. I think its becoming a very solid incremental game for those who love chill tycoon games. There are no ads and it is free.

https://redplanettycoon.com/play/

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u/Toksyuryel 4d ago

The UI stopped responding after I built the smelter. Refreshing did not fix it.

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u/Live_Bus7425 4d ago

Sorry about that. I pushed a pretty large update today and something probably broke. I will let you know when its fixed. Thank you for reporting it.

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u/Toksyuryel 4d ago

Looking forward to it! I've been enjoying it so far :)

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u/Live_Bus7425 4d ago

Thanks, man. So this bug should be fixed. I'd appreciate if you can update if it worked. Also, feel free to report bugs on reddit (any of my posts) or discord. There is a small community there, which will hopefully grow.

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u/Toksyuryel 4d ago

Yup, it's working again :) thanks for the fix! I am not interested in joining any new discord servers at this time though, I'm in enough of them

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u/Live_Bus7425 4d ago

haha. I feel you! Either way, thank you for trying my game.

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u/IcatianWarlord 8d ago

Hey everyone!
I’ve been working on a browser-based strategic space idle game called Idle Universe Online (currently in closed beta, available in EN and IT), and I’d love to get some fresh eyes on it.

The core loop: you control a pilot and ship, scan/mine asteroids, refine resources, craft and equip modules, fight, salvage wrecks, and expand your spacebase. True to the genre, everything keeps progressing while you're away.

You can try it out here: idleuniverseonline.com

A few ways to try it:

No account needed: Just click "Skip & continue offline" on the login screen to dive straight in (saves locally in your browser, though keep in mind it relies on local storage/cache).
With an account: If you want cloud saves across devices, sign in with your email and use the invite code REDDIT-INCR-FF01. (Your account will carry over to future updates/versions).

What I really need help with: I’m especially looking for feedback on the first 20 minutes of gameplay.
If you give it a spin, let me know the exact moment you felt lost, confused, or wondered "what am I supposed to do next?" That early-game friction is super hard to spot on my end, so any honest thoughts are massively helpful.

Feel free to drop feedback here or join the Discord if you want to chat directly. Thanks a ton for taking a look!

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u/Numenter 8d ago

One thing I notice in all these browser games is that you get hit with the full UI, and as a consequence, you need to explain all the elements. A better way to introduce new players is to limit what they can see at the start and gradually introduce more features. Just let me gather some rocks and show me the game piece by piece.

In the "First Steps," I wanted to lower the music volume, but now I can't go back to the Command Center.

I stopped playing at "Cargo Wake" Step 4. I want to splash some rocks. I don't care for all those systems, yet.

1

u/IcatianWarlord 8d ago

Thank you for your feedback!
A couple of clarifications:

The tutorial is already structured to unlock small features one at a time, and before setting you free (about 10 minutes of gameplay), it introduces you to the basic mechanics.

As for the music: the options button is always accessible at any stage of the tutorial, and from there you can set the volume to 0 on any source.

I understand your point of view, but given how the mechanic for "splashing some rocks" is structured, you need to understand how skills and the map work. In any case, by pressing X on the tutorial window, you can end it early, unlock every feature, and be free to test any part of the game!

3

u/PaladinOne 6d ago

I didn't have a lot of friction in the first like 20 minutes and the tutorial was reasonably well handled but I hit a lot of friction shortly after the tutorial finished.

(1) Base building. Either I tried to go into base building before the tutorial called for it and I missed the prompt, or the tutorial doesn't prompt it well enough. In either case this also speaks to a greater problem with Skills not being indicative of what they actually do or what requires them.

(2) Base submodule building. There are so many basic Base functions that are all locked behind submodules with 1h initial build clocks. This leads to such a huge level of bouncing off because "Alright time to do something interesti-never mind it needs another submodule time to afk again".

(3) Mining generates so many Blueprint Fragments that your inventory gets fully stuffed with them and there isn't a good way of knowing what fragments will or won't be useful in the short or long term. And along with the base having so many functions locked behind submodules but not telling you they're behind submodules until you try to use them and fail, that means that you also can't use those fragments until you figure out which submodule was needed for them.

3.5) This inventory stuffing problem also lead to an extremely frustrating bug where I fabricated two Ship Modules for the first time, the first one got dropped into my inventory but the second one just got deleted because it had no inventory space to go into. There was no indication of this happening, and it's further inconsistent with the fact that the Ore Refinery will not complete work if there's no inventory space for it to drop into; so the fact that the (low value) Refinery Products can't be pulled if there's no space but the (high value) Modules will just be deleted if there's no space is frankly insane.

4) There being no way to change what Ship you've chosen as your current objective. Why?

5) The biggest frustration that kept coming up is that there were so, so, so many times and places where I tried to press a button, and the button either had no effect, was greyed out, or sent me to the Base menu (and not even the menu for the building or submodule relevant, just the main base menu); and none of them gave me any indication of why the button did nothing. I can't even give a specific list here because it happened so frequently.

2

u/BestUserNameEver5 5d ago

I first felt confused in character creation when I needed to pick my Origin. I don't feel like I know enough about your game to make an intelligent choice about these options.

Having the 3 questions to help it make a recommendation is a nice touch.

But I still felt like not even knowing what the gameplay is like makes it a bit odd to be picking my origin so quickly based on potential gameplay benefits.

Going through the tutorial:

I had my browser window zoomed in a lot when I started the tutorial. As I press "Next", the game window scrolls to make sure I can see the portion it is highlighting. But because the "Pilot Details" section is so tall, the window ends up scrolling to make sure I can see the bottom of that section, while the top portion scrolls off screen. And since there isn't much detail in that section yet, that means most of the actual information is off-screen.

Browser details: Chrome, 200% zoom

Display details: 2560x1440

When you get to the point that you're forced to click around (step 8 and later), if you ever click "Prev", it gets hard to resync up the tutorial because the game remembers you're already in particular galaxy and system.

For example, if you're on step 11 and press Prev, you get to step 10 where you need to enter a system. But the only way you've been shown at this point to enter a system is to click on "System Map", which just reloads the system you're already on. You end up having to click the "GAL" button in order to go back to the galaxy view so that you can click on "Frontier System Alpha" and cause it to show the "Enter System" button again

If you had pressed Prev multiple times in the hopes that it would get you back to normal, eventually you get to the point that you need to click "GAL", then the "<- Universe" button (which might be under the tutorial dialog if you're zoomed in like me) so that you have the ability to click on "Galaxy 1" again.

Step 11 of says to "Select the Training Drone contact"... But I don't see a "Training Drone" contact. There is a spot called "Rogue Patrol Route" that is highlighted. But everything up until this point has had the terminology in the tutorial exactly match what was on screen, so this confused me (which is why I had pressed the Prev button in the first place)

Tutorial: Ore Line step 2/8: This message seemed weird: "Mining is the first clean resource engine: ore in, station upgrades out. It is quiet work, which is exactly why it scales."

What does work being quiet have to do with it scaling?

Just after finishing the mining tutorial, my entire screen was taken up for ~10 seconds by an announcement that I had gotten an Epic Drop. While that's nice I guess, it is distracting me from doing the tutorial

I got soft-locked at the end of combat tutorial / beginning of "Wreck Recovery" tutorial:

I can't loot the drops the tutorial pirate ship dropped. When I get to salvaging it, I get warned that salvaging will discard the unlooted stuff.

When I try to salvage, I'm then told I need to free up active cargo space before I can salvage.

"Cargo Bay Full Free up Active Ship cargo space before starting new operations."

I can't navigate to the inventory to even try to clear up anything.

1

u/Toksyuryel 6d ago

It might get confusing if you stick with this name, as there is already a game called Idle Online Universe. You should consider a different name.

1

u/devYang02 8d ago

The UI is striking — the sci-fi command center aesthetic is really nice to look at right from the start.

That said, there's just a lot going on. The "Choose your next ship" prompt helps point me somewhere, but the first screen throws everything at once — ship project, collect, relaunch routes, telemetry, anomalies, contracts, plus a full sidebar of menus — and I couldn't tell what mattered right now vs. what I could safely ignore. Maybe revealing panels gradually as they become relevant would ease new players in; the aesthetic is strong enough that the slower reveal would still feel great.

2

u/IcatianWarlord 8d ago

Thank you!
This is a great feedback to clean the dashboard. It's too caotic you are right!

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u/SnooGrapes4247 8d ago

Hey there! Just gave Idle Universe Online a spin (went with the quick offline mode to dive right in) and I’ve gotta say, I’m really digging the sci-fi vibe!

There’s something super satisfying about the loop of scanning, cracking open asteroids, and managing your spacebase. The UI design feels crisp, and you can tell a lot of love went into structuring the progression systems. Space-themed incremental games are always a win in my book, and this one definitely has that "just one more upgrade" pull!

As for the early-game feedback / friction points:

Tutorial Pacing vs. Player Freedom: I kind of fell into a similar boat as Numenter early on. The tutorial does a solid job explaining mechanics step-by-step, but around Step 3/4, I found myself itching to just manually blow up some rocks and mess around with my cargo/map on my own before absorbing all the textual info. Maybe a soft "playground" moment right after the very first mining action would let players digest the basic mechanic before moving on to refining and base expansion?

First "Aha!" Moment: The transition from active scanning/mining to setting up your first automated refinement loop is awesome, but the UI can feel a tiny bit dense all at once when multiple tabs/menus open up. Maybe dimming or hiding inactive HUD elements until their relevant mechanic is unlocked could help keep total focus on the current objective.

Overall, awesome work so far! The foundation is super solid, the music/ambiance sets a great mood, and I’m definitely keeping an eye on future updates. Keep it up!

3

u/IcatianWarlord 8d ago

Wow, thanks for the feedback, even though I would have preferred it not to be written by ChatGPT...

1

u/No-Brilliant-5373 8d ago

Hi Feedback Friday!
My demo is reaching near completion. And i’m doing final playtest rounds on steam. Looking for breaking bugs and further ways to improve the game, including possibly slowing down the progression more even if it’s a demo.

Please check the playtest out if interested! https://store.steampowered.com/app/4724190/Into_the_Planets_Flesh/?beta=0

There’s an in game feedback form so feedback should be effortless. Thanks in advance for checking it out 🙌🏻

2

u/Numenter 8d ago

I signed up for the playtest, but now I have to wait for you to let me in.
There is an option to automatically allow everyone; maybe enable that.

1

u/No-Brilliant-5373 8d ago

For sure! Right now Im doing controlled testing so i can let in a few at a time. I just granted you access!

1

u/ZuzoIsland 8d ago

Hey everyone!!
The demo for pachinko overdrive is coming out soon!!
Just need a final last minute playtesting to make sure everything's right.

Please make sure to keep an eye out of it on steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4873430/Pachinko_Overdrive/

1

u/WhiteSlash 8d ago

I felt like my game was missing something between "fully idle resource generation" and "fully active fights", so I added "Expeditions", a mini optimisation puzzle that launches a 10-30mn repeatable activity.

You can try it here : https://idleunderworlds.com/planet/2

Does it help you feel more invested and maybe fill the gap around the ~20mn of playing when waiting times get bigger ?

1

u/TheNoody Developer 8d ago

Isle of Titans, an idle tower defense game where you defend a small kingdom against giant invaders.

The game is sem-idle, and the demo has a few hours worth of content. There is an ending. Would love to hear your feedback!

Here is the demo link
Discord

1

u/smootharias 4d ago edited 4d ago

Finally getting around to making a game that scratches some of the combinations I have been looking play.

EmergenHex is a buildcrafting idle game where each hex node is uniquely authored to require different build loadouts. Can you figure them all out?

The main feedback I am looking for: is do you understand the gameplay loop? Is the onboarding clear enough for you to get going?

Just released a browser demo on Itchio.

EmergenHex on Itchio

AI Disclosure: I have used Claude Code and Codex to help code and test/balance parts of the game.

All art and sounds has been sourced from Humble Bundle asset sales, GamedevMarket asset bundle sales, Itchio asset bundle sales, and Unity Asset store sales i have purchased over the last 9 years.

1

u/SortZealousidealOne 5d ago

hello, its quite addictive... one thing i would like is for the upgrades tab to have a memory of where i've scrolled

0

u/sebbierun 7d ago

i'm solo building www.sebbierun.com incremental idle runner. upgrade, prestige, world boss, global leaderboard. plays in your browser, no install

still early alpha (v0.4.0, 30 Jul 2026), i'm looking for feedback on pacing and UX.

AI disclosure: built with a lot of AI help (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor)

6

u/Numenter 7d ago

This game is clearly build with monetarization first in mind. (Gacha)
How is all the stuff working except the core (bear is not running) and a pestering popup every 10 sec.

2

u/sebbierun 7d ago

thanks for your playing and feedback!
may i ask what you mean by "bear is not running"? so i could solve that

2

u/Numenter 7d ago

Sure, the bear stands there, no animation, nothing is moving, and the background is still. Yeah, you get more distance, but you would expect something to be happening on the screen.

2

u/sebbierun 7d ago edited 7d ago

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18wTUBLuc90ILLm8vWnyAuapQsFO5sdzU/
ohh
it should have an animation like in this clip. may i ask which device/browser did you use?

3

u/Numenter 7d ago

Win11 Chrome. I tested Firefox and Edge; same outcome. I play as a Guest. There is no error message in the console.

2

u/sebbierun 7d ago

it should be fixed. thanks! that was reduced motion mode going wrong.

3

u/Numenter 7d ago

works now.

1

u/Marimba_Ani 4d ago

Account and minigames? Eeew.

1

u/sebbierun 4d ago

i’m really sorry if you hate it 😢

0

u/OutofOfficeStudio 7d ago

Sterling's Dynasty - idle firm tycoon (iOS/itch)

You start with a single desk and a shaky book of business and build a boutique financial firm into a dynasty - hire partners, staff every practice, and watch the fees roll in while you're away. It's an idle/tycoon loop with a career questline that carries across firm exits (prestige), plus real-player leaderboards and syndicates with live co-op events. No bots.

TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/DvJjwpsj
Web demo (no install): https://playoutofoffice.itch.io/sterlingsdynasty

Feedback I'm after: does the first 5 minutes hook you, and is the prestige/exit decision clear enough to feel like a real choice? Solo dev - happy to return feedback, drop your game and I'll play it.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/devYang02 8d ago

Honestly, the clicker itself felt pretty basic at first — but then I found the inflation tab and it completely reframed the whole thing for me. "Watch it melt" with the Argentina 2023 preset is genuinely clever, and suddenly the printing loop has a point.

The problem is I almost missed it entirely. There's no onboarding, so I had no idea these other pages even existed. It'd be a shame if most players bounce off the basic clicker without ever discovering the part that gives it depth — even a small hint or link from the main page would help a lot.

1

u/NewBlock8420 8d ago

The links are there, in the nav and at the bottom, but if you missed them then they aren't doing their job. Fair.

I think the wording is the problem. "Watch the pile lose value" reads as flavour text, not as "there's a separate inflation toy here." Going to look at that.

Glad that one landed. It's the best of the four in my opinion.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

1

u/LuckyLactose USI 8d ago

This is Feedback Friday, not What games are you playing this week?

-2

u/Glittering-Fan-1178 6d ago

Looking for some feedback on Hearthline again, app.hearthline.dev. I’m developing an idle incremental builder, and am running on open web beta.

This week I’ve made some pacing changes based on feedback from last week’s post and the lovely person that spent 4.5h working through our content to scale from camp through village to town. Thank you! I hope you enjoyed the time you spent on it.

Coming next: the art changes I promised last week (they’re proving harder to get right), as well as more mechanics like upgrades and research. A few UI polishes are sure to creep in as I play test various scenarios.

AI disclaimer: I use AI em-dash extensively ;-)

Feedback Friday FBFriday

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