Seeking feedback for my js13kgames entry, Mirror Delivery

[4lbertoC]

Hello all,

 

I'd like to gather some opinions on the game that I created for the past js13kgames competition, to understand which are the good parts and what instead I did wrong.

 

 

The game can be played here

You can read some more about it on GitHub

 

This is the short description of the game:

 

Mirror Delivery is a competitive HTML5 game for 2 players.

Player 1 interprets Luke, a delivery boy who has to deliver some crates full of mirrors to an old lady.

Player 2 plays the Crow, an animal that enjoys annoying the delivery boys that pass nearby.

 

I tried to come up with an original idea based on the competition's theme (bad luck), but on another side I think I took some wrong choices:

• I gave too much weight to browser compatibility, trying to make the game runnable on devices on which even I would not probably want to play it (tablets, on which I show an overlay with buttons)
• I don't always have a person available by my side to help me with playtesting, so balancing and measuring the fun of a local 2 player game has been problematic
• I didn't want to make a too casual game, but its presentation (the tutorial level, basically) was not enough to dissect its complexity
• I cared more about side features rather than focusing on the immediate fun/satisfaction. The level editor (aka the "look-at-what-I-can-fit-into-just-13k feature"), for example, was most probably unnecessary

 

It's still one of my first games, so I hope for some precious feedback to learn from 

 

Thanks!

[mrspeaker]

Hey, I liked it - but here's my "constructive criticism" if you want it: the game is interesting and cool and I got the hang of it after a while - but mannnnn that tutorial level is way too confusing. Nothing really makes any sense because you introduce all the mechanics in one go. Buying candy and eating from a nest and dodging granny and picking up crates and moving them to a green square... for some reason - all right from the beginning.

 

It's way too much to learn (or care about) for players. Remember: they are NOT GOING TO READ TEXT EVER EVER EVER EVER. Even if you display it really big and flashing and forced them to type in what they see on the screens to remove the text THEY AREN'T GOING TO READ IT! They will much prefer to play for 2 seconds, get confused and close the tab.

 

You should not have the tutorial, but rather break it into several tutorial-style levels. The main goal of the game is to get the crate to the green box (right?), so you need to emphasise this above everything else. Then once the player gets that, THEN you can introduce new elements.

 

Make sure you give your game to people to play and DON'T TELL THEM ANYTHING. Don't give them any help, even when you see them struggling. When you make a game, it's sooo obvious in your brain how stuff works - but that's because you made it! 

 

Anyhoo... I think the game shows lots of promise and is super-cool for 13k... but the initial learning curve is too steep.