Hi! The sign-up mail asked for first impressions, so here g0es. Overall - After a 2 hour tryout, I'm definitely going to keep playing. Looks like fun. Technical - Updated flash, first load took a while, no problems logging in, all good. - Screen felt crowded, changed my desktop resolution 1024x768 -> 1280x1024, much better. - Default options worked fine. Interface - Look and feel is smooth, cartoony style is fine. - "Gary" is a bit offputting, then I get the self-parody humor and he's fine. - Movement and attack cards stand out well, no need for detailed instructions, cool. - Tutorial tips from Gary came at the right speed. - Only one thing annoyed me: In the shop, you can mouseover equipment to see cards, but you can't click on those cards to see what they do. Gameplay - In my first ~20 encounters I haven't lost, but I've felt nervous. Nice balance. - Mobility looks super-important, I've chosen all elves. =] - I don't totally get the blocking and armor mechanics, that's fine, I'll study them later. - I see that a "move" card is guaranteed each draw. I'm unsure whether the deck is "fixed" in other ways, and I can't tell if/when used cards are shuffled back in. - Daily replay of missions looks nice, should prevent repetitive farming. Nice work, I'm looking forward to playing this.
Did you try right-clicking the equipment? I can read the cards from equipment in my inventory and in shops just fine.
Blocking does not work from the back. The rest is stated on the card i think. No, the one move card is fixed, that's it. You have a draw stack and a discard stack, used cards get discarded, if the draw stack is empty the discard stack gets shuffled and becomes the new draw stack.
Thanks, that works. I was mouseovering the equipment and trying to right-click the cards. Rookie error. =]
Day 2 - about 10 hours played Yes, this is a good game. My elf squad is at level 7, just beaten Beneath the Frozen Earth. Good stuff: - Balance is perfect, I'm winning most battles, but feeling stretched. - I have several equipment options, and I'm wanting to find new items to get more. - It's great that an "empty" equipment slot creates cards, even if you have no item to fill it. A few comments up to here: Rewards from multiplayer tryout at level 4 are not useable When Gary introduced Multiplayer (around level 4), I tried it. My reward was a huge load of level 10-18 items with power tokens. Of these, 12 items had a bronze power token. They're not useable until level 15. So I agree with this thread. A couple of level 8-10 items would have been nicer. Magnificent chest not appropriate at level 3? When Gary introduced the "Chest and Barrel" at around level 3, he gave me 30 pizza and suggested that I try my luck on a Magnificent Chest. I didn't try it. Same deal with power tokens, I guess. Forums are too useful - Gary should explain how to fight Troggs My success against Troggs is down to the tactics help in the forums. Not everyone is going to read the forums. Perhaps Gary/Mervyn should explain that you *need* to hit these guys from behind. "Tunnels Into Darkness" tutorial explained the idea nicely early on, players need to be reminded.
Well, the game already does what it can, but there is one specific way it could be improved. First, Crude Plates says this detail, so players can figure it out without any assistance. When they inevitably forget, there IS a "helpful tip upon defeat" from Gary telling you to attack from behind. Unfortunately, this tip appears very early. When you die in the later Troglodyte levels, Gary reminds you about Armor and such, saying everything EXCEPT the "attack from behind" advice. I'd encourage Blue Manchu to check out these tips and shuffle them a bit.
Right, because it's only for this specific armor (although there are of course some other armors that do it as well). I think it would be good to include this tip in there though -- even though I'm not sure how useful it will be. I was never able to have any of my characters be robust enough to be able to separate and flank a trog without getting destroyed by the others.
Day 3 - Apathy strikes! I have no goals! My elf squad is nudging level 10. But they are no longer feeling enthused. Today I have done Compass, Lord Stafford's treasure, Melvelous. No adventures failed yet, I've been a bit lucky I think. Then when I turn level 10... What? No particular new skills or items I'll be able to use. Will level 15 be any more fun or different? When I get badly addicted to a game, then by this time I expect to have a set of short-term and long-term goals in view. I expect to crave some uber-unobtainable items/skills/cards/whatnot. But no, I can see no lofty peaks in the distance.
I went for penetration and big hits on the troggs, and I suspect that people most do the same. Hitting enemies that block or have certain armours from the back is something that does work out sometimes, but not usually when they come in groups IMO.
