With the Steam Next Fest behind us, we would want to reflect on how things went. We're happy with the demo, but there are certainly some things we could improve. Let's take a look at it!
Replayability
We're happy to see the core of the game working so well! The average play time for the demo is 45 minutes. That is pretty impressive for a demo! The spread is big: there is a group of 27% that doesn't even get to 5 minutes. Probably people who try it out quickly and it just isn't their thing. Over 1000 players have played the demo for more than 2 hours! It was a bit surprising for us, given the limited content.
But it can get even better! On Discord, we've already seen people playing over 20 hours of the demo. They've been trying hard to find all the best options and combinations to go above and beyond 3 stars for a Turning Point!
The player NoBanana even managed to get this amazing score.
The Ostrich seems to be the route to high scores in the demo!
Conclusion: We think we're on the right track here and just need to make more content!
Visuals & Stability
Here we think we could do even better. We had plenty of bug reports, and we got our work cut out in front of us! Also, visually we feel we've been doing good, but could be doing great. One thing that we've been missing a lot is a Snow Biome. We absolutely agreed, and decided to give the Taiga a little makeover too!
A crispy cold day in the world of Reus.
To complement this, we've also changed the base rules for the Taiga: it will be a biome that allows you to play with the distance towards the nearest city and has a unique Rugged mechanic: the more inhospitable the Taiga is with predators and minerals, the more value the humans can find there!
Conclusion: There is still a lot of polishing work to do!
Gameplay Improvements
In general, we're quite happy with the gameplay. We wish to expand further on Projects, Requests, Inventions, and Turning Points. We're planning on each planet having 3 turning points, increasing in size as the game progresses! Maybe you've already seen the rocket in the trailer?
Besides that, we have 2 new exciting improvements waiting for you:
- Rewarding Resources: We found Reus 2 to be a bit too rigid, and found a good way to counteract that. In the future, you will get resources for reaching planet milestones. These resources include bonus Eon and mountain charges. Every resource has a different focus!
- Microbiotica: As mentioned by some players, the Aspects fall a bit flat. Instead, you can now use a Micro charge to create a set of Microbiotica. Think of bugs, fungi, or other small organisms! These are random, and can therefore be a lot more powerful! Every giant will have their guaranteed unique Microbiotica though!
An example of what you could get with Wealth on your planet.
Conclusion
It's clear by the demo that we're in a good place! We have some minor improvements to do on the game, but it's mostly balancing, content and polishing! We're working hard on these as we speak, and hope to make the planet building as enjoyable as possible for you all!
Adriaan and the monks at the Abbey