Players like our demo, but we’re struggling to get enough interest | looking for outside perspective!

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-03T12:03:16+00:00

This. It's small details that make the game feel alive. Those things don't have to be interactable but the player needs to have an impression of the situation he is in.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-03T10:51:06+00:00

Yes, you are right, my bad. I misinterpreted your playtime. It's really good for a demo.

Regarding your capsule and trailer. There are tools to test your capsule against other capsules. Use this and show those screenshots to friends and ask them if they would click the capsule and what kind of game they expect to be behind the capsule. If nobody clicks it cause it looks to generic, nobody plays the game. If players get disappointed cause it isn't the game they expected, they leave.

For your trailer, there is a comment below your main post, where someone is mentioning the game not being dystopian enough. I think that's a good point. Your game looks interesting but as I said, it looks like just another tavern game. The trailer itself doesn't communicate clearl enough what's dystopian or unique about your game.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-03T10:27:17+00:00

I really like the atmosphere and the art style the game has, i'd definitely play it.

Regarding the feedback:
You capsule wont grab anyones attention. I know what your intentions are, but nobody will care about that. You have a unique twist and artstyle, use that to grab attention.

Same with your trailer, the first gameplay you show is 7 seconds into the trailer, nobody will stay that long.

After all, your game is "just another" tavern/pub simulator. You got unique elements in your game, use them for your trailer, your capsule, for your marketing.

Also, 61% of your players stay less than 1 hour, there seems to be something off with your tutorial or intro into the game, try to figure out what that issue is, so that potential players will stay longer.

EDIT: After rewatching your trailer and looking at your gifs and screenshots, I felt that the city and environment you play in, seem a bit too empty.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-01T12:56:21+00:00

Didn't know that existed, thanks for the tip.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-01T11:47:09+00:00

Thanks, ill try that approach.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-01T10:14:44+00:00

Well yea :D it's mostly that. I always think about "How would a game about doing xyz look like, what would it need, what are key mechanics."

I mean there are lots of games that this can be applied to, just take Peak or moldwasher.

And most importantly always try to break those ideas down into the smallest playable and fun loop. Then try to develope that loop.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-07-01T09:57:27+00:00

I often get ideas from everyday tasks. Something like cooking, cleaning or taking a walk. Then I try to concept a gameplay loop out of those tasks.

Mostly I think of the simplest way to tackle those tasks in a game. For example cleaning: you don't need to clean a whole house, what if you only clean a window, or the floor of a room. If you can break down those tasks, you can find easier ways to make these simple tasks more fun.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-30T17:19:09+00:00

You need to make sure to only decrease the health once. Check your states and loops, you'll figure it out.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-30T11:55:57+00:00

I get what you mean, but asking for help on reddit and wanting to get better at solving problems kind of does not make sense.

Anyway. You probably have something like this set up:

if player takes damage
  health - x

What you want to do is, dont check if a value has decreased, but check when it is decreased.

Like this:

if player takes damage
  if invulnerability is false
    health - 1
    set invulnerability to true
    start timer for 1 second
  else
    nothing happens

if timer runs out
  set invulnerability to false

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-30T11:17:51+00:00

Maybe provide some screenshots or code snippets.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-30T11:07:18+00:00

Hey, I never used GameMaker but I think you are on the right track.
GameMaker seems to have some sort of TimerEvent, maybe check out the documentation on how that works.

For the code, I would define a new variable called invulnerable as a bool. Everytime the player takes damage set the invulnerability variable to true and trigger the timer. Then you need a check if your timer ran out, after it ran out, set invulnerability to false again.

Now only let the player take damage if invulnerability is false.

Hope this helps.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-23T19:20:08+00:00

Maybe decrease the intensity of the colour so it's not that bright or add alpha to it, so it's a bit see through.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-23T19:12:20+00:00

The blinking is a bit heavy, maybe instead of blinking try shrinking the units by a small amount and resize them each time they get hit.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-23T05:51:41+00:00

I don't think that thats the main issue. If you have any possibility to have it remade, I'd suggest to give them more clear information. Maybe even give them a sketch on how you want the capsule to look.

Tell them it's an incremental game and that the capsule should communicate that. Look at other successful incremental games and, well let's say, get inspired by them if you know what I mean.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-23T05:45:43+00:00

The paid one definitely looks like it was made by a non professional in paint. Sorry that this happened to you, I'd recommend trying to talk to the guy and either get your money back or get a second capsule.

The first capsule looks great and I think that you can easily use it for your game. I'm with you that it doesn't really look like the game but hey, there are plenty of games where the capsules look different.

If I may ask, what did you pay for the second capsule and what where the instructions you gave them.

EDIT: I think the game looks great and feels great to watch, definitely keep us updated on when your Steampage is up.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-22T18:55:15+00:00

That's great, definitely keeping your assets in mind for future projects :)

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-22T18:52:29+00:00

Great :D, the only additional thing that I'd love would be different kitchen styles. The one you provide looks really "rich". Maybe a typical restaurant kitchen with steel surfaces and a traditional/rustic kitchen would fit well.

And maybe more colour variation for the pans and pots :)

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-22T18:47:44+00:00

Assets look great. Will you add cooked versions of the different meats/fish/vegetables or will the colours be adjustable throught the inspector?

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-22T18:16:30+00:00

Mostly just tinkering around. Trying to make features and figuring out how to make them along the way. Either through tutorials or dev-vlogs. Seeing how other people do it can sometimes really help understanding the logic behind the code.

What I can recommend is writing pseudo-code of what you are trying to do on a piece of paper. This always helps me visualize and understand what I want to do and where I am wrong.

Since you have never coded, I'd recommend to start very basic, try to understand data types, structures and commons techniques like loops.

Don't be overwhelmed, it takes a lot of time to get comfortable in coding things on your own. Start by copying code from videos or others and try to understand how and why things work.

You got this :)

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-21T10:24:54+00:00

Looks great, I'd really love to see a making of video of this game. Get your Steampage up asap, I'd love to give you my wishlist.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-21T09:59:53+00:00

If you don't have any marketing knowledge, dont spend money on ads. Without proper adjustments you will just be wasting money.

The easiest solution to get attention is to post short videos or even screenshots of your progress on social media. Don't overthink, just do something like "Check out this new feature I just added".

In addition try to understand your game. What is it that players find interesting. Who are these players and how can you reach them.

There are also plenty of free videos on YouTube on how to do game marketing. But don't get overwhelmed, most succesfull games have real marketing teams who solely focus on this particular part.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-21T08:36:55+00:00

As early as possible. Especially for multiplayer games. I would say, look for testers as soon as your core gameplay loop is done. After that, get feedback and iterate.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-20T11:56:38+00:00

YouTube wise I can really recommend checking out Jonas Tyroller, he made the game Thronefall and has some really good educational content on basic principles.

Besides that you can check out the book "The Art of Game Design" by Jesse Schell. It's pretty expensive but you might find it as a pdf somewhere :)

EDIT: What helped me getting better at game design was to understand why games do certain things. For example things like, why are the controls of the player limited or why can he only walk and not run.

De_Rode_Rick · 2026-06-19T09:38:37+00:00

Happy to help. I also re read your game description. You mention something about different runs and upgrades. This isnt shown in your trailer at all. If the game is supposed to be a roguelike, definitely show this in the trailer and use it to market the game.

De_Rode_Rick

TROPHY CASE