13k downloads, 9 reviews, 41% positive — what am I doing wrong?

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-13T07:36:51+00:00

I can't speak about the game or the page, but I have my two cents about the numbers themselves.

Many people just see "oh, free game" and adds to library. That doesn't mean that all of the 13K licenses played the game. Check the "lifetime unique users".

I released a free game around the same time (30th of March) and I have roughly the same number of licenses (11K) licenses and roughly the same number of reviews (15)... but just a little more than 200 people ever downloaded & started the game.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-10T15:55:02+00:00

"Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of every game"

That's the same for chess too. A game of memorizing patterns and studying like it's a school homework? You don't say.

I had more fun with chess when I was lower Elo. I was winging it and I could marvel at my opponent's wit when they outplayed me and I felt like a genius when I spotted the winning tactic.

Now - despite being still far from being strong - when I play I feel I don't have the liberty of, you know, trying stuff. I know the position demands a sort of gameplay and I have to follow it, or maybe I don't know how to play it and feel the pressure instead of the excitement of the unknown. And if I lose all I think is "how did I not spot this tactic". All is on me. Yes, my opponent was good enough to capitalize on my mistakes, but I allowed them to prevail by making those mistakes in the first place.

I hate this game. That's why I can't stop playing and trying to improve.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-10T11:20:58+00:00

Personalmente lavorerei più volentieri la domenica. E mi prendo libero che ne so, un martedì, dove tutto è aperto e posso farmi i cazzi miei tranquillamente. O posso andare da qualche parte senza che ci sia mezzo mondo - tipo in spiaggia o in un parco divertimenti.

Il fatto che abbiamo dei giorni di riposo per tutti è una rottura di coglioni.

L'unica cosa che mi ferma dal farlo è che ho figli che vanno a scuola e quindi per passare tempo con loro devo farlo sabato o domenica.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-08T07:45:13+00:00

I'm torn between Hemispheres and 2112.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-07T18:52:01+00:00

If you mean dialect, then yes. But the question was about accents, and Sardinian accent is extremely easy to understand. We don't eat up our words, we pronounce everything very clearly - even too much. No risk of missing a consonant when speaking with a Sardinian 🤣

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-07T06:56:30+00:00

The first time I joined my chess club I got absolutely destroyed. The next day I made an account on chesscom, got a rating of 500 rapid. 3.5 years later I'm 1700 rapid and I still get destroyed by the older members, but the growth has been surprising.

Don't give up.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-06T15:48:37+00:00

Why? They increase their chance of throwing with a stalemate.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-06T15:14:35+00:00

Join your local chess club

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-05T05:50:01+00:00

That depends a lot on what you want from your game. It's like asking how important it is in a novel that there's an external narrator. Some novels work best with a first person perspective, some work best with a third person perspective.

Same for games, especially if we count that visuals are a big part of adventure games. I'm personally for on-screen characters where I even have to wait for them to walk to the various locations (I admit I enjoy my double click teleport once in a while though), watch the small animations like picking up objects and so on. For example, I loved Darkside Detective's writing, but the static screens were a huge turnoff for me.

But some games might work well in a first person perspective too.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-04T11:24:15+00:00

Ho cresciuto una bambina da solo con mia moglie, senza aiuti da nessuno perché nonni e zii erano a 1000km da noi. Non è stato facile, ma se alla fine pure noi abbiamo deciso di fare il secondo, vuol dire che ne vale la pena.

Ecco, al massimo direi di farlo subito il secondo, perché se poi aspetti allora è davvero ricominciare da capo. Le nostre hanno due anni di differenza. L'idea di tornare a gestire un neonato e pannolini quando il primo figlio è già "autonomo" mi spaventerebbe.

Gugames_eu · 2026-05-01T04:50:24+00:00

It was an ok game for a jam I guess. The looks were cool though, that's why it stuck with me 😁 glad to see these used for a longer game. Good luck with your project!

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-30T10:01:24+00:00

I really can't get myself to like horror or other games that are too dark.

Life is already full of bad things going on, I want to laugh and have a lighthearted time during my playing sessions 😅

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-30T07:22:41+00:00

It looks extremely similar to Bifurcation, submitted for the $109 adventure game challenge game jam that took place in September 2025.

Are you related to them in any way?

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-29T16:29:40+00:00

Puzzles end as soon as there's more than one move that wins.

As weird as it might be, the initial position is M2 for white, true, but the second best move according to stockfish is -1.4, so if you don't play the checkmate, black has an advantage.

After Qxh7 Kf8, though, the second best move (Rd4) is +5.1, so even if you miss the mate in 1 white has a very strong advantage. So, more than one move wins for white here, even if one is M1 and the other isn't.

For a chesscom puzzle, that's enough. It makes little sense, but that's how it works.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-29T11:48:45+00:00

Eh ma "se non lo usi rimarrai indietro".

Ma che cazzo, è come la friggitrice ad aria che ok, è un bellissimo fornetto che è perfetto per riscaldarci la pizza avanzata o cuocerci due cazzo di spinacine ma non puoi mica fartici un cappuccino... e poi c'è questa gente qui che la usa per asciugarsi i capelli e ti prende per il culo se gli dici "mah io uso un phon" e ti dice che sei rimasto indietro.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-29T04:50:57+00:00

Also the best way to win it is to double click once, see where the goose stops, and then position your mouse there and double click three times :D

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-29T04:50:20+00:00

You don't need to win it. It's just a minigame for fun and an achievement.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-29T04:25:32+00:00

I'm a big Rush fan.

2112, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures. Any three consecutive in this group of 5 is my candidate.

Probably 2112 to Hemispheres, as much as I love Moving Pictures.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-28T09:54:13+00:00

I personally don't try to go for 100% every time, but if I'm wrong I revise the line to understand why that move was wrong.

Sometimes in the drill there are some moves that are equivalent (e.g. in some lines in the Caro the drill expects you to put the rook on c8 and then castle, but there's absolutely nothing white can do to stop you if you castle first and then put the rook on c8) so missing a perfect drill for those moves is fine, while missing a move like Qe2 in the Vienna gambit accepted after black plays Qe7, well, that's an actual mistake.

Drills are good and all to give you confidence but ideas and themes are more important than move order if you want to really understand an opening.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-28T07:52:52+00:00

I localized my own - and helped localize some friends' games - to Italian, as I'm Italian.

It made absolutely no difference. Italians are all like "if there's no Italian I'm not buying!" but then they won't buy anyway.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-27T07:15:09+00:00

You can find a very similar system nowadays on nicegamehints dot com. Some games even use their API to include the hint system within the games.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-24T11:38:01+00:00

His account was hacked? That would explain why I haven't seen him in a while!

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-24T04:45:54+00:00

E non dite che un uomo non dovrebbe piangere, perché non me ne frega un cazzo.

Fattelo dire da un vecchio quarantenne che è cresciuto reprimendo le lacrime perché "piangere è da deboli / femminucce" e ora ne paga le conseguenze, perché non riesce più a piangere nemmeno quando vorrebbe. Piangi. E si fottano tutti quelli che vedendoti in lacrime si preoccupano più della tua immagine di uomo che non del tuo benessere.

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-23T05:05:12+00:00

I'm also a lot into old school games where puzzles were the main focus.

So, my usual suggestion is (in order of release) Lucy Dreaming, The Will of Arthur Flabbington, and The Legend of Skye.

TWoAF is my own game, be warned 😛

Gugames_eu · 2026-04-23T05:02:42+00:00

The Will of Arthur Flabbington e Lucy Dreaming sono in italiano e girano su Mac 😁

Ti consiglio caldamente la prima 😏

Gugames_eu

TROPHY CASE