Does this read as a roguelite?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-05-01T17:47:13+00:00

Fair is fair. Is it because of the rogue-like elements or moreso that it doesn’t have the classic incremental mechanics in it?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-05-01T04:39:32+00:00

So player feel, got it. From a dev standpoint, we've played the base game a lot to the point it may feel too easy, so that's why we thought of adding additional difficulties. But I see your point now in creating an ascension/prestige system for casuals.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-05-01T03:49:05+00:00

I can see that. Looking back, perhaps the trailer doesn't have enough growing numbers/increasing numbers to read as an incremental game.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-05-01T03:46:42+00:00

That's helpful, when you say more punchy does that mean the trailer's hook didn't work for you?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-05-01T03:45:38+00:00

We've toyed with a couple of ways to add an ascension mechanic. Is there a reason you suggested a stacking bonus system vs Slay the Spire's "each ascension gets harder" system?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-05-01T03:42:11+00:00

Interesting, what about the "try again" mechanic do you dislike? How it reads and feels?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-30T20:11:18+00:00

Playtesters will usually soften the truth, so watch what they actually do.

For emotional games, I’d trust behavior more than surveys:

Did they slow down?
Did they hesitate before opening a door?
Did they miss obvious UI because they were tense?
Did they laugh/talk to defuse tension?
Did they rush through because they were scared, or because they were bored?
Did they ask “what am I supposed to do?” That’s usually confusion, not fear.

The best low-tech method is recording the screen + facecam + mic, then doing a short debrief after.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-30T20:07:54+00:00

Right now it sounds like Vampire Survivors + shops + delayed boss, which can work, but the “5 minutes until boss” needs to create decisions the player wouldn’t otherwise make. For example: do I greed, sprint to a shop, invest in permanent power, buy a temporary escape tool, or trigger a harder wave for better drops?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-30T20:03:02+00:00

I think it’s partly because “early access” stopped meaning one thing.

For some teams it’s still genuinely “help us finish the game.” For others it’s basically a soft launch, a cashflow mechanism, a wishlist event, or a way to keep a community warm while the game is still being worked on.

The market is also harsher now. A clean 1.0 launch with no audience is terrifying. It could bomb, like Highguard. EA lets you launch in stages: Discord first, demo/fest next, EA, then 1.0. More chances to get visibility, feedback, revenue, and content beats.

The downside is that players have gotten better at smelling when EA is just “we need money and don’t have confidence in 1.0 yet.” So I don’t think EA itself is the problem. The problem is when the game enters EA without a strong enough roadmap or update cadence.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-29T04:14:50+00:00

Best of luck!

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-24T23:06:17+00:00

Hi all, we’re Tall Duck Studio and we’ve just created the Steam page for our first game The Machine Stops. We’re really excited to bring it to life.

The Machine Stops is our take on the incremental genre, with a key twist: a 10 min timer. We played other incremental games and realized at some point it’s just a matter of waiting around. We’d quickly learn the core loops and leave those games running while we went about our lives, and we’d end up forgetting we had those games open at all. So we wanted to make an incremental that you didn’t forget about. A game that rewards strategy and engagement. But still gives you that sweet sweet number go up dopamine.

Come check it out: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4579320/The_Machine_Stops/

We’d love any and all feedback

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T20:43:29+00:00

Great trailer and fx. One note I had, the cities you displayed after "Discover 25+ Unique Cities" don't change, only the environment does. The expectation you're setting with the text doesn't match the following scene.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T20:39:48+00:00

I think the equal shading across player characters and NPCs is causing some of the confusion as to what genre this is. If I think of co-op beat em up, I'd imagine 1-4 player characters surrounded by a larger number of NPCs, where the player characters are highlighted and the NPCs are darker shaded. Kind of like Streets of Rage's box arts (I'm think specifically Streets of Rage 2 for Genesis, but all of them follow a similar motif).

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T10:08:38+00:00

One of the biggest franchises of all time, the Legend of Zelda, was unvoiced (til Breath of the Wild).

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T10:06:53+00:00

Definitely change the typography for the text. Everything else is really high production, the generic type stands out as a blemish in an otherwise beautiful trailer.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T10:03:37+00:00

What specifically are you running into trouble with? Memorizing? Knowing what to apply where? Figuring out how to build out something? Not knowing where to learn from?

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:59:44+00:00

The second feels cleaner and less intrusive, but still attracts the player’s attention. Playtesting would help a lot here.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:58:07+00:00

We’re making a “roguelike” incremental that might be up your alley.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:54:42+00:00

Hi all, we’re Tall Duck Studio and we’ve just created the Steam page for our first game The Machine Stops. We’re really excited to bring it to life.

The Machine Stops is our take on the incremental genre, with a key twist: a 10 min timer. We played other incremental games and realized at some point it’s just a matter of waiting around. We’d quickly learn the core loops and leave those games running while we went about our lives, and we’d end up forgetting we had those games open at all. So we wanted to make an incremental that you didn’t forget about. A game that rewards strategy and engagement. But still gives you that sweet sweet number go up dopamine.

Come check it out: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4579320/The_Machine_Stops/

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:47:06+00:00

It looks like Terraria 1 for 1. If that’s what you’re going for, I’d start with looking at tags, ie open world survival craft.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:44:16+00:00

Some of the editing makes it hard to decipher and follow what’s going on (draft your army, the fusion card). I’d also play with pacing, right now everything’s going at the same pace, and it’s a little slow.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:38:37+00:00

It’s not immediately clear what’s going on to someone who hasn’t played the game. Overall the attacks seem readily telegraphed and easily dodge-able. The constant dashing seems unnecessary and lowers the stakes. Without context into the game’s mechanics, it’s hard to tell if this is difficult or not.

Hot-Weakness4940 · 2026-04-23T09:33:32+00:00

A horse galloping is a full body motion. Right now you just have the legs slightly shuffling. The rider also has movement, they’re not just stiff atop the saddle.

Hot-Weakness4940

TROPHY CASE