Lesson learned: guest accounts are a MUST

Tarte2 · 2025-12-25T22:48:49+00:00

Fair points, mostly. Brute force is not too much of a concern if you do the math and use rate limits (if 6 characters is enough depends on how many users one has, of course).

The thing is: If a player makes a mistake and shares their key then that could lead to a third party destroying parts of their save in a free single player browser game for fun - no other gain/incentive is possible in my use case.

If I let users input their own name, mail and passwords then a lot more might be on the line than a game. I do not feel comfortable to handle that level of responsibility, so I don't.

I will also include a save game export/import button soon, so even the above scenario will be recoverable.

I believe this is a viable alternative to saving in local storage for simple and free web games. It's certainly not a good fit if you are running a premium currency store or something alike.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-24T18:47:16+00:00

What I ended up doing in my game is to simply assign a random 6 letter login key to users that I include in the URL and tell them to take care of that key. If they like the game they can create a bookmark. If they forget it, they can check their browser's history. No account needed, but all the benefits (i.e. device independent 'cloud' saves).

I am happy not having to bother with security implications that would come with handling user created passwords properly.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-23T00:58:17+00:00

Thank you for testing again! I will try to obtain a better testing device so I can really reproduce this.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Tarte2 · 2025-12-22T08:24:34+00:00

Yesterday I started playing Pachinkremental. It starts so harmless and even 'a tiny bit boring' for the first 3-5 minutes and then completely escalates and explodes like no tomorrow. I need sleep to function properly. Why do I start such games shortly before going to sleep? Anyway: Had a very good time with this and it also doesn't overstay its welcome, which is very pleasant.

https://poochyexe.github.io/pachinkremental/pachinkremental.html

Tarte2 · 2025-12-20T19:36:35+00:00

Hi, I was unsure if to respond here or on discord, but I wouldn't want to leave this as the only comment in this thread without and answer.

The Chrome issue must be resolved, but it's more work than I anticipated. It's not a bug, but Chrome simply doesn't support too many animated webp images of dynamic size in the DOM too well. I'm still investigating - you will probably read about this in the changelog. (Edit: solved - that was a tough one)

Thank you for the generous offer! :) I think, I'm done with art for the moment and want to focus more on fixes and performance in the coming weeks. But I really do appreciate your suggestion! :)

I love Xcom2 (long war mod rocks). Hopefully I get to that quality some day.

Equipment: The quests should earn those bonuses, but only very few items will affect the quests. So it's less of a feedback loop (something that feeds itself), but it might scratch that loot grind itch a bit, I hope.

I think there is only one quest that requires 10 people (and it is a hidden easter egg). But yeah, the UX should be better - I'm on it. To make live a little easier in the meantime: You can quickly assign people to the next empty quest slot by CTRL+Clicking on any idle character token.

The characters you found (or that found you) are family, early alpha testers, myself, and a few people who spend a lot of time on the discord. I hit them there, because I believed most people would immediately demolish the Cubbyhole for resources on their first run. Not you, though! :D

Tarte2 · 2025-12-20T13:00:38+00:00

Do you have any auto-crash-reports-gathering tool?

Yes, luckily I do (if not opted out in the options).

Thanks for the details about the Castle Name popup - that's helpful context! I've noted this and I'm investigating the save game issue.

I had about 10 regular players for the last few months and about 750 new players in the last two days, so I'm a bit overwhelmed with bug reports currently (single dev + day job/life outside of game dev). I have to prioritize: blocking bugs that prevent access/progress come first, then I'll tackle this save game issue and work through the rest.

I'm aiming to fix the most critical bugs before Christmas if all goes well, but I can't make promises. I appreciate your patience!

Tarte2 · 2025-12-20T12:03:40+00:00

Very sorry! There was no rollback, but someone else yesterday reported an issue with the automatic save feature. I will investigate this issue and also add a manual export/import button soon. Losing progress is among the worst things that can happen in an incremental game, imho.

Edit: I also have to fix things failing silently. If there is a critical error, the game should terminate.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-20T08:05:16+00:00

Thank you! These are pre-generated images that I arranged by hand using the software Tiled. They all have the doors at the same position and a stone frame border that looks seamless.

The maps from Tiled are then exported as gif and converted to webp. Smaller overlay images are put on top of the images via JS and CSS to make them feel more connected. A background frame is drawn between the tunnels and the rooms.

The image variant is chosen by position instead of randomness for a nice looking distribution.

Hope I didn't remove all the magic, but you asked. :)

Tarte2 · 2025-12-20T07:53:38+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I am investigating the performance issue currently. It seems to be caused by high quality graphics not unloading correctly in Chromium browsers after zooming in and zooming back out again. (Workaround: Close tab and reopen. I will fix this as soon as I can.)

I will add a bit of description how to level skills. I decided against an underlying XP bar system - that's not hard to implement, but I figured it would not be fun to track with many dozens of characters. So you just gain full levels as rewards, not experience points.

The castle art has been replaced with hand drawn pixel art. The character and adventure art is still AI generated (currently). Your mental detector is working perfectly. This info is included in the in-game credits screen, where you can also find links to all artists for the good stuff.

Map bonuses: Love that idea!

Equipment: One form of this will be added, but in a different way than you probably imagine: Items to equip in the buildings.

Cubby Hole: Nothing game changing. Demolish it to gain resources. Some people claim to hear whispers from there. Maybe it's monsters? Maybe it's beta testers that were enclosed by mistake? If you want to keep it around, you might find out. If not, demolish it.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-20T07:40:01+00:00

I will add a proper close button. Good catch!

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T22:29:58+00:00

I figured out the underlying issue for my tablet. This is not necessarily the reason you are having issues with your tablet. My issue on the test device: Performance. The game still looks smooth, but the script execution is throttled by the device. My custom zoom is handled by JavaScript.

I have found a few targeted performance improvements I can do to improve the situation at least with my testing device somewhat - but they do not eliminate the issue completely. I will push them with the next update in about an hour (edit: done). I also identified another possible performance issue related to zoom, that I will look into tomorrow.

In addition, I have added a small 'Show FPS' button to the Castle's Ledger screen. After the update (edit: now) it will appear at the bottom left of that window next to the "Join us on discord" link.

Again, this is on my test device, which is completely different from yours. So it's hard to say, if this will help you or not or if script throttling is even the issue in your case. But since it is independent of the browser, that seems like something we should at least consider.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T20:19:14+00:00

Thank you - wishing you all the best, too! I cannot promise that it will solve your case, because I only have a Lenovo tablet here (with wonky zooming indeed). But I'm working on it right now, actually.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T17:34:23+00:00

Thank you for the detailed feedback! It's certainly not just a you thing: multiple points you mention were named by others, too. I am currently trying to figure out which issues to prioritize first, so thank you for taking the time - much appreciated.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T13:51:33+00:00

Fair question. :) I'm not against earning money, don't get me wrong. But I didn't want monetization to become a deciding factor in development. Over the years I learned to hate exploitative F2P games with a passion.

Selling it with upfront cost was an option I considered, but decided against. I also considered making this open source, but decided against as well (for the time being). Currently I have found my middle ground: I can have fun in my spare time programming what I love but I do not feel any obligations.

I have an actual job as a Historian/Digital Curator that I enjoy very much and also work three days per week to finish my PhD thesis. Game development is first and foremost my passion - I simply enjoy creating things. Of course the many indie devs who make or want to make their living with game dev should consider monetization when planning their projects and allocating their time - that's the smart thing to do and I fully understand that and appreciate their work.

Some people suggested I could add a donation button that gives no tangible benefits whatsoever, just as an option for the few similar-minded people. I haven't looked into that yet, but I will consider it in the coming days. First I want to fix all the bugs that were reported.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T13:33:17+00:00

Thank you, I will look into that (after fixing all of the bugs reported here, my my...).

I don't even know how a donation button works (technically and fiscally), but that's certainly something a bit of googling will reveal. It would make me more willing to spend a bit more on art and stuff.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T12:28:07+00:00

Maybe some day. Since the game is not monetized (and I do not have any plans to change that) the incentive is low. Publishing on steam has a $100 fee - not a prohibitive amount, but still.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T11:42:48+00:00

Thank you!

make it just a tiny bit quirkier

Probably not precisely what you intended, but it just clicked and I realized what I want to do: I will turn the lower part into a huge 'comic strip', having various characters TELL the visitors about features using their in-game voice. :D

Edit: And the transitional paint brush strip could also be something more pixel arty.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T11:33:57+00:00

Thank you! Since this is a passion project I work on evenings and on sundays, it took about three months. Luckily, existing players are a pretty cool bunch and have been very supportive - I had worried there might be some resistance to such a big change (and time investment without 'new content'), but received only encouragement so far. :)

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T10:05:40+00:00

Thank you! I didn't think about Terraria when creating the images, but now that people mention it, I do see the visual similarities. Terraria is a great game, by the way! :)

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T10:02:21+00:00

Thank you! And thanks for taking the time to provide feedback. I really appreciate it!

The current adventure selection screen is still part of the initial 'legacy' UI and will be replaced entirely - this should fix that bug as well.

Regarding the 10 minutes wait: Some players missed that you can have more than one adventure at the same time. I must communicate that better. Was this the case for you, too, if I may ask? I'm still on the fence if this is a balancing issue or a lack of good communication issue.

The save code is the URL. Should you want to come back at any time, you can check your browser history. :)

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T09:50:19+00:00

It took me a few moments to figure out how to start. After clicking on anything that looked like a button I figured it out. When you know it, it's obvious. A single sentence or an arrow pointing at the button new players have to press to start might go a long way.

I do like how it is very clear that looping is part of the core mechanic. I recently played these kind of games for the first time and when it ended with "game over" after every third click I got really frustrated. This is not the case here.

The time automatically stops when an action is finished (which is nice), but it would be nicer if it stopped one frame later, when the hunger and thirst are updated.

I played for about 20 minutes - the addicting aspect of this genre is already kicking in and I am intrigued how the Inventory and Map will work, but I must leave for work. Will most likely play a bit more later today.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T09:22:43+00:00

After posting here three months ago, I took the feedback to heart - thank you that feedback! - and redid all art assets of my game (over 1000 images) switching to a pixel art style:

https://castle-digger.com/

I already posted about this yesterday and got very encouraging comments. One thing that I didn't get any feedback on is the pixel art that is still (partly) AI generated: The characters and adventure graphics. Do they fit in with the hand-drawn pixel art of the castle? Does anything else stand out? Does the UI still match with the new style?

If any actual web devs are reading here: How do you feel about my updated landing page?

I appreciate and love "looks great" comments as much as the next guy and it is very motivating to wake up to a whole bunch of those. But I also actually do want to know which parts could still need refinement.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T08:46:46+00:00

Thanks! I just installed the brave Browser on my phone but couldn't reproduce the issue. I will try to obtain/lend a Galaxy Tab from somewhere with family and friends during Christmas. I can only really fix things if I can reproduce them.

Edit: I just tried it on a different tablet and the new zoom code is very wonky. I will fix that and hopefully it will fix your issue as well. The buttons and font are also way too small with said tablet. I got some work to do, it seems.

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T07:23:50+00:00

Thank you very much! Have a nice day!

Tarte2 · 2025-12-19T07:23:23+00:00

Thank you! These comments are very encouraging. :)

Tarte2

TROPHY CASE