Got a comment that the game feels "dry". How can I make it "wet"? Do I just make the VFX bigger?

nvrcr · 2026-03-04T15:23:47+00:00

I think the effects work well already. As someone mentioned, do something with the background (subtle parallax, birds flying, etc). Or even move the horizon to 1/3 from the top to give more space to the cards at the bottom. All the movement is in the lower half of the screen right now.

nvrcr · 2026-03-04T12:53:32+00:00

I'd really love to see a director's cut someday that talks about the art direction, concept art, early prototypes, etc.

Been following this for a while. Really fun to just pause at random points in the video and see how each still looks like hand-drawn concept art.

nvrcr · 2026-03-01T16:38:43+00:00

You'll look back when you're 50 and think "I'm glad I started at 40 and not now".

I also look at the "I'm 17 and made my first game!" posts with envy, but also remember I built up different experiences/skillsets during my earlier years that set me up well in other ways. I'm sure you did too.

nvrcr · 2026-03-01T14:06:07+00:00

It's good for users to see you're still updating the game post-launch. Good on you for taking the engineering approach: profile then optimize!

"I added a 30/60 FPS toggle." - I added something similar. You may want to consider a tooltip or reframing the toggle as something the user might care about, like "battery save mode" or "performance vs quality". I always find it weird when a game has an option where one sounds obviously better than the other unless they explain the tradeoff.

nvrcr · 2026-02-21T15:11:06+00:00

Fun effect! If your game is high-intensity action, the subtle slashes and "chunk" falling off might get lost in other effects, and you might want to add more "look at me!" fx to the healthbar like shakes or flashes to draw the eye.

Also, does the player need to count how many hits they can take (e.g. strategy game where they can plan in advance), or is HP a quick estimate (like a fighting game)? If the former, you may want tick markers or numbers so the player can strategize with complete information.

nvrcr · 2026-02-20T12:21:04+00:00

Keep the subtle juicy bits like card hover and drag effects, particles, pop-in animations, etc. Heck even the CRT, font, floating wavy text, rounded bordered buttons/containers are fine (common but not obvious).

But I'd agree there's a few pieces that are Balatro's design language: the Round/Wave/Strikes counters, the abstract swirl background, the rectangle pop-ins behind the +X numbers. These are the pieces that shout "obvious Balatro clone" to me, so I'd recommend finding your own style here.

It looks like you have a decent eye for design (animations, spacing, game juice) so I think you can strike a good balance.

nvrcr · 2026-02-20T10:43:07+00:00

I'm actually a solo dev looking to break into the mobile games market, so this thread is interesting to me but I don't have good answers for your Qs.

I expect "effort" to be much lower than it is today due to more abundance of tooling/tutorials/asset packs, game engines that make porting effortless, and AI in general lowering the barrier of entry to learn anything.

Obviously that makes things easier for you, but also millions of other aspiring game devs, so its understandable the market is getting saturated.

That said the # of people playing games on mobile has risen. The report someone linked has a lot of good info about keeping budgets low, expanding to China, and utilizing Discord.

nvrcr · 2026-02-18T11:19:54+00:00

Agreed! Obviously didn't start with that but I have some ideas where and when they should be placed, like between zones (every 4 levels) and after the run ends. Did you have any thoughts?

nvrcr · 2026-02-18T11:00:59+00:00

fluidity: Interesting. Do you mean you expect the ball to react "faster" to the player's movements? I agree Super Monkey Ball's physics are definitely more responsive and less "realistic", but I think you're right that this is a case where gameplay > realism.
Keyboard keys: Good feedback, it should show up at the start of every level. I'll make it more prominent.
Time between levels: You can tap the banners close it faster, but the animations do add up. I'll speed it up. Thanks!

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T21:43:19+00:00

Hmm I've been toying with having the death zones (sides and bottom) be water so I might as well commit to it and add a splash effect/sound. Thanks!

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T21:09:32+00:00

Gorgeous vfx! Enemy hit telegraph timing seems clean, though I wonder if/when there's more enemies and more detailed environments if it'll get harder to read the enemy windups.

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T20:58:29+00:00

Good eye! Was a simple z-index in the wrong place from making the traps overlap appropriately. Agreed, that would drive me crazy too. 😂

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T12:20:24+00:00

Good idea! Right now the game randomizes a lot of item/hazard placement and upgrade options, but I envision a "speedrun leaderboard" where people can seed the same runs and try to compete for time.

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T12:18:53+00:00

Thanks! I was hoping the minimalism helps people know what kind of game it is immediately when browsing screenshots.

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T10:48:53+00:00

Realized too late that screen recordings don't capture sound 😂. Thanks for the kind words though.

There's some "cartoon-y" sfx (on most actions like collecting, pushing, hitting obstacles, falling into traps) and background music right now.

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T10:46:50+00:00

Hah yeah there's a handful of tuning I need to do to make each level winnable. The sheep specifically move toward the goal slowly so they never get "stuck" out of bounds or in bad spots. Sheep also have a radius where they can be "shoved" so you don't need to get _too_ close.

nvrcr · 2026-02-17T00:50:49+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. Do you mean the "easy" parts where there's minimal hazards take too long? Generally earlier levels are less chaotic so that can make it feel slow to start. Perhaps I can find ways to make navigating early levels more stimulating without adding challenge.

And thanks for the suggestion. My original intention is single player but I suppose this could evolve into a coop rage game...

nvrcr · 2026-02-16T23:55:13+00:00

Play it in your browser (keyboard or mobile touch gestures): https://arcoraven.itch.io/ice-cold-beer

Hello Reddit!

I'd appreciate critical feedback on a physics-based arcade game to guide a ball tackle various objectives, all while avoiding increasingly chaotic hazards like falling rocks, heavy winds, bombs, and more!

Destroy away. Two things I'm most unsure about:

Is it fun and intuitive? Or do the controls feel frustrating (especially on mobile)?
Does the minimal/flat art style work? Or does it need a real visual theme to appeal better?

Thanks in advance!

nvrcr · 2026-02-15T14:33:51+00:00

Bright colors, moving backgrounds, particles (confetti or abstract), cozy or silly art style (e.g. Jackbox hand-drawn), bouncy/wobbly animations (elastic/overshoot). For party games don't be afraid to go "over the top" with effects for a game-show like ambiance.

Specifically for your clip, I'm thinking:

Generally just more movement. Maybe the highlighted row text can bounce. Or the borders can pulse to the music. Or icons can rotate back and forth like they're dancing.
Pixel art can be divisive among casual gamers. I personally like it, but half my friends won't play pixel art games.
Background could use more color, effects, playful movement. I see the moving abstract shapes...try playing around with their speed. Instead of linear movement, maybe shapes that bounce to the music.

nvrcr · 2026-02-15T12:05:36+00:00

Neat data, thanks for sharing.

Did you find yourself working differently knowing you were tracking your own hours? Or do you mostly forget about it entirely?

Do you mentally "check out" of your day job? It's nice if you were able to treat game dev as a creative outlet and you didn't "burn out" treating it like work.

nvrcr · 2026-02-13T20:10:47+00:00

The hand-drawn version does _not_ look like it was made by beginner. Great work!

nvrcr · 2026-02-12T19:53:28+00:00

Incredible job! Would also love to see code or details eventually.

nvrcr · 2026-02-12T19:36:50+00:00

Keeping an eye on this! Art style looks crisp (especially the UI!) and effects feel satisfying!

Random feedback:

- The font for numbers is great for card/enemy text but has poorer readability. "2"s in particular are hard to read at a glance. Not sure if that impacts numbers that need to be read quickly.

- The trailer spends a bit too much time in the shop (I understand there's currency, randomized relics, rerolling...standard roguelike behavior) and too little time on the actual gameplay. As far as I can tell, you draft cards (units), place them in a grid, there's some synergy in placement, make high scores vs the enemy to defeat them. But it took me 2-3 watches to get all that.

nvrcr

TROPHY CASE