Game developers rework core systems based on player feedback
22 posts across 4 communities in the last 30 days; 82% from r/IndieDev.
“Hey everyone, I’m working on A Cat in the Cangaço , a 2D action roguelite with survivors-like combat and deckbuilding. We recently made a pretty significant change to our core loop based on playtester feedback, and I’d like to hear how other developers would approach this…”
“Last night I posted about wanting to make a game where the characters are cards. The first image is the rework done today. The other two after this one were very rough drafts that I whipped up while half asleep. The final product I imagine will look a lot better, this is my…”
“I cant decide what to put as main menu so I added our gameplay mechanic to the menu itself ,It was a floating bubble that can encase player. in this menu you can drag mouse pass it to bump it around Thanks for reading, and Wishlist BOBABOMB on steam we're releasing demo on…”
Multiple game development teams are actively incorporating player feedback into their design process. One team completely rebuilt a card system to address concerns about complexity and restriction, while others adjust features like duplication mechanics based on how players interact with them. This highlights the importance of iterative design and responsiveness to community input.
SOURCES (50)
“Thank you for your feedback! My next one I was thinking of testing little to no subtitles🙈 For the lighting.. I’ll try to figure out a better solution, I actually intentionally used a gameboy without backlight for the retro feel, the way it used to…”
bet mine will look way cuter once i mess with it too [re: Cool Bases - I made an Obsidian Plugin to customize card views on bases]
“I’m developing Cash Stash, a free browser card game about matching assets into sets, stacking new sets to protect older ones, and challenging rivals to steal their exposed sets. The first set is permanently protected; the top one or two sets remain challengeable, depending on the rules setting. A recent playtest was useful: someone could make pairs, but didn’t understand how to challenge or defend, and asked for an activity log because opponents’ turns were hard to follow. That made it clear tha”
“Hi redditors! I've listened to your feedback, so I've polished the core gameplay and added a basic workshop scene to the game. The wood has now has some resistance when cutting and doesn't feel like butter, I hope :) Plus, I've added wood shavings, which should make cutting more satisfying. The game now has a vision: it will be a cozy workshop that you've opened in your basement - you can take orders or make something on your own in the free-build mode. I don't have a Ste”
“Hey everyone, I’m working on A Cat in the Cangaço , a 2D action roguelite with survivors-like combat and deckbuilding. We recently made a pretty significant change to our core loop based on playtester feedback, and I’d like to hear how other developers would approach this problem. Our old loop was: DAY (1 min) → NIGHT (1 min) → PLANNING → DAY → NIGHT → PLANNING… During Day, you play as a cat and collect Aura by killing enemies. During Night, you play as a human and do the same. Then Planning wou”
“I’ve spent the last couple months doing a pretty ridiculous amount of polishing and rebalancing on Rejected Draft. The early game especially should feel very different now: lots of rigorous balancing, new and reworked battle stats, a redesigned Feat Medal system, 2 new minigames, better tutorials/onboarding, new sketches, new medals, and a pile of bug fixes. So if you tried it before and bounced off it, I’d honestly recommend starting a fresh save and seeing how it feels now. The free Steam demo”
“Drew some new UI for my game Wirebound. I don't know if the hanging sign fits with the scene should I draw another electrical box instead? Also does the screen look too cluttered with all the elements? Any other feedback would be very helpful as well thanks! submitted by /u/WillingSport7215 [link] [comments]”
“Last night I posted about wanting to make a game where the characters are cards. The first image is the rework done today. The other two after this one were very rough drafts that I whipped up while half asleep. The final product I imagine will look a lot better, this is my version of sketching because I can't draw at all, but I sure can use the Circle/Square tool to make shapes. How does this look? Also yeah I want the cards to gain EXP, and have health bars. I want to make a Sword guy, a m”
“Hey everyone! I need to make an important decision regarding my game, Mistport , and I’d love to get your thoughts on it. Our current canvas size (420x270) has started causing a few issues for us. The main ones are that it doesn't scale cleanly to QHD resolutions, and more importantly, we’re running out of room for interactive objects we want to add. Because of this, we made a pretty radical call and bumped the canvas size up to 640x360. If we commit to 640x360, there’s going to be a lot of”
“I cant decide what to put as main menu so I added our gameplay mechanic to the menu itself ,It was a floating bubble that can encase player. in this menu you can drag mouse pass it to bump it around Thanks for reading, and Wishlist BOBABOMB on steam we're releasing demo on Wednesday !! submitted by /u/Narasette [link] [comments]”
“Trying to make a tower defense game. With a twist. You can grow a tiled territory and i wanted this to be the main difference from other types of tower defense games. A lot of towers have extra effects when shooting enemies on territory. It will give you passive income after each round. You can grow it to valueble tiles to increase that income even faster etc etc. A LOT of thought went into making this the thing that would set it apart from other games in this genre. One thing i missed this whol”
“Hey we're building a real time card battler but heavy emphasis on the story. We're trying to make the design intuitive for people. Currently have Appa's playtest live right now in our discord. Everything is a work on progress right now. Man it's so much work to close the gap between your output and creative vision and hopefully we'll get there. submitted by /u/HeatDeathStudioGames [link] [comments]”
“I've been working on figuring out what the art style of my game should be and I could use your help figuring out if this is a step in the right direction or not. The picture I have shows a Sims-style command queue for the player's actions and the objective/feedback boxes in the top left corner that I'll use for communicating tutorial steps or errors for failed interactions. I'm not great at art, so I'm fairly limited in what I'm able to actually put together. My old UI wa”
“The main design idea is to let players build the pieces they will later have to place. Glue falling blocks together, add those shapes to your deck, then deal with the consequences in the well. I wanted the immediate placement decision and the longer-term piece-building decision to affect each other. That sits alongside changing well shapes and gravity, plus co-op for up to four players in the same well. The clip shows four-player shared-well co-op. For anyone interested in the finished game: htt”
“I posted this game before and got a ton of comments saying it was confusing lol. So I ended up changing a lot more than I originally planned. Not just the tutorial, but some of the actual game rules too. This video is the new tutorial. I showed it to a few friends and they said it’s way easier to understand now, but apparently the actual game after the tutorial is harder than before. At this point I’ve looked at it way too much to judge it properly myself. Can you tell what kind of game this is”
“Earlier, I asked here whether first-time players could understand the rules of my card game, Duck Fest. Based on the feedback, I’ve substantially improved the tutorial, updated the effects, and adjusted the UI colors. Here’s a new trailer showing the updated game. Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts! You can try the changes in the free demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4961410/Duck_Fest_Demo/ submitted by /u/2ne3 [link] [comments]”
“We’re developing PAPER STRIKE, a game where you draw runes to cast spells. This video compares the old and updated visuals side by side, with the changes focused on colors and lighting. We’d love some fresh eyes on it: which version do you prefer, and what makes the difference for you? Also curious, does this look like something you’d want to try? submitted by /u/SoftwareCurious6798 [link] [comments]”
“Small visual changes -> big atmosphere impact Our video game takes place in the ancient Egyptian afterlife, but it wasn't coming across on the screen. We made two minor changes: adding shadows at the top of the screen and an eerie blue glow over the water at the bottom of the screen. Two small changes, but they added so much dimension and it builds a spookier atmosphere. Plus, we made the dialogue box darker, rather than the tan color, and I think that helps too. submitted by”
“I'm working on a small desktop game and trying to judge how much this needs fixing. The screenshot below is from a test build with a save set up for testing. The character, furnace and smaller props don't all have the same apparent pixel size. I notice it more when I stop and compare them, but I'm interested in how it reads at normal size. When you play a pixel-art game, does that kind of mismatch immediately make it feel visually inconsistent, or can you stop noticing it if the shap”
“Hey folks, one of the devs on Flame, Forest & Flood here 🔥🌲🌊 Wanted to share something we spent way : a Garden feature that has nothing to do with winning. Our core game showcases turn based rounds for up to 3 players and you play as one of 3 elements: Flame, Forest or Flood. It’s all about controlling the territory. You can win in three ways: you eliminate one of the opponents, you reach the goal of tiles to control or the last round is done and you have occupied the most tiles. Between”
“biome reveal for Cards & Cannons ! We wanted to create a cozy, vibrant space with crystal-clear blue water and lush greenery to make building feel even better. Drop your thoughts below - and wishlist Cards & Cannons on Steam if you want to support us! :) https://store.steampowered.com/app/4536920/Cards__Cannons/ submitted by /u/FlameheadGames [link] [comments]”
“To me it felt a bit weird to having to press shuffle all the way in the top right corner”
“Been working on my puzzle game for a few months and wanted to get feedback on selecting a visual scheme. The core vibe I want to create is warm, cozy and relaxing. The visuals need to convey to take it slow and that this is a chill game. (P.S. The game was first made for a game jam quite a while ago. Did not get to complete it then due to being busy with university. But, in case anyone want to try the core loop, the game jam prototype is on itch ( https://kyriegames.itch.io/a-game-of-2 ). It is”
“We use cards for various actions in the game, so I thought it would be cool to implement this system into the main menu as well. Looking forward to your thoughts and feedback, thanks! Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4977030/Diseased/ submitted by /u/AltruisticFox6486 [link] [comments]”
“Thank you all so much for your help on my previous post. It took a lot of work after rebuilding everything, but the advice you all gave was super helpful! Please let me know what you think! What else can I change? Is there anything missing from the new version that the old version had? submitted by /u/radiumhaus [link] [comments]”
“Hey everyone, I posted **Ember Kingdom** here a while ago, and the feedback was... pretty direct 😅 But honestly, I read all of it. A lot of people criticized the UI/UX, the combat presentation, the impact of attacks, and the overall visual feel. Since then, I’ve gone back and changed quite a lot. The **UI/UX has been reworked**, combat feedback and VFX have been improved, and attacks should feel much more responsive than they did in the version I originally showed. With **Version 1.1**, I also”
“Solo dev, first Steam launch upcoming. My game is a roguelite deckbuilder based on Yahtzee: lock and roll five dice, complete a hand, the hand casts a spell. People who actually play the demo get it within a minute and tell me it's fun. But the most consistent feedback I get on the store materials is some version of "I looked at the page and I still don't know what kind of game this is." I know what the obvious advice looks like, because I've given it to myself: make the di”
“The trap I kept falling into was that a building either pays out immediately and gets boring, or pays out later and feels like nothing happened. My fix in the end was to give half of them no visible map effect at ALL and let them cash out inside the battle instead. A Spellforge sits there like scenery until a fight opens and its the reason you won it. Took me way too long to accept that the payoff being invisible was the point, and that the job was making the moment it lands unmissable instead o”
“A few days ago I felt like the background of my main menu looked too empty, so I invested a bit more time to improve the looks. The slightly unusual part is that this isn't just a menu background. My character selection screen is my Room 1. It has a simple puzzle to understand the game. After that, menu background returns as Room 2. So I’m trying to make the room work in two different ways: It needs to look good and stay readable behind the main menu UI. But it also needs to feel like a real”
“Hello! We’ve decided to add a new “Blindness” effect to the game. The idea is that it will limit the visibility of text. It should be an annoying effect that lasts for 3 turns and can be removed by using a special item. We’d love to hear your thoughts on whether we should reduce the number of letters that disappear. If you’re interested in following the development of Peak or Die, add to wishlist) https://store.steampowered.com/app/4273370/Peak_or_Die submitted by /u/jumberrotsky [li”
“Hi everyone! I posted Perfect Route here a few weeks ago and received some helpful feedback from players. Since then, I’ve made some pretty big changes to the game — especially the overall feel, art style, aiming experience, and visual feedback. I also spent a lot of time polishing the different mechanics so their effects are easier to understand while playing. AI disclosure: AI image-generation tools were used to assist with some visual assets. AI tools were also used during development for pro”
“These are early builds, so a feedback can actually help us decide what works, what doesn’t, and which ideas are worth developing further! 🃏 Prison Card Game - A prison-themed card game inspired by games such as Slay the Spire and Vampire Survivors. ⛏️ Prison Escape - An incremental prison escape game where your goal is simple: Get out of prison! 🌱 Farm Game - A chill incremental farming game focused on growing and developing your own farm. 🚑 Hospital Emergency Room - A 3D hospital management”
“I been working on this physical card game for years and I decided to make it digital. I used Chatgpt to code the game because i don't know how to code. I also used chatgpt to enhance some of my hand made drawings (card art). And to create a the board arena artwork. The majority of the art work in the game is hand made. From VFX, UI, card designs, card artwork, also the ingame accessories (unlockables), even the SFX was made by me using studio one. Lastly I used an ai generator for the voice”
“Curious about feedback on how the challenge seals look and feel. P.S. it's for a roguelite co-op game submitted by /u/SecureSorbet7880 [link] [comments]”
“These are really new (last week). Some playtesting revealed we needed a much larger area for spreading out the puzzle solutions and creating more interesting opportunities for stealth and hiding from the serial killer in our game. So we ended up adding some new rooms. And we're really happy with how it turned out! Our game is called SHOCKFACE: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4705980/SHOCKFACE/ submitted by /u/adrenak [link] [comments]”
“Well at least there not just flat boxes anymore :) Not sure if this is overboard or ok/better so I will have to actually play my game to get a feel for the change lol :) submitted by /u/Distant_Dial [link] [comments]”
“CardCraft Engineering 2.0 starts with a blank blueprint. I author a card, assemble a deck around that decision, then test the result in a real AI battle. The goal is an experiment loop rather than a gacha growth track. Full is planned for 4 Dec 2026 (GMT+8). The Demo is still awaiting Valve review, so there is no public Demo download claim here. Real 15s gameplay clip: https://www.tiktok.com/@user4976904125967/video/7678012435927764231 Full wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4338300/?u”
“I have a co-op prototype where I'm fairly confident in the core mechanics, but I'm less confident that the current setting is the most marketable one. The mechanics could work in several different fantasies. Before spending months rebuilding the art direction, I'd like to test whether one fantasy has significantly stronger commercial appeal. For developers who have done this before: how would you validate it? Would you test: capsule/key art variants? short mocked-up gameplay clips? p”
“We are a small team of 2 guys developing an egypt fantasy escape room game, and we are considering to re do this design to give it a more egypt inspired design after we researched better some informations and gattered more references, and we'd leave this design only on the first builds for playtest, while we work on the new version for the final game. But some of our colleagues have said it already feels egypt for them So we are a bit in doubt abt it now. How does it look for you? Anything y”
After more than six months of development I finally took the time to redesign the screens for the intros of the different bosses in our game. I wanted the bosses to feel…
“Originally, the game was a bullet hell where I wanted to incorporate a parry system. So I expanded it from simply reflecting projectiles into a new move that opens a window for the player to counterattack. submitted by /u/Ok-Broccoli2751 [link] [comments]”
“I’m making a room for my game and I feel like it looks a little too empty and flat right now. I’m probably going to add a window beside the wardrobe, but I’m not sure what else I should put around the room. I also want to improve the shading. Right now everything feels like it has the same lighting and the room doesn't have much depth. I’m still learning pixel art, so I’d really appreciate your help. I’m going for a cozy, cute bedroom rather than making it super cluttered. Any suggestions fo”
“I added a tile that duplicates the tower in my puzzle game. Now the whole level looks like a gathering of hyperactive towers cloning themselves without permission. I’d say the feature works… maybe a little too well. submitted by /u/Season_Famous [link] [comments]”
“We’ve been getting a lot of feedback that the game felt a bit too restrictive and complicated, so we decided to take a step back and rework both our card and combat systems based on that feedback. The biggest change is that we completely rebuilt our card system. Before, every card had to be played as part of a chain, so before you could make the move you actually wanted, you first had to figure out how to play that card. It added a bit of a puzzle, which some people enjoyed, but it also meant yo”