▼ Not recommended
26 hrs
Edit: Left Early Access without any changes since my initial review, meaning it released in a *very* underdeveloped state. In its present state, the game's only real saving grace is that it's still free (despite previous developer intentions to change that).
My earlier review follows:
---
This gets a tentative Recommended, on account of it being Early Access.
With a great idle game foundation and a compelling structure to support it, the game currently falls short on interface/information feedback, balance, bug polish, and content.
The interface is inconsistent and it's hard to know what things you can click on for more information, and which things will read your click as a purchase (and for which information can't be found anywhere, so purchasing blindly is all you can do anyway). The EA notice on the store page notes that a UI overhaul is planned, so this aspect can be ignored for now.
Bugs are few, but leave the game on long enough and you might end up with no balls spawning on a particular level, or similar. I'm also not entirely sure procs are working correctly for inactive level tabs, as I'll tab into them and not see any acid debuffs or similar. This is minor enough that even without fixes, it's ignorable.
Balance is rather spotty, with a lot of front-loaded buffs, nevermind imbalance between buff types. This makes the game rather easy to progress early on, and then slowed until you unlock the gem upgrades, then stalled very quickly again after that. And.. that's it. You're buying the same few upgrades (temporary or permanent) you started on from the start, and grinding those out with massively diminishing returns.
Amplifying the issue, the benefits of "playing" in offline mode appear to massively outweigh those of actively playing. I gain far more prestige points in offline mode than during active play, and they can be used immediately, without need for actually prestiging or paying to skip such.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate offline payouts that feel worthwhile (and thereby am by no means pushing for an overreaction on fixing this balancing issue).. but they shouldn't be overshadowing active play, and certainly not by the degree I'm noticing. Further, if offline play is so favorable while active play is completely disfavorable to play (due to lack of content and other issues), then the situation becomes somewhat absurd.
Ultimately, once you get to the repetitive grind aspect of the game, it feels as if the developer is intentionally wanting you to just log in once a day to spend prestige points and then immediately log back off.
Unfortunately, that's not the worst issue the game suffers from. I've only lightly touched on it thus far, so let's move on to addressing the biggest problem the game currently has:
You rush through what the game has to offer WAY too fast. The game has 15 levels planned, with 10 implemented, but you're completely set on unlocks and buffs by level 5. After that, it's just grinding and numbing repetition. So, you go from erratic progression flow, face first into a quagmire of grind. You're never unlocking anything new after that, you're capped on max towers per type already by level 5 for the only two or three towers even worth investing into* [again, balance is a real issue], and you're grinding the same minor, very much diminishing return, buffs for ages.
( *The magnet tower is a utility tower, and thereby could be considered a third viable tower; However, as far as damage towers, only the acid and saw towers really see good use, given their strong aoe coverage. All the other available towers are too limited on targets, damage, or both- meaning that the magnet tower is the only one you're strategizing use for relative to a level's design [but, being limited to 3 magnets, you're overly restricted even there], while the rest is just a play on how to most efficiently place your limited number of acid and saw towers. )
Honestly, after hitting that repetitive grind (which is a point that can be reached within the first day of idling, mind you!), it flat out stops being fun at all, despite there not being any real reason why the appeal should drop off so suddenly or sharply (in the sense that a better design could easily hold one's attention for much longer and with more engagement, and that the present design is self-sabotaging at the given point).
Simply put, if the game releases from EA with its current circumstances, there's no way around changing my review to a Not Recommended- there's just not enough substance here, or compelling enough flow, to warrant someone's time, despite excellent foundations.
Conversely, if the development sees more polish and added content, this game could become one of my most recommendable idle games. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few idle games over the years which had similar promise and were abandoned all too early.. hopefully this one will see a developer able to commit to a proper completion.
My earlier review follows:
---
This gets a tentative Recommended, on account of it being Early Access.
With a great idle game foundation and a compelling structure to support it, the game currently falls short on interface/information feedback, balance, bug polish, and content.
The interface is inconsistent and it's hard to know what things you can click on for more information, and which things will read your click as a purchase (and for which information can't be found anywhere, so purchasing blindly is all you can do anyway). The EA notice on the store page notes that a UI overhaul is planned, so this aspect can be ignored for now.
Bugs are few, but leave the game on long enough and you might end up with no balls spawning on a particular level, or similar. I'm also not entirely sure procs are working correctly for inactive level tabs, as I'll tab into them and not see any acid debuffs or similar. This is minor enough that even without fixes, it's ignorable.
Balance is rather spotty, with a lot of front-loaded buffs, nevermind imbalance between buff types. This makes the game rather easy to progress early on, and then slowed until you unlock the gem upgrades, then stalled very quickly again after that. And.. that's it. You're buying the same few upgrades (temporary or permanent) you started on from the start, and grinding those out with massively diminishing returns.
Amplifying the issue, the benefits of "playing" in offline mode appear to massively outweigh those of actively playing. I gain far more prestige points in offline mode than during active play, and they can be used immediately, without need for actually prestiging or paying to skip such.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate offline payouts that feel worthwhile (and thereby am by no means pushing for an overreaction on fixing this balancing issue).. but they shouldn't be overshadowing active play, and certainly not by the degree I'm noticing. Further, if offline play is so favorable while active play is completely disfavorable to play (due to lack of content and other issues), then the situation becomes somewhat absurd.
Ultimately, once you get to the repetitive grind aspect of the game, it feels as if the developer is intentionally wanting you to just log in once a day to spend prestige points and then immediately log back off.
Unfortunately, that's not the worst issue the game suffers from. I've only lightly touched on it thus far, so let's move on to addressing the biggest problem the game currently has:
You rush through what the game has to offer WAY too fast. The game has 15 levels planned, with 10 implemented, but you're completely set on unlocks and buffs by level 5. After that, it's just grinding and numbing repetition. So, you go from erratic progression flow, face first into a quagmire of grind. You're never unlocking anything new after that, you're capped on max towers per type already by level 5 for the only two or three towers even worth investing into* [again, balance is a real issue], and you're grinding the same minor, very much diminishing return, buffs for ages.
( *The magnet tower is a utility tower, and thereby could be considered a third viable tower; However, as far as damage towers, only the acid and saw towers really see good use, given their strong aoe coverage. All the other available towers are too limited on targets, damage, or both- meaning that the magnet tower is the only one you're strategizing use for relative to a level's design [but, being limited to 3 magnets, you're overly restricted even there], while the rest is just a play on how to most efficiently place your limited number of acid and saw towers. )
Honestly, after hitting that repetitive grind (which is a point that can be reached within the first day of idling, mind you!), it flat out stops being fun at all, despite there not being any real reason why the appeal should drop off so suddenly or sharply (in the sense that a better design could easily hold one's attention for much longer and with more engagement, and that the present design is self-sabotaging at the given point).
Simply put, if the game releases from EA with its current circumstances, there's no way around changing my review to a Not Recommended- there's just not enough substance here, or compelling enough flow, to warrant someone's time, despite excellent foundations.
Conversely, if the development sees more polish and added content, this game could become one of my most recommendable idle games. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few idle games over the years which had similar promise and were abandoned all too early.. hopefully this one will see a developer able to commit to a proper completion.
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