[h1]Decent for a Dollar, But Has Some Issues[/h1] For a buck, this isn't terrible. The music is genuinely nice, sounds are satisfying, and there's something charming about watching the little bots do their thing. The core gameplay loop works well enough. Update are coming out fast, so game might be different when you are reading it. [h2]The Main Problem[/h2] This is essentially one level repeated five times. Once you figure out the first area, you've seen everything the game has to offer. It's not necessarily bad, but it does get repetitive pretty quickly. [h2]Things That Could Use Some Work[/h2] [b]The Upgrade System Feels Limited[/b] The tech tree is pretty sparse - you've got new bot types and mine size upgrades, and that's about it. Most other upgrades don't feel particularly exciting or worthwhile. The cost scaling can also put you in awkward spots where you're stuck grinding for a while if you pick the wrong upgrades early on. [b]Mana Generation Could Be Smoother[/b] It's a resource multiplier, which is fine, but having to constantly relocate your entire production setup to farm mana feels a bit clunky. Plus, some of the mana-unlocked features aren't fully usable during regular gameplay, which is a bit disappointing. [b]Storage Doesn't Serve Much Purpose[/b] Without offline progress, storage upgrades feel pretty pointless. It's not clear why you'd invest resources in something that doesn't really do anything. [b]Manual Selling Gets Tedious[/b] Having to jump between levels and manually sell fuel gets old fast. An autosell feature would be a nice quality-of-life improvement. If manual selling stays, maybe dynamic pricing could make it more engaging. [b]The Level Reset Thing[/b] Starting from level 1 upgrades every time you unlock a new grid feels like unnecessary busywork rather than meaningful progression. [b]Some thoughts[/b] The grid menu only shows free power, and there's no way to see your total resource generation across all levels. Also, fuel sales don't seem to count toward progression goals - not sure if that's intentional. [h2]Overall Thoughts[/h2] This has a solid foundation and the core mechanics are actually pretty engaging. It just feels like it needs more content and some polish. The developer seems to understand what makes idle games fun, so there's definitely potential here. One thing worth mentioning is that the game doesn't really have a clear goal beyond reaching the sell target on the final level. Once you hit that, you're pretty much done - there's no endgame content or reason to keep playing. For a dollar, it's hard to complain too much. If you enjoy idle games and don't mind some repetition, it's worth trying out. Good concept that needs more development.
Gridkeeper
by pixelwide
Media
About This Game
Gridkeeper is an incremental game about managing "Grids" and using their power to run MineBots, research tech, and grow your mining empire by getting better Grids.
What players are saying
it pains me a bit to put a negative review.. but the truth is.. it did not scratch the itch for me. I still went and 100% it but once you've done layer 1, you basically have seen everything the game has to offer.. It would have been a lot better and satisfying to have a new mechanic added with each layer.
i mean i love gnorp too. small adorable characters & pixelated UI & stuff. but i feel that this game lacks synergies and its progression lacks variety. as the result, when you complete the level, you will need to do the very similar level again, with very similar tech. and don't get me wrong, that's a good loop for a short game, so my review is positive ps. this game has an "idler" tag, and i feel that having to manually sell fuel removes the idling aspect. maybe consider autosell as a feature/upgrade? sorry if it's already there, haven't noticed it yet
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