knexer
commented
1 year ago Goals:
- nice sense of wrapping up and conclusion
- make purchased upgrades continue to feel relevant
- good flow into the ending sequence vs hard turn into no more features go away
- motivate the purchase of the later tier upgrades
- provide a big-picture goal to work towards
How about this: Add a final puzzle that opens up around $100 money. This puzzle is a jumbo hardcoded puzzle that can be worked on concurrently with the other boards; it could have its own drawer that can be expanded/collapsed. Completing this puzzle wins the game. Each move in the final puzzle costs $1. Wrong moves could incur a $100 debt that needs to be repaid.
This way, the automation upgrades keep functioning, and the player still wants to earn money, but they have a specific horizon they're building towards. It could make sense for them to continue upgrading to increase their income to make the final puzzle more tractable. Ideally, it would be reasonable to complete with all but the last upgrade, and fairly quick to complete with all the upgrades.
Solve a giant board, win when you finish it.
Emily suggested hardcoding it, so it could have e.g. an image or a message. 'you win', 'GG', 'thanks for playing', or just a smiley