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[codiophile]

I was about to leave a 3 star review for for the game, because I felt like the tutorial and help wasn't good enough. There were a lot of things that I didn't understand until I had played a few games, despite playing through the tutorial and reading all the help that was available.

Despite not understanding or being aware of some core mechanics, I didn't have any problem beating the AI. I often feel like the AI could be more aggressive, both in terms of expansion and in terms of attacking poorly defended territory. Also, I normally meet very little resistance when I attack the AI. I don't feel like it is trying to defend itself.

This might sound very negative, but I really enjoy the game. I tried jumping to level 60, to see if the game would get any harder, but I can't say that it did. The only thing that happened was that it took longer and got more tedious, because there were a lot of units to manage and a lot more territory to capture.

Anyway, when I was about to write the review, I thought that maybe this game is open source. It's free, has no ads and no in-app purchases, so I looked for it on GitHub and found this project. Rather than complaining about the shortcomings of the game on the play store, I could make a pull request and get it fixed in the next version. This leads me to my question: Would you actually merge a pull request, if I took the time to make one? There are 10 pull requests, but only one has been merged and most of them don't even have comments, even though they have been open for almost two years.

Thank you for a nice game.

[yiotro]

I felt like the tutorial and help wasn't good enough. There were a lot of things that I didn't understand until I had played a few games, despite playing through the tutorial and reading all the help

Hmm, can you please specify which things were not explained in tutorial/help? There are some nuances left for player to uncover, but they shouldn't be critical.

I often feel like the AI could be more aggressive, both in terms of expansion and in terms of attacking poorly defended territory. Also, I normally meet very little resistance when I attack the AI. I don't feel like it is trying to defend itself.

Did you play through whole campaign? First 20-30 levels are really easy, but it gets harder later. For example, level 79 is quite hard.

This might sound very negative, but I really enjoy the game. I tried jumping to level 60, to see if the game would get any harder, but I can't say that it did. The only thing that happened was that it took longer and got more tedious, because there were a lot of units to manage and a lot more territory to capture.

Try 'Slay rules' in skirmish mode, it may give you some challenge.

This leads me to my question: Would you actually merge a pull request, if I took the time to make one? There are 10 pull requests, but only one has been merged and most of them don't even have comments, even though they have been open for almost two years.

No, sorry. I prefer to work on it by myself.

Thank you for a nice game.

You're welcome :)

[codiophile]

From the top of my head, here's is what I can remember:

1. I didn't realise that each separated region was its own economy with its own city.
2. The help doesn't say how much you get from a farm.
3. There is no mention of the stronger tower in the help. I had to figure out that it is strength 3 by playing.
4. I accidentally discovered that you get 3 gold from chopping down trees inside your territory. (That you don't get anything from chopping down trees outside your borders seems weird, by the way.)

On top of the help being incomplete it is also too difficult to access. Whenever I wanted to check something in the help, I had to save the game, go back to the main menu, go to settings, tap on i, tap on help, and then select the topic I was interested in. Then I had to get back to the main menu and load the game to continue.

I don't understand why it isn't easily accessible from the pause menu and why it's so deep down in the menu. I don't see why there couldn't be a menu button directly on the main screen. Likewise, the info button could also sit on the main screen.

The main problem that I wanted to solve by checking the help section was to get all the numbers to calculate whether a certain move was likely to kill the AI's units, by calculating the economy of the region. I still don't understand all the details of the economy. For instance, I once had a region consisting of a city, a level 2 tower, a tree, and a farm. My income was +1. I was expecting 4 income from the farm and 1 from the city. I thought towers didn't have upkeep, but maybe level 2 towers do? These are the kinds of things I would expect to be able to read about in the help section.

[yiotro]

I didn't realise that each separated region was its own economy with its own city.

Well, it's mentioned in tutorial (at the very end). Quote: "You can have multiple cities, each with it's own economy.". I agree, it's easy to miss.

The help doesn't say how much you get from a farm

It's quite easy to find out by just building it :)

Just notice how your income changes when you build a farm and that's it.

There is no mention of the stronger tower in the help. I had to figure out that it is strength 3 by playing.

Yeah, that's not good. The reason behind that is that initially this game didn't have 'normal rules'. There were only 'slay rules'. And help section was written at those times, so it describes slay rules, not normal ones. When I introduced normal rules I decided to keep help section like it is because there were already quite a few translations done by volunteers and I didn't want to be annoying to them.

I accidentally discovered that you get 3 gold from chopping down trees inside your territory. (That you don't get anything from chopping down trees outside your borders seems weird, by the way.)

This is actually a very minor feature, it doesn't really have a big impact on gameplay :)

On top of the help being incomplete it is also too difficult to access. Whenever I wanted to check something in the help, I had to save the game, go back to the main menu, go to settings, tap on i, tap on help, and then select the topic I was interested in. Then I had to get back to the main menu and load the game to continue.

I don't understand why it isn't easily accessible from the pause menu and why it's so deep down in the menu. I don't see why there couldn't be a menu button directly on the main screen. Likewise, the info button could also sit on the main screen.

Yes, I agree, it takes quite a lot of taps to get there. That's because I don't like when there is too much stuff on screen. I always try to keep things simple and minimize number of buttons that player sees.

For instance, I once had a region consisting of a city, a level 2 tower, a tree, and a farm. My income was +1. I was expecting 4 income from the farm and 1 from the city. I thought towers didn't have upkeep, but maybe level 2 towers do? These are the kinds of things I would expect to be able to read about in the help section.

Yes, strong tower have upkeep. The thing about this game is that it's actually simpler than you may think. You don't really need to know all these numbers. For example, I personally don't remember them and I can beat all campaign levels.

[MichaelS11]

@yiotro

May I suggest updating the readme and change "TODO - How to make a pull request?" to say something like not accepting pull requests.

[Maaartinus]

The thing about this game is that it's actually simpler than you may think. You don't really need to know all these numbers.

Sometimes, you do. Getting +3 for a tree in the very first turn may let you build a unit or a house, which may give you an advantage, which may be essential in some harder user levels (sometimes also in random games). Similarly, -6 for the big tower may ruin you in the beginning.

Sure, later in the game, nobody cares.

For example, I personally don't remember them and I can beat all campaign levels.

Sure, but they're mostly trivial. Unfortunately, many of them are boringly trivial, even for a beginner. I installed the game on a new device and had a hard time to get through them.... no fun, far too easy.

Don't get me wrong, I love the game.

Some levels are fine, some maybe even too hard (or I'm stupid).