First off, thank you for taking the time not only to play the game but to share such detailed feedback. Before diving into my response, I want to say that many of your points are interesting and some are even being brought to my attention for the first time. Not many people have played the game yet, and even fewer provide in-depth feedback, so this is genuinely valuable to me. It’s a work in progress, and I’m always open to improvements.
This is quite a long and detailed response—I apologize for that! I completely understand if you don’t have the time to read it all.
In short: Thanks for your input! I truly appreciate it, and I’ll do my best to make the game even better.
About Being First
This is interesting as I had this same worry and feeling like you do! Though I must admit I'm really surprised about the "you will probably lose" if second.
Short answer: I was aware of this issue and have worked to balance it by reducing the first player’s starting crystals. As new mechanics are introduced, such as stronger units, upgraded cards, spells, and items, the impact of turn order becomes less significant.
Long answer:
This issue wasn’t apparent at first because I was playtesting with later-stage additions that negates the advantage of being first. It's only when playtesting the finished Chapter 1 that it occurred to me that it was way easier to win if you're first.
I discussed this with my testers, and while they acknowledged that going first offers an initial advantage, they didn’t feel it was a major problem, many actually found the game too easy overall.
Still, I adjusted the first player’s starting crystals to help balance things out. some testers then argued that going second became easier, especially when using items. That’s when I started tracking win rates with and without items.
When I read you message I immediately wrote to the testers currently playing Chapter 3. They all seem to agree that the advantage has diminished further with additional mechanics. But I’ll keep a close eye on it. If you're struggling when going second, feel free to reach out—I’d be happy to share some strategies with you!
About Gwent
Not really relevant, but I actually never played much Gwent! I absolutely love The Witcher series, but actually Gwent didn’t really click for me when I tried it once some years ago (8/9 probably). Your comment made me reconsider. I’ll give it a fair shot and see if there’s something in its design that could inspire improvements to my game.
About Items
I’m sorry the item system didn’t work for you. But no, it wasn’t a Chat-GPT idea. From the very beginning, I wanted the game to offer multiple strategic options using three card types: Units, Items, and Spells.
Items were always part of that vision. One of my earliest ideas was combining Elixir of Agility with Rogue (a unit that already has high dodge chances) to make it nearly untouchable. These mechanics weren’t added as a fix for balance issues but as a core part of the strategy. Once spells are introduced, you might find that items fit more naturally into the game. At least, I hope so!
About the Story
The story is still in its early stages within the game, so I understand if it doesn’t feel fully developed yet. Chapters 3 and 4 will bring more revelations, and hopefully, things will start to come together.
And no, this isn’t written by or with AI. I started developing this story years ago, and it has evolved too much for me to even consider explaining it to an AI, or even a co-writer (which I briefly tried during Chapter 2 when someone offered to help). To be fair, I did experiment with ChatGPT to resolve a few plot holes, but the results were so disappointing that I never tried again.
Again, I really appreciate your thoughts. Constructive criticism like this is invaluable, and I'm taking it into account as I work on the game. Thanks again for playing!
