Remember that judges have hundreds of games to play. If at any time during your game they get stuck, they are likely to shrug and move on to a different game.
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Nobody likes a game that treats the player like an idiot. However, a player is far more willing to tolerate a Level 1 that they can pass without thinking, than they are to try to disassemble a masterpiece puzzle at the very beginning. Judges are much more likely to give up and move on.
I've entered two past PyWeeks; this part of the article really hit me.
My last two games were very, very short. I wanted to lengthen the game so I made the levels harder. The feedback that I got was that the game was too hard; judges got stuck within the first minute or two.
I'll again be limited by time but this time I'll prefer to make the game easy than hard. I think players will find it more enjoyable to finish the game than get stuck.
If anyone is planning on participating in the PyWeek a few weeks away, I recommend reading some articles from this list:
You might also find some useful tips on designing an engaging (fun) experience on the gamification wiki [1]. Making a game "easy" but providing constant "achievements" and "levelling up" opportunities could be a good strategy. I always remember how easy it was to get really high scores on pinball machines...
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Nobody likes a game that treats the player like an idiot. However, a player is far more willing to tolerate a Level 1 that they can pass without thinking, than they are to try to disassemble a masterpiece puzzle at the very beginning. Judges are much more likely to give up and move on.
I've entered two past PyWeeks; this part of the article really hit me.
My last two games were very, very short. I wanted to lengthen the game so I made the levels harder. The feedback that I got was that the game was too hard; judges got stuck within the first minute or two.
I'll again be limited by time but this time I'll prefer to make the game easy than hard. I think players will find it more enjoyable to finish the game than get stuck.
If anyone is planning on participating in the PyWeek a few weeks away, I recommend reading some articles from this list:
http://www.pixelprospector.com/indie-resources/
I particularly liked these quick tips:
http://devmag.org.za/2011/01/18/11-tips-for-making-a-fun-pla...