The Mini Games Issue
Hey all! I really need some feedback with the minigames in Escape from Ivy & Piper. I am really loving the story and direction of the game, the interactions, the animations and renders. BUT I want it to also be a FUN game. It's not a sandbox, it's not quite the "Escape room" gameplay I was hoping for. The mini games are fun for some and downright awful for others.
I need a solution. I am halfway done and have had enough time to gain some insightful feedback. One option is always to skip the minigames (which I might do) but that feels cheap. What I really want to do is MAKE THE MINIGAMES BETTER! But I also don't want to spend 50% of development time on minigames. I want to spend 80% of my time on story, renders, and animations. Then maybe 10% on minigames, and 10% on everything else.
This is what I have been doing and I think it shows. The lack of effort in the minigames. The lack of single direction in gameplay. This is my first game at this size. Strip n play with Val was 3 minigames. Easy, short and sweet. Lana and the Milking Table was just a story. And Emma in the Library was a Quiz game. They have their flaws, but they all had a direction.
Escape is ALMOST what I intended. But it evolved into something else. So I am here to ask which part of the GAMEPLAY is the most fun. (For the sake of this poll, I will assume images, animations and story are good). I want to know what game aspect/specific minigames are fun. And which ones need to go.
Please post your honest opinion on the games. I know you all here support me, so there will be no hurt feelings here. Be honest, I want to make this game better and now is the time!
Thank you all so much for your support!
-Ace
Comments (6)
a few people in this thread have mentioned how they don't go to AVNs for minigames, and i agree with that sentiment. your rendering and story skills are great, and so it makes sense to spend more time on that rather then minigames which will never be as memorable as your stories. Lana was amazing, and part of the reason why for me was that as the reader you're never distracted by anything other then the story unfolding. the only time i've seen a "minigame" work well in the story and be memorable in a positive way was recently from "New Antioch" by TheRedMyst. in this particular instance you're doing an investigation, so you gather clues (not sandbox style, but based on your conversation choices you learn more helpful info), and at the end you choose to accuse someone. even then its not really minigame since it's such a part of the story, but thats the closest i could think. TLDR i don't think minigames are necessary for the success of this game
I have never decided to play an AVN because of its minigames. Never. For me, the fun in a visual novel is to see how my choices impact the story. That's really it. Minigames that happen to be fun are tolerated, more so if they help drive the story in some way, but they're never something I look for or am apt to describe as fun for me. And pretty much all minigames I've ever encountered in an AVN are forgettable. I can only recall a few minigames from all the AVNs I've played, and I've played several. In fact, the more memorable minigames for me are the ones that prevented me from moving forward in the game or prevented me from getting all the achievements in a game, because the damned minigames were too difficult for me. I have terrible manual dexterity, so any minigames that require it and must be passed to move forward can be a deal-breaker for me.
I like minigames/puzzles when done right--when they're story relevant and are designed to add to sexual tension. But I think they're extremely hard to design and time consuming to make. I want to be very specific on what I mean by "story relevant." Not only should a minigame/puzzle fit logically within a game's world, but also it should reflect the core tension of a game's story--major emphasis on the latter part. And what's the core tension of your story? A dude is trapped within a house with succubi. He needs to find a way to turn the tables. The main game/puzzle system should pursue this change in power structure. Some of your minigames reflect this (like the potion brewing game) but others like sculpting and swimming and cleaning for Mia boil down to the MC just doing random favors, and they come off as busy work for the player. However, aside from my philosophy on minigames, I'd actually prefer it if you skipped them altogether at this point, or chose one game style and stick to it. You simply don't have the free time to develop a bazillion new games each update. If you focused on story and adult scenes 100% of the time--which are by far your greatest strength--and could cut update time down to 2-3 months, I would much rather prefer that situation than an update every 8-10 months with random minigames that don't really fuel anything--neither story or sexual tension. When in doubt, my two cents' is that you should ALWAYS choose the path that allows you to produce the most adult scenes. They are what we're here for, and you're extremely talented at making them. But you're trying to do wayyyy too much with too little time--making all these different minigames and adding more and more complicated/unnavigable areas--and it's starting to detract from your main talent.
Honestly, imho, the sandbox and minigames are seriously holding you back from reaching your potential. To me and many others, the minigames don't add anything and the sandbox is so hard to navigate that I treat it as a chore to get back to the good stuff, the story and interactions with the girls. You have a great premise with your story and the whole succubus lore and you're very talented when it comes to creating sexy girls and renders. If it were up to me, I'd put you on "regular AVN duty", creating a normal story with maybe some branching.
You can make the games an option for a bigger "prize" but not required to move on.
I like the puzzle box, electronics puzzles, sneak a peak at Mia, and the memory games. The endurance clicking is ok, but I wish there was some way to know if you clicked enough in the time limit. If a mini game has a clear solution or goal then it is rewarding. Something to help the Mini games feel more engaging is to break them up with small scenes/renders. Like completing half the cleaning with Mia and you get a small interaction with Mia appreciating your hard work. Or she could try to be a bit more distracting/playful, trying to tease the MC. Just some thoughts!