Universal Card Crawl Adventure (by Arnold Rauers)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by Brightsiderus, Aug 3, 2022.

  1. StaggerLee509

    StaggerLee509 Member

    Mar 22, 2017
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    @Tinytouchtales I think I've realized that what is happening is sometimes I do not get the prompt to continue my adventure, and I wind up going into the tavern and selecting the first character (the first time it happened I thought this would just continue my previous state) and then a new a new adventure starts. I've realized that when this happens, If I back out of the tavern, go to settings for example, and then close settings, I will then get the continue prompt.
     
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  2. Norf

    Norf Well-Known Member

    Oct 23, 2020
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    #42 Norf, Aug 8, 2022
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2022
    Very glad to see this series of posts. I have many of your games on mobile and have always wondered whether they are intentionally obscure a la Cultist Simulator ("the game *is* learning the rules of the game"), whether there are just a lot of assumptions others have that I lack due to my tendency to be over literal in rules interpretations, or whether I am in good company being very confused.

    A few things currently stumping me:
    - is there a way to view the manual while in game? I can't see it.
    - a way to clarify keywords or other referenced cards in game without jumping to manual? e.g. I unlocked Blood Cultist and one of his cards said it damaged me and would add Blood Sacrifice to my deck. Without knowing what Blood Sacrifice is, not sure how to compare it well with alternative card acquisition options with more obvious effects (e.g. damage goes up by one).
    - How are targets for cards with Strike selected? Randomly?
    - The manual says under Path "The sequence of cards in your path is very important." This needs way more unpacking. In what way? How does the order of cards on the path change their impact?
    - the next sentence is "Combining two attack cards will deal a total of 2 damage to all Monsters in the same path." What is "combining"? Having two in the same path? Having two next to each other? If you have 3 attack cards on your path, what happens and why?
    - Obstacle icon says "Obstacles are Purged into the Drawpile." Purge says "Triggers the ability when the card gets discarded." I don't get it. Is this just the most elaborate and confusing way of saying "Obstacles are discarded into the drawpile"? Because if you sub out the word Purge for the definition of Purge, you get "Obstacles are Triggers the ability when the card gets discarded into the Drawpile," which makes me something something.
    - What is the difference between Tavern Equipment and Charms? They seem like they all slot into the same Tetris backpack. Are charms just Reliably Small Equipment?

    Edit: Also, I like the analogy to board games, but there are no unwritten rules in a board game. As in, if you forget to tell players to do a thing and they're sitting around a table trying to learn the game from the rules, it won't happen and often the game will "break." There are clearly tons of rules to your game that are in neither the Tutorial nor Manual, so while we can learn what happens by playing a move we won't always know why it happened. I'm not saying you need to publish your code, but enough that we could play it as an actual Print and Play board game wouldn't be bad...
     
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  3. drelbs

    drelbs Well-Known Member

    Jun 25, 2009
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    I think the turtorial should be expanded a bit on this - show at least two examples (with the same board layout) of how order of seleciton affects what happens. Spell out a bit more clearly that you can watch what is going to happen as you select cards before clearing.

    The Dungeon Raider in me would also like to be able to deselect cards by tapping outside of the game board somewhere.
     
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  4. AltsKev

    AltsKev Well-Known Member

    Nov 12, 2016
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    i really really enjoy this game, the start is hard because you need to invest you, learn some rules, but as soon as you understand how it work, game is very strategic and fun to play !

    I can't stop, and if you read my post before, i was telling game is very confused.

    But i give it more time and now i'm very addict !

    On discord, dev and community help if you find something too confuse.

    Have fun
     
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  5. Tinytouchtales

    Tinytouchtales Well-Known Member

    Jul 24, 2012
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    Thanks, many good points, some I can address directly via an update:

    - manual only from the settings menu, will add that to the pause menu.
    - You can always tap & hold a card in game, or tap a card anywhere in the menu to see a tooltip
    - Strike targets are selected randomly if not otherwise noted.
    - Sure, it mainly just means that selecting card a after card b, can have a different outcome of action than selecting b after a.
    - will change this wording
    - Yes obstacles always discard into the draw pile, another wording I will change.
    - Equipment items are reliable effects (trigger always when conditions are met), charms are effects that will always have a random outcome component.
     
  6. Norf

    Norf Well-Known Member

    Oct 23, 2020
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    I get the tap and hold option, but it's not always enough to tell you what you're getting when you're asked to pick a card. E.g. The Blood Letting upgrade says "Deals Physical 2 to you. Add 1 Blood Sacrifice." There is no option to learn what Blood Sacrifice does when you're trying to figure out whether upgrading Blood Letting is better than upgrading a different card.

    It would give the player the desired information if you (for lack of a better word) hyperlinked the words Blood Sacrifice so that tapping and holding on them would reveal the Blood Sacrifice card.
     
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  7. imusic

    imusic Well-Known Member

    Aug 31, 2009
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    I write music for a living.
    Los Angeles, CA.
    I have to say, this really is a great game. Probably his best yet. The problem is it took about 10 play-throughs before it all started to click. One thing that helped me was that I began building a kind of "database" of rules in my phone's notepad. Each time I witnessed a new "effect" or "result" of a played card I wrote it down and categorized it. I know that sounds tedious, but altogether it probably took about 10 minutes of total time. After that what you find underneath is a very strategic solitaire-style game. It's almost more akin to his Enyo than something like Card Crawl. Also, the tutorial isn't bad, but again, it took about 3 play-throughs of that before I noticed all of the subtle bits of information in the periphery. Which might be its biggest issue/hurdle for new players. The subtlety. He clearly worked hard on this game, and the result is he knows it inside and out. Unfortunately that doesn't mean the player will know it inside and out. My guess is maybe he didn't play-test it quite enough. There are so many small details regarding rules and effects and points lost or gained, all hidden within every nook and cranny of the game. It's extremely easy to overlook something and become confused as to why your actions result as they do. But on the other hand, it's the complexity and abundance of those rules that makes this such a rich game.
     
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  8. gold_penguin

    gold_penguin New Member

    Jun 7, 2017
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    I think it's all starting to click for me now, and I'm actually managing to get some successful 5 tavern runs in now. Still haven't quite managed 5 taverns with all bosses, treasures and quests yet, but I think I could do that soon.

    First, I agree with all the comments I've seen regarding complexity. It took me ages to really get into the correct plays etc.

    Second, can anyone tell me what the last ally is? I haven't seen it as a reward yet, and not sure how to get it (it seems like being offered certain cards is sometimes based on having other cards already in your deck, but I could be wrong).

    Third, I feel that some of the bosses are way more difficult than others. Like too much. To the point where if I end up taking those taverns, it's a 95% loss rate for me, based almost purely on the bosses:
    - Dry Bones: The sharp bones cards are too much. You can't reliably get big damage cards into your deck (through upgrades or bonfires) to consistently take him out before you get clogged up with damage cards.
    - Big Bad Bat: His awake effect gives too much sustain. Sometimes I manage to get through it, or ignore him until I can escape. Mostly it's just a pain.

    I do play games like this a lot, so I understand about tailoring decks and strategies for different challenges. It seems like in this game the level of control you get on what your final deck looks like is pretty random based on what the merchant or other rewards offer you, and in most cases that's a strength in this game because you get to try out some interesting combos and see how they work. But while the other bosses seems like genuine challenges that I can work around, these 2 just seem punishing, and not fun.
     
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  9. gold_penguin

    gold_penguin New Member

    Jun 7, 2017
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    Still can’t figure out that last ally… any clues?
     
  10. dukat111

    dukat111 Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2010
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    Has anyone tried other heroes?
    Considering picking up one or two but would like to know more about their abilities to decide who may be most fun.
     
  11. AltsKev

    AltsKev Well-Known Member

    Nov 12, 2016
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    The blood cultist is really fun to play and you can make really good score with him
     
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  12. dukat111

    dukat111 Well-Known Member

    Mar 23, 2010
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    Hi fellow adventurers,

    Two questions..
    - Does hurting enemies HP stick with that card when it appears later? For example hitting an enemy with 3HP for 1 damage lowers them to 2HP. Will that card reappear on the board later at 2HP so in effect you're killing them over time?

    - Not clear how the arrow card works. For each 'fist' add 1 arrow. Does that mean the more enemies I attack, depleting my 'fists' the more arrows the card generates?

    Thanks!

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