Totally awesome response. Thank you for being so open to suggestions. I can totally understand if you feel you undersold the last version by selling it so cheap and not offering any IAPs, and I would definitely have no problem with paying $7 or $8 for a new premium version of this game. I also don't care whether you do so by charging up front, or giving the game away free and allowing purchasing IAPs to permanently remove the energy/timer system and a coin doubler. As long as I can end up with a game that has well balanced fun gameplay that isn't compromised by trying to annoy me into buying more stuff I'm in. Honestly, I spend hundreds of dollars a year on Xbox games, so to me iOS games are a steal by comparison. The cost of IAPs isn't the issue for me, it's just wanting uncompromised gameplay.
Played a few games since downloading and to me, it just feels like I've done this all before only without the IAP. I like the look and style of the game, but just don't feel like this game is going to have the replayability of the first game. Maybe I got burned out from playing the first one so much.
Thank you so much for this post. I was starting to regret buying the golden ham because of all the negative comments about later grinding, but now, if even a few of these changes are implamented (but preferably all of them) it will make this game so much better!
^ I'm guessing that's the point you reach the next Dungeon boss who has a key? That's a guess. It looks like a King crown which the guys with keys have that you may have seen the first time you played.
I agree the developer should makes some things more obvious, but with some of the fixes the developer mentioned makes me concerned about the balance. Adding a coin doubler on top of the golden ham.. will this make gold too plentiful? Adding more rune drops.. so people can continue after they die? I can see this destroying the integrty of the score. Just remove the runes if anyting. Just have a timer with IAP for the golden ham and a coin doubler. I don't like the idea that players will use runes to continue, that seems to ruin part of the roguelike elements. I mean, it's suppose to be difficult, you are suppose to die. You get stronger, form strategies and get better items. I actually enjoy tough games. This isn't even that tough. Could it use polish? yes. I keep getting higher scores the more I play, so I know I'm not just imaging things here and it isn't just "luck". Some runs I don't do so well, but overall I'm progressing..
I'm not understanding all these poor ratings. The dev has proven they listen to concerns, and while the game does have flaws (at least when it comes to IAPs), it is still a very fun, polished experience. Deeper and more challenging then the first. I think Dungelot 2 is a job well done, although I wish the IAPs would just go away and the game was just given one flat charge. 3.99 is a fair price. Loving this game without paying for gold and runes. In fact having access to gold and runes via real money just takes challenge away from the experience.
You don't need to apologize for trying to make a living. It seems like you're doing IAP "right." It's not punishing to not pay, and paying gives you very good value. I'll probably do the one-time pay unlock (like I did with Dungelot 1). To the rest of you: Pay or don't, but don't hate on developers just because they've put IAP in a game. Evaluate each IAP on its own merits (or lack thereof) and understand that for people to keep on making cool games like this, they need to get paid. This particular developer is doing a great job treading the fine line of IAP. Play his game free, pay him once to get rid of a limitation permanently. This is no different than trial games, except you can play much longer. If you like his game, let the guy get paid!
I haven't played this version yet, but I agree that the runes seem out of place in this game. It seems like the wrong way to think about this kind of game. This isn't some RPG where you're supposed to get attached to your character and spend 30 hours on one play through. It's more like tetris, where the whole point is to see how far you can get using your skills. Using a rune to continue seems like defeating the point. That said, for strictly solo play I don't care if players want to use them, but if people are competing via leaderboards then it does seem to mess that up. Maybe there could be an indication next to your score if you got it without using runes, or have separate leaderboards for people who used runes to continue and people who didn't.
I'm not sure how much the gold doubler is needed. I need to play some more to decide. Another possibility would be making the sword easier (like put it on lvl 7 easier) to get. Without the sword, you only do 1 damage. Hard to make it past lvl 2 or 3. Unless you spend 75 gold to get +1 attack, then it's fairly easy to get to level 6 or 7. And almost exactly earn back your 75 gold. I found it took a lot of luck to make more than 20 or 30 gold per run, at first, and it took a really lucky run to get to that first boss and get the sword. Now that I do some damage on my own, it feels more comfortable.
I think the game gets really hard after the first run (which makes the game easier supposedly). I reinstalled the game I did the first run.. got to level 18 or something. Anyhow I got the key and the sword in the first play through twice (the first time I installed it, same result). The 2nd time I reinstalled, I got a huge bonus and that SINGLE playthrough netted me 550~ gold. My best playthroughs now on average after that net me around 130 at most. And I normally can only reach around dungeon level 10 before expiring. I was never able to repeat that first process and it seems unlikely.
Wait was I the only one with the timers not giving me more meat? If so anything I can try to make it work? Otherwise unless I watch the timer go to 0 I get no meat.
Like I said, extremely polished. Spot on controls & I love the visuals. It's challenging as well! I really love it. This is a f2p model done right! I have boughten the golden meat to support you guys. Love the spell mechanic as well as the fight mechanic. The totems & mana system is awesome. I've never played the first, but god: this game is friggen' awesome! I see myself playing this countless hours. Keep up the great work!
I agree with this. Again my only issue is allowing real money to buy runes and gold. Takes away from the roguelike elements. This is most definitely a permanent game on my phone like the first one has been.
