itch.io

Thanks for the opportunity.  I'll  like for you to check out my puzzle game, Dualspace.

Dualspace is a sokoban puzzle game, with realty switching.

There is an extensive browser demo, and I can give you a key if you need it.

/__site/codergenius72.itch.io/dualspace

I agree. Sometimes I have to release new updates for a single character of code.

Firstly, please use descriptions about your link before posting. I had no idea what the link was and most people won't click.

The site contains way too much marketing for a puzzle game, especially to make a account. The main menus are extremely confusing, and mostly all market making a account. To make it worse, a single wrong click can lock the site up, trap you in account creation, or wipe progress. There are also 3 different ways you market this account, including "ads" and alerts that show a blank screen, wiping guest progress.

At the very least, remove the notification bell, the extra step for guest creation, and the ad after the first puzzle. Also add device saving, and basic stats. There should be no in-game ads for account creation.

For puzzles, the first puzzle is difficult to start. However, most of the following puzzles use the same mechanics over and over, breaking user engagement. I personally left after the 4th puzzle, due to a account request that resulted in a empty page. The tutorial is also too long.

Some suggestions to get people to make accounts are:

Extra in-game currency.

Showing that you can access save data from multiple devices.

Having just 1 area that shows account benefits and a proper login screen.

I played all of this on mobile.

Feedback Exhange.

I have a sokoban puzzle game, playable in the browser. 

/__site/codergenius72.itch.io/dualspace

Oh, and I tried it on my phone—it doesn’t seem to be very mobile-friendly, and I’m not quite sure how to navigate it on a phone

Dualspace has no mobile features at all. If you reached that spot on your phone, I am surprised.

The portals do glow, but they are not on your screen, they are the other Circular tiles. 

I will add a NPC that points them out.

Nice game! I like the quick and simple betting options. I played on mobile, but needed to zoom out to 80%. I would also like a feature to save your username and not put it everytime. Leaderboards should show each person once (or each username). also think I will stay at the top of the leaderboard for a while. I also never needed a Same bet. For a post jam update, I would consider adding a settings menu. I like the audio! I suggest taking it out of restricted.

Feedback exchange? I have a in-browser puzzle game that needs critiques.

/__site/codergenius72.itch.io/dualspace

I didn't solve a single puzzle lol. hit the checkpoint, wandered around, and had no clue what I was supposed to do next

There was a portal right at the end of the tutorial. After that, there is only one direction to go for the first puzzle. Did you struggle to find your way out of the tutorial, or did you glitch away from it?

I would like feedback, for my puzzle game Dualspace. I will be willing to play your game.

/__site/codergenius72.itch.io/dualspace

This is a classic problem that I see with MMORPGs. I should not need a account as the first impression of the game. The first glimpse of the game is registering for a account, and wanting email/email verification. Why do you need email for a game? I suggest adding a guest mode. 

Nice asset pack. I like the goblins! My suggestion is to add links connecting the full and free asset packs. Same for inside the readme of the .zip. They can also be put into one page by using "this is a demo". Secondly, the free version does not need a watermark, at least not on the cover images. The premium packs can keep their watermark. Your top-down tag is also misspelled as top-dwon.

Also, unrelated, but please disclose your use for AI on your games. The assets are OK. 

Here is 6k packs of music packs that you can use /game-assets/tag-music/tag-no-ai

These 2k packs are completely free: /game-assets/free/tag-music/tag-no-ai

This was my rejection email.

Consider this feedback from our team regarding this decision:

The game did not reach the performance benchmarks during Basic Launch

I suggest one devlog view = 1 normal view, but devlog surfacing is based of project visibility (with a minimum).

This also prevents botting devlog views to rise on the charts.

I disagree. My launches have given me ~4-40 views on the first day. The proper tags make this last longer. Both of your pages are lacking these tags. 

Also, with these stats, and top 3k games, my devlogs still give ne ~115 views. Devlogs can give more over time, but aren't marketable, so once they leave recent, they are done.

(No, I did not release ~10/28)

I disagree. No feature such as project slots, breaking limits, or featuring should be locked behind a paywall on here. 

"Pay to win" discovery, and game sites are among the worst discovery sites on the internet, so let's not start here. 

Just add the this is "available to verified creators with an established publishing history, while still maintaining the platform's existing quality standards and anti-spam measures."

Please tag your game properly. I went to check your game and the first word is "adult" and I backed out. Please tag the game as NSFW.

Thank you for the feedback. I have fixed the wall and camera bugs. I need to take more time into playtesting, and mistakenly uploaded the dev features. 

On the other hand, I can't reproduce the tile bugs. I am aware you play on Linux, it may be a Linux problem.

Also,  this is why you market. To avoid this:

I personally don't use these other platforms for marketing. I have heard that X is impossible to crack the algorithm, and is basically pay to win. The other 2 probably have certain other requirements. 

I will say, if a "discovery site" is missing any of the following:

• A way to see new or "new and popular" posts/games/projects
• A relevant, functional search bar
• Indexing: You can find your post via search 

then it is a waste of time to post and requires thousands of followers.

You got to be careful with those posts. reddit.com will provide no results with direct marketing in most cases.

I played your game (on Android)

• Onboarding 
• Explain powerups, I thought they were bad to hit
• Explain the boss, ended up losing instantly 
• Tried to redo the boss but reset the game
• Is there only 3 levels?
• UI
• Confusing 
• Rotated 90 degrees from the game

 High Score: ~7391?

???

NO AI. I am not willing to use AI assets at all. 

I like consistent assets with at least a free demo (I don't pay for assets), but I understand that people want to make money from their work.

I know you generally play on mobile. Did you use the in-game on-screen controls? If so, how were they? We have not gotten around to refining them yet, which is why we have not listed the game as mobile friendly or publicly released the Android build yet. Thanks

I played your game on Windows 11. 

Our game was inspired by (S)NES games like Zelda, where you start back at the entrance to the dungeon, and not at full health. Checkpoints really don't fit the style of game.

I understand.

I wanted to post my game.

It says "free - no account needed", and then proceeds to ask for a account, and email. I don't want to give my email.

Also, itch.db shows you where your game is in terms of tags, visibility score, and total games (Not my website)

This is your main game (Image at Bottom):

• 2.7 stars lowers your game visibility.  Itch.io is extremely leaned towards 5 stars. 
  • I would help you with a rate, but your rating is off. Turn this toggle on:

• You have no helpful tags
  • 8 of your tags have you so far down, they are not helpful
  • html5 is not a suggested tag
  • You can still use 1 tag
  • You change the tags to raise the rankings, not change the game.
• Visibility score is 29
  • This is OK
    • Most of the time, my game had a 26 Visibility 
    • Got it up to 51 suddenly 2 days ago
• Good job reaching top 2k games!

" Do you make use of social media? ": No, I stay off of all social media sites except reddit

"Or, if your games are web-based, do you leverage other platforms that host browser games?": I tried CrazyGames, but failed. I attempted too early.

"Regarding Reddit—sure, if you have an AAA-tier game, I’m certain you’d get great feedback, but for anything else, it seems like there’s hardly any chance. ": This is not true, except for huge subreddits

Focusing on one project and providing constant updates really helped.  

1. Your device and browser:
   1.  Google Chrome on WIndows 11
2. The furthest room you reached and approximate play time
   1. Reached level 10 in ~10 minutes
   2. You should add replayability.
3. The first rule or control that felt unclear
   1. Requiring you to use one circuit over another.
   2. Being forced to remove the cooling last
4. The room that felt most difficult
   1. Rooms 8 and 10 were most difficult
   2. The difficulty scaling was correct. 
5. Whether the tutorial and progressive hints helped
   1. They were showing up too often. The room 1 and 2  tutorial was well made, but afterwards, it did not help. Allow players to figure out the levels themselves, and then use optional hints if they can't figure it out.
   2. Add a skip button that skips ALL tutorials.
6. Any bugs or display problems
   1. The only display problem was right at the start. Probably a loading issue.
   2. There is some English in the Japanese version, such as the 10/10 rooms, and power routing puzzle.
7. Other
   1. Keep in mind the page can be customized with a theme, and background, but it is not as important now
   2. You have no tags, which means no real itch.io paths of discovery. Add this before you make your full release.

Also: /t/6398595/mnus-three-plus is just dumb luck. 

Firstly, please note that this is per week not per day. 

That high August spike is ~40 views a day.

Secondly, reddit.com posts and certain jams can help a lot.

I used r/GameDeals, r/itch.io and r/GameBundles

Be careful though:

     r/GameDeals: Limits to once per month, doesn't work for free games. 

     r/itch.io: You can't directly advertise, as it will do NOTHING. 

    r/IndieDev, r/gameDev, r/gaming: DON'T USE. They don't do anything unless you have a AAA game.

     r/GameBundles: You need a bundle

You want a high general vistors and a low general post rate for any site you use.  Low site visitors won't give enough traffic to posts, and too high general post rate for sites will lead to post burial. It definitely takes a few trys to get right.

You are doing good though. It took me 9 months to get the results you did in one month.

1: Yes, dropping off is completely normal

2: I only work on one game, even though I have 13 projects.

3: This is mine *Weekly views*

Timeline:

Release: Late February: Some botted views involved, so off the graph.

April: Few views, no marketing

May: Itch.io community.

June - July: Consistent Marketing, lucky community post (~5k views on a release announcement that was not mine)

Early August: r/GameDeals and 50% off

Late October: Itching for Games 3

*The download metrics are not accurate 

No money spent on ads, Steam releases, or followers.

I played this game both before and after the update. My progress reset on the new update (My fault, not yours). I like the new camera zoom level. However, the game's continue button won't show up, forcing me to reset when I tried to see the achievements. There should be some in game notification on when you earn an achievement.

I do like the other new play balancing changes. The dash traps are significantly improved, I used to just go around them before. The arrows are much better. However, the goblin dungeon can still be soft-locked with when you have no arrows, due to the goblin.  It is in the room that your cover image is made off of.

I would like checkpoints in the dungeon. I would die to the mini boss, and then have to go back to the main hub. 

I really liked the well made camara transitions, and the enemy fighting. I liked to outsmart some enemies, by making them fall into pits, and arrows.

Nice game overall.

I also see that you use a lot of devlogs. Do they work for you? I tried them, but they seem to be worthless until 500 followers. 

I will come play your game on Friday. I would like an feedback exchange for my puzzle game, Dualspace. Dualspace is a sokoban puzzle game with a brand new map system. No feedback is expected until I play your game first.

/__site/codergenius72.itch.io/dualspace

You can use the No AI tag.

I don't know what took 16 years. Probably was the idea 16 years ago, and started work 3 months ago. Generative AI barely even existed 16 years ago.

I reached Derp King by spamming.

"i am working hard all day everyday on this

it is more rare for me NOT to work on it all day

than to work on it all day" - Final Tactics

Happened to me too! 5 cents as 1.35% of $2

(Deleted)

There is an issue with the revenue sharing though.

PTrefalls, and roodkillcandy's 3 cents should be impossible, (1.35% of $1)

(Deleted)

16 cents as 1.35% of $10

10 cents as 1.35% of $5:

(Deleted)

It is only off by ~3 cents, so not that much of an issue, but it could be an issue in other cases.

Crazy Games has a "soft launch". This means that it is based on the ~500 players who played it on CrazyGames. I would like more information on your basic launch stats, such as playtime, retention and others. Also, the Blobs are far too small to cause you to get to gameover.