Just posted "How To Make Good Small Games", my new 6k-word manifesto blog post epic about having radical pride in your art. Give it a read! https://t.co/hzptyS6i7j
It can be tempting to immediately dismiss game design elements like this- "oh I just don't like timers"- but I've been trying to have the mindset of "meeting games at their level", and I find they often have much to teach me...
Adding a time limit can help the player raise their "threshold of secret-checking", and tells them "you should only check spots that you're pretty sure will have something." That way the player has more joyful success and less disappointment.
@BoboTheCat_Game It felt somewhat tedious, but it also made that space very memorable. I know I'll be reminded of that one spot when I think of that game.
Goofus: Backtracking is bad because it's boring to visit the same room twice.
Gallant: Backtracking is good because it helps a world feel like a home to inhabit, rather than a set of throwaway challenges.
@BoboTheCat_Game Yeah... this tweet was just as much to convince myself as anything else (I've never really made a game with much backtracking). I was playing "Elephantasy" today, which has a section I had to revisit probably 10-20 times...
Thank you for the feedback. My next kittenlike will include a mechanic where if you hold the SPRINT button (bound to Shift or RB), the kitten will move 20% faster for 5 seconds, after which it will become tired and need to nap for 1 minute.