Cyberdevil's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Tri Peaks City]

What a thorough game this was! Took a couple days to really get through but... worth it. Love the gameplay; the mechanics; the idea of having a world you build your way around in the process of completing, and reaching new destinations.

A few things that could maybe be improved/suggestions:

- Smoother movement when you navigate via the minimap on the top left - it's so much smoother, but of course less efficient, to drag on screen.
- A reward factor that increases the further you get, so for example you earn more each time you win a game the more games you have won, and so it gets a bit easier/faster to finish the map. Even when you're done it'd be nice to be able to keep building, but unfortunately tiles are expensive, and it doesn't feel worth the effort at that point. If a progressive benefit as you play is difficult maybe simply some special rebates/freebies when you complete the whole game? Or each time you beat a new location? In short: grind/reward balance maybe not currently ideal.
- Highscores/statistics on how much you've managed in regard to tiles and other numerical accomplishments.
- A little background life? :) Cars on streets, trains on tracks, moving boats in the rivers.. wouldn't require much to really make the world feel dynamic, just something that moves.

I realize it's not the focus of the game, but anything to further enrich the world itself would really boost the background atmosphere; sense of immersion.

Feels like simple cutscenes would be nice too. A little flashing color or confetti when you complete something maybe.

The card-related functionality/animation in particular feels flawless, and it's handy you have shortcuts for tiles, the option to undo and sell etc, it's impressively thorough already but feels like there's potential for it to be even greater! Keep it up. Would love to play something more like this, or just an upgraded version of this one down the line.

-cd-

rvh86 responds:

Thanks for your review! Great to hear you enjoyed yourself. The suggestions are really helpful.

- Smoother movement on the minimap is something that shouldn't be too hard to implement, going to work on that.
- I'm going to have a look at the reward system, I like to keep it a bit hard to complete, that's why especially rivers are quite expensive. I like the idea for some kind of bonus after unlocking a new location.
- I can add a statistics page on the main menu with things like: amount of tiles on the map, total tiles earned, total games played + win percentage and a lot more. Maybe I can hook up one of these stats to the Newgrounds highscore API.
- The initial plan for the game was to add cars, trains and boats, but I made a mistake by choosing to create the game in a high resolution (1920x1080) so I had some performance issues at first. I did solve the performance issues but was a bit afraid of adding to much moving things to the game. I haven't really tried it so I'm going to test if it is possible to keep the game running smooth with some additions.

I'm not really a graphics guy, it took me a lot of effort to create all this but I'll see if I can add something during a level complete for example and improve the location unlocked messages.

Thanks again for the review, it really helps me to have a fresh pair of eyes look at it! I'll send you a message when I get some updates out.

Kind regards,
Rick

[The shoot for the stars collection]

Love these games, simple but functional/smooth fun, but neither medals nor highscores seem to be working?

Hope you can get them fixed!

-cd-

[Tankmas ADVENTure 2021]

This was a blast y'all. :) Thanks for the commitment and creative; daily seasonal cheer!

Though didn't this have waaay more medals just recently, all secret? Was that just a visual quirk or some time-limited thing for extra Christmas-related appreciation?

-cd-

TheExtreamH responds:

the medals where cut down at the end

[patterns]

Love the idea but oh so challenging... the keybindings do feel key though. Maybe if you get one you can split between both hands it's easier. Maybe side-by-side isn't the ideal configuration...

Definitely a game you need to get back to a few times to master, a little aggravating but very well-designed's my first impression.

-cd-

[RPG Dice Game]

A pretty addictive game. Simple idea but solid execution - and it's gotten better with the updates. Not sure if the odds changed too or if maybe it's just the accumulative attack thing that makes it easier now? Either way it's solid. Interface design maybe not the most advanced but doesn't feel like it needs to be either. The gameplay's great. Simple but streamlined just right.

-cd-

[Random Sentence Generator]

Fun to play; fun to replay; fun to come back to every once in a while for additional fun times! Feels like one of those games that might possibly garner a bit of a following and stay alive through the years here.

Interface design is smooth and easy to understand, alternatives entertaining, idea simple, but the fact that you can actually add your own stamp to it is definitely the most appealing part of it.

Good stuff, and always do appreciate them medals; extra score incentive.

-cd-

Aprime responds:

Thanks for the detailed review as always Cyberdevil, much respect!

[Math Push]

Finally a puzzle game of yours I can actually get through. ;) Clever, challenging; great on all levels but not impossible yeaaah! Impeccable design as always. Really feels rewarding when you get through it all. Level 21 had me stumped for an embarrassingly long time...

-cd-

[NG BBS Awards 2021]

Congrats to the winners! :)

This was fun. Fun idea to turn this into a nostalgic Win XP experience too, although it seems you can click through windows and open things you're not expecting to open, but maybe that's an intended quirk for all the more old OS-like nostalgia? :P

Nice work on this, and thanks for arranging yet another year!

-cd-

Little-Radiodemon responds:

I could fix the bug of clicking through, but I found it too amusing, just like most of the spelling errors I threw in!