Nice artwork, but...

First of all, let me point out the good aspects:
- The audio and voice quality is excelent, doing a good job there.
- The artwork is appealing, looks great. (Too bad for the quality drop on the beginning & ending animations. That's just lazy... =P)

But there are some flaws in it:
- What is the reason of putting a subject like this in such a context (meaning the world and characters)?
- It is indeed, as you said so yourself, too "talky" though you are trying to make a point. But it still lacks immersion, can lose the interest of the audience. You could've visualized certain dialog points for example (like flashbacks)...
- Facial expressions may be exaggerated to point out emotions especially when you focus on the faces and the "talky" aspect of it. The characters are lively though, there's always something moving. But it still has a certain static look to it that is mainly caused by the subtile facial expressions.

It did made me laugh, because you did make a funny point that is just so true. XD
Good humor there, also waiting for the next Tankmen here... =)
If you have any further questions about the feedback, be free to PM me. ^___^

Keep creating new things! Doing great. =)

Original, simple and challenging...

Hello there Geekglue,

I must say that I'm impressed by your game. The concept is original and
fresh, at least something I haven't seen before. Your new approach makes
it very interesting to play and the way you've put this to a board game is works
perfectly. The concept has an excellent complexity level for a board game like
this. You just have to take a moment to understand its rules, but once that is
done the fun starts. (Also the music while playing really fits the game. You've
set a good mood / feeling to the game. It fits its level, style and genre.)

You've done an excellent job on explaining the rules, the combination of
pictures and short yet to-the-point text gives the player the necessary
information to understand the concept. Another plus is the interface that is
always available to the player like going back to the menu or whether to turn
the tutorial on or off. Only you can't go back to the Main Menu when you're
selecting the mode you wish to play. So the majority is very good... BUT...!

Here are some things for you to think about:

#1
There is one thing that I noticed when I thought about it for a moment. The
political setting doesn't really match with the actual game. The playing grid
represents a battlefield-like lay-out. I won't go into detail why this is caused,
contact me if you would like to know more about this sort of game design
theories. If we would visualise the game "battlefield" in the setting, we can
conclude that the political "game" as we know isn't much like this. It has some
appeal / feeling to it (so YAY), but it's not well fit for the gameplay context (NAY).

(I've done a 45 minute brainstorm on your concept setting, and believe me, there
are enough other things to use as a context to this concept! ;D And btw, I'm
not lying, I really had a 45 minute brainstorm! XD But try to think of other things
for yourself, I'm not going to make it easy for you. :P)

#2
Why should people come back and play again? What elements could increase
the game's replay value? You can set additional goals in like special modes,
or create some content for the player to unlock so he will be rewarded for
his effort. The game itself is an open game so that players can always adjust
their own type of game whenever they feel like playing again, which is good, but
you can think of ways to keep your players interested in playing again...
(Highscores is another one...)

#3
Think carefully about what you decide to add or remove from a game. For
example in your game, I find it odd why you've removed the "End Turn" function
in a 2-player game... Be sure to know what concequences it brings for the game
when you add / remove gameplay element (or other aspects). Another thing I
wish to share with you: "PROTOTYPE your game!" There's a flaw in your game
which you overlooked (while you thought it was balanced):
Blue always has the chance to move a pawn away before influence is removed.
While Red has NO chance to remove its pawn when blue tries to absorb his
influence. (If you don't get what I'm saying, try your 2-player game.) I've spotted
this: "Red moves to blue -> Blue absorbs red -> Red TRIES to absorb back ->
Blue walks away with the advantage of the last turn (so on the Blue side has
an actual advantage in the game). There are some other varieties of these kinds
of flaws in your gameplay system, so next time check your own game...
PROTOTYPE! Let others test out your system!

Please let me know what you think of this feedback. As a Game Designer by
profession I'm also still learning from YOUR feedback. If you would like more in-depth and detailed feedback about your game, or if you would like to know more about certain Game Design theories, pricinples etc.... Feel free to contact me any time. ^___^

Remember, I judge on skill level (NOT on professional level).
Keep creating things, you've done an excellent job on this one!
So don't stop, create more! And be sure to prototype alot. :P

Keep it up! Double thumbs up!
Regards,

Erik van Wees

Beautiful experience, great design...

Hey there Lucas,

I don't often give games a 9 or higher. But this one sure has proven itself
worthy. You've done a great job on the mood-set and the setting of the game.
The way how the music and the silence (with leaving nothing more than sound
effects) switched has been a great design decision for the overal mood-set.
How the music faded in was just wonderful, it really gave me that magical
feeling while playing. I was really living the fantasy and adventure in your world.

The concept worked perfectly, I also enjoyed finding those hidden pathways.
That always keeps you going for more. :P But I actually was hoping to expect
more of the game. I was hoping to unlock powers to get to area's that couldn't
be reached before (like high platforms in the sky). So I was hoping you would
take the game just one step further... Ah well, I can't have it all. ^___^"

Too bad the in-game menu was kind of hidden... These menu's must be
easy to enter and exit at all time (without actually searching for it... XD).

Also, it wasn't clear how you could achieve certain points like using the
"White Magic" for destroying these monsters. You did explain it in the beginning
of the game, but also on the very moment you receive this "White Magic" this
must be pointed out to the player so it knows THIS is the "White Magic" he has
to use to achieve the secondary goal. I also couldn't figure out another way to
obtain this power, so it seemed to me it was like a once shot goal. Please point
that out to the player, because it was a nasty disappointment to me when I
bumped into this.

The last thing that bothered me was the brief ending after you've defeated the
Boss for the final runestone. It's such a shame that a beautiful game like this
didn't get a fitting ending. =/

It's been a while that a game could move me in such a way, so mystical.
It kept my full attention all time, I even turned off the damn television the
moment I heard the music start playing and saw the world I jumped in. ^___^

It's a really good game, no doubt about it. This one's really worth a 9 to me,
But there are still some things that need improvement. The reason I give it a
9 lies more on the mood-set and overall experience of the game.

Please let me know what you think of this feedback. As a Game Designer I'm
trying to help you out so you can improve future work. If you like to receive
more in-depth feedback about your game, feel free to PM me and I shall respond
to you as soon as possible. There's more then just this feedback, believe me...

You're doing great I must say, keep it up!
Keep creating new things, experiment with different mood-sets
and game concepts. You'll get better and better. ^___^

Double thumbs up!
Regards,

Erik van Wees

Challenging concept...

A fresh and challenging concept.
I appreciate the new aproach to the shooter concept, but it's pretty difficult.
It involves multi-tasking at a high level, even from the beginning level.
The thing that really bugged me was Thief who showed up to frequently and
too fast. Almost 50% of the money that drops is taken by the thief... The balance
with this element is still flawed.

The "Igor" gameplay element works, but it didn't work as I expected it to be.
When you send Igor to the money, it goes that way only and back which doesn't
give you the oppertunity to let him move on to the next money stack to prevent
the Thief from stealing it. One wrong mouse pointing "S" press and Igor is
useless at that moment. I expected that I could let him move to the next spot
on the moment I pressed "S" again.

Keep in mind that you should prototype these gameplay elements so you can
get rid of the possible flaws in it. I give it a 7 due to the flaws still in it and the
poor interface (yes, this is very important to a game). I still like the concept,
but I rather want you to spend some more time on working / prototyping the
concept before you publish it.

Remember, I judge on skill level (NOT on professional level). I've played some
of your other games before judging this one so I can get a better view of your
skills.

Please let me know what you think of this feedback. As a Game Designer I'm
also still learning from YOUR feedback, I'm interested if you're interested.
I'll be glad to help you out some more. ^___^

Keep creating new things, you're doing great with these concepts! ^___^
If you would like more in-depth feedback about your game or the gameplay
aspects, feel free to PM me. If you want tips about improving your game, just
ask me and I'll respond to you as soon as possible.

Doing great, thumbs up!
Regards,

Erik van Wees