It throws shade at cozy games. MOBAs I get, but cozy games??
Actually though, I really wanted to love this game. It's clear that a lot of time and love went into the premise and progression of the game, but the execution is just not there yet. It has a lot of charm and novelty, but I can't recommend it for the price. If I could snap my fingers and "fix" this game, I would re-work basically all of the actual building mechanics. Currently it feels more like putting together a lego set than a DIY project. All of the ingredients are given to you exactly, and the game gives you very little space to mess things up even as you're doing incredibly dangerous things.
I would have liked, for example, to have to figure out what ingredients to buy based on a more general set of guidelines, and for there to be some potential for me to solve problems in my own way. Like, if we need a kg of thorium, and there are a few thorium containing things in the shop, I could try to figure out what items yield the most thorium, and optimize the process of extracting them. Problem solving like that would give a use for the whiteboard, at least (which, what the hell is up with that thing, its like writing with a washcloth soaked in ink. I think some math is wrong in the code on that one.).
A more broad change I would make is more physics-based interactions. It doesn't matter that you can throw around a pot of molten plastic explosive if when you actually go to pour it, you jump into a set animation. All of the actual building is just pick up item, click on green outline with item.
I know this is a solo dev, and those are huge changes, so I'm not expecting to suddenly see a physics-based crafting system implemented. I guess I don't play many simulator games, so maybe this is more the norm in this genre. I do have some more actionable critiques though:
- There are far too many repetitive steps. I get that it's supposed to be realistic (if not incredibly janky), but doing point and click actions gets boring really fast. Maybe our character decides to streamline, for example, the explosive plate making, by adding more molds? Maybe the player is free build as many molds as they want, or buy as many pots as they want, so they can decide for themselves how repetitive they want it to be?
- There are not enough ways to fail. You should be allowed to mix things wrong, or put things together wrong, or do things in the wrong order, and either have to figure out how to fix it or start over. The achievement for making it to stage 4 says "caught a bit of radiation, but hey, it is what it is", but there was never any threat of radiation or even a Geiger counter (although it looks like there is one in the trailer? actually, a lot of things in the trailer look cooler than they are in the game)
- In that same vein, there are threats that the game makes that never pay off. If you use Slickstarter money on personal purchases (or gamble it), guys come visit you and say that you have to return the money you spent to the fund within 48 hours. But, if you wait 48 hours, nothing ever happens. Similarly, your wife tells you not to mess with her daisies. But, even if you pick all of them, she never mentions it again (despite the achievement). I know the dev knows about this stuff, but it makes the game feel extremely unfinished and in like, alpha stage.
- Please god implement a save system. It's not a long game, but after making 20 explosive plates, you really don't want to start over just because you had to close the game for a bit. If that's against the vision for some reason, then make more stages.
- I know the meta joke about this game is that it'll get you on a watchlist or whatever, but in reality it doesn't even really explain anything you're doing. It's like "put these smoke detector bits in this 'solvent' and cook it", "mix sugar with RDX in a pot". It doesn't really tell you anything about how an atomic bomb works, and I assume that most people looking to play this game are hoping to learn something about that. Why are the explosive plates arranged like that? What are the layers we put around the core? Where is the thorium coming from?? (its the gas lamp mantles, but I had to look that up). I know this is a silly, absurd game, but it does promise a cool hands-on learning experience about this topic and I don't think it lives up to that promise.
- I am pretty sure that a pentagonal explosive plate is switched with a hexagonal explosive plate in the final assembly. The numbers are right, 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons make a soccer ball, but we start with a pentagon on the bottom, and end with a hexagon on top, so the shape is wrong (all parallel faces should be the same shape). I think a pentagon is placed where a hexagon should be somewhere else along the sides of the ball.
- I don't get the weird giant dental hygiene products around the house. Whats up with that lol.
- Finally, and holy crap I don't know why I have to ask for this, but in a game about building an atomic bomb, LET US SEE IT EXPLODE. THATS LIKE THE WHOLE PAYOFF. At least have an actual cutscene, rather than a newspaper. But, what would be really cool, is if after we build it, we get to bring it somewhere we choose and blow it up, and there's some kinda simulation that shows the effects, ala NukeMap.
Anyway, I appreciate the idea of this game a lot, and I think it could actually blow up (ha) if it changes the mechanics and presentation quite a bit, but even with some small changes it would be a good one. But as it stands, I would definitely refund this game if I could. I don't believe it's anywhere close to ready.
