Too long play time - have a shorter more difficult game mode?

[MB]

I just bought this game and started my first real game this morning. I have played ~4hrs since then and still have like 30 tiles on the stack, so maybe I can expect another 3 hours if I don't do bogus. In this very first game I have already unlocked half a dozen of achievements and I am about to unlock a few more. This feels weird because it either means that I am a very good player right from the start (which I doubt) or it means that the game is too simple and thus will carry on almost endlessly if one doesn't do many mistakes.

Also, does this mean I have to play one round of this game for a week in order to get into the highscores? If so, this somehow feels wrong.

For this type of game this is too long in my opionion. For example, there is a somewhat similar puzzle game called "Mini Metro" where each "round" is over in 1-2 hours typically. This is perfect for an evening.

Maybe there should be something like a "quick game" mode, maybe with harder rules so that the game will deliberately be over quicker, maybe after 100-200 pieces on average.

Just a thought.

[mbutton15]

I know what you mean. My highest score (>45000) took several days to reach !! Most games now run into several days. Sometimes I start with a relaxed, 'don't really care what score I get' attitude, and play fast and free. Suddenly I'll see I've got 60/70/80 tiles in my stack and I find I'm taking more care again as I think if I keep it up I'll beat my high score... which I never do. I just takes days finding that out !!

[Gain]

Originally posted by mbutton15:

My highest score (>45000) took several days to reach !! Most games now run into several days

Did you reach 30K earlier when only few tile types were unlocked?
I get lot of mixed terrain tiles than before..using them will only eat all the perfect tiles.
So I can't get to the 30K or complete the final track/water challenge.

[mbutton15]

Originally posted by Gain:

Originally posted by mbutton15:

My highest score (>45000) took several days to reach !! Most games now run into several days

Did you reach 30K earlier when only few tile types were unlocked?
I get lot of mixed terrain tiles than before..using them will only eat all the perfect tiles.
So I can't get to the 30K or complete the final track/water challenge.

So my first ever 30K+ score was actually 30010 !! And that was by searching out perfects for the extra tile each time when I was down to about 5 tiles, just to drag the game out. I was actually waiting for a water station I think. On reaching the 30010 score I actually reached 2 of the in game targets on the top right of screen - I got the Windmill Level 3 and also the Water Train Station Level 5.

But I must have had a lot of other tiles unlocked from previous games as the only achievements I achieved since then are Water Mill Level 5, Tower Level 5 and Deer Level 5.

I still need the Windmill Level 4 & 5 achievements. They are for number of games play. I don't think you get new tiles from them, but guess I find out when I get them !!

[Gain]

Originally posted by mbutton15:

And that was by searching out perfects for the extra tile each time when I was down to about 5 tiles

Like I said, I get lot of mixed terrain tiles which simply block the chance to get perfect fit with all the adjacent tiles. The combo terrain on those tiles are too mixed up, only fits with single terrain tiles to make it perfect. If I keep it separate from the perfect group, the game will not last long. Same with train and water tiles. Did the new updates mess with the tile spawn?

[mbutton15]

Don't think tile spawn has been messed up. Just finished a game and was only around 1700 of my best score, Couldn't stretch out my perfects enough to give me a new high score.

And by perfects I mean searching for places that will just give me a single perfect. Got the occasional double-perfect. But I'm certainly not expecting to find any perfect-perfect fits. Of course the more you just look for a match on a single edge the less opportunity you have to keep the game going in the long run, unless you've got some 'collection' quests or flags you can shut down.

I sometimes have a 'scrap' area where I chuck the tiles that don't give good fits. That way I can keep areas in good condition where I can get perfects easier.

[Cpt. Barbacoco]

Well, that kind of score makes me feel stupid. I can't get more than 13k no matter what.
I was about to suggest a difficulty setting to make it easier and more relaxing.
For example in easy mode rail tiles don't spawn, normal you have all like now and in hard there is a new variation like roads or biomes (desert, snow,...that might work similar to forests now.)

[Gain]

Originally posted by Cpt. Barbacoco:

Well, that kind of score makes me feel stupid. I can't get more than 13k no matter what.
I was about to suggest a difficulty setting to make it easier and more relaxing.

All game sessions are not blessed with RNG. Only a very rare chance will allow players to have a long session enough to reach 30K score.

[mbutton15]

Originally posted by Gain:

All game sessions are not blessed with RNG. Only a very rare chance will allow players to have a long session enough to reach 30K score.

It's interesting to compare our achievements. I have 2 remaining - both related to simply playing x number of games. I've not managed to clock up 25 games to date. But in that times I've managed to gain all the collect x of rail/river/etc.

It's a shame the devs haven't implemented the stats page yet. It would be interesting to see breakdown of stats for a game (like total tiles, tasks completed, flags closed) as these days 30k is becoming fairly regular for me (usually taking 3 or 4 days to complete). I do tend to keep the 'collect x of' tasks open, unless I get a number of flags waiting to be closed. My biggest close-down is 6 at once so I got 30 tiles for closing them (plus another 5 for a regular collection goal I hit at the same time).

[MB]

Funny, my first game was the best with a highscore of 31K. And this was before I took a look at any guide. All following rounds were 25K-30K.

Originally posted by mbutton15:

It's a shame the devs haven't implemented the stats page yet.

That's a bit harsh given that the game is still in Early Access, so no one claims it is finished. And yet it already works flawlessly for me, no crasheas or such, Steam achievemetns work and the game mechanics are already well balanced. But yes, a statistics page is a nice-to-have feature.

[mbutton15]

Originally posted by MB:

Originally posted by mbutton15:

It's a shame the devs haven't implemented the stats page yet.

That's a bit harsh given that the game is still in Early Access, so no one claims it is finished. And yet it already works flawlessly for me, no crasheas or such, Steam achievemetns work and the game mechanics are already well balanced. But yes, a statistics page is a nice-to-have feature.

Not meant as criticism in any way. I agree, it's a very polished game already. It's easy to forget it's still in Early Access given what is already implemented.

I just feel being able to see stats may help understand where points/tiles come from and generally just help people gain a better understanding of what is or isn't a good strategy. It would be helpful sooner rather than later as I fear it may be too late for many people. A whole bunch of players could well have moved on to other games before stats are available. And like I say, maybe I've forgotten it's Early Access and just want it all now !!!! Hats of to the devs for what is already a great game. :)

[Gain]

Originally posted by mbutton15:

I have 2 remaining - both related to simply playing x number of games.

Those two are simple. It is just a matter of time.

Like Cpt. Barbacoco said reaching 13K is becoming rare. For me, even touching 10K is rare. I have noticed that game RNG has gone haywire since last update. Could this be a deliberate attempt to farm clock hours from playerbase just to go up in Stats (total playtime). A false fame for the game.

[Gain]

Originally posted by MB:

Funny, my first game was the best with a highscore of 31K. And this was before I took a look at any guide. All following rounds were 25K-30K.

Early game high score is easy because the tile types are less and tiles will have little mixed terrain edges.

[mbutton15]

My last game I reached a new high of 51,200.
Current game I'm at 32,970 so the RNG doesn't seem so bad for me !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gain]

Originally posted by mbutton15:

My last game I reached a new high of 51,200k.
Current game I'm at 32,970 so the RNG doesn't seem so bad for me !!!!!!!!!!!!

You need to make a guide on how to reach 30K. How to handle the game in early, mid, and endgame... tips and ticks. The available guides are very general and basic...not detailed or practical.

[mbutton15]

I don't think there is much to say beyond what I've already detailed above.
I watch for quests, try to fill them as soon as possible.
The business with flags whether to close or not is tricky to judge. Leave it too late and you can end up with needing to close off more places than you get back with the extra tiles. I'll admit sometimes I've been very lucky and had flag quests appear in quick succession with similar targets so it's kind of '2 birds, one stone'.

The only real tactics I use are to get my river/rail to join up. That way the water station counts double as it counts for rail and water from just 1 tile. So I'll start them one tile apart and simply wait until I get a water station to join them. Then any further water stations just get added on in 'a conga'. So you need to plan to leave a gap for the conga to spread in to.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2561491753
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2553240697
The only other tactic I use is once I've hit all collection targets for a group then, instead of just keep growing that group, I'll start a new area close by and grow that. Then once a new collection target appears you are half way to the new target as all you do is join the two parts together so it's one big group again.

Finally. when game over is looming, say last 8 tiles, I really hunt down looking for places with just 1 remaining open edge that I can make a perfect so you get the extra tile. Even better if you can find places that give 2 or more new tiles. I desperately did that for 8 or 10 tiles to reach my first 30k score.

That's it really.