I absolutely LOVE this game, but I have one suggestion!

[Death Diamond]

So, I don't play many minimalist choice-based games very often, so going through the different decisions and screens over and over can be a little tedious for me. I also find it difficult to keep track of previous choices and paths I have done before. I was wondering if a sort of 'choice timeline' could be added, a way that shows what choices you have made, what paths they lead, and maybe the ability to fast track to that certain choice in order to make a different decision. This would allow for proper visualisation of what the player has and can do, and will allow for quick access to the rest of the content without having to go through all the dialogue again. I have no idea how difficult this would be to implement, I am no game developer, but I think it would really help players like me who can sometimes get bogged down with numerous choices and dialogue.

This game is so amazing, I will most certainly be picking this up in 2023! Well done to the developers, thank you!

[blacktabbygames]

Hi! Glad you enjoyed the demo, and I really appreciate this suggestion, since it gives me a chance to talk about some game design stuff I care about a lot!

Not having an in-game decision map is a conscious design choice on our part. The replayability of our games tends to be very exploration-focused, with an emphasis on player-led experimentation. We've felt that in games that do offer choice timelines, that sort of exploration becomes more guided by the game than driven by curiosity, so we're hesitant to implement a feature like that.

We also like to write our games such that any given playthrough feels like a self-contained story with a satisfying conclusion. There won't be any 'good' or 'bad' final endings to Slay the Princess, and there won't be a 'true' ending that requires multiple playthroughs. Our goal as writers is to make it so that every playthrough is a valid, full interpretation of the narrative, and that subsequent replays are driven by curiosity. My guess is that at some point, fans of the game will probably put together a guide for this sort of stuff anyways — it's been incredible to watch Scarlet Hollow—our other game's community come together over time to share information across hundreds (or thousands) of playthroughs throughout the community.

We *do* use achievements as a way to give our players a set of vague clues to follow — both in terms of letting them know what endings/major decisions there are, as well as to give hints for finding some of the more hidden nuggets we've buried into the script (see: the knife achievement for this demo.) For folks picking up the full game on other platforms (say, itch) I'm hoping to build out some sort of achievement system within the installation so these little hints are present for everyone.

There's also a few features already in-game that can help with exploration — you can save and load of course (hit escape to open the menu), and you can also hit "tab" at any point to quickly fast-forward through any dialogue you've already seen.

We don't have a UI for this in the demo (aside from the "controls" button on the main menu) but that's mostly because the demo's short enough that it didn't feel warranted, and our first few stabs at a UI all felt like they detracted from the game's aesthetic. We'll be giving that another pass before the full release, though, and I'm sure we'll be able to settle on something that makes these options feel a little clearer/more accessible!

Thanks again for playing and for sharing your feedback!

[Yaesrei]

Similar note to the original post, a different color for already seen/chosen options would help a lot to make sure dedicated players get to see every possible dialogue option.

[blacktabbygames]

Originally posted by Yaesrei:

Similar note to the original post, a different color for already seen/chosen options would help a lot to make sure dedicated players get to see every possible dialogue option.

Will consider that!