Some Suggestions

[eatonpye]

First, I like the game a lot, it's a very neat little mechanic, and deeper than it first appears. I also like the clean graphics (except for the wizard, who looks pretty dorky).

1: The wizard's 'spell' is kind of confusing in the tutorial. I couldn't make it work- because I thought it was a switch!! Be nice to new players and make clear that it's an action, even though it involves switching.

2: I really should be able to quit the game with a single click if I'm on any menu, not have to use the escape key and then pick a menu item. It's like you don't want me to stop playing- but I have to!

3: While I haven't explored all the games possibilities yet, I think it might open some interesting possibilities if the wizard could 'teleport' into an empty square. It would make him more valuable than he is now. I don't know if the AI just can't figure out how to use him, but I've only seen it use the teleport once in about thirty games. Making it possible for him to create a bridge through empty territory, or isolate an enemy by vanishing from where he is and not being replaced would be powerful.

I realize that the changes in #3 would change strategy pretty radically- maybe they could be options? The game is fun as is, but I'm kind of afraid that it's closer to tic-tac-toe than chess: that is, that unbeatable strategies can be found relatively easily. Hence, I'm pacing myself to avoid using up the game...

[JoelOtter]

Hey, thanks for these suggestions. :) The first two are definitely ones I can address pretty quickly! The third one may require a bit more thought but I do like the idea.

To your point about the unbeatable strategies - we have a fairly active community with this game and some players who have got *very* good. Much much better than any of the developers! Even they have failed to find an unbeatable strategy (yet?). So we think there's still a lot of depth to uncover. That said, we've made a couple of balance changes to make some strategies that were actually *bad* more usable, to increase the variety in the game. Definitely try a few online games if you haven't already. :)

Cheers!
Joel
(Feud dev)

[eatonpye]

Thanks for your reply. I play a couple of games a day, and I'm not trying to over-analyze it when I do, just kind of go with the flow and get a feel for it. The mechanic is pretty well balanced from what I've seen, and I'm definitely still having fun with it.

When I first saw the game it was described as 'chess-like," which may be in part because of its visual appearance. I think in many ways it's actually more like Go- an interesting mixture of the two, really. I congratulate your team for coming up with what is, as far as I know, a novel game mechanic and making it work so well.

[JoelOtter]

Thanks, that’s really kind! I’ll pass it on to the team. :)