Over the course of the one-week playtest, 120 people played the game and 49 left feedback. The average rating was 7.6/10, and 90% said they would like to play the next version. More than 900 people wishlisted the game in 5 days, bringing the total to 4,500+ wishlists since development began.
The feedback showed exactly what I was hoping for: players who remember Mega Lo Mania recognize that same spirit in Empires Edge. At the same time, people who never played the original also responded positively, which tells me the core mechanics work on their own.
I noticed one funny thing. After taking some earlier feedback on board, I allowed players to access the missions without completing the second tutorial. Almost everyone finishes the first tutorial, but many simply skip the second one, even though it explains several important mechanics. As a result, about half of the “the game never explained X to me” complaints came from players who skipped the part where X was explained. I’m bringing the mandatory second tutorial back, but I’ll think about how to make it less intrusive for players who have already figured things out.
I was also especially happy to see several people, independently of each other and in different languages, mention the exact same issue: there needs to be a notification when one of your islands is under attack. When unrelated players independently point out the same problem, that’s one of the clearest signals of what should be fixed first. It’s now on the list of upcoming changes.
When it comes to difficulty, the audience split pretty evenly into two camps: some found the game easy, while others found it difficult. That’s not surprising for a game that currently has no difficulty selection and uses the same AI behavior for everyone. So I’m now working on a complete overhaul of the AI logic. The AI will have a much better understanding of its own economy, where to invest its resources, and what it should prioritize building, instead of relying on rigid scripts.
Thank you to everyone who played and shared feedback — I read every response. The game is still rough around the edges, but the fact that it already manages to engage players in its current state is a very encouraging sign for me.