So, for some time now Necken has been out in a couple of different versions.

For as long as I can remember, people have been pointing out the difficulty of the game. Last update I decided to switch it up a bit. I made the enemies a lot weaker, the tree stumps spawns enemies slower etc. The game was tons easier to complete.

Soon after the update, I got a comment from a guy named Zach saying:

[…] The other major difference I noticed was the change in difficulty. The last version I played was pretty hard, and I never beat it despite many tries. This version, however, I was able to beat in a single try. I think it’s good that the game isn’t so brutal at the beginning, but I would suggest that you gradually ramp up the difficulty back to the previous levels. Also, other than gold, I was swimming in resources. By the end I think I had over 50 of each stone and wood. Perhaps it would be more interesting if resources were a bit tighter.

And I agree with him. The current difficulty and balance overall is not where I want it to be.

The Bad news

So, the bad news is, I still haven’t nailed the difficulty throughout the game. Something that I should probably spend more time with. The major reason for that is that I still haven’t nailed the mechanics, the structure and the different enemies for the game yet. The game is still a bit of a mystery to me.

The Good news

The good news however, is that I have a better span to work with. I know when the game is too hard, and when the game is too easy to beat.

Somewhere in between is the sweetspot that I’m looking for.

The problem

As Zach pointed out, he was swimming in wood and stone, but not gold.

That’s where I want to focus my attention in this post and also for a few updates ahead.

Down below I will spoil the “best tactic” for beating the game, in my own opinion, so stop reading if you want to figure it out yourself.

Mainly, you work your way through the levels until you get a Better sword. It has a higher max damage than the Sword does. You upgrade the Better sword to damage 10, and after that you just repair it when needed. Game won. No contest.
The possible solutions

As far as the resources go, I can think of a few ways to improve the fact that the player is swimming in resources as Zach said:

Reduce the amount of available resources in the later levels.
Increase the cost of everything
Shift the resources towards gold
Try to remove the “one time cost” of the best tactic
Some things I’ve considered so far, is to nerf the resources. Each tile gives 3 resources instead of 5. The stone can still give 6 resources instead of 10 when using a pickaxe.

I could add a “lesser” resource, which is more and more common in the later level. Much resources in the beginning of the game, less later on. 5 for the normal and 3 for the lesser for example.

I could remove the repair tile altogether. That means that whatever you use to fight with, it will be destroyed.

I could increase the repair cost.

I could increase the repair cost for each time you repair. +1/+1 for example

I could increase the repair cost for each time you repair that specific item. When repairing your specific item, the repair cost for that item increases.

Each item could have different repair costs, for example, 2/2 for Sword and 4/4 for Better sword.

The game could shift focus towards gold. What I mean is to add a tile for trading wood/stone for gold. “Late game” items cost gold. Repairing late game items cost gold.

More items could have durability (pickaxe for example). Durability could decrease when gathering items as well - wood and stone at least. This forces the player to spend resources on items made for gathering as well.

I could add the wood equivalent to pickaxe, a normal axe that gives double amount of wood when gathering.

I could add a tile that “enchants” items, making them better. Increase not only damage but also max durability, or give a special property such as “x % chance not to decrease durability.

I could increase overall durability for the items, and making repair really expensive, or remove it.

Well then, just fix it already?

My problem has never been that I don’t have options. That I’ve been cornered. The problem has always been that I have too many options and I don’t have time to test them all out.

I only want the best for the game, my baby, my wonderful creation. I want it to be the best it can be, and I’m not sure which way to go.

I will figure this out. And then I will share it with you, fellow Internetz.

FYI, I also published the rant on my website. In case you wondered.