People are playing my game. Actual people. Some of them like it, others don't, and a handful have given me feedback and suggestions. The big win? The Lines Game is up on itch.io. You can play it here.

The first playtester

One evening I was hanging out with a friend and we were both working on side projects. It was super fun listening to him chat about the visual novel he's been working on and some of the backstory behind it.

Then he asked what I was working on. I told him about The Lines Game and he asked to play it. So many things went through my head, the loudest of which was: "NO". But as I thought about it more, I didn't really have a reason to say no. I was literally deploying to a testing URL so that people could play the game 😅

So he played it... and it was SO MUCH FUN watching him figure things out. Seeing someone else poke at the mechanics, make choices I didn't expect, and slowly piece together how everything works.... I found myself grinning unexpectedly. Up until that point, no one else had played it. I'm so happy he played it that night. It set me up to actually enjoy watching other people play the game I've been building.

Feedback

As more people played, one thing rose to the top: confusion. Most folks could figure out what was going on after some time, but initially they had no idea what to do. This is mostly because I want The Lines Game to be "minimalist." Turns out I went a bit too far down that path.

With that feedback top of mind, I went through the game and made it much more readable:

• Inklings (the creatures that create lines) now show more of the numbers that go into production
• Nailed down consistent key words across the game, so things that do the same thing are always called the same thing
• Added a short Intro sequence that walks you through the basics
• Added a Guide section that defines terms in the game

Itch.io

With most of the confusion sorted out, it was time to put The Lines Game on itch.io. I'd never done this before, but it wasn't too bad. Had to figure out how to get the build to actually work on itch, take a bunch of screenshots, and learn how to customize the page. Turns out you can edit the background color and font — I was able to get both to match The Lines Game's style, which felt great.

Once all the pieces were in place, I made it public. And people played it! A few folks even commented and filled out the feedback form. It's very exciting :)

What's next?

I'm working through the current list of feedback and suggestions. Players really want finish times for the Orders and some quality of life improvements, so that's what I'm tackling next.