[h1]ADHD: The game[/h1]
The game is... too easy/fast: currencies appear, they get utilized for 3-5 minutes, then they're not needed anymore. At least the main currency ZEK stays until the end, but at some point it gets an absurd profit spike.
About [b]currencies[/b]: each of them is attached to a mechanic of their own with their own gimmick. They're quite varied, but most of them dont stick around for too long. 5-10 minutes and they're obsolete. It's an interesting concept to diverse from simple crystal spam for 2 hours that somehow didnt get stale throughout my playtime. I can only wish for upgrade refunding, since in some cases some upgrades are getting in the way of getting bigger profits [i](spamming short links to generate more crystals, but then laser spawns in and removes some of them)[/i]
The most important part, the [b]progression[/b], feels like a [b]roller coaster[/b]. The progression spikes are here and there: at the start when you get to max out your basic control upgrades in just 2-3 rounds, then after maxing out everything with a newly unlocked currency (EGO), then getting to a specific upgrade through trial & error which gives you x1000 to ZEK gains (greedy god). Also some of the upgrades have their [b]costs...[/b] ADAPT TO YOUR CURRENT BALANCE. If you'll ignore some of the upgrades for some time - it'll jump right to where your cash stacks are sitting at, from 100K to [b]10B[/b], [b]in a single purchase.[/b] ADHD Enforcement alright XD
Funny how a game with 3 sets of colorblind [b]accessibility[/b] options [b]doesnt have[/b] a mid-round [b]pause[/b] menu. Which also means no "end round early" option. While you decide the time limit yourself - you lose the ability to fine tune it mid-game since slider represents "% of your current ZEK" instead of "% of maximum possible time you can get", so slider moves 1 pixel from the most-left position = +30 seconds. Plus some of the upgrades extend the minimum time limit and some extend the timer while playing, so its gonna be ~30-50 seconds if not carefully AVOIDING the upgrades (which you cant toggle off, that would be [b]very[/b] welcome).
small annoyances:
[list]
[*]after round ends - upgrade tree camera defaults to its pre-set zoom/position, just stay where you were how you were, damn it
[*]portal config slider's hitbox is way too large, 3.5 notches big
[*]"synthetic digestion" tutorial popup appeared at least 4 times, idk what finally got rid of it
[*]parasites sometimes get completely immune to clicks, they just stand there and after some time run off
[*]audio gets ♥♥♥♥'y when connecting a lot of crystals per second. It would've been funny at end-game, but it happens consistently on mid-game already. I think demo had an issue, guess dev didnt find a way to fix it
[*]lags hard when a lot of EAT's appear from a long chain/on end-game upgrade tree. I dropped from 120 fps to 45
[*]after finishing the game
[list]
[*]background has a weird edge on the left
[*]crystals dont respawn, game restart fixed it
[/list]
[*]"new game" should have a confirmation prompt
[*]2 achievements are seemingly broken? "Unfortunate greed" and "Just one more link", im trying to do what they say, im sure i did it during my playthrough as well, but they dont trigger, idk, might be some hidden condition i guess
[/list]
[hr][/hr]
Alternate title: "Game about feeding a black hole" if it was better.
It's a nice little something to get distracted by with diverse mechanics, interesting visuals and game-breaking sounds xd. It needs more polish, but since game just released - im sure it'll be fine.
Also [b]price[/b] without discount might be too high for it, i'd advise to get on sale.
