Recent reviews by Rhaps

Post-wipe Update (New Empire Changes):
I still cannot recommend this game, now even more than before. The developers seem determined to add more complexity to parts of the game (specifically the UI but also the quest system and the updated empire system) without taking accessibility in mind.

A while ago they implemented wind in the game and added an animating (very jittery) icon to the UI HUD for it. I sent in a ticket expressing that the movement of it gave me motion sickness and requesting the option to toggle it off. I never heard back, and have had to play with the inventory window covering that icon (and the inventory window often just closes, making me have to quickly reopen it). On March 5th they added a newly updated map UI HUD and guess what? They didn't add any toggle options. So now I'm motion sick if my inventory window closes and I'm visually overwhelmed by additional design and information in just the top-right corner of the screen. They also added UI scaling, but only to make it smaller (readable text for those with vision impairments? never apparently). We also have no way to customize any of the UI text colors beyond a dark mode or light mode. This means that chat is hard to read depending on what location you're in and what color the chat is (based on channels).

Meanwhile the new empire system takes away most player agency relating to defining their empire, and makes it extremely hard for a small empire to exist on their own. Perhaps that is their intent, but it seems very counter to the concept of creating our own world. (Towers are now preplaced, meaning we can't negotiate for a small amount of land based on tower placement. There are benefits to the new system, especially the movement away from it being monetized so they can have it interact with the game more than just cosmetics.) And again, there's no option to turn off the pop-up in the game when you enter or leave empire territory so you can't even opt-out of the system if you just wanted to play otherwise.

I love this game, but most updates they've added have made it harder and harder for me to play lately. And that makes it hard to keep loving the parts of it that I enjoy. Please give players more options for how to customize their playing experience. Please look into accessible design (this must be an important part of the game design of your game otherwise you're excluding a huge possible player base). I want to be able to recommend this game to my friends.

Original Review:
I want to be able to recommend BitCraft, I really do. It's obvious by my playtime that I enjoy playing the game. I started playing during Alpha 2, and joined a group for Alpha 3 and the same group for Early Access. There is so much I love and adore about this game but in its current state I don't think it's worth trying (unless you're very comfortable with bugs and sometimes questionable game design choices).

I believe in the developers and think they will find and make the game they want. I do sometimes worry that the game they want to make isn't the game they advertise, especially because they often advertise it slightly differently. There' s a lot of emphasis on "cozy" and chill, while also a push towards empire battles (not yet really in the game beyond tower sieges) and PVE enemies that are unbalanced (often because of a bug or unintended mechanic). I feel like BitCraft has a good core game loop but it still isn't even a valid minimum viable product for the game it wants to be, it's much more like a vertical slice of some of the mechanics they want just with some polished visuals. I know this sounds critical, but it's because I really do love this game and the further we get in development with less and less bugs (and QoL things) being fixed in favor of introducing mechanics that seem counter to the intended target audience of the game, the more and more I worry that the game eventually won't be one I can say I love despite its current flaws.

Played for a bit a while ago and it was fine. But I can't recommend based on what I've heard about the studio.

First I want to preface my reviewing by saying that I think many people will love and adore this game, and if they don't suffer from motion sickness they likely will have a great time playing it as well. However I can't personally recommend the game with the current state of the camera. I was able to play around three hours during a stream (got to the start of chapter six, playing leisurely) and won't be able to return to the game unless more camera settings are added to the options to mitigate motion sickness. Specifically how the camera movement has a bit of ease-in and ease-out after being moved manually, and how many parts of the game force camera control away from the player to attempt to show them the next path (and often don't give control back to the player for quite a long time). If we could toggle those off it would greatly improve my experience of the game.

I would be thrilled if the developer was interested in adding these adjustments as options in a future update and would gladly return to finish the game on stream and change my review.

Gourdlets is such a fun, relaxing sort of game. The Gourdlets just vibe around with things, and get in your way whenever you try to build inside a building (which is SO cute). The customization options are great, and really add to the Twitch Integration as well. (Chat loves to be able to choose their color and hat.)

Absolutely love this game. It's always one I come back to every so often to deep dive in.

A super chill game. I had so much fun just running around taking notes about different things and being excited to see the plant life that flourished in different parts of The Garden.

Also I stole a flower pot and fence. 10/10

Such a cute and uplifting kind of game. Mr Jumpy and the Small Frogs were a pleasant surprise. I didn't even get a full week in and already love it.

The game loop is really solid. Do errands and chores to earn guild tokens to upgrade your caravan so you can sell more things at market so you can upgrade your caravan more and also do more chores and errands. Very enjoyable and low stress.

This is a super cute, amazing game. The world is adorable and the story is very meaningful so far (though I haven't gotten beyond the third memory yet).

Such an amazing game. The puzzles are thought provoking, the story is interesting, the hunt for origami is very enthralling. And there are frog. (Plus the flipping of the paper is such a fun ND stim.)

Only completed the first level but it really gave that accomplishment feeling. A very solid game with lots of room for challenges.