Hi, I love this game and hope my ideas can help make it better.
I started playing this December (thank you Humble Bundle), so the menu structure & UI I have seen is the same as the current one. I use Windows and Mac versions, and I don’t play HS. (Did briefly 2 years ago, to see what it was, didn’t like the mechanic.) Things function properly, and I think nothing is missing, but there are a few times during a play where it seems the UI does not flow well. And possibly in addition to this, it seems there are options / functions which are not intuitive.
- Trying a new deck in a casual (unranked) battle
Imagine that you made edits to a deck. “Oh I wonder how that idea will work” Save > (Back arrow) > Battle > Casual (Happy yak tile) > Play … If you are really unsure, and you want to play the AI, the procedure is Save > Practice … but real people are typically so much cleverer.
Idea 1: How about a happy yak “Casual Battle Online” icon next to Practice? 2 clicks are better than 5.
- Trying a new deck (for example, currently Deck Builder > Practice)
Sometimes I can’t tell if my idea failed or whether I was unlucky in the order of drawn cards.
Idea 2: After the game, any undrawn cards pop up for review, and the cards you played can be scrolled through in the order they were drawn (including the first 3 cards)
Idea 3: Allow the user to choose which AI they play against ( =perhaps one is free, others cost 5 gold?)
If there is a “game replay” feature or “these were played last game” feature I didn’t see it.
- “Your Decks” screen the same for deck builder & battle
I wish I had 5 gold every time I was in the Battle screen, looking at my decks, when I remember there’s one I haven’t looked at since getting a specific new card. Since they appear identical, I try to dive in and click a couple times on the deck. Of course, the behavior is different, but even the title bar “Your decks” is the same.
Idea 4: Perhaps a green background or theme for the builder? Black screen & brown theme for the battle seems fine
Idea 5: Anyway to preview the card listing in Battle, for example to check if you updated XYZ yet?
- Deck full “lock” sprite overlays “number of cards remaining” counter
Usually I can tell what the number must be, but sometimes my screen is too small, or I am too far away
Idea 6: In addition to the number, have a small stack of cards, 1, 2, 3, or “many”. One wouldn’t need to read the card, just see it’s the same shape and recognize difference between 1, 2, 3, 4+ When cards are picked, the card in back turns to an empty outline (or 70% transparent or something), the remaining ones stay solid.
- Crafting clicks
The “Disenchant all in excess” button is great, once I discovered what it was. But when I was going through my 20 chest starter bundle, it was quite monotonous to sort it all out, to buy full sets of the common cards / etc. And I understand that it is important to avoid mistakes, so that confirmation is required before the transaction is finalized, an “are you sure?” window. But can it be closer to making a purchase online, maybe a shopping cart summary where you have to verify once you have it all on one screen.
Idea 7: Have or “Enchanting list” like a shopping cart. When you add or remove a card, the crystal count has “XX crystals, -YY new cards to enchant, +ZZ cards to disenchant”. When done say “Do all on list now!”
Idea 8: Have a quick way to create multiple cards of a certain type at once. “3 Farm Boys, each cost 5, total cost 15, are you sure?” … Maybe disenchant is still “are you sure” for each card, but for buying can we toggle more than one?
- 4 deck tournament deck tool
Maybe the pros who register their decks have everything memorized, but it would seem there could be a deck sorter tool, or at least a “deck lock” mode. If you have a deck highlighted, it appears somehow in your deck sorter. … I don’t have any great idea about this, but I remember thinking “oh, well why isn’t there something to help…”
- Active menu during “waiting for player” in Battle
By accident, I clicked in the menu while waiting for an opponent, and … it worked! I was delighted to see the tea timer was overlaid, it was clear to me that I was still “active” and searching. But it was a little bit surprising. This aspect of the UI is still unintuitive to me. What else am I missing?
(If you can imagine, I am not done, just done for now! Ideas are good, no?)
I hope this is helpful, I am happy to explain in more detail, please let me know.
