A Game I Made For Practice is Getting Attention. Do I Continue Development?

[verysunshine]

On April 11th, I published a short puzzle game / visual novel on itch.io. It has problems: puzzles are often either so easy they're pointless or so difficult that they're nearly impossible, and neither of the characters involved have personalities. I thought the game would get a couple of downloads. I didn't put any thought into promotion beyond posting about it here.

People seem to be legitimately interested in this game beyond what I expected. It has 47 downloads, 27 of which are on an update I made to bring the game up to the way it should have been released. People have commented at certain points, noting areas that are particularly difficult. Most of these are due to one-time-use elements or puzzles in which information crutial to solving them is missing.

If nobody was playing the game, I wouldn't care about updating the game. I feel like I should at least release an update to patch some of the more inconvenient features. Should I do more with it? I feel like some of the problems, especially the lack of characterization, might not be solved without a complete rewrite.

[Johan]

I think it depends entirely on you.
I know this is not really a good advice but well, being pressured to continue on something you don't want to, feels.... bad for you. On the other hand, maybe as a way to appreciate the feedback you are getting, you could update only some things, as a way to encourage them to continue support you with other works you are making/make in the future.

[verysunshine]

It's not really "pressure". It's more like "a puppy getting a treat for a trick they don't know they've done."

[Critical Deluxe]

See if you can continue development while adding elements that make it more enjoyable to develop. As long as you're not forcing yourself to do something you hate you'll get more experience and knowledge which is always good.

[Uy27]

Go for it. That's the best way of learning. When I released my game I felt a bit pressure once the people started to play the game and expected all kinds of stuff.
But due to the pressure and not wanting to let the player base down- you learn a ton and grow as a developer.
But like mentioned above me- only if you enjoy your current project should you take on the challenge.

[verysunshine]

Go for it. That's the best way of learning. When I released my game I felt a bit pressure once the people started to play the game and expected all kinds of stuff.
But due to the pressure and not wanting to let the player base down- you learn a ton and grow as a developer.
But like mentioned above me- only if you enjoy your current project should you take on the challenge.

Yeah! I did end up learning quite a bit from making different versions of the game.

[cervineprince]

I think go for it! you could challenge yourself to try making less easy puzzles 0:

[verysunshine]

I'm working on another game with some similar ideas, and I hope this one will be good.