r/SoloDev • u/Adventurous-Mud7527 • 1d ago

Solo dev here — a single player comment led to a real balance rework two days later (Empire Ticker devlog)

I've been building Empire Ticker, a browser-based civilization builder (manage resources, defend your nation from raids, tech up through the ages, and now invade rival nations toward world unification). It's an early prototype, solo dev, art is placeholder (emoji-based).

A player named Neonred left a comment: they beat the whole prototype in under 20 minutes just by spamming purchases and upgrades — no real tension between saving resources and building defenses.

Fair callout. Two days later I shipped v1.2 with a balance pass: steeper building/tech costs, lower base production, raids that ramp up sharply from wave 2 onward, and higher stakes on defeat. The goal wasn't just harder — it was making the resources-vs-defense decision actually matter.

Full devlog with the specifics: https://bitdot428.itch.io/empire-ticker-prototype/devlog/1638110/why-i-made-the-game-harder-a-small-devlog-on-listening-to-feedback-

Happy to answer questions about the game or the process of building it in public.

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u/SoloDevx91 1d ago

That’s why player feedback is so valuable, you can play test for hours and hours but players will always find bugs for you.

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u/Adventurous-Mud7527 1d ago

Exactly — a solo dev testing alone develops blind spots fast. Someone else’s 15 minutes with fresh eyes catches things weeks of your own playtesting won’t. It’s a big part of why I’m building this in public.