Reviews for Painters Guild (Alpha)

[Niyawa]

This game has a lot of potential, but as many people stated, its own mechanics make this very hard to enjoy. After a few minutes you start to feel you're wasting time rather than playing anything, and that's because of the way everything is very repetitive and redundant. This is an alpha so maybe it can't be helped that certain little things are not polished yet, but there are various ways to make the experience much better simply by removing some odd design choices.

- We're talking about a simulation game, which means that having the user make choices that should've been automatic (such as clicking to finish the paint, make Da Vinci and Verrocchio rest ) is very counter- intuitive. It's one of the main reasons this becomes a chore after a few minutes.
- I didn't necessarily feel this is a bad thing, but as some have mentioned the way the game progress is very fast. A year shouldn't pass by so fast. At the very least making an option for choosing the game longevity of your choice might be a good addition to the final release.
- Overtime, the ratio of money gained/money need to advance decreases rapidly, making it nearly impossible to buy anything without getting in the red. Next version should include some adjustments to the fee increase as it somewhat harsh at this point. Same applies to the prices of furniture.

Those are a few points which I personally feel need to be addressed, there are some other features however which I believe would make the game more enjoyable overall.

- Hire employers to make your work more efficient.
- Option to expand your 'shop' or even upgrade furniture.
- Making the background and scenario change with the seasons.
- Give some funny pop-up dialog between the people inside the shop.
- Accept contracts with specific conditions for extra furniture or money.

I haven't gone too long on this game, so maybe I said something that's already here. All that said, this has some good potential and given the right choices, this should develop into something very interesting.

[RedChickenGaming]

its ok needs a hiring system and property expansion option but,has potential so 3 stars

[Framboos]

Interesting game, but not enough variety to keep the game interesting after a while. The ever increasing guild fee seems rather harsh without a clear explaination why. After a while Da Vinci gets arrested for sodomi, but at that point he is living alone. The whole story should be told more by actual game mechanisms instead of just texts. (I don't mean that the game should actually portray sodomi, but there should at least be someone living with Da Vinci). I don't get involved in Da Vinci's life at all, and there shoul be more background to the paintings as well. The game does have potential though. I do like the art and the idea of telling painters' story's.

[polynomialpal]

I really love this game. It's really cute and the music is nice and I like the historical aspect. I voted for it on Steam Greenlight.

I think the game should autopause whilst you are reading messages. It's a bit relentless as it is due to being a fast-paced game.

Also I failed pretty quickly the first time I played because I wasn't aware of the 'rest' feature so my painters got very tired and slow. The in-game hints did not alert me to this aspect of the game mechanic.

[SpaceDazee]

I understand this is in alpha, but I know what feedback can mean at this phase.

Right now I'm barely enjoying the game enough to keep playing. It's very difficult to keep up on everything and not in a "Oh, this is a challenge." way, but rather a "This is is annoying.." way. After a few minutes you either don't have good enough furniture to raise your skills/rest to keep up with the painting demands or you don't have enough money to pay your dues because you bought a piece of furniture and your dues become incredibly high in a very short time.

When you're buying and placing furniture or canvases, the game should go into a build mode and pause. Then once you exit the build mode the items lock in place. It was very annoying when I'm trying to move my painters and I accidentally grab a couch or desk instead.

I also think the paintings should auto-sell once they are done rather than me having to click above it like a crazy person when it's almost done so I know it sells the second I finish it.

Either this game needs modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, right now I feel like I'm playing on Hard. or the other mechanics need adjusted, for example:
The year doesn't go by so quickly.
You get paid more for paintings.
Furniture doesn't cost as much.
You can sell old furniture/furniture gets auto-updated (I really don't need 2 couches).
Dues don't raise so drastically each year/a set amount of dues.
I'm not saying that all of these need adjusted, but some do to balance the others out. I would recommend the different modes though, and maybe even a Free-Play mode without the annual dues.

I can see the potential in it though and look forward to see how it develops.