comments for Cavernous II
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I do think this has great potential, even though the tutorial isn't the most explicit. It is nice, especially since you have multiple ways of playing the game and you are rewarded for trying new stuff.
Nevermind that previous comment, I am an idiot. An utter buffoon, if you will. I wasn't even interacting with the Mana-infused rock this entire time, lol.
For all of the people thinking this game is just slow grinding, this game is actually a puzzle where you can finish up to zone 6 without ever using a single life/loop with the intent of farming stats.
You getting permanent stats is actually an afterthought that makes the game slightly faster over time and should be treated as such, it is not the objective.
litteral masterpiece trust me guys you are all stupid its so easy to get down and so fun when you do
This has been one of my favorite incremental games I've played in a while. It takes the looping mechanics from "Idle Loops" and turns it into a 2d puzzle incremental. Please bear with the start of the game and I promise it will be a unique experience. An excellent mix between optimizing routes, exploration, theory crafting, and permanent upgrades.
Extremely awful tutorial IMHO, but this game has a VERY cool concept! Didn't read the description saying it was a puzzle game, but I like it a lot.
This is actually an amazing game. Kind of obtuse at first, but once you figure out what's going on, it is well worth the effort. I appreciate it!
Having reached the first 6 goals and half of zone 7, I can confidently say this game is a puzzler masquerading as an idler. There are a few small bugs, like routes not updating properly, stat routes not giving proper stat gains, and maybe some annoyances, like fixing an error in one zone route for one mana rock means needing to fix it for all other mana rocks using that route, but overall quite fun.
I do think the game is much more pleasant in accelerated time, which is always active once you have stopped playing for a day or two before coming back, but that's effectively true of all loopers, which is a bit of a shame.
... I'm quite disappointed that, with 3 attack and 8 defense, a goblin chieftain still kills me. My attack is equal to its defense, my defense is higher than its attack, so why can't we just be locked in eternal combat until I run out of mana and grind combat stats with it? It feels awkward since it somewhat breaks the established rules, especially since other stats can be grinded using similar cheese strats
developer response: This was a deliberate decision to avoid trivializing combat. This way, combat remains relevant through the whole game (though eventually some is possible to trivialize, it comes much later). Sorry it feels so unintuitive!
Just when I was thinking it was a puzzler masquerading as an idler behind "timewalls", entering zone 4 I'm stuck so I decided to go for "grind stats" for the first time. After an hour of woodcutting grind, I essentially gained 10% speed up in woodcutting compared to everything else, and I had to redo all my pathing for later zones, since everything got wonky x.x And apart from seeing 2 blocks further, I still need more grind, seems like I really put off stat grinding for too long.
I'm really unsure to what I'm missing to reach anything useful in zone 5, heck even reaching it was a chore. Having readjusted my path with duplication in mind, I do think zone 4 is doable without stat grinding, but I'm lost for zone 5.
Nevermind me, I just noticed I should have been able to get another clone, probably forced my way to zone 5 instead of the intended way
After reaching zone 6 and almost zone 7, I can say only that game is way too slow, 1 run to increase mana by +0.6 takes 12 minutes and you need to do 30+ of them. Also game just loves to replace better routes with worses ones without any confirmation
A little confusing, the tutorial could definitely be more clear... but it is possible to figure out I guess.
jaxeos, did you find the clone machine? if you are stuck in zone 1 you might consider exploring more to get it, it should explain the kudzushroom's description.
the kudzushroom description confuses me, what does that mean?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA stuck on zone one, any tips?? also the kudozshroom whatev description is kinda confusing.
why won't it let me change my queues action. its so frustrating
Very interesting and non-standard idle game. Very inspired by loop odysee, I guess; good execution on it.
developer response: Other way around, actually - Loop Odyssey (now Stuck in Time) came out significantly after Cavernous (though only slightly after Cavernous II). I'm not aware whether the author of Stuck in Time knew of Cavernous prior to making Stuck in Time, though.
If you are new: Everything up to your first clone is the "tutorial". The game will change once you get two bodies.
The game is a timeloop game. Each time you add a new mana rock, you gain a large amount of new time. You can turn gold into time. And, you can make one-off runs to turn gold into a new clone/body.
Once you get a clone, you have basically doubled what you can do. And, you can do things in two places. In zone one, there will be times when you want to make a bridge, and send both clones north; there will be times when you want to send one quickly south through the kudzoo to explore. And there is no "one true path". For zone 2, there will be times you want to bring one bridge; times you want to bring 2 bridges; times that three bridges are good enough, and times when you need all 4 possible bridges.
Remember, you must spend one bridge to leave zone 1 to zone 2. You only need to use ONE CLONE at the portal to leave; not only is it not required to get everyone there, it often will not be possible. At some point in zone 2, you will need/gain a third body.
Your bodies do not need to stay together! In fact, it will be much, much better if you split them up. If you are moving them one at a time, and updating the map with each movement, then the progress / time usage will be slightly off, and restarting the same loop will give you a very small but noticeable extra.
For initial progress, I recommend having one clone doing "industry" (smelting iron / making bridges / vaporizing gold), and one exploring. This is not going to be "the whole game". There is no "one true path". You will change what you do.
The game does have a memory of paths you have taken, as well as automatically milking your best past routes to mana rocks. So you can automate the "gain all available mana". Note that each time you get a new clone, your best paths will probably change. You will need to redo every rock for "best" results. New clones will duplicate the last clone -- so if you plan your route accordingly, you will automatically accept new clones easily.