Log Some Hours

Well, it certainly is early access. I hate to tear you apart, because I really do feel for your trials and want to support the cause you are trying to support. Please understand that this is a critique of your work, not of you. I hope this finds you doing well.

Let me say this: This is a game. Games should be valuable by themselves, either as entertainment, as art, or as a challenge, and a noble cause such as spreading awareness isn't going to cut it. Log some hours, as it stands now, is none of those things. It's simple, it's got a nice tune, but there's no creativity, no challenge, and it doesn't look good. 

The tasks are extremely limited and mundane, and the only goal in the game seems to be building everything. The character and different wood sprites are painful to look at, the movement system is grating, and I very quickly lost the desire to explore or try to progress, because I could sense that it was just a big grind with minimal reward beside populating the map one by one, all by my lonesome.

My first recommendation is to figure out what the player's end goal should be. I should feel like I have something to work towards, maybe multiple things to work towards. Until I see this, I have trouble reconciling supporting this project financially. I can't support a game I don't expect to enjoy.

My other advice don't fall into the trap of adding functions just because other games have them. Make the game your own by thinking through what process your target audience wants to achieve their goal. More content doesn't necessarily mean more fun. Game mechanics should further my progress or add something to the game, not hinder my progress. If I can see the tree I want to get to, but I have to solve a puzzle first, it usually only serves to frustrate me. Let the reward be a mystery, and it actually be something unique, not just another resource to build houses out of.

There's so many more things I could pick out, but this is more than enough. You've got a good start to a game, you've got mechanics that work and a rough idea of what you want to do, so keep at it. I hope this critique doesn't give you the feeling of having to start all over; you have something good! But it's nothing worth publishing to the world. The world only cares about itself. If you need help working on this game and achieving your goals, talk it over with someone who cares about you. They will support you far more than the casual user on itch or kickstarter.

It seems that it's been a month since you've shared any updates on this. Are you giving up?