First Feedback

My partner, Lynne helped me by play testing this game last night. While all her feedback was valuable, but there were a few major takeaways.

The Good:

Lynne did not find a single bug (Though I found one while we were retracing her steps in a postmortem discussion).
For a game that's only been tested by the developer, I find that to be quite an accomplishment. 

She was very positive when it came to the elements of immersion. She overtly praised the sound and visuals and covertly praised the immersion by having a brief moment of claustrophobia.
We discussed how some visuals were inconsistent with reality and how those compromises are acceptable "clever lies" that the game can get away with.
From this I took away the fact that I'm unexpectedly capable of establishing a mood and atmosphere. It's a good feeling to know I have that in my tool-belt.

The Bad:

The worst thing a player can say about a game is "it's not fun".
When I asked Lynne "Was it fun?" Her answer was a swift "No".  She quickly added the this type of puzzle isn't one enjoys. I expect this was said, in-part, to save my ego. But as we talked and dug deeper, I realized why this model of puzzle struggles to be enjoyable.

In each of the mazes in this game, the player is unable to see the goal.
You only see what is in front of you. And often that isn't enough information to make a decision.
The end-goal is never explained to the player, but after the first level the player is intended to understand that they are attempting to traverse through the maze to the flowers. That could be a legitimate creative decision.
But by not being able to see the goal before you start, you are blindly stumbling around a dungeon hoping to find a way through.

My intention was to create an interesting set of problems for the player to solve. Instead, the player is unaware of the problem or the tools at their disposal.
The player is just as likely to brute-force their way through these mazes as they are to think their way through.
As a result, the player never feels "clever". And imparting the sense of being clever is undoubtedly the goal of any puzzle-based game.

There were other lesser issues that we discussed, but if the game-play is discouraging and unfulfilling, that is where my focus should stay.

The Next Steps:

This project took 3 weeks to build. So, even with the major flaws in the basic mechanics, I'm still quite happy with it.

I already have multiple thoughts on how to give players enough information to feel engaged.

I'll likely create additional puzzles/levels that focus on what I've learned.