Info about West Hunt:

Official game description:
West Hunt is an online social deduction game set in the Old West.  
It's the perfect game to test your detective and stealth skills with your friends in quick, exciting matches.  
As an outlaw, you have to complete your missions without being killed by the sheriff.  
*   Bribe the barman.  
*   Poison the water.  
*   Steal from the bank.  
*   Pray and ask for forgiveness.  
*   Tamper with the post board.  
*   Decrease your notoriety by doing side missions.  
*   Much more...
*   Find and kill the outlaw among villagers.  
*   If you shoot a villager you lose.  
*   Investigate and collect information.  
*   Check your mailboxes for more hints.
**Play mods**  
*   1 VS 1  
*   2 VS 2  
*   3 VS 3  
*   1 VS BOT  
*   CUSTOM
**Everything is Random:**  
*   The outlaw missions are randomly generated.  
*   The outlaw skin is also random in each match.  
*   The sheriff gets his mail in random mailboxes as well.
**Stealth**:  
*   The Outlaw can be anyone, a woman an old man, or a native American...  
*   Blending with the villagers and doing side missions to keep low notoriety.
**Communication**:  
*   Both players can use voice chat, this will create a very funny experience.
**Customization**:  
*   Customize your Sheriff's skin.  
*   Get a pet dog that bark when the Sheriff aims and stresses the outlaw.  
*   Different winning/losing emotes.

Release date: 23 Mar, 2023

Categories: Social Deduction, Competitive Multiplayer, Stealth Gameplay, Investigative Gameplay, Deductive Reasoning Puzzle, Character Customization, Procedural Generation


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Excellent Multiplayer with Friends (weight 0.99): The game is highly praised for its multiplayer experience, especially when played with friends. It consistently delivers fun, laughter, and engaging moments, making it an ideal party game.
- Unique Social Deduction Gameplay (weight 0.24): The game offers a unique take on the social deduction genre, requiring players to pay close attention to details and deduce or deceive. It provides distinct challenges and rewards for both the Sheriff and Outlaw roles, enhancing cognitive skills.
- Balanced & Responsive Gameplay (weight 0.18): The game features smooth, responsive controls and balanced gameplay across various modes, including intense 1v1 and strategic 2v2 matches. Its fast-paced, skill-based nature contributes to a highly engaging experience.
- Engaging Outlaw Role (weight 0.17): Playing as the Outlaw is frequently cited as more enjoyable due to the tension and unique abilities that allow for creative deception. Both roles offer distinct and engaging experiences.
- Good Bot Support & Settings (weight 0.09): The inclusion of AI bots for offline play and various settings to balance matches is appreciated. Players suggest expanding bot support to more modes for a better single-player experience.
- Charming Art Style & Performance (weight 0.08): The game's charming pixel art style and low-poly graphics are well-received, contributing to its overall appeal. This design choice also allows the game to run smoothly on lower-end computers.
- Good Value & Initial Fun (weight 0.07): Players generally feel the game offers good value for its price, providing enjoyable moments and potential for continued fun, especially at launch.
- Good Localization & Voice Chat (weight 0.06): The game offers good localization support for multiple languages, including Arabic, Russian, and Japanese. It also includes in-game voice chat, enhancing communication during gameplay.
- Stable Performance & Longevity (weight 0.06): Many players report a stable experience with no significant bugs or online issues, indicating a well-built and developed game. Some users have enjoyed extended playtimes without boredom.
- Active & Responsive Developers (weight 0.05): The development team is praised for being accessible, helpful, and consistently providing updates and new content, indicating strong post-launch support.

Common complaints:
- Limited content, poor value (weight 0.45): Many players feel the game offers insufficient content for its price, leading to quick boredom and a sense of wasted money. The gameplay loop is perceived as repetitive, and the overall experience lacks depth, especially for solo players.
- Low player count, dead servers (weight 0.36): A significant issue is the extremely low player count, making it difficult to find matches and leading to a 'dead game' feeling. This severely impacts the multiplayer experience, forcing players to rely on bots or large friend groups.
- Frequent bugs and performance issues (weight 0.24): Players report numerous technical issues, including frequent crashes, disconnections, severe lag, and inconsistent frame rates. These bugs significantly hinder gameplay and make the game unplayable for some.
- Role imbalance and unfairness (weight 0.16): There are concerns about game balance, particularly regarding the Sheriff and Outlaw roles. Some players feel the Sheriff is underpowered or has difficulty identifying Outlaws, while others find the Outlaw role too strong or too weak depending on the situation.
- Steep learning curve (weight 0.12): The game has a steep learning curve, making it challenging for new players to understand mechanics and roles. The UI is also noted as needing improvements for better clarity.
- Poor multiplayer lobby system (weight 0.1): The game has significant issues with its multiplayer lobby system, making it difficult to invite friends, rejoin lobbies, or find public games, which detracts from the social experience.
- Clunky and bad controls (weight 0.06): The game's controls are described as clunky, unintuitive, and unnatural, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience.
- Broken tutorial (weight 0.06): The game's tutorial is reported to be broken, preventing new players from progressing and learning the game's mechanics.
- Map design issues (weight 0.05): Feedback on map design is mixed, with some players finding maps too large or not open enough, and a desire for clearer objective indicators.
- Confusing menus (weight 0.03): The in-game menus are described as confusing and unclear, impacting user experience.
- Difficulty identifying NPCs (weight 0.03): Players, especially as the police officer, find it difficult to distinguish between NPCs and other players, leading to confusion.

Gameplay feedback:
- Core Gameplay Loop (weight 0.43): The core gameplay loop involves Sheriffs identifying Bandits disguised as NPCs by observing their behavior and task completion, while Bandits aim to complete objectives without being caught. Hints are provided via mailboxes, but Sheriffs must be careful not to shoot innocents.
- Social Deduction Western Theme (weight 0.13): The game is a social deduction title set in a pixel-art Wild West environment. It is frequently compared to games like Among Us and Spy Party due to its deception and hidden role mechanics.
- Difficulty and Balance Concerns (weight 0.09): Player feedback on difficulty is mixed, with some finding it easy and others very hard. There's a suggestion that the Sheriff role needs balancing or the Outlaw role needs more downsides.
- Player Count & Modes (weight 0.09): The game supports various player counts, with suggestions that it plays better with 4 or more players. There's also a mention of a 3v3 mode and its potential for chaos.
- Consequences of Misidentification (weight 0.07): A critical loss condition for Sheriffs is shooting an innocent NPC, leading to their elimination. Bandits lose if they are shot by a Sheriff.
- Role-Specific Abilities (weight 0.06): Sheriffs have limited abilities and a slight speed advantage, relying on map knowledge. Bandits possess several skills like Teleport, Shapeshift, Sprint, and Smoke Bomb to aid their deception.
- Social Play Experience (weight 0.05): The game is described as fun to play both solo and with friends, supporting custom matches.
- Basic Controls (weight 0.04): Basic controls include WASD for movement, Left Mouse Button for shooting, and 'E' for interaction.
- No Story Mode (weight 0.02): The game currently lacks a story mode, with the single-player option primarily serving as a control check.
- Early Access Status (weight 0.02): The game is currently in early access, indicating ongoing development and potential for changes.
- Minimap Feature (weight 0.02): The game features a minimap, which likely aids in navigation and tracking objectives.
- Procedural Generation Suggestion (weight 0.02): A suggestion was made to add procedurally generated scenario items to the hide-and-seek mode to increase its difficulty.
- Controversial Content Mention (weight 0.01): A specific, concerning point of feedback noted the ability to shoot 'natives and women' in the game. This is a low-importance point based on limited feedback, but it is included due to its nature.

Performance notes:
- Inconsistent performance (weight 0.05): There is conflicting feedback regarding game performance. Some players report poor optimization and server issues, while others state the game runs well even on low-end systems. This suggests performance may be inconsistent or dependent on specific hardware/server conditions.

Recommendations:
- Best played with friends (weight 0.4): The game is highly recommended when played with a group of friends, especially for social or party-oriented gameplay. Solo play is generally not advised, as the experience is significantly diminished without a pre-made group.
- Highly recommended by some (weight 0.27): Despite mixed feedback, a notable portion of players highly recommend the game, often giving it perfect scores and considering it a fair purchase. This suggests a strong positive experience for some, particularly those who find its niche appealing.
- Good for deduction/party game fans (weight 0.09): Players who enjoy deduction games, social deception, or party games similar to Among Us or Town of Salem will likely find this game appealing. It offers a casual, fun experience without being overly competitive.

Other player notes:
- Desire for more content and updates (weight 0.32): Players are eager for more content, including new maps, characters, and game modes, to enhance replayability and extend the game's longevity. There's a strong desire for continued development and updates to address current limitations and expand the core experience, with some hoping for a sequel to improve on these aspects.
- Suggestions for gameplay mechanics (weight 0.26): Players have specific suggestions for new game mechanics, quality-of-life improvements, and balance adjustments. These include ideas for new game modes, changes to sheriff visibility, and adjustments to notification systems, indicating a desire for deeper and more refined gameplay.
- Need for increased player base (weight 0.22): Players frequently mention the need for a larger player base to improve matchmaking and overall game experience. The game is seen as more enjoyable when played with friends, highlighting a potential reliance on social play and the need for better player retention.
- Improve game balance and AI (weight 0.2): Players are looking for improvements in game balance and the overall game experience. There's also a suggestion to incorporate AI into queues for tasks, which could help with player population issues or provide more dynamic gameplay.
- Minor technical feedback (weight 0.05): Feedback on technical aspects is limited but positive regarding bugs. There are mentions of beta features like lobby joining and specific server connection methods, along with a note about potential copyright issues with in-game ambience.
- Miscellaneous and non-actionable feedback (weight 0.04): Some feedback is very general, noting the game's specific graphics or listing similar titles. There are also personal anecdotes about player achievements and a thank you to a specific individual, which are not actionable for development.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.19): Players frequently experience frustration due to a range of technical issues including game-breaking bugs, frequent crashes, poor performance (low framerate, lag), and persistent connection problems. Additionally, frustration stems from poor game design elements such as imbalanced gameplay, inconvenient interfaces, unplayable tutorials, and particularly, the inability to find matches or other players due to low player counts and long queue times. The presence of cheaters and a lack of reporting options also significantly contribute to player frustration.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.19): Satisfaction primarily arises from the game's social aspects, with players highly enjoying playing with friends and the overall social experience. The game's concept, fun gameplay, and unique matches also contribute to satisfaction. Players appreciate good value for money, the absence of bugs, and customization options, leading to a positive overall experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.18): Disappointment is largely driven by the game's technical state and low player count, which often prevents players from finding matches or enjoying the multiplayer experience. Poor game quality, including boring or repetitive gameplay, bad controls, and flawed execution, also leads to disappointment. Microtransactions and the perception of wasted money further contribute to this emotion, especially when the game's fun is short-lived or friends dislike it.
- Joy (weight 0.13): Joy is almost exclusively tied to the social experience of playing the game with friends. Players find immense enjoyment and laughter when engaging in multiplayer sessions, particularly with voice chat. The core gameplay experience itself, when shared, also contributes to this positive emotion.
- Excitement (weight 0.08): Excitement is generated by intense matches, the game's cool concept, and the tension inherent in its detective and social deduction mechanics. Playing with friends amplifies this excitement, leading to competitive 'rage' and hilarious scenarios. The potential of the game and the unique tricks available to outlaws also contribute to an exciting gameplay experience.
- Hope (weight 0.06): Hope is centered on the game's future, with players expressing a strong desire for updates, more content (like maps and game modes), and an increase in the player count. There is a belief in the game's potential for improvement and a reliance on developer commitment to address current issues and enhance the experience.
- Amusement (weight 0.04): Amusement comes from the game's humor, its unique premise (such as playing as an NPC), and the social interactions that lead to humorous situations. Specific gameplay mechanics, like pranking opponents, also contribute to players finding the game funny and entertaining.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.02): Enjoyment is a general positive feeling derived from the game, often amplified when playing with friends. The game is considered fun and entertaining, particularly when there are more people to play with, making it a good option for chilling with friends.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom stems from repetitive gameplay and the experience of playing alone. The game quickly loses its appeal when played solo, leading to a lack of engagement.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arises from contradictory feelings about the game, the unexpected inclusion of a ranked mode, and the overall complexity of certain game aspects.
- Mild frustration (weight 0.01): Mild frustration is caused by minor inconveniences such as poorly designed menus, difficulty in identifying NPCs, and unresponsive or 'spongy' controls.
- Caution (weight 0.01): Caution is expressed regarding potential conflicts within the game, the prerequisites needed to truly enjoy the experience, and advice given to potential buyers about what to expect.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Appreciation is directed towards the developers for their accessibility and ongoing support of the game.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret is felt when players perceive their purchase as a waste of money, indicating dissatisfaction with the game's value or experience.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia is triggered by remembering the game from a past period, suggesting a positive memory or connection to it from earlier play.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is a strong negative emotion stemming from the perception of being scammed or experiencing unfair treatment, such as being timed out from a community platform.
- Challenge (weight 0): Challenge is experienced due to the game's inherent difficulty, providing a sense of accomplishment when overcome.
- Dislike (weight 0): Dislike is specifically directed towards the 'prop-hunters' game mode, indicating a negative reception of this particular feature.
- Loneliness (weight 0): Loneliness is felt when players have no one to play the game with, highlighting the importance of its social aspect.
- Relaxation (weight 0): Relaxation is achieved as the game helps players unwind, suggesting it provides a calming or stress-relieving experience.}