Info about Stoneshard:

Official game description:
Roadmap
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About the Game
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**Stoneshard** is a challenging turn-based RPG set in an open world. Experience the unforgiving life of a medieval mercenary: travel across the war-torn kingdom, fulfill contracts, fight, mend your wounds and develop your character without any restrictions.
**There’s no hand-holding, and the game will punish you for your mistakes**: you’ll have to carefully prepare for each expedition, plan your actions in advance, and weigh your resources against possible risks. Saving can only be done in certain spots, so each wrong move can potentially lead to a swift death and lost progress.
EXPLORE THE RAVAGED LANDS
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*   **Open World**  
    War always leaves its mark: villages lie in ruins, dungeons are infested with monsters, and old roads are abandoned. Travel through Aldor and learn more about its past.
*   **Caravan**
    Gather your own caravan to travel the world. Acquire upgrades for it and recruit followers - their knowledge and skills will likely benefit you along the way. Feeling weary? Return to your camp to hear new stories or just rest by the fire.
*   **Economy**  
    The wartime economy is ruthless, but it also presents many opportunities: fulfill contracts, hunt for treasure, trade in a variety of goods, and travel the land to earn your fortune.
CHOOSE YOUR PATH
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*   **Character Development**  
    Experiment with 200+ abilities and 400+ equipment pieces without any class or level restrictions. Create your very own playstyle!
*   **Enemy Variety**  
    Take part in intense battles against numerous factions. Brigands, abominable cults, the undead - all of them require a unique approach.
*   **Tactical Battles**  
    Only the thoughtful ones shall prevail - plan a few turns ahead, adapt to your surroundings, and fully utilize your character’s strengths.
SURVIVE AGAINST THE ODDS
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*   **Health System**  
    Master the simple but deep health system: cauterize bleeding wounds, relieve pain with alcohol and drugs, practice bloodletting and heal your maladies with various concoctions.
*   **Psyche**  
    Different in-game situations have a distinct influence on your character’s mental condition. High morale may turn the tide in your favor when fighting even the most hopeless of battles, while low sanity brings panic attacks and paranoia.
*   **Permadeath**  
    Do you like risk? Then try out the Ironman mode, where every decision is irreversible and your character dies once and for all.
PLANNED UPDATES
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*   **New Content**  
    Additional settlements, enemy factions, and even more activities, equipment, and abilities.
*   **Main Story**  
    To solve the mystery of Stoneshards, you’ll have to undertake a long journey full of dangers, hardships, and adventures. What choices will you make in this bleak world?

Release date: Feb 6, 2020

Categories: Turn-based RPG, Open-World Exploration, Survival, Character Progression, Character Customization, Turn-based Combat, Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike, Resource Management


- 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:
- High replayability and content (weight 0.95): The game offers extensive replayability through procedural dungeons, randomized loot, diverse character builds, and frequent updates. Players report hundreds of hours of gameplay, with many returning for new builds or updates, making it a long-term investment for fans of the genre.
- Challenging but fair difficulty (weight 0.86): The game's punishing yet rewarding difficulty is a core appeal. Players appreciate the high stakes, permadeath mechanics, and the sense of achievement from overcoming obstacles. The difficulty is frequently cited as a key factor in the game's addictive and immersive nature.
- Highly rewarding build diversity (weight 0.83): Players consistently praise the game's character-building mechanics, highlighting the vast customization options through stats, skills, and equipment. The flexibility in playstyles and the sense of accomplishment from mastering builds are central to the experience, making it a standout feature for replayability.
- Engaging progression and upgrades (weight 0.75): Character progression, skill trees, and gear upgrades are highly satisfying, providing a strong sense of growth and achievement. Players enjoy the gradual unlocking of new abilities and the tangible benefits of upgrading their caravan and equipment.
- Immersive and atmospheric world (weight 0.54): The game's world-building, lore, and pixel art create a captivating and atmospheric experience. Players highlight the detailed environments, rich storytelling, and the sense of immersion that draws them into the game's dark fantasy setting.
- Deep and strategic combat (weight 0.33): The turn-based combat system is praised for its depth, requiring strategic thinking about positioning, timing, and cooldown management. Players enjoy the tactical challenges and the weighty, impactful feel of battles, which are often described as engaging and rewarding.
- Caravan system enhances gameplay (weight 0.1): The caravan system, introduced in later updates, provides a mobile base for crafting, storage, and resting. It adds strategic depth to travel and exploration, making progression feel more dynamic and rewarding for players who invest in upgrades.
- Early access with strong foundation (weight 0.1): Despite being in early access, the game offers a substantial amount of content and polish. Players appreciate the developers' focus on refining core mechanics and systems before expanding, ensuring a solid foundation for future updates.
- Dedicated and responsive developers (weight 0.08): The developers are praised for their commitment to the game's vision, regular updates, and responsiveness to community feedback. Their passion and dedication are evident in the quality of updates and the ongoing improvements to the game.
- Strong RPG and sandbox elements (weight 0.05): The game blends RPG, survival, and sandbox elements seamlessly, offering a living world with factions, reputation systems, and meaningful player choices. The freedom to experiment with builds and playstyles is a major draw for fans of immersive RPGs.

Common complaints:
- Slow and incomplete development (weight 0.36): The game has been in early access for years with slow updates and minimal content additions. Players express frustration over the lack of progress, missing features (e.g., character creation, story content), and a development pace that feels stagnant. This has led to concerns about whether the game will ever be completed.
- Poor save system design (weight 0.28): The game's save system is a major pain point, requiring players to manually save at specific locations (e.g., beds or inns) or use consumable items. This leads to frequent loss of progress, tedious backtracking, and frustration, particularly after unexpected deaths or crashes. The system feels outdated and disrespectful of players' time.
- Unbalanced and RNG-heavy combat (weight 0.19): Combat is heavily reliant on randomness (RNG), leading to inconsistent and often unfair outcomes. Players report frequent deaths due to bad luck, such as critical hits or debuffs, rather than skill-based challenges. The lack of tactical depth and reliance on repetitive strategies (e.g., kiting) further diminishes enjoyment.
- Disruptive balance changes (weight 0.09): Frequent and arbitrary balance changes (e.g., nerfs to builds, weapons, or mechanics) frustrate players, especially when they disrupt ongoing playthroughs. These changes often feel untested and prioritize artificial difficulty over player enjoyment, leading to a sense of instability in the game's design.
- Excessive travel time (weight 0.07): Traveling between locations is excessively time-consuming due to the lack of fast travel options and slow movement speed. Players report spending more time walking than engaging in meaningful gameplay, which feels tedious and frustrating.
- Repetitive and shallow gameplay (weight 0.07): The core gameplay loop is repetitive, with players spending excessive time on mundane tasks like traveling, foraging, or grinding for resources. The lack of variety in quests, enemies, and meaningful choices makes the game feel monotonous and directionless over time.
- Irreversible skill choices (weight 0.06): The inability to respec or reallocate skill points forces players to commit to builds early, often leading to frustration if mistakes are made. This lack of flexibility limits experimentation and punishes players for exploring non-meta strategies.
- Poorly balanced economy (weight 0.05): The in-game economy is frustrating, with low selling prices, high costs for essential items, and limited ways to earn money. Players report struggling to afford gear, repairs, or consumables, which exacerbates the game's difficulty and grindy nature.
- Limited inventory space (weight 0.05): Inventory management is cumbersome due to small backpack sizes and the need to carry large amounts of food, water, and supplies. This forces players to make difficult choices about what to keep, often leading to wasted loot or unnecessary trips to storage.
- Frustrating magic system (weight 0.05): The magic system is poorly balanced, with mechanics like recoil and backfire causing excessive self-damage. Mages are often forced to invest in defensive skills rather than offensive ones, making the class feel underpowered and frustrating to play.
- Missing character creation (weight 0.04): The lack of a character creation system limits role-playing immersion and has been a long-standing disappointment for players. While promised for the future, its absence feels like a major oversight for an RPG in this genre.
- Lack of guidance for new players (weight 0.04): The game provides minimal guidance for new players, with unclear mechanics, poor tutorials, and a steep learning curve. This makes the early game frustrating and inaccessible, particularly for those unfamiliar with hardcore RPGs.

Gameplay feedback:
- Turn-based roguelike dungeon crawler (weight 0.28): The game is primarily a turn-based roguelike with dungeon crawling as its core mechanic. Players engage in procedurally generated dungeons, complete contracts, and manage survival elements like loot collection and permadeath. The gameplay loop involves strategic combat, exploration, and progression through tiered dungeons.
- Survival and resource management mechanics (weight 0.25): The game features intricate survival systems, including hunger, thirst, morale, sanity, injuries, and equipment durability. Players must carefully manage resources like food, medical supplies, and inventory space to survive. These mechanics add depth and realism but also increase the game's difficulty and punishing nature.
- Strategic turn-based combat (weight 0.1): Combat is turn-based and highly strategic, emphasizing positioning, timing, and cooldown management. Players must adapt to enemy behaviors, use environmental tactics (e.g., traps, luring), and manage buffs/debuffs. The combat system rewards careful planning but can be unforgiving due to RNG and permadeath consequences.
- Diverse character builds and customization (weight 0.08): Players can experiment with various builds, including melee, ranged, and magic-based playstyles. The game offers 11 weapon trees, 7 utility trees, and 4 sorcery trees, allowing for deep customization. However, some builds may struggle with specific dungeons or challenges, requiring adaptation.
- Caravan and travel mechanics (weight 0.06): The caravan system serves as a portable respawn point, fast travel option, and resource hub. Upgrading the caravan unlocks new features like companions and cooking mechanics, which help mitigate the tedium of travel and exploration. This system is a late but valuable addition to the game.
- Open-ended progression and sandbox gameplay (weight 0.05): The game features a sandbox structure with open-ended progression, allowing players to explore and develop their characters at their own pace. While the game lacks a traditional main storyline, it offers side quests, reputation systems, and faction interactions to drive player engagement.
- Contract-based quests and mercenary gameplay (weight 0.05): Players take on contracts from NPCs to clear dungeons, defeat enemies, or retrieve items. These contracts drive progression, reputation gains, and economic rewards. The mercenary theme is central to the game's narrative and gameplay loop.
- Random encounters and enemy variety (weight 0.04): The game features random encounters with enemies during exploration, adding unpredictability and challenge. Enemies vary in difficulty and require different strategies, forcing players to adapt their builds and tactics. Early-game enemies like wolves and bandits are particularly dangerous.
- Sanity and mental health systems (weight 0.03): The game includes a sanity and mental health system that affects gameplay. Low sanity or morale can impose debuffs like increased fatigue or resource costs, while positive states provide buffs. This system adds depth to character management and encourages players to engage in restorative activities.
- Grim medieval survival setting (weight 0.02): The game is set in a dark, medieval world where players role-play as mercenaries struggling to survive. The setting emphasizes realism, with low-value loot (e.g., onions), dangerous enemies, and environmental hazards. This tone appeals to players who enjoy immersive, hardcore survival experiences.
- Crafting and resource gathering (weight 0.02): Players can gather resources like food, materials, and crafting components to survive and progress. Cooking, crafting, and hunting are integral to gameplay, allowing players to create buffs, heal, or save money. These mechanics add depth to the survival and economic systems.

Performance notes:
- Frequent bugs and glitches (weight 0.05): Bugs are a recurring issue, including softlocks, quest-breaking glitches (e.g., monsters escaping maps), and gameplay-affecting errors. Some bugs cause freezes or prevent quest completion, though severity varies.
- Strong low-end performance (weight 0.03): The game is praised for running well on low-end hardware with minimal crashes or serious bugs over extended playtime. However, some players note sluggish performance in crowded areas or on older systems.
- Optimization and pacing issues (weight 0.03): Players report poor optimization, including sluggish pacing (mitigated by speedhacks) and performance drops in specific scenarios, such as crowded areas or bad weather. Visual darkness also requires brightness adjustments.
- Minor UI/UX and update uncertainties (weight 0.01): Some players report minor UI/UX issues and confusion about whether certain changes in updates are bugs or intentional design choices. Feedback here is less severe but still notable.
- Resolution scaling problems (weight 0): Lower resolutions (e.g., 1600x900) zoom the game in, making higher resolutions like 1080p less ideal for some players. This suggests UI or rendering issues that affect visual clarity.
- Early access limitations (weight 0): The game is noted to still be in the testing phase, which may explain some of the bugs and performance issues. This context suggests expectations should be tempered for a non-final product.

Recommendations:
- Game is polarizing but rewarding for the right audience (weight 0.53): The feedback across clusters shows that the game is highly polarizing. While it receives strong recommendations from hardcore RPG fans, it is equally criticized by players who find it unfair, unbalanced, or overly punishing. This polarization underscores the importance of managing player expectations and improving accessibility.
- Highly recommended for hardcore RPG fans (weight 0.47): The majority of reviews in Cluster 1 highlight that the game is strongly recommended for players who enjoy challenging, strategic, and survival-heavy RPGs. This includes fans of Soulslike, roguelike, turn-based, and old-school hardcore RPGs. The feedback emphasizes the game's depth, customization, and rewarding gameplay loops for those who appreciate difficulty and complexity.
- Not recommended for casual or story-focused players (weight 0.45): Several reviews explicitly advise against purchasing the game for players who prioritize story, dislike irreversible choices, or prefer casual, less punishing gameplay. The game's steep learning curve, permadeath mechanics, and lack of hand-holding make it unsuitable for these audiences. This sentiment is frequent enough to warrant caution for potential buyers.
- Mixed reception due to balance and save system issues (weight 0.13): Cluster 2 and Cluster 10 highlight significant frustration with the game's balance, save system, and time-wasting mechanics. Many players feel the game is unfair, unbalanced, or overly punishing, leading to strong recommendations against purchasing it in its current state. This feedback is constructive and specific, indicating areas needing urgent improvement.
- Mods can enhance or mitigate gameplay issues (weight 0.12): Clusters 13 and 2 highlight that mods (e.g., quicksave, speed adjustments) can significantly improve the player experience by addressing frustrations like slow movement or the save system. This suggests that the game's community is actively engaged in improving accessibility and enjoyment, though reliance on mods may not be ideal for all players.
- Strong anticipation for future updates and content (weight 0.1): Clusters 3 and 9 show that many players are optimistic about the game's future development. They express excitement for additional content (e.g., alchemy, magic types, fishing) and updates that could address current flaws. This indicates a loyal player base invested in the game's long-term success.
- Early Access purchase requires caution (weight 0.08): Clusters 5 and 7 reveal divided opinions on whether the game is worth purchasing in its Early Access state. While some players feel they got their money's worth, others advise waiting for the full release or until major issues (e.g., balance, save system) are fixed. This reflects the inherent risk of Early Access titles and the need for player patience.
- Demo or trial recommended before purchase (weight 0.07): Several reviews in Cluster 5 and Cluster 11 suggest trying the game's demo or prologue to gauge personal interest, especially given its difficulty and niche appeal. This is a practical recommendation for players unsure about the game's mechanics or style.

Other player notes:
- Progression and QoL frustrations (weight 0.24): Players frequently criticize the game's progression system, quality-of-life features (e.g., saving mechanics), and lack of polish. Common complaints include arbitrary difficulty spikes, repetitive grind, and the absence of quick-save/auto-save options, which disproportionately punish players for minor mistakes. These issues are exacerbated by the game's 'hardcore' design, which some players feel is unnecessarily punitive rather than intentionally challenging.
- Niche appeal with elitist community (weight 0.12): The game's difficulty and design cater to a niche audience, with some players accusing the community of gatekeeping or dismissing valid criticisms. While the hardcore nature is intentional, the lack of accessibility options (e.g., difficulty modes) risks alienating potential fans. Reviews often frame the game as 'not for everyone,' which may deter casual players despite its depth.
- Roguelike depth with modern expectations (weight 0.06): The game successfully blends classic roguelike mechanics (e.g., permadeath, procedural elements) with modern RPG expectations (e.g., build variety, world simulation). Players praise its depth, replayability, and ambition but criticize its execution, particularly in balancing difficulty and accessibility. Some feel the game leans too heavily into 'harsh world simulator' territory, alienating those seeking a more traditional RPG experience.
- Character customization demands (weight 0.05): A recurring request is for expanded character customization, including a full creator tool, respec options, and unlocked skill trees. Players with hundreds of hours invested feel constrained by the current system, which limits build experimentation and replayability. The absence of these features is particularly glaring given the game's long development cycle.
- Mods as band-aids for core issues (weight 0.03): Players widely recommend mods (e.g., SaveShard, UI Plus) to address fundamental frustrations like saving limitations and UI/UX shortcomings. While mods enhance the experience, their necessity highlights gaps in the base game. Some players argue that popular mods should be integrated into the official release to improve accessibility without compromising the game's hardcore identity.
- Addictive but polarizing design (weight 0.03): Despite its flaws, many players describe the game as addictive, comparing it to a 'toxic relationship' or 'opium den.' The depth of its systems, build variety, and emergent storytelling keep players engaged for hundreds of hours, even as they criticize its shortcomings. This duality contributes to mixed reviews, with some players torn between admiration and frustration.
- Feature requests for immersion and convenience (weight 0.02): Players suggest numerous quality-of-life and immersion-focused additions, such as neutral NPCs, firearms, hit-chance displays, and inventory management improvements. While some requests (e.g., digestive mechanics) are humorous, others (e.g., caravan interactions, elemental damage) reflect a desire for deeper world-building and tactical clarity. These suggestions are often constructive but highlight gaps in the current design.
- Dark medieval setting resonates (weight 0.02): The game's grim, historically inspired setting (e.g., mercenary struggles, demonic threats) is frequently praised for its authenticity and atmosphere. Players appreciate the focus on survival and realism, which aligns with the game's hardcore identity. However, some note that the setting could be further enriched with more narrative content and environmental storytelling.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.27): The primary causes of frustration stem from the game's punishing difficulty, unfair mechanics, and poor quality-of-life features. Players frequently cite unfair combat systems, abrupt difficulty spikes, and exploitative progression mechanics as major pain points. The lack of a save feature or quick-save option exacerbates this frustration, as players lose significant progress due to unexpected deaths or bugs. Additionally, poorly balanced mechanics, such as inconsistent RNG in combat or punitive skill choices, contribute to repeated failures and a sense of wasted effort. The feedback highlights a pattern of artificial difficulty, where challenges feel designed to frustrate rather than engage.
- Excitement (weight 0.2): Excitement is driven by the game's depth, immersive world-building, and high-stakes gameplay. Players appreciate the strategic combat mechanics, deep character customization, and the thrill of overcoming challenging encounters. The anticipation of future updates and content also fuels excitement, as players look forward to new features like alchemy, expanded magic systems, or additional dungeons. The game's atmosphere, art style, and replayability further enhance this emotion, creating a sense of engagement and addiction for those who enjoy its hardcore design.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.19): Satisfaction arises from overcoming the game's challenges through preparation, strategy, and perseverance. Players feel rewarded when they master the game's mechanics, such as combat systems, resource management, or build customization. The sense of accomplishment from defeating difficult bosses, progressing through dungeons, or unlocking high-level gear is a recurring theme. Additionally, the game's depth, attention to detail, and meaningful progression systems contribute to a fulfilling experience for players who invest time in learning its intricacies.
- Disappointment (weight 0.11): Disappointment stems from unmet expectations regarding the game's content, polish, and development progress. Players express frustration with the lack of meaningful updates, slow development pace, and incomplete features despite the game's long early access period. Issues like poor translation quality, unbalanced mechanics, and repetitive gameplay loops further contribute to this emotion. Many feel the game's potential is wasted due to poor design choices, such as punishing difficulty overshadowing its strengths or developers ignoring player feedback.
- Joy (weight 0.09): Joy is derived from the game's immersive world, engaging gameplay, and the satisfaction of overcoming its challenges. Players enjoy the freedom of character customization, the thrill of exploration, and the strategic depth of combat. The game's art style, atmosphere, and attention to detail also contribute to a sense of delight. For many, the game fulfills a nostalgia for classic RPGs while offering modern improvements, creating a uniquely rewarding experience.
- Anger (weight 0.03): Anger is primarily directed at the game's perceived unfairness, poor design choices, and developer decisions. Players feel frustrated by arbitrary difficulty spikes, punishing mechanics like permadeath, and frequent balance changes that disrupt gameplay. The lack of transparency from developers, dismissive attitudes toward player feedback, and perceived greed (e.g., prioritizing monetization over improvements) further fuel this emotion. Many feel the game's systems are designed to frustrate rather than challenge, leading to intense negative reactions.
- Relief (weight 0.03): Relief is experienced when players find workarounds for the game's punishing mechanics or when developers address long-standing issues. For example, discovering strategies to mitigate progress loss, such as frequent saving or leveraging in-game systems like the caravan, provides a sense of security. Updates that improve balance, fix critical bugs, or introduce quality-of-life features also contribute to this emotion, as players feel their concerns are being acknowledged.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Boredom arises from repetitive gameplay loops, lack of meaningful content, and slow progression. Players cite repetitive dungeon-crawling, grinding for resources, or monotonous survival mechanics as major causes. The absence of post-progression content or engaging late-game activities further exacerbates this emotion, leading to a loss of motivation to continue playing. The feedback suggests that the game's design prioritizes difficulty over variety, resulting in a tedious experience for some.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion stems from unclear mechanics, poor tutorials, and inconsistent design choices. Players struggle with understanding the game's systems, such as combat, progression, or quest objectives, due to a lack of guidance or transparency. Unpredictable enemy behavior, unclear indicators, and complex skill trees further contribute to this emotion. The feedback highlights a need for better onboarding and clearer communication of the game's rules.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope is tied to the anticipation of future updates, improvements, and the game's potential. Players express optimism about the developers' roadmap, such as new content, balance fixes, or expanded features. The desire for the game to reach its full potential and address current flaws drives this emotion. Many believe that with continued development, the game could become a standout title in its genre.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation is closely linked to the excitement for future content and updates. Players look forward to new features like alchemy, expanded magic systems, or additional regions, which they believe will enhance the game's depth and replayability. The feedback reflects a strong desire for the game to evolve and deliver on its promises, keeping players engaged and invested in its long-term success.
- Admiration (weight 0): Admiration is directed toward the developers' dedication, passion, and resilience in creating the game. Players appreciate the attention to detail in the game's art style, mechanics, and world-building, as well as the developers' responsiveness to feedback. Despite challenges, the game's unique vision and commitment to quality earn respect from its community.
- Amusement (weight 0): Amusement arises from the game's absurd difficulty, humorous mechanics, and unexpected moments. Players find dark humor in the game's reliance on RNG, such as dying to trivial events like eating raw chicken or being outsmarted by mobs that can open doors. These moments provide levity and make the game's challenges more memorable, even in frustrating situations.
- Nostalgia (weight 0): Nostalgia is evoked by the game's resemblance to classic RPGs, such as Diablo or Ultima. Players appreciate the game's old-school design, challenging mechanics, and immersive world, which remind them of beloved titles from the past. This emotion is particularly strong for those who enjoy the game's blend of modern and retro elements.
- Gratitude (weight 0): Gratitude is expressed toward the developers for creating a unique and engaging game that resonates with players. Many appreciate the effort and passion put into the game's development, as well as the opportunity to experience it in early access. The game's ability to provide a challenging and rewarding experience fosters a sense of appreciation among its dedicated player base.
- Caution (weight 0): Caution is advised due to the game's punishing difficulty, permadeath mechanics, and early access state. Players emphasize the need for careful planning, frequent saving, and patience to avoid losing progress. The game's high-risk, high-reward design requires a cautious approach, particularly for new players unfamiliar with its challenges.
- Pride (weight 0): Pride is felt by players who overcome the game's challenges and master its mechanics. Accomplishing difficult tasks, surviving harsh conditions, or creating unique builds fosters a sense of achievement. The game's hardcore design appeals to players who take pride in their ability to persevere and succeed in a punishing environment.
- Regret (weight 0): Regret is experienced by players who feel they wasted time or money on the game due to its flaws. Some express disappointment in their in-game decisions, such as poor build choices or resource management, while others regret supporting the game financially given its current state. This emotion highlights the high stakes and consequences of the game's design.
- Surprise (weight 0): Surprise arises from unexpected moments, such as the game exceeding expectations or revealing hidden depth. Players are pleasantly surprised by the game's quality, content, or unique mechanics, which defy initial skepticism. Conversely, unexpected limitations or challenges can also evoke surprise, though these are often tied to frustration.
- Fear (weight 0): Fear is triggered by the game's intense and realistic mechanics, such as panic-inducing escape sequences or overwhelming enemy encounters. The game's permadeath mode and punishing difficulty create a sense of dread, particularly during high-stakes moments. This emotion adds to the game's immersive and hardcore appeal for players who enjoy a thrilling challenge.}