Show HN: Mazelit - My wife and I released our first game

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Game & Gameplay Impressions

  • Many commenters find the game visually polished and “slick,” with several buying immediately or adding to wishlists.
  • Some describe it as a modern twist on Pac-Man and Snake with upgrades and powers; others find the trailer unclear without voiceover and suggest making the mechanics understandable even muted.
  • The presence of a demo is widely appreciated and seen as a strong positive.

Engine Choice & Development Experience (Godot)

  • The game is built with Godot 4 using GDScript (~5000 lines) plus a C++ GDExtension.
  • Reported pain points:
    • Godot 4 bugs, unfinished features, and scene/code interactions that sometimes lose data.
    • Git conflicts due to changing IDs in resource files.
    • Performance issues when heavily using nodes or scenes in the editor; recommendation is to move more logic to GDScript and, for very large numbers of objects, use low-level servers (RenderingServer, PhysicsServer).
    • Multithreading is considered immature.
  • Some commenters say GPT models are currently weak on Godot 4 specifics.
  • There is interest in Bevy and other engines for future projects.

Pricing & Market Perception

  • Strong debate around the low ~$3 base price:
    • Some argue it signals “cheap/low-quality” and recommend $7–10 with room for discounts.
    • Others say sub‑$5 is the “impulse buy / no‑think” tier and higher prices would deter many purchases.
    • Concerns are raised about affordability for players with lower incomes or in non‑wealthy regions.
  • The developers aimed roughly at $1 per hour of expected playtime, with DLCs for players who want to pay more or support them.

Platform Support & Technical Constraints

  • Native Linux and Steam Deck are supported and reported to work well.
  • No macOS build yet: lack of hardware to test and low expected sales share; several Mac users nonetheless buy to support the idea.
  • Android was attempted, including a touch interface, but blocked by renderer issues that made the build unreliable across devices.

Source Code as DLC

  • Selling source as a paid DLC is widely praised as novel and educational.
  • Code and most assets are original; some libraries are MIT-licensed.
  • The DLC is under the Steam Subscriber Agreement with explicit allowances for mods and content creation, but not for re-releasing the full game.
  • Some wish big studios would offer similar DLC, though legal/engine constraints are acknowledged.

Website, Tools & Privacy Side Thread

  • The studio website, built with Babylon.js, gets a lot of attention for its playful 3D “room” design and in‑world privacy‑policy gag.
  • A side discussion covers GDPR and cookie banners:
    • One view: consent is required for anything beyond strictly necessary cookies.
    • Another view: you can avoid banners entirely by not doing tracking/analytics, though this restricts “modern” features.

Motivation & Process

  • The game was scoped as a small, time‑boxed project (~3 months).
  • Key lessons shared: set a hard deadline, choose one engine and stick to it, and reach a playable prototype early to maintain motivation.