A Great Formula but Needs Tweaking – Dragon Jump Review

Pros: • Great artstyle and game feel • Easy to pick up, challenging to master • Addictive and challenging Cons: • boss variety is limited and poorly balanced. ( the girl with orbs is the only boss that has a fun and differing pattern which is a HUGE plus, but it's a bit imbalanced. The game's natural randomness makes this fight absurdly more challenging than the other bosses. Her evasion pattern needs to be offset by fewer HP. Other bosses need more variety. They all just sit there. And the environmental hazards are the same. Why don't the bosses have attaches that require timing a jump and subsequently tapping or swiping to evade or survive. The board could be cleared of mobs during such engagements and bonus points could be award for survival (or perhaps you'd earn a single life pop to avoid the random insta deaths! This would balance the games natural randomness instantly) • Economy doesn't exist. (I have over 1,000 gold and counting. And nothing to spend it on!!! Give me some different backgrounds and level designs or pallet swaps or different monster types to buy with my hard earned gold!!! • characters should have varying properties to incentivize different styles. ( some could hit for mor damage but be heavier demanding more precise jump chains. Or some could jump higher but do less damage etc.) • progression won't foster frequent replay. The only incentive right now is high score or leader boards. But the only payoff for more frequent play is to give more points per boss attack. I'm currently on their 6 so my scores are getting larger and larger but I think the game is tuned in such a way that without a small buff as I mentioned to cheat death once after beating a boss. It is unlikely most or almost all players will have a chance to chain two boss kills in a single round. I think the basic formula for a highly addictive and fast paced mobile game is here, but it needs some tuning and something to strive for beyond high scores. Not every player is wired to be a competitor. Some like to collect unlocks etc. Maybe add a store that sells temporary buffs for gold. With a few tweaks and som updates this game will surely be more than a great game, it'd be an absolute gem!
Review by formerCINAMONcandyDRAGON on Dragon Jump.