What's next for Inselnova, and why
After months on the mid-game, players who reach the late game keep asking what they're playing toward. The old browser strategy games answered that with a server reset. I'm building a real end-game instead: a second world you choose to sail into.
I built a king-of-the-hill event for my browser game. Two players locked it down in half an hour.
My king-of-the-hill event for a browser strategy game broke twice. One alliance walled off the islands in thirty minutes. What failed, and the fix.
The strategy game that never resets: how the Black Tide cleans up after players who quit
Most persistent strategy games eventually wipe the world and start over. Inselnova never does. An NPC faction called the Black Tide takes over abandoned islands and attacks their neighbours, so the world cleans itself up instead of resetting.
I copied Inselkampf to start. Here's what I've added since.
Inselnova started as a copy of Inselkampf and has gone its own direction. A handful of additions came in: a bazaar, coins, council affairs, the Black Tide, a church with gods and a new resource called lumen, and a guildhall. Each one came from a real problem in the early or mid game. Here's the story behind each, and the rules that have crystallised along the way.
The audience came back 20 years older. The chaos is different now.
I built Inselnova because I wanted to build something. The audience that showed up is mostly returning Inselkampf players in their 40s. The early game feels slower for them than the original ever did. Here's what's pushing the next features in a different direction.
The player who asked to rename their island solved my virality problem
I had three ideas for getting players to invite friends. All three were wrong. A player's throwaway question gave me the right one — and it applies to alliance flags too.
Why Every Feature in Inselnova Connects to Something Else
Rebuilt a 25-year-old strategy game with a simple rule: nothing gets added unless it connects to something else. The gameplay loop that emerged extended the first session from 2-3 minutes to 10-20 minutes.
