(This whole post is a touch disorderly, so I’ve included a TL;DR at the bottom)
Hello there everyone! I’m a newer player when it comes to the game of Phobies, as I started during the middle of last week, and it’s safe to say that I’m having a fantastic time! The game really scratches that tactical nostalgia itch I had for an old mobile game called “Outwitters” that is no longer really available. And while I have been having a great time, I have quite a few thoughts swirling about my brain regarding the game. My main focus as far as the game goes is unlocking new Phobies one way or another. I can easily understand why the game is designed and monetized the way it is, don’t get me wrong, but from what I’ve come to understand, a varied pool of Phobies is very important to developing and dealing with various strategies, especially later on. There are many Phobies that I want, there are many that I think I need, but what I get is almost completely random, even including when I get said new Phobie. I think the current pack and currency systems are in a great spot, honestly. Coffee is earned at a pretty good rate for what is a “premium currency” in a game with microtransactions, I mean developers are often extremely stingy with said currency. You have a lot of options for packs, and which ones you pick both do and don’t matter, in a sense. To me, personally, it makes the most sense to simply buy the cheapest coffee and tears packs, since they realistically have about the same or even a higher chance to net me a new Phobie than the more expensive ones, and I could not care less about cards or XP. To me, XP and upgrade cards can be very powerful, but ultimately they do not matter in the context of a powerful strategy. I really care about getting new Phobies, not upgrading them. The problem, of course, is that I am looking to obtain very specific Phobies, like Finnigan, Barzilla, or Noxious, which is something I cannot do unless I am favored by luck. A majority of the Phobies I’m interested in getting are actually commons, with the strong exception of Mildred.
Now what exactly might be a good way to approach obtaining specific Phobies? Well, I have some suggestions! Firstly, I suggest contests/contest rewards. I noticed while scrolling through the log of Steam Updates for Phobies that there’s been a community contest or two, and I think that it would be a great way to not only encourage submissions for the contests, but also reward winners adequately, by allowing them to earn a Phobie of their choosing, with some limit, of course. This would be especially great since I see a lot of creative critters in this community who want to make their own Phobies (And I do too!), and that seems like it would make for a fantastic contest! Now for a broad approach to this idea, really, is the concept of something like… err… We’ll call them “Phobie Tokens” for now. Think of Phobie Tokens like a kind of ticket that you’d exchange for a prize. You earn a Bronze Phobie Token, and you can exchange it for any Common Phobie that you’ve discovered in a special little shop. Oh, you’ve gotten a nice and shiny Gold Phobie Token? Well that can be exchanged for a rare Phobie! Of course, you wouldn’t exactly hand these things out like candy (God forbid you want everyone and their mother running around with the very best Ultra Rare!), but I think they would make for a great reward for something like in-game events, challenges, maybe reaching a new ranked level for the first time in a season (Ex: Heebie Jeebies to Horrors nets you a Bronze one), etc. Perhaps you could get them for hitting certain Stress Levels or buying one for… hmmm… I’ll go ahead and say for Coffee. I don’t think every Phobie would cost one of said tier of Phobie Token, like maybe some would cost three, some would only cost one, that sort of thing, but I think it’s a neat idea if you’re really looking for specific Phobies over everything else. Tokens wouldn’t be super easy to get, as I’ve said, but they would be a blessing every now and then that’ll help you get that Stabby or AWOL that you’ve been opening packs to try and get for aaaaagessss.
TL;DR I suggest exploring avenues for allowing the player to unlock specific Phobies that they want through events, contests, and ranked progression.
Uh, just kind of an unhinged, not-so-formatted blurb of thoughts I streamed from my head. I’ve thought about this all a bit, but probably not quite enough. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this all, especially the in-game events and community contests!
