Early Access Update 1

Thank you so much to players and content creators that already tried out the game! There are some really entertaining videos out there that show a glimpse of how fun the game could be once players get the hang of it. However, we also saw streams from content creators that did not have a good first time experience with the game. It's stressful to watch but very insightful. I'll discuss the major issues we noticed and how we addressed them over the past few days.

Controller Issues

As noted on our page, we only have partial controller support right now as we didn't have the time to fully implement by launch. We were expecting most players would use keyboard and mouse for now. Unfortunately, there were significant features missing when using controller support so those that used one were likely to have a worse experience. We've fixed the following issues:

• [FIXED] When using a controller, tooltips are not visible on Lobby Settings, Vending Machine and Inventory.

• [IMPROVEMENT] You can now toggle through player voting panels during discussion to see tooltips on top important icons (Cursed, Bonds, Secret GIfts, Conspire and Betray)

• [IMPROVEMENT] In Vending Machine, active button switches to buy after selecting an Advantage to improve usage.

We're very close to having full controller support. Hopefully in a week or two.

Overwhelming First Play

This is the biggest problem the game had on launch. When we were creating tutorials and explanations for the various mini games in the game, we decided to limit them to 15 seconds max, so that they don't prolong a full game duration too much. It's important for the game to have a brisk pace because eliminated players may get bored if the game gets too long. We also wanted to use as few words as possible for the tutorials because plenty of players skip lengthy explanations.

Unfortunately, this caused lobbies of completely new players to get introduced to many different mini games in quick succession. And due to the vague tutorials, many players and viewers felt confused or overwhelmed.

We implemented the following changes to improve new player experience:

• [UPDATE] Secret Gifts will no longer be part of the default settings of the game. Host must toggle this in Lobby Settings to enable it.

  • The Secret Gifts mini game is meant to give players an additional consideration when choosing who to vote for. When you give out a Curse or a Bond, you ideally want to keep those targets for as long as possible because you're earning money each round they survive. And when you receive a Curse, you have to figure out who gave it to you and vote them out asap to remove that drain on your pennies. This ideally prevents a predictable first vote that only targets the winners of Let Them Eat Cake.

  • Because there are way too many new things to learn on the first game, most players barely factor Curses and Bonds anyway. So I believe it's a better experience for players to learn the base structure of the game first, and then enable this on second or third play once players are already familiar with the core loop.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Extended tutorials up to 30 seconds. To speed up later games, Lobby Host can skip tutorial.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Improved tutorials for Let Them Eat Cake, Secret Gifts, Conspire or Betray and Pay or Bluff.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Rephrased Round Intro voice overs to provide players with clearer explanations of what to expect per round.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Added an instruction on the Vending Machine phase to give hints on what players can do there.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Extended Secret GIft Results duration to 20 seconds.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Extended first round Vending Machine phase to 45 seconds to give players more time to talk privately and learn about advantages.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Extended default first round discussion phase to 45 seconds to further slow down the pace of the first round.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Rephrased tooltips for each type of Secret Gift to make their effects clearer.

Boring Defector Gameplay

We already know that simply breaking crates to earn Pennies is a pretty boring task but it was pretty far down the list of things we want to improve by Early Access launch. Unfortunately, this proved to be a mistake because there were players that really really hated it. Our fixes:

• [IMPROVEMENT] Sped up Defector attack animation and increased their attack range. This should make breaking crates less frustrating.

• [UPDATE] Defectors will now be able to enter circus tents to play a variety of mini games. These are the same mini games that players encounter during Hoarding. They'll earn Pennies based on performance.

The Temptation Shop is a deceptively simple feature. Initially, new Defectors tend to offer these too quickly and randomly. But as players become more familiar with the game, I expect they will also develop smarter strategies on how to use their offers to affect the direction of the game, either in an attempt to win, or just punish those that voted them out. We actually see this start to show up now on lobbies of players that already playtested the game before launch.

Repetitive

As a social deception game, it's important to emphasize that the true focus of gameplay in Eat the Rich is in the social elements and use of advantages during the vote discussion. For us, the mini games have a similar level of importance to tasks in Among Us. It was intentional that these are mostly quick, simple and familiar because we want them to enhance voting conversations without prolonging a full game too much.

In Among Us, tasks spread the players out all over the map, and then players can bring that up in meetings to figure out who the impostors are. Yes, the tasks are pretty simple and mindless, but it works because Among Us is all about what happens during meetings. In Eat The Rich, brawl and mind games are mainly meant to change the wealth of players, and also to cause "friendships" and "rivalries" to form. These will then factor into who players choose to vote out.

We are of course still planning to introduce more brawl games and mind games over the course of the next months. These just take a while longer to complete since each mini game is practically an entire new small game. But to set expectation, these will all be fairly quick and simple as well.

Other Bug Fixes and Tweaks

• [IMPROVEMENT] Ensured that at least one different brawl mini game will be chosen on consecutive plays.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Tooltips still show on Sold advantages in Vending Machines.

• [IMPROVEMENT] All Advantages are now usable while in Vending Machine phase.

• [IMPROVEMENT] Added 3 extra seconds to the Elimination Cutscene duration when a Scapegoat was used. Previous duration is too fast to read and understand what happened, especially if multiple Scapegoats were used.

• [FIXED] When a body accessory is unlocked, game displays a pants cosmetic instead.

• [FIXED] Victory Cutscene nameplate misaligned if player name is too long.

• [FIXED] Player Spotlights scene just shows static video on reconnect.

• [FIXED] Player Spotlights wrong text if there are only 2 players included in Player Spotlights.

• [FIXED] Bots may get stuck during Let Them Eat Cake.

• [FIXED] In Let Them Eat Cake, plate assets from previous game may show up in the next.

• [FIXED] In Problem Solver, players can no longer pick up letter cubes when the terminal is already checking the answer.

• [UPDATE] Removed Formal Alliance settings. Context: It's an inferior version of the game that unnecessarily limits voting options.

• [BALANCE] Reduced interest earned from Investment.

As always, we are open to feedback and suggestions.

Maccima Games Team