Feel Logging Dump: Dome Keeper

Bad feels

I’m never safe and I’m always clock watching: The dome doesn’t feel like a safe base. There’s no moment of relax in this game – it’s anxiety and on-edge clock watching.

The optimal move is to stand and do nothing: If the wave’s 10 seconds out and a mine trip takes 20, the best play is to wait. 5–10 seconds of downtime which is crap.

No upgrade made me go “oh shit I want that”: They’re all +% modifiers. I felt that pull in Schedule 1 (mushrooms), Gladiator Command (big roman shields and 2H maces), FTL (drones and guns I couldn’t afford). Here, nothing.

The upgrades feel like a handicap being refunded:The turret’s needlessly slow, Drillbert’s constantly napping, and there’s an upgrade to fix each one. Fighting to get to a competent level from a handicap, not feeling competent from the off and becoming powerful.

Dome combat is slow and boring: Some enemies were bullet sponges and there’s no indicator if one’s getting low. I had no idea if I was going to kill them or not – takes away a chunk of locus of control.

Surviving a wave pays nothing: It feels shit to survive and get no reward. Killing enemies should give something. Instead the reward is “you didn’t die and can continue.”

The controls are infuriating me now:One key doing two jobs depending on where I stand. Pressing E to pick up ore and grabbing Drillbert instead. Pressing Q to exit the console then A to move and ending up in the turret.

Escape doesn’t escape anything: I keep pressing it because it’s common practice in every PC game, and it opens the menu instead. Escape always has to close an open panel.

The tutorial was non-existent: I didn’t realise I had upgrades to get until 2 or 3 nights in. It’s right there next to the turret, but a simple nudge is all it would’ve taken.

I don’t know what I’m working towards: Surviving for what? The menu says I unlock something when I win, so I just keep digging to discover… this thing?

You get punished for digging too far: Nothing particularly valuable further down, just more travel time. I literally spend half my time flying back and forward.

What is cobalt?: Three currencies, wildly varied costs, no consistency, and hovering over the resources tells you nothing.

The game says no without telling me: Clicked the tier 2 drill upgrade about 6 times before realising I didn’t own tier 1. No grey-out, no message, no sound.

I didn’t know repair was a repeatable purchase: The ∞ symbol blends exactly with the default icon style, so I thought it was part of the design. My dome sat damaged while I thought I’d handled it.

Even banking resources takes time: Drop them at the dome and each one takes a second to process before you can spend. Everything in this game costs time, under a clock that isn’t mine.

Too many upgrades thrown at me at once: 10+ options from the start, none desirable. Would be better drip-fed through some branching, then a proper BUM system on top.

I was bored while mining: Dragging things to the surface and watching the enemy countdown. There’s a constant tension that something hidden is waiting in the mines, but I can’t properly explore it because I’m clock watching.

The 1-of-3 unlock felt like a trap, not a prize: Whatever I pick has to be super worth it, otherwise it’s a sore point – I’ll be annoyed I didn’t pick something else and can’t change it back.

I won and felt nothing: Getting ready to be annoyed at losing everything, then relief that I didn’t. Overall the win didn’t really fill me with anything.