Looking for some input on the monster battling/collecting aspect for a shopkeeper simulator.
Without going into too much detail, I'm building a shopkeeper simulator game. Except it involves summons/monsters that the NPCs can buy, upgrade, increase stats, add special moves etc. And the NPCs will battle against each other. I like the takes from a lot of people on this sub (plus I've been a fan of MR/Pokemon/Digimon since day 1), so I wanted to get some input before I dive too much into the design & mechanics of the monsters. Even if it's not a typical Monster Tamer game. Feel free to answer any questions and give any input even if it isn't a question I asked.
*It won't be for a while - but anyone who provides input, I'll throw your username down on a list and give away some beta keys and some free game codes!
What makes you continue collecting monsters after the first few hours? What keeps you hunting for more etc? Finding the strongest, rarest, unique (eg. Shiny)?
What evolution system do you find most satisfying? Out of: levelling, item, ritual/combining, branch evolutions, no evolutions, or other?
Would you rather have 30-40 highly distinct monsters, or 100+ monsters with minor differences?
Would you prefer monster abilities to come from leveling up, or from collectable books that can teach skills?
If you just think "Pokemon shop simulator" or "Monster Rancher shop simulator" aside from the monsters themselves, what else do you want to see as a purchasable items in the shop?
For player/shop progression, do you prefer to unlock things via levelling or talent tree?
For shop upgrades - aside from shop space and bigger/more battle spaces, what else would you potentially want to see?
What is the smallest feature set that would make you most excited to collect monsters/summons or play a game like this?
Feel free to give any and all input. I've only built the core gameplay loop of the shop itself and animations, so I still have a ton of art and monster/summoner battle stuff to build.