Why Early Access?

“Early Feedback from Players, and repeated Course Correction on my part, can be very useful in helping me to make the sort of game I'm aiming to make, without wasting lots of money.

As a Solo Developer, it would hurt a lot to over-invest in the game while getting limited or zero feedback, and then finally release and find out that it has some terrible inherent flaw that turns everyone away. So, Early Access.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“No clue! The Early Access release was 01/2019, but I did not begin releasing public updates again until 11/2020. About 2 whole years!!

So, perhaps if I work on it for 2 more years I will have done enough work to be able to call Slime Research "done"!
Maybe I'll have done enough work to make it a Great $5 USD purchase!”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“More features, and more polish for features that currently exist.

As a very *rough* goal, I would like to use in-game mechanics to explore some Deeper Psychological Topics, in an engaging and intuitively-interactable way. Unless the game could be said to have a handful of moments like that, it's not "finished".”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“The Slime physics are "good enough for now", and allow a Slime Core to lead a squishy Slime Body around, and the Core can leap out of the Body to reach higher areas.
Logic Gates exist such that any combination of Buttons must be pressed to open a Door. Timers and Collectible-Trackers also exist. You could almost build a computer, if only I allowed sub-circuits!
Both Slime, and the Slime Researcher Dr. K., can interact with a handful of objects, such as Buttons and Doors. Dr. K is not currently playable. There are few built-in levels (about 17!), with only 2 that involve the Slime Researcher.
The Level Editor will continue to allow players to use about 99% of game features, and can upload to Steam Workshop. Demo can not download levels - Sorry!

(Newer features [Such as Dr. K] will generally have less content while I obsessively fine-tune them, but as features exist, expect them to get more levels.)”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“As Slime Research continues development, the price may increase to reflect the higher quality (And my bigger ego!)
I'll do my best so that everybody who supports Slime Research is satisfied with the it!”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Community feedback is welcome wherever I can find it ("Slime Research" Steam Discussion, Group, DM, Twitter, YouTube....), and I will do my best to fix discovered issues.

You can also let me know whenever you or your friends make a cool level in Slime Research, or just have some questions about the game!”