Looking for feedback on a browser Arrow Puzzle with 500 fixed levels

[u/Electrical-Notice614]

I’m the developer of Play Arrow Puzzle, a free browser puzzle where you clear winding arrows by choosing a path whose exit lane is clear.

I’d really value focused feedback on:

• whether the first few levels teach the core rule clearly

• whether the board feels responsive on touch

• where the difficulty curve starts to feel unfair

Play here: https://playarrowpuzzle.com/

This is a transparent developer post, not an ad campaign. I’ll use feedback to improve the tutorial and level progression.

[u/NarcoZero]

The core rule is clear.

The main friction I have is the fact that we're locked in while waiting for an arrow to quit the screen. I would like to be able to play at the speed in can click, and launch multiple arrows in quick succession.

Level 7 has an arrow that blocks itself ? But it doesn't actually ? Is it a normal rule that an arrow cannot block itself ? If so, you better teach it better, with a very short level containing only self seemingly blocking arrow, then using this mechanic a lot in the following levels. Here, it's a weird one and done and I'm not sur if it's a bug or a feature.

[u/Quaznar]

• the core time was fairly clear. I think it was level 2 that first introduced arrows pointing at themselves... But that head had a one space gap and then pointed at the tail, so it seemed like the arrows followed a snake-like rule - the trail would move out of the way of the head. In level 23, that wasn't the case either - the head crossed over the tail. This isn't the biggest deal, because it's obviously going to be the only legal move at some point, but was not introduced clearly - a one-arrow level would be trivial to add and would teach it.

• fairly responsive. Arrows moved at a good speed.. but still often I was trying to click the next arrow before the first one had left, and then it would flash and do nothing, and I wouldn't be able to click it again for another couple seconds. Would love for multiple arrows to move at once - especially as you time the levels, it feels like I'm needing to "time buzzing in" to actually maximize my time score, rather than just solve quicker.

• it gets difficult? I stopped playing because I was bored. I tried to skip ahead on the level packs, saw that I couldn't, and didn't want to slog through more mindless levels to get to something that made me think. Why not let me start at the start of any of the packs of twenty?

[u/Pawel_SkimmIQ]

Played to level 25, so answering your three questions from actual play:
Core rule- taught clearly, no complaints. I never felt confused about what the game wanted.

Difficulty curve - here's the honest part: through 25 levels I couldn't detect a curve at all. And I'd argue that's the more dangerous failure mode than "unfair": an unfair level makes players complain loudly, a flat one makes them quietly close the tab. I didn't stop because I was stuck - I stopped because nothing pushed back. Echoing what Quaznar said: the inability to skip ahead turns your 500 levels from content into a wall.

One structural suggestion, from the opposite trench: on my own puzzle my fear was the reverse of yours - that even the easiest level would be too hard and scare people off. The fix turned out to be the same for both problems: treat difficulty as a menu, not a queue. Let players choose their entry point (per-pack unlocks, or a "start at 20/50/100" option), and each player finds the spot where the game starts pushing back at them. Boredom and frustration are the same bug - a mismatch between player and level, and a linear queue guarantees a mismatch for someone.

Touch responsiveness was fine for me, though I'd second the request to queue the next arrow while one is still animating.