My friend tried the demo and had zero idea what to do - turns out that's a problem

Started this project as a side thing while working a regular day job, fully expecting to finish something small and move on. Two years later it's grown into this sprawling thing with systems I love but that probably no one else will immediately get or care about.

The wakeup moment was watching a friend try the demo for the first time. She had no idea what she was supposed to do in the first three minutes and just wandered around confused. I had never considered that a problem because to me the world always made sense.

It's a weird feeling because the game is genuinely closer to what I personally want to play than anything on the market right now, which felt like the whole point. But there's a difference between making something personal and making something completely opaque to anyone who isn't you.

Not sure if the fix is a better tutorial or just rethinking the opening hour entirely. The core loop is solid once it clicks, but that first impression is rough.

Curious if other devs here went through this and how far into development it hit you. And whether you changed the game or just accepted it would have a niche audience.