Hey folks. I'm a solo dev from upstate New York, and I've been working on a game called Orb Match: Dragon Puzzle.

I originally built it as a Match-3 game where you collect Orbs and use them to get Dragons.. but I kept building, and it got more complex.

The basic loop is now:

Match-3 / collect Orbs -> Conjure/Evolve Dragons -> build your Wing -> battle in the Arena.

Thing is, I wasn't sure new players were actually getting far enough to see all of that, so I just rebuilt the early-game experience.

The first few levels now have these guided paths that introduce things as you go, instead of throwing the whole game at you at once. By the time you get to Level 3, you're hitting match goals, you have a Dragon, you're seeing the power-ups, and you're starting to see how the Arena fits into the bigger game.

I made a short video showing what the game looks like now, and I'm really looking for honest feedback on the progression.

If you were playing this for the first time:

* Does it make sense, as far as what you're supposed to be doing?
* Does the progression from Match-3 -> Dragons -> Arena feel natural, or does it feel like I'm trying to cram different games together?
* Is there anything you'd expect to see or understand by around Level 3 that isn't there? (I set it up so you can get to Level 3 pretty quickly.)

There's one other thing I'm super curious about.

I just added new animations to the Match-3. A few existing players specifically asked for them, but I'm honestly still on the fence if I like them or not. It'd be helpful to know if you feel like...

1. Yeah, this is cool, I like this
2. Ooh, that's a little different, I like this
3. No, no, no - way too distracting / looks weird / I don't like it

I'm not looking for "looks great!" feedback here. If something feels confusing, boring, too slow, too busy, or just plain weird, **please tell me**. That's actually the kind of feedback that's useful to me, because then I can make it better.

I'm happy to answer questions about how anything works, too.

Thanks for taking a look.

I rebuilt the first few levels of my mobile game because I wasn't sure players were getting to the good stuff. I'd love some honest feedback.