Fix the first ten minutes
Most players decide in the opening. Depth doesn't matter to someone who already left.
When Solhex went to strangers, one of them played for 2 hours 43 minutes. Three of the other four left at the second goal, a few minutes in.
Both things were true at once: the game was good, and most people never found out. Hours of chapters behind a weak start help nobody.
What to do about it
- Look at where people quit, not how long the best player stayed. ShipGames' stats show where sessions end for this reason.
- Fix the first ten minutes before adding anything deeper.
- Teach by doing: one thing to try at a time, each answering a problem the player can see.
- Share it quietly with a few strangers before you show your own audience.
Solhex's Part One got a guided first few minutes for exactly this reason. Swarmlight went further and was rebuilt as a tutorial where every upgrade answers a problem you can see.