For number-oriented people like me, the statistics can be a very important part of the gameplay experience, as it makes monitoring the (quantitative) impact of your decisions more relaxing and enjoyable. I have three statistic-related features at the top of my wishlist (listed in order, from most desired to least):

1. My single favourite stat (at the moment) is "Gold Gained In Last Minute". As an example of the importance of this stat, I submit the following case study.

It is just my assumption based on comparison to other games of this genre, but I assume that highest GPS (Gold per second) does not occur on the highest area you are able to idle on without dying, due to the release rate of new enemies, time required to kill enemy vs. the amount of gold they drop, etc. Something like this might elude even veterans of this genre, should they not have been previously aware of it.

I would suggest converting it to a running average (over whatever period you feel would be most useful to the players; a minute seems like a good choice, though), however, which is generally more useful. Also, it should reset when area is changed, because, as I mentioned previously, the main utility is probably to compare the GPS of different areas. You might also consider having it reset when anything changes the Gold Bonus, although, if I were doing it, I'd probably rather provide the player with three stats instead of one: Raw GPS (only immutable Gold Bonuses, that is Items, Achievements, Trinkets, and Idols, taken into account for the calculation), Unbuffed GPS (including the previous Bonuses plus any crusader upgrades for the current formation, but excluding Gold Multiplier Buffs), and Buffed GPS (that is, the GPS according to the Gold Bonus shown to the players).

If you're worried about the calculation process required for a running average, that is, that you technically have to wait a minute before it's calculable, I think you'd be forgiven if you told players a little white lie in the form of adjusting the averaging period in the initial period after a counter reset:

E.g. In the case of Gold Per Minute:

After 1 second : GPM = Average Gold In Last 1 s * 60
After 2 seconds : GPM = Average Gold In Last 2 s * 30
After 3 seconds : GPM = Average Gold In Last 3 s * 20
...
...
...
After 59 seconds: GPM = Average Gold In Last 59 s * (60/59)
After 60 seconds: GPM = Average Gold In Last 60 s
After 61 seconds: GPM = Average Gold In Last 60 s
...

This is just off the top of my head, however; there are probably other ways to get around it, too. I just thought I'd give a single example in the hope that this detail of the calculation process should not dissuade you from implementing any changes.

It occurs to me that you could also just do a straight average instead of a running average, in which case the last line of the previous example would be:

After 61 seconds: GPM = Average Gold In Last 61 s * (60/61)

and then, afterwards,

After 62 seconds: GPM = Average Gold In Last 62 s * (60/62)
...

This actually might be better if you are severely concerned about "lying" to the players at all (as I previously mentioned), as the example above indeed replaces the running average with an ordinary average as the coping mechanism for the initial period.

I think this suggestion is the most important, and it's probably quite realistically implementable. The great thing about stats (imho) is that pretty much the only players that would spare a second look at them are those players who are interested in them. Therefore, you don't need to worry about alienating existing players or scaring off new ones as a result of the introduction of (apparent) complication of the gameplay or from the overload of information.


2. I'd also like to see other rates besides just Gold. I can understand why that was the only rate you created when you were brainstorming what stats the players would like to see, as Gold is pretty much the only progression-driving resource that you accumulate over the course of a single run (the only other would be Experience Points, but those accumulate at a constant rate, so including it as a stat would be nonsense). There is one place where things besides Gold matters, however, and that place is the Achievements tab.

I only found two instances where rates would be helpful (that is, instances where you make progress while you idle, without player actions or decisions): the Achievement track for total monster kills and the Achievement track for total boss kills.

Although these are the only two missing in my opinion, I would dearly like to see them both added, given how I fret over balancing kill accumulation vs. Gold accumulation during my idle periods.



3. This last one is aesthetic, and is not a big deal for me, but might be for other people. I'd recommend grouping the stats together by category. I know you basically already do this, but I think the current grouping strategy would pale in comparison to actual horizontal dividers (maybe also vertical ones to form a grid?) with headers for the category at the top of each group division. I've known gamers who are lazy or picky enough to discard games where they feel the interface is sloppily-made, either due to poor impression (if they're playing casually), or due to frustration at the poor ease of use (if they're playing hardcore).

Looking at the current list of stats you offer, I'd guess you'd need around 5-7 categories. The one specific suggestion I have regarding categories is to have one for things that are not "stats" in the same way as the majority are. What I mean is that they are mostly strictly-increasing counters that track certain things from the moment you begin playing (although some reset to zero on reset, but this is the only exception, and it doesn't even impact the point of my statement due to the fact that they are always coupled with non-reset-affected versions of themselves). You are a few mixed in there that don't fit that description, however, such as DPS Multiplier, which instead provides information on your current power/ability. Actually, I think there are currently only three such "stats" provided:

DPS Multiplier
Click Damage DPS Modifier
Gold Gained in Last Minute

I'm guessing these are overflow from the HUD at the top of the screen, but it should really be obvious that these are different. You could put them in a different tab, or else have them displayed prominently at the top of the stats tab with a clearly-worded heading, or something along these lines. You might also repeat the stats currently displayed in the HUD to cue the players to the fact that they belong to the same category (also, some players might appreciate having the information all grouped together so that they don't have to look back and forth between the two locations).

As for GPM, you could include it with these other "real-time stats", but, as I described before, I would rather expand this stat into 5 or more stats and have them in a separate grouping.

Although it is also related to the interface layout, this last comment might constitute the biggest improvement. Regarding my previous comment about avoiding "looking back and forth", there is probably a much more important application of this principle. The ability to observe the impact of formation changes, etc. in real-time, as you make them. Aside from switching between saved formations, this is not currently possible if what you wish to monitor is on the stats tab, as you can only have one tab open at once. I admit that, as previously mentioned, you currently only have 3 "real-time stats" in your stats tab, but if you introduce my GPM/Kills-per-minute suggestions you will add up to 4 more to this number, and similarly up to 5 more if you repeat some information from the HUD.

The only thing I can think of to combat this is creating a separate screen that players can switch to, which would mimic the one that RPGs alternately call "Party"/"Switch"/"Formation"/etc. You could also take further inspiration from RPGs and introduce many other tools of convenience, such as comparison between formations, comparison of stats before and after a change (which RPGs usually have as a plus or minus in brackets beside the absolute value, optionally colour-coded or otherwise clearly indicated), and labeling the saved formations to help remember their intended usage. Of course, I realize that the investment in the development process of a major feature like this is in a different galaxy from my previous suggestions, which are basically formula tweaks or small GUI adjustments, but I hope that you would remember the concerns of stat-obsessed individuals like me should you ever decide to majorly revise the way players interact with the formation mechanic.



Conclusion: Wow. I did not intend to write this much. At this point it seems more like a report than a forum post. If I'm being honest, the amount of time I invested in this is completely out of proportion to the importance this game has in my life, so I really, really hope that it at least provides a significant benefit for both the developers and the other players XP.