August 25, 1986
Gadgeteer Games
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Funds: 186.7%
To Draconic Games
Well, first, try to come up with a unique and interesting storyline. The reason Astrid’s Pony Tales and Strange Pony Tales: Dark Phantasm are Horse-Drawn’s flagships and not Voidrunner or Higurashi is because ninjas and starship trench runs are already becoming cliches.
The same goes for our own titles Buddy Bear’s Toyland and Aquatopia. They were so popular because a world entirely composed of toys, or a sub-aquatic future colony are both more unique compared to their conventional counterparts.
Game design also plays a big role. You didn’t see Jumpman of Donkey Kong forced to use only powerups aganst foes because he was too weak to fight, and you didn’t see a sympathetic ruler building an empire as the protagonist in Blade Runner or Beyond Human. But introducing those gameplay elements greatly improved the game concept. Experiment and see where it takes you.
Thirdly, give the players as much as you can, without sacrificing a certain level of quality. Which level of quality? Well, craftsmanship only counts to the point of the game being fun, playable (bug free, smooth and responsive controls) and with a level of graphics and sound that looks great without pushing the hardware of the platform.
But as I was saying, the thing that really makes a game shine is when a game has lots of options. Racing game? Lots of cars, as long as they work. Platformer? Hide secrets with varying degrees of difficulty to unlock and give plenty of ways to accomplish a goal. City builder? Don’t limit the players’s experience too much; make a wide variety of disasters and come up with a way to break monotony like achievements or random events.
And last but not least, atmosphere. Buddy Bear’s Toyland built its success on cute and lovable characters. Aquatopia used subtle humor to break away from the typical “cyberpunk” and “post-apocalyptic” settings we see in movies this decade.
Conversely, atmosphere that conforms to cliche has its place too. Bio-Hazard sold well because people knew what to expect; a game with zombies and general survival-horror-ness.
Then there’s a third atmosphere option in extremity. Whereas Pixel Studios’ Bio-Hazard was a typical horror game of average levels of scares, Dark Entertainment made Terrorville into a success through its graphic and horrifying death sequences and background info on the fate of those who were there before you. Terrorville is notorious for having minors as young as 14 die in the course of play.
Finally, advertisement. While this is an expensive practice immediately after you start out, you should always market your second game. And remember what kind of game it is and who you’re trying to sell it to. Buddy Bear’s Toyland sold like hotcakes in Japan despite a small ad campaign because it was well-marketed. They say the Japanese are all boring corporate workers with incredible diligence, but research of their marketing shows that cuteness sells as well in Japan as sex does.
Also, one last thing to remember; bad press is not always bad for sales. Beyond Human actually gained sales when Jack Thomas rallied against the bloody and gory game. And Terrorville gained an air of creepyness that no amount of storytelling could ever do when for unknown reasons a tragic fire broke out at the factory and took the lives of several workers. From there, people started claiming that a skull-masked man was haunting the factory, that two programmers died in game production, and other minor spookiness.
I hope this helps with your new game, and recommend trying out your new game on our upcoming GamePocket console. You have a stake in it due to the settlement, the profits of which can be increased by selling a hit game exclusive to the platform, and it will also give you information on what games work well on a portable console and how to successfully pull it off.
Oliver Zehn, Lead Developer
Gadgeteer Games
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