Best route to riches? one big game, or lots of quick simpler games?

StormyStudio

Thought I'd ask the question that springs into my little mind now and then. Especially as I'm in the early stages of making a 'Big' game.

What do you think is the best way to strike it rich in game development using GameSalad?

Make lots of little games, that maybe take 1 or 2 weeks. In the hope of earning enough through small sales, but with the chance that the odd one might get some decent sales.

Or a game with lots of tailored graphics, varied levels, well designed menus, story, ending, credits etc etc. A game that might take 6 months to make. With the hope that it will become a much bigger success and the sales will blow the competition away. Though you risk tonnes of effort on a game that could be a complete flop.

I'm currently of the 'Big' game theory, but that is partly just because I want to make games I can be proud of. That said, I'd probably be proud of a smaller game once its on the app store and selling alright. (Though any time I've tried to make a smaller game, I get carried away, it grows and grows, until I either get bored of the idea or I'm still working on it now).

Edit: I was going to add a mixed answer to the poll, work on a big game when you get bored make a little game and go back to it...but I thought it might ruin the voting a bit...

gyroscope

Hi stormy, I've exactly the same area of thinking as you about this, including "Though any time I've tried to make a smaller game, I get carried away, it grows and grows, until I either get bored of the idea or I'm still working on it now". ! The times that's happened to me!

As you know, I'm working on a platformer - a fairly major project - as well as the major project, my adventure game; but I'm sticking with these and won't let go till they're both finished.

It's difficult to give a definitive answer though, I think; for those of us who take 6 months or more on something major just has to keep fingers crossed and hope that all of those months of work won't be wasted! :-)

UtopianGames

We've have a mixed bag with bigger and smaller games so i would say do both.

Bumps was a big game and did very well.

Goo was a small game and also did very well.

Our new one Running Wild released just before Xmas was the best and also the biggest game we've made coming in at just under 3 months work and has only made a handful of sales so....it's really hard to tell tbh.

It really is down to luck imo so do both and hope ya big game gets a feature and some nice press.

Darren.

beefy_clyro

Good question but very hard to answer! I've seen people like Darren at Utopian spend 3 months working on Running Wild for it to completely bomb and disappear amongst the sea of apps. Yet Red Balls of Goo, which took him 24 hours made similar sales to Bumps. TSB is another example, definitely a GameSalad success, spent the longest he has on a game with Mini Cannon and sales have been very disappointing! Its all a lottery, right time, right idea.

Like you said, you want to make big games you can be proud of ... well unfortunately, a big game to an indie could be catastrophic unless featured by Apple. Big game companies have marketing pull power, we have nothing! That being said, you still want a showcase game and something you dreamed of making right? With that being said im taking upon this approach;

Work on a big game

When i reach boredom, lack enthusiasm, need some fun .... i simply start a small game project.

The problem is, i think a lot of the market are casual gamers based. Therefore, they dont necessarily want to play a long winded game, follow a story etc, they may just want to pick up a fun game for 2 minutes at a time whilst waiting for the bus!

However, i still think big games have their place and if they are a success will get you more sales and reach further heights and probably stick around the charts for longer!

So, unfortunately, i cannot answer your poll as i need an option for both!

StormyStudio

@Beefy...I like your technique, I may stop on my game for a week soon just to quickly do a small sound board idea I had.

I didn't add the 'small and big games together' as an option to the poll as I thought everyone would vote for that rather than consider big or small games.

gyroscope

beefy_clyro said:

The problem is, i think a lot of the market are casual gamers based. Therefore, they dont necessarily want to play a long winded game, follow a story etc, they may just want to pick up a fun game for 2 minutes at a time whilst waiting for the bus!

Interesting point you make there, beefy; and I tend to agree. Maybe though, there are more "casual gamers" using the iPhone and other smaller devices than the iPad, don't know if you'd agree? (+ stormy, Darren & others of course). That's my thinking, and why my 2 larger projects are destined for the iPad, personally speaking.

:-)

StormyStudio

@Gyro good point.

I can imagine someone sitting down with an ipad for hours on a comfy sofa playing one game, but on an iphone like beefy says 2 minutes and I'm ready for my train or what ever...

gyroscope

stormystudio said:
@Gyro good point.

I can imagine someone sitting down with an ipad for hours on a comfy sofa playing one game...

Oh yes, I've got it all planned: buy the 2nd gen. iPad in March/April; have just bought a Poäng chair and footstool from Ikea, ready for sublime gaming, reading and writing! :-)

StormyStudio

@Gyro

Oooh, nice... if only they had GameSalad on the ipad, we could make our games in pure luxury.

gyroscope

So true, stormy! Maybe one day... :-)

Photics

stormystudio said:
Oooh, nice... if only they had GameSalad on the ipad, we could make our games in pure luxury.

I'm working on an app called "Critique", which is a review app. I'm picking some of the best apps on the iTunes App store and then I'm critiquing them. One of the apps I'm reviewing for the premiere edition is called "Remoter". It's a VNC client for iOS. It's a universal binary, so it should work on the iPad.

Basically, you can run GameSalad from your iPad... if it's remotely controlling a Mac.

gyroscope

Photics said:

Basically, you can run GameSalad from your iPad... if it's remotely controlling a Mac.

Wow and double wow. I for one am going to check that out, thanks for info Photics. :-)

Photics

gyroscope said:
Wow and double wow. I for one am going to check that out, thanks for info Photics. :-)

There is a warning though. I'm not sure how secure it is. I've only selected Remoter for review. I haven't tested it yet. Security is one of the issues I'm planning to check out.

StormyStudio

(I saw Remoter was mentioned in Gizmodos top apps this week...or at least I think it was).

how is it different to 'LogMeIn' which lets me control my desktop from my iphone....? Showing you the whole desktop etc etc...

is a VNC Client different?

Photics

stormystudio said:
how is it different to 'LogMeIn' which lets me control my desktop from my iphone....? Showing you the whole desktop etc etc...

There are many ways to access a computer remotely. It looks like Remoter is cheaper...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logmein-ignition/id299616801?mt=8

A new Mac comes with VNC.

System Preferences --> Sharing --> Screen Sharing --> Computer Settings --> VNC

scitunes

utopiangames said:
We've have a mixed bag with bigger and smaller games so i would say do both.

Bumps was a big game and did very well.

Goo was a small game and also did very well.

Our new one Running Wild released just before Xmas was the best and also the biggest game we've made coming in at just under 3 months work and has only made a handful of sales so....it's really hard to tell tbh.

It really is down to luck imo so do both and hope ya big game gets a feature and some nice press.

Darren.

I have purchased bumps, goo, rw, jungle bug, and the halloween bumps ipad game. My favorite by far is RW. One thing to consider (and the reason I quoted darren) is that the two games that did really well were the ones apple featured. My point is that all of the games by UG that I have purchased have been great and deserve to make tons of money, but only the ones featured by apple have done really well.

I am hoping to do this full time soon. My strategy is to make a moderately large number of simple kids apps that I can pump out quickly. I will work on these when I need a break from larger projects. I will make sure that any kids app I put out is of a quality I can be proud of, but kids usually prefer games with simple controls and a simple uncluttered interface. This usually means quicker programing and art. I will try to make some larger games that I like and some larger games that I think will catch the eye of the pop-culture loving youth (another words I will "sell out" a bit on a few titles).

I hoping that some of the titles and icons of my pop-culture games will do decent on their own. I am hoping the kids apps will bring in a few dollars a day. And I am hoping that some of the bigger apps that I like may get featured by apple. But I don't want to be dependent on apple for my income.

I also plan to adopt googles mantra of "don't be evil." I may sell out a bit but I will not make overly violent games etc.

butterbean

I think that relying heavily on 3 month games, or "bigger" games is more risky. I think mixing it up a bit like some people have said is the best idea.

Here's an example for you. Dark Woods, I worked on and off for a year on that game. I had to shelve it due to issues with GS, but was finally able to finish and release it.

I also made a game in less than a day that was a kids educational app.

You probably know where I'm going with this, and yes, the educational app did better than Dark Woods.

Something to consider!