Global Game Jam

The 4th annual Global Game Jam starts tomorrow!
This is an event where game developers around the world team up and make small game prototypes based on a theme, in only 48 hours...

...the first annual Global Game Jam, I flaked out because the theme was:
"As long as we're together, we will never run out of problems"
I had just broken up with my girlfriend, that kind of applied there. Too soon!

BUT around the time of the second annual Global Game Jam, I jammed for fun from home and invented the concept for DOTNUKE!

This year, again I'm going to jam from home. I have a lot of plans for things I want to make, my own projects, and I think the game jam is a great excuse to crunch on those things... even if I'm not directly participating in the jam.

Whether you're doing what I'm doing, or actually participating in the jam, jam on for 48 hrs starting tomorrow at 5 PM EST! It'll be a good time!

14 Days Later...

I lasted 14 days without buying any video games!

My New Year's Resolution was to not buy any games...
I wanted to save money, and play some of the games I own, many I have never played. I tend to impulse buy games, especially during Steam sales for $5 or less.

But picture this, I see that Nation Red is "free to play" this weekend - it looks like a fun game, I have a zombie game out myself, I'm trying not to "buy games", so I suppose I could play this for the weekend, right?

I didn't expect the game to be so fun / addicting!
Maybe I was enjoying it more, knowing I could only play for a limited time. I ended up playing for seven hours (spread over two days), collecting over fifty achievements!

This made me rethink my New Year's Resolution:
I'm not trying to be a cheapskate. The game is only $2.50...
I realize enough "games for $2.50" can add up, this is part of the problem - but I got well over $2.50's worth of enjoyment out of this game, just this weekend.

One disclaimer for my New Year's Resolution was: I will support indie developers. Indie games are (usually) inexpensive. Also, I'm indie myself. I want to see indies succeed, certainly the ones who develop enjoyable games! I was only planning on supporting indies through Humble Bundle though...

Another thing to consider:
They chose to release their game, free to play, for the weekend. I download a lot of "free app a day" games, and how am I "supporting the developer" at all in those cases? Why pay $2.50 now? Well, a rare case, I downloaded Broken Sword as free app a day, loved it, and have since bought it full price as a gift and / or recommended it to a number of friends. This is a real benefit of releasing a game for free! It's a form of advertising for the game.

In the case of Nation Red:
Free full-version demo for a limited time. Some will buy it, some won't. You don't have to buy it, buy in-game tokens, DLC, click ads (for my games) as the case may be. And I think that's fine, I don't feel like a bad person for thoroughly enjoying free games, why not enjoy a game for a weekend? Bigger picture, they do get their game in the hands of more players, some "do" pay, or click ads...

Anyway, I could have felt justified just enjoying Nation Red while it was free. Like downloading Zombie Puncher, and never clicking an ad. I think that's fine, but I ended up buying the game for $2.50 after all, because I wanted to support the developer... even though I think I got all the achievements I want to get haha

Does that mean I killed my New Year's Resolution?
I don't think so. I could get into rules, authority, how arbitrary "holding firm" to any set of rules or beliefs can be, without question or consideration of special cases...

Instead, I'll just point to that "indie" concession I made in advance haha. Nation Red is tagged "Indie" on Steam! But even if it was not, I might have supported the publisher that paid to develop a game I enjoyed thoroughly this weekend!

(And I swear I won't buy the next game I see that's less than $5!)

Happy New Year!

A week into 2012, my New Year's Resolution is still going strong...
I haven't bought any new video games yet!

What I am doing is playing games I own. Did you know God of War II is actually pretty fun? I didn't, and I've owned that for two or three years!

It's interesting making an active choice to play games I own. I feel a sense of commitment I might not otherwise have, to finish or thoroughly enjoy these games. Plus there's a sense that I'm actively saving money, not buying what's on sale on Steam for $5, instead putting money in my savings account.

I recently finished playing Breath of Death VII, and have moved on to Cthulhu Saves the World. Both are retro styled role-playing games, that poke fun at the genre with well-written stories and dialogue. You can buy both together on Steam, easily the best $1 I've spent in a long time (when it was on sale).

Know what it reminds me of?
Ken's Adventure!

This is a role-playing game I made in high school that also pokes fun at the genre with a cleverly written story and dialogue. You can download it here if you want! Hopefully it still works on Windows 7, I haven't played it in years.

Happy New Year!

New Years Resolution

It's New Year's Eve!
Do you have a new year's resolution?

I've posted about my "too many video games", a lot I've never played. There's some value in "retail therapy", buying games to feel good whether you play them or not, but a better habit for me might be to save money and play the games I have!

My new year's resolution is:
Don't buy any video games in 2012!

I realize this is a bit bold / unrealistic, so I've already planned for three exceptions:

• iPhone Apps (I should be on top of what iOS games people are playing)
• Humble Bundles (low cost, and I can support other indies)
• I pre-ordered Diablo III (releases in February 2012)

How long do you think I'll last?
What's your new year's resolution?

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

Why You Gotta Be A Vampire 2.1

Why You Gotta Be A Vampire is now ad-free!

This is my first app to go paid. For new buyers, the game will cost $2. If you've already downloaded it in the past, you'll get the new update for free. As always, it runs on both iPhone and iPad.

What's new?

• Adventure Mode (with Levelling Up and Stats)
• Twitter (with custom bragging rights)
• Presents (punch vampires, get apps for free)
• Vampire Kenny (exclusive unlock for Zombie Puncher)

What's that last one?
If you download Why You Gotta Be A Vampire, you get free vampire-themed DLC unlocked in my free app, Zombie Puncher. Specifically, you get a new character, Vampire Kenny! How do you like them apples?

If you don't have Vampire yet, the game will be on sale for $1 until 2012.
Happy Holidays!

Hating On Free-To-Play Games

I don't mind free-to-play games. I'm going to make some generalizations here, but my take on good free-to-play games:

• You get a decent game for free...
• You can pay to level up / progress faster
• You can pay for extra content
• You don't have to pay at all

Where this goes awry is when a game asks for your money too often, when a game is competitive and paid content makes it unbalanced, makes it seem unfair to non-paying customers, when you're obligated to pay money for all the worthwhile content...

My main point with this blog post though, is that some free-to-play games can be fun and well-done. These games don't nickel and dime you to death, and you actually get a lot of value for free.

From a business standpoint (how this relates to my apps), you benefit from wider reach, getting your app in the hands of more customers with a low barrier of entry, the game is free. Only a few people pay, but that might be lucrative, similar to how not everyone clicks ads in my apps.

A problem (for developers) though is:
Free apps get railed in reviews. You get some kid who hates apps with ads, hates free-to-play games, yet downloaded yours, and he slams your game, despite the amount of enjoyable content you gave away for free!

A benefit to releasing a paid app then is:
Boneheads can't review it until they've paid at least $1 (or the cost of your app). Generally speaking you'll attract an audience of players who care more about your game, and are more interested in it to begin with, more likely to give it at least three stars, than the folks who flippantly try and slam a free app with a bad review.

On that note!
My friend Perry's company Venan Entertainment just released a new free-to-play game called Book of Heroes.

It's really fun and you should try it out. Like a classic RPG, you punch goblins, I can't tell whether the graphics and story are intentionally campy or not...

You'll see what I mean that this game is actually very well done, it has a lot of content for free, and the options to spend money are nicely tucked away.

Also, side note, Space Miner, Ninjatown Trees of Doom, and the HD versions of those games are free for a limited time to celebrate the launch of Book of Heroes! Search for them if you don't have them already!

Twilight

I'm 99% finished with an update for Why You Gotta Be A Vampire...
Ramping up for its release, I might as well share some Easter Eggs!

You may be familiar with this book series called Twilight...
A few years ago, no one knew what that was. My ex was reading it, because the author Stephanie Meyer is Mormon. The books were big at BYU before anyone else knew about them. Now, everybody knows Twilight! But in 2007, I went to Barnes and Noble and asked about some vampire book, I couldn't remember the name... it has an apple I think on the cover - they had no idea what I was talking about. Just as well, I would have ended up reading it!

Today, I have never read Twilight or watched any of the movies. I can tell you though, I bought whatever the new book / movie is (Breaking Dawn?), I bought that book for my ex years ago. That sounds like the most bonkers story of the entire series, Bella has a vampire baby that kicks and actually hurts her with its vampire strength. I just don't get the appeal of these books :P

Anyway, my limited understanding of Twilight has led to...
Four Twilight-themed Easter Eggs in Why You Gotta Be A Vampire!

1. Hot Sassy Vampires
Twilight's vampires are more like emo high school kids than classic Nosferatu, and that's the aesthetic for my characters in Vampire. My characters are all in fact based on hot, sassy, real life friends of mine!

2. BELLA?
One of the sassy quotes in-game is, "Bella?" Bella being the main girl in Twilight, who vampires (and werewolves) can't resist.

3. Team Kenny
Another sassy quote is "Team Kenny". This is the team for people who like to punch sassy vampires (and werewolves) like Team Edward and Team Jacob.

4. Sparkles!
Apparently vampires sparkle in daylight, in the Twilight series... in Vampire, they sparkle when you punch 'em out!

Look forward to the Why You Gotta Be A Vampire update! I added a lot of content, and will be charging $$ for the first time ever (for new buyers). It's free right now, so if you don't have it already, might be a good time to pick up the game!