PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

It’s a hard pill to swallow if you’ve worked on your game for five years, only to launch it to a largely indifferent audience. That’s what happened to solo developer Simon Taylor (working under the name Plastic Cow Games ) and his game Smash Dungeon. After that, the game never gained any traction and faded away in obscurity.

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The Bottom Feeder

MARCH 27, 2024

It's a remaster of Geneforge 2, one of our most popular games. This blog is free, and selling games is how we keep the lights on. Even now, all these years later, these games still have qualities that are all their own (like being able to reach any ending with a pure pacifist route). Hope you like it! When it runs at all.

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PreMortem.Games

JULY 21, 2023

In early 2021, Cukia Kimani , co-founder of South Africa’s renowned studio Nyamakop , and a close-knit circle of four friends embarked on an extraordinary challenge that involved making 12 games in 12 months. He recalls booting it up and as soon as he saw the magic within, asking his mum if people create games for a living.

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PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 24, 2023

As the Managing Director of South African-based Alkemaiz Games, she recalls how people were amazed by her artistic talents as a child. In September 2023, she received a Rising Star Award at the Fak’ugesi Festival for her game ‘Rapz,’ which she created to foster a sense of self-love in young girls.

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PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 28, 2024

With the success rate of the new games released drastically low, one can’t help but ask two questions: When releasing a game in 2024, which genre should I choose to make the most of it? To operate with representative groups, we compared games across top-level subgenres. Top image: Merge Mansion.

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PreMortem.Games

JANUARY 12, 2024

Solo developer Hitori (working under the name Hitori De productions) always dreamt of creating games by himself. But before he had the necessary skills to follow that dream, he worked in several teams. For his debut game Supernormal , Hitori was inspired by the much-hyped, but never-released horror game Allison Road.

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Ask a Game Dev

JANUARY 23, 2023

ALT Once upon a time, I used to have dream projects and franchises I wanted to work on. I desperately wanted to work on the next game in the franchises I played and loved growing up. These are worth far more to me than any dream franchise or studio with amazing perks. I had all these ideas and passion for them.

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Deconstructor of Fun

MAY 9, 2023

Written by Laura Taranto and Ahmetcan Demirel , both senior product leaders with vast experience in casual games. Tune in to the Deconstructor of Fun podcast where Laura co-hosts the notorious This Week in Games (TWIG) segment and make sure to read Laura’s previous analysis: Royal Match - The New King from Turkey?

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Brand Game Development

MARCH 22, 2021

Many of you who read this blog know that I am self-publishing board game designer who uses Kickstarter as my platform of choice for funding the bulk of my projects. Certainly no surprise if you’ve read some of my articles like A Crash Course on Kickstarter for Board Games. Need help on your board game?

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Keith Burgun

APRIL 8, 2024

Narratively speaking, Croh Vosh is probably the most important character in the game. At the end of Gem Wizards Tactics, the Omni-Gem was destroyed. This was a great thing for those battling the oppressive occupation of the Business Demons on the western continent, which had largely been enabled by the Omni-Gem’s magic.

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Mechanics Games 111

PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

When Jonathan Barbosa Dijkstra lost his job, just before the pandemic hit, he decided to give his dream of making a game by himself a proper go. I would love to be part of a small team where you’ve got your peers and still have a big impact on the game.” For me, and for others I’m sure, making your own games is ‘the dream’.

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DameDev.tv

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

I told people I wanted to become a video game developer. But I was a kid of the early '90s and when I told adults my dreams, it was often met with scoff and hesitation. "Well, " "Video-game developer jobs are rare." " Yes, back then the video game industry was far more niche than it is today. ."

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Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 23, 2016

When I refer to “making a game plan”, I don’t mean a plan to create a board game. I mean a game plan for tackling big, hairy audacious goals. How do you go from a big dream like “I want to create a successful board game” to reality? What does it take to make dreams come true? Need help on your board game?

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Writing Art Games Dev 100

PreMortem.Games

APRIL 24, 2023

It took Fabrice Breton, a French solo developer at CowCat Games , 6 years to create Brok the InvestiGator. He created what he calls the first ‘Punch & Click game’, combining a classic adventure with beat ’em up and RPG elements. There’s no easy part when it comes to game development”, he says. “So

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Indy Games Dev Writing 104

AWS Games

MARCH 14, 2023

By Rob Schoeppe, General Manager, Global Game Tech Solutions & Business Development at AWS With the 2023 Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) just one week away, the AWS for Games team has been talking with our customers, partners, and internal team about the trends they think will have the largest impact on the industry over the years to come.

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Deconstructor of Fun

AUGUST 15, 2023

This article discusses and compares male and female stereotypes in gaming for the purpose of analyzing common societal perceptions. This is a much-dreaded question game developers ask themselves at every stage of game development. This is a much-dreaded question game developers ask themselves at every stage of game development.

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Brand Game Development

OCTOBER 14, 2019

A couple of years ago, Dinosaur Island was a massively successful game. Even now, two years later, the game’s name has enough cultural cachet to lead to the most popular board game giveaway Pangea has ever sponsored. Need help on your board game? Take one good look at this game. Dino cooking!

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The Bottom Feeder

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

If you like weird, retro indie games or RPGs, it’s worth a look.) Video games function best as power fantasies. This is a statement that can generate controversy, though fifty years of video game history show that it is true. We've seen debates about whether video games can be art. Video games that sell?

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Fantasy Games Art Puzzle 83

Ask a Game Dev

JUNE 2, 2023

If the sunk cost feature is mission-critical it may fester and metastasize like cancer and end up killing the entire project. It certainly would not be the first project that was destroyed by throwing too much of their resources away on a pipe dream. Determining scope is actually the main responsibility of the production team.

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The Bottom Feeder

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

Now that my title has savagely baited your click, let's talk about the weirdness of the game industry and the big mess we're all in. I've been working continuously making indie video games longer than, let's say, anyone. I've been working continuously making indie video games longer than, let's say, anyone. A good long look.

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Point and Click Games Art Writing 52

Mnenad

OCTOBER 15, 2020

Watch the development of an indie game and be a part of it! This is the first episode of a development documentation series (devlog) of my personal dream game - from its earliest stage to the end at some point in the future. DEVLOG#1: This episode tells the backstory up to the current state of the game.

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Indy Development Games 52

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 26, 2023

If you have been following the DoF newsletter and blog for the last year, you might have seen some of my articles on blockchain games, including a prediction piece. Blockchain games are still early. Should you have tokens or only NFTs in your game? And things went down hard. Can/Should you work with multiple marketplaces?

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Games Technology Game Developer Game Development 52

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 9, 2023

As if developing a game by yourself wasn’t daunting enough, Pat Naoum decided to completely handpaint his debut game The Master’s Pupil. But the end is here, the game is out now on steam. Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet. It’s something different.

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Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 16, 2019

If you want to get your board game into retail stores, it helps to set small, achievable goals. Just one board game in one board game store! Molly's latest game, The Million Dollar Doodle, is live on Kickstarter! She cold emailed me about her board game, Wing It , which is in an estimated 300 stores across the world.

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The Bottom Feeder

APRIL 5, 2023

It's the biggest example of video game storytelling in quite some time. As I said in my last GoWR piece (which got quite a lot of reads), it's kind of futile to critique big AAA games. As I said in my last GoWR piece (which got quite a lot of reads), it's kind of futile to critique big AAA games. GoWR from here on.) To a point.

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Art Fantasy Writing Agent 69

iXie gaming

JULY 23, 2023

Unity has rapidly risen in popularity to become one of the most widely used game production engines throughout the globe. In this article, we will discuss the factors that contribute to Unity’s continued dominance in the game development industry. This enhances Unity’s reputation as a fantastic game engine.

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Brand Game Development

SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

When your Kickstarter successfully funded, it seemed like the apotheosis of your board game career. But with great money, comes great responsibility… Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators. The game must be printed. The game must be printed.

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Brand Game Development

MAY 6, 2019

Lately, I’ve been talking about the hard truths of the board game business. You can’t just make the board game you want. You have to make the board game other people want. Need help on your board game? Join my community of over 2,000 game developers, artists, and passionate creators.

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PreMortem.Games

JUNE 9, 2023

We would send people around the world – dealing with the same pandemic as us – an escape game in the mail! Season 2 will tell true stories and have players solve their way through history in a way we’ve never seen done before.” “I have HUGE hopes and dreams for Season 2!”, Mobile Escape had to pivot.

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PreMortem.Games

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

As if developing a game by yourself wasn’t daunting enough, Pat Naoum decided to completely handpaint his debut game The Master’s Pupil. But the end is near, the game will release on steam sometime in the foreseeable future. Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet.

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Dev Art Concepts Film 104

Filmustage

JUNE 13, 2022

It is not a secret that the game dev industry has become one of the most attention-grabbing in the entertainment field. What is particularly interesting there is a special way in which game developers tell stories through their interactive art. Simply saying, the branched plot implies that the player is free to decide the ending.

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Scripting Film Cinematics Games 52

Brand Game Development

MARCH 3, 2017

I’ve written before about some of the rude awakenings I experienced when starting a board game business. It’s my hope that by spelling out the specific things that happened to me, I can prevent you from being surprised and disappointed by some of the harsh realities of game development. Need help on your board game?

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Brand Game Development

MARCH 23, 2020

Almost two years ago today, I launched a Kickstarter campaign for a board game called Highways & Byways. Yet two years later, when I look back, I see how its failure ended up improving my life and my business in a number of ways. Need help on your board game? It was a deeply personal project for which I had high hopes.

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Writing Point and Click Media Prop 130

Deconstructor of Fun

JUNE 21, 2022

Figuring out how to successfully scale a game is a complex problem that can take a long time to solve. During the soft launch, initial KPIs are oftentimes underwhelming – they’re not bad enough to scrap the game but also not good enough to move forward into the global launch. Tell me more about SuperPlay’s Dice Dreams.

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iHobo

MAY 23, 2023

Of all my hundreds of game projects, this is still the title where I am most proud of the game design, the project where I beam with pride when I think of the incredible team and the contributions everyone made to make such a memorable and unique experience. Today is the twentieth anniversary of the release of Ghost Master.

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The Bottom Feeder

APRIL 28, 2023

But I do it in a highly popular, successful, vibrant, undervalued medium (video games) instead of a respected, posh medium that nobody cares about (books). My almost thirty year fantasy-writing career has been very prolific (18 all-new games!) When a child dreams of growing up to be a fireman or astronaut (does that happen anymore?),

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The Bottom Feeder

JUNE 14, 2022

Our next game, Queen's Wish 2: The Tormentor , is taking part. You can go over a grab a demo and try a few hours of our next game for free. (I’ll I’ll also be streaming the game and answering questions on that page, Thursday and Sunday. Queen's Wish 2 is the 17th all-new full length game in my career.

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