Video Game Thoughts Bonus Bag #6
We're having a sale, plus indie game reviews, plus doom and gloom!
A lot of mixed stuff too small to get individual posts. (Though it would probably be better if I wrote more frequent, smaller posts. Maybe I'm not good at this.)
1. The Steam Summer Sale
Steam now has four regular annual sales, in addition to frequent festivals. Why does anyone ever pay full price for a video game anymore, lol?
Anyway, as always, Spiderweb Software's games are all on sale. Geneforge 2 - Infestation has a nice big discount. Take a look!
2. New Interview Of Me
I did a long interview with the Full Time Game Dev and it turned out great. I get to rant freely for 1.5 hours, and I got to say a lot of fun stuff. Thanks so much to Thomas Brush for creating this forum where indie game developers can wallow in limitless terror. Take a look!
3. It's Tough Out There For Indie Devs
I try not to complain about the tough nature of the indie games business these days. For a software engineer, my salary is low, but for an artist, my salary is great, so I really don't want to complain. Don't waste an atom of pity on me.
But two things recently got my attention.
Some wildman analyzed all of the 51 (!!!) games that released on Steam on a randomly-selected day and broke them down by sales, amount of effort, and so on. Very interesting read.
A couple of them kind of made money. Most of them blew up on the launch pad. It's hard to see how any of them will turn a profit.
Some people say the reason for this glut is because so many titles are lazy, assets flips, etc. This is pure cope. The thing that sticks out to me is how many of these games are genuinely high effort. Good work is just dying on release.
Second, there was a really clever game a few years back called Hypnospace Outlaw. An adventure game based on wandering the world wide web of the 90s. Really clever.
The developer just put up a tearful video about how the sequel is canceled. If you enjoy watching peoples hearts rip in half on YouTube, this is prime content.
It's really sad. This guy is the real deal. Making a sequel to a solid game. Had a publisher. Now he's emptying his bank account to pay back Patreon backers. Scary stuff. I'm pouring one out for a real one.
4. A Few Indie Games I Tried
Played Thronefall, a successful tower defense game whose big innovation is taking away as much player choice as possible. I could NEVER make this game. I like too much the puzzle/freedom/try things elements of tower defense. Yet, it gave a bunch of people what they wanted: A chill game with towers. Hats off to them.
Brotato released DLC, which enabled me to spend 100 more hours playing Brotato.
I was really intrigued by Desktop Survivors 98. Like Vampire Survivors but with retro computer jokes. Then I watched one minute of it on Twitch and knew I couldn't stand it. Those dopamine receptors are all burned out. Maybe I'll pick it up when they make Windows Vista Survivors. Looking at the number of reviews this game has, they sold a decent number of copies. However, the game is only $5, so no big success here. It has meme appeal and actually got some advance press, so I thought things would look better.
Quadrilateral Cowboy is one of my all time fave indie games. When its developer, Brendon Chung, announced he was making Skin Deep, a stealth game with a publisher and budget, that was an instant wishlist and a buy. I played the first half of Skin Deep, and I don't think the design works. (Too repetitive. Too chaotic. Levels too samey. Gunplay doesn't work in this engine.) But if you're into game design, it's REALLY worth 20 bucks to get it and puzzle out what you think of this design for yourself. It's definitely unique.
(Ten years ago, this game would have made a huge pile of money. Now ... Times are tough.)
Finally, I played Minishoot Adventures, the twin-stick shooter/Metroidvania boiled down to its purest essence. It could be sold as a generic product ("TWIN STICK METROVANIA" in all black letters on an all-white background), but it delivers a tasty helping of the product. If those marketing buzzwords tickle your brain, give these nice people your $15.
5. I Still Write Games
Official announcement and trailer for Avernum 4: Greed and Glory coming soon. This game is gigantic and I'm actually kind of pleased with it. It's full of neat stuff.
It’s very hard to get links for a blog out these days. If I write something you like, I encourage you to link to it on socials.
Spiderweb Software creates turn-based, indie, old-school fantasy role-playing games. They are low-budget, but they’re full of good story and fun.
Looking forward to Avernum 4! I will immediately buy it for full price.
Came here from your video with Thomas, but not before listening to your GDC talk. Remarkable consistency in the message over the years. Do you disagree with the conclusion in that Reddit post?
"More than half the market is outright slop or barely competent yet unattractive. If you spend time on polish, you’re really competing with the top ~30 %: half the games are instantly ignored, and another 15–20 % just aren’t polished enough to be considered."
I'm going to take my copium right now, and say that if I you have a niche and gather an audience before release, you may still do okay.
You kind of buried the lede on Thronefall, though. It is a good game, with the critical acclaim and the audience to prove it. What is agonizing to see as game dev is "King Shot" which ripped almost everything off from Thronefall, and monetized in worst scummy way mobile game bullshit way. They now earn many multiples of what Thronefall is receiving.
I wish that consumers could be educated away from giving money to game developers who treat them as chumps.