Why is this game so addicting? Motherload

[whisperstorm]

The graphics are - ok. The controls are terrible. The music - repetitive to the point of annoyance. The interface is clunky (tiny areas to click to dismiss dialogs). But - I just cant stop playing this game:

http://www.miniclip.com/motherload.htm

Why is it so addictive?

Must. Get. More. Ore.

[soniCron]

I think a game like this resonates with a certain type of person -- the same people that love games like Harvest Moon. I like to call these "clean up" games! The gameplay is usually not much simpler than to perform a tedious task over and over within a certain level of restriction (usually time, in this case, fuel). And I think they work so well with their audience, because I'd be curious to find if the people that enjoy these types of games the most also have addictive or obsessive personalities.

[Bmc]

i wouldn't say the controls are terrible at all. they are actually pretty good for the type of game it is.

[Rainer Deyke]

The only thing I could find wrong with the controls was that you need to touch the mouse to start a new game. Then I played again and noticed that you can, in fact, use the mouse to control just about the whole game. And the mouse controls are horrible.

[Bmc]

The only thing I could find wrong with the controls was that you need to touch the mouse to start a new game. Then I played again and noticed that you can, in fact, use the mouse to control just about the whole game. And the mouse controls are horrible.

i used the keys, didn't even try to use the mouse

[SquareDanceSteve]

well thanks.... 3 hours shot.

[Donavon Keithley]

well thanks.... 3 hours shot.
LOL! Yeah a couple months back this game latched onto my brain and didn't let go for... I don't know how many hours.

Of course there's the draw of digging deeper and deeper, wondering what new goodies are going to start appearing, counter-balanced with the tension of pushing your luck too far and not being able to get back. I remember many harrowing returns to the surface where I just barely made it by the skin of my teeth (and a few where I didn't).

And of course the virtuous cycle is that you spend your loot on upgrades so that you can go even deeper.

Really, in this respect it's a simplified and essentialized dungeon crawl. I remember having much the same experience playing the first Wizardry way back on the Apple II -- the first game I ever got addicted to.

There's also a tension between spending your time digging deeper versus clearing wide passageways so that you can get in and out efficiently. That's sort of analogous to spending time in the safer levels of a dungeon building up your characters before plunging deeper.

Excellent game. Loved it.

[Sharkbait]

Reasons:
Incentive for upgrades
Incentive to dig deeper
Also, the 'boss' hints at people fleeing, implying a sense of mystery, perhaps there's something lurking in the deep?

[Pyabo]

This is great... And Donavon is sooo right. It's basically the old RPG formula that works so well and makes it addictive.

[Anthony Flack]

Don't forget the fact that your hauls of loot keep increasing. I was picking up $300-$400 at first, but very soon I started hauling several thousand at a time. And then I found a $50,000 artifact, and the big bonuses started to roll in. Fortunately, the power went out after that.

[arcadetown]

Flat out upgrades sell. People want to see the next bigger and better thing that's available. Skye did a solid job on it and it's good. If it didn't start out so frustratingly hard think Motherload would be absolutely hot.

[Pyabo]

You think it starts out too hard? The first few mineral deposits are visible right there, and fuel is dirt cheap. What do you think is hard about it? Learning the controls maybe?

I played this for about an hour and half last night, until finally Opera crashed on me. I was slightly disappointed, but at the same time it was probably for the best. :) Was working on getting the $20,000 upgrades...

What do the radiators do???

[milieu]

What do the radiators do???
I think they make your craft more fuel-efficient.

2 hours of productivity lost to figure that out. ;)

[Pyabo]

I found out what the radiators are for...

This time the game crashed Internet Explorer after about 1.5 hours. Can't remember when I saved it... Way too frustrating to start so far back.

Fun game, but probably won't play it again. :|

[Batley]

Very cool game.

I thought since fuel was so cheap at the start i'd just keep drilling straight down to the big loot rather than working my way down gradually, but then i found out my fuel tank wasnt big enough to get me back to the surface. It's a nice setup, it puts you on the tredmill of needing to mine to buy a bigger tank to go deeper etc. Very RPG again.

[Pyabo]

Is it just me or do the drill upgrades do absolutely nothing? They don't seem to increase the drill speed at all...

[soniCron]

Looks like PlayFirst, the folks who published Diner Dash, have signed the creators of Motherload (http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=10742), as well as 3 other studios.

[BinaryMoon]

Sonicron - the creators of Motherload aren't on that list...?

EDIT : ... ok - I've just seen Motherload on Say Design. Say Design didn't make Motherload. The developers are xgen studios (http://www.xgenstudios.com/).

FWIW very little of the content on Say Design is originally by them. They seem to be doing more themselves these days, but their early content in particular was made by others. They're more of a publisher than anything.

[Kaos]

ummm i dunno, but I bought that game as well

[soniCron]

@BinaryMoon: Thanks for the clarification. I knew something was up when I saw half a million games on their own site. Either way, they were responsible, in some form, though I hold developers in a far higher regard than publishers. (Call me a fool.)

[VladR]

For me, it also starts too hard (or maybe boring). You`ve got to take only few minerals in each batch and return home immediatelly to refuel since the fuel expires in just few seconds of the drill, which is quite boring at the start. It`d be better if you had at least triple the fuel capacity from the very start.

But it`s a good game nevertheless. Good to see RPG concepts being applied differently than just by killing orcs.

[bignobody]

Heh, it's a glorified version of the old Commodore PET game Miner by Ron Longfellow. Good times!

[jjcorreia]

I can see there are some misconceptions here :)


EDIT : ... ok - I've just seen Motherload on Say Design. Say Design didn't make Motherload. The developers are xgen studios (http://www.xgenstudios.com/).
True


FWIW very little of the content on Say Design is originally by them. They seem to be doing more themselves these days, but their early content in particular was made by others.
Not true. :eek:


They're more of a publisher than anything.
Totally false. We are a development company, always have been. Indie game companies often operate as their own publishers.

@BinaryMoon: Thanks for the clarification. I knew something was up when I saw half a million games on their own site. Either way, they were responsible, in some form, though I hold developers in a far higher regard than publishers. (Call me a fool.)

99% of our games are done by Say Design team members.

Because of the way the game industry works, indie companies team members often have their own companies, even if they work full time for the bigger one. This is often the result of a team being comprised of part time & full time contractors and only a few employees. So while we are building a Say Design game, some of the team members will also decide to throw the game in their porfolio under their personal company, even though it is a Say Design managed and developed game. That why you'll see some Say Design games on other sites. Those are mostly our team members.

Additionally, gaming companies often trade games with our friends/associates. Motherload is an example of that. It was built entirely by XGen, and I believe we are working with them to create other versions of it. Whereas if you go to XGen's website, you'll see games like S.M.A.R.T. that XGen had no hand in developing. SMART was developed by Say Design, not XGen, but XGen wanted it on their website, just like we wanted motherload. This doesnt mean that XGen is a publisher though, just means there was a trade or some other deal.

As another example, even though XGen is a development company too, they have partnered with us to develop their next game. I am doing the coding on the game, they are doing some other dev. We are both doing dev, but have teamed together. When its done you will like see it in both of our portfolios.

It basically all has to do with the individuals that are part of the team at the time, and what their status is (employed, contracted, full time contracted member, etc).

In short, we are a development team, but like pretty much every other small game company (and many of the big ones) we sub out portions of the project to individuals or companies if we are overloaded at the moment or prefer for our biz friends to do something cause we love their work (just like XGen is doing with us). Development is what we love (I'm lead dev) and I would be out of a job if we were just publishing other peoples stuff and not actually developing it.

Any questions, just ask.

[Pyabo]

Aw man... you had to re-activate this year old thread... now I might have to go back and play Motherload again. :o