[Feedback Request] Mythic Inlay

[Sakura Games]

Hello all,
this is our first post and we would like to have feedback on our first serious attempt at casual game making.
The game is called Mythic Inlay and as you can imagine is a mosaic/puzzle game with greek mythology setting. Game is currently in Beta stage, almost finished (hopefully). Download size is about 11mb.

Download link for Pc (http://www.sakuragames.com/games/MythicInlayTrial.exe)
Download link for Mac (http://www.sakuragames.com/games/MythicInlayTrial.zip)

Screenshot01 (http://www.sakuragames.com/images/mythicinlay01.jpg)
Screenshot02 (http://www.sakuragames.com/images/mythicinlay02.jpg)
Screenshot03 (http://www.sakuragames.com/images/mythicinlay03.jpg)
Screenshot04 (http://www.sakuragames.com/images/mythicinlay04.jpg)
Screenshot05 (http://www.sakuragames.com/images/mythicinlay05.jpg)

Fun to see that another similar game was announced today :) of course we're just beginner and don't pretend to compete with big companies like Reflexive. We tried to focuse more on gameplay than big production values.

Any kind of feedback is welcome, expecially on technical issues you might encounter...!

[Anlino]

We tried to focuse more on gameplay than big production values.

Seems pretty strange, when you are creating a inlay-game:)

[Anlino]

I think that you need to change the difficult of the levels remarkably. Start out with small levels, so that you only will have to put in maybe 10 pieces to finish it. Slowly use larger and more complicated patterns.

During the first two levels i played, i didn't encounter any special pieces or power-ups. I think you should add some special stuff, to keep gameplay interesting.

Something i liked, was the map editor. I haven't seen any map-editors in other Inlay games, but i haven't played that many either:) A nice addition none the less.

There are some issues that will need attention, but for a first game, it looks really nice. Congratiulations!:)

[Bmc]

I think you should change the name.

You may get into some type of legal trouble.

[Jack Norton]

Changing the name wouldn't be a big problem I guess, but why could be legal issue? I don't understand :confused:

[Anlino]

I believe that they have a couple of titles out, all of them named *something* inlay.

[Bmc]

well it makes it seem like they are trying to piggy-back on the brand Puzzle Lab/Gamehouse built and it's very possible it could confuse customers.

[Bmc]

I believe that they have a couple of titles out, all of them named *something* inlay.
if you are talking about the company who made this game my point is proven.

there are a bunch of inlay games out, but they are all developed by Puzzle Lab and some of those are published by Gamehouse

[Sakura Games]

Didn't though you could copyright words as "Inlay", I mean is not like the game is named "Mythic Zuma" or "Mythic Chuzzles" !
We might ask Puzzlelab directly what they think about it, we don't want to have troubles with anyone :)

[James C. Smith]

It’s not a question of copyrighting a word. It is question of weather or not it creates confusion in the market place. Is it likely that this name will cause a typical customer in your target audience be confused into believing that this game is from the makers of Magic Inlay or that it is a licensed use of the Magic Inlay brand? Puzzlelab owns the trademark Magic Inlay. You may be infringing on that trademark by making a similar products, in the same market, with a similar name. If you make a new mountain bike or soft drink named Mythic Inlay then it is less likely to create confusion in the marketplace. They don’t own the word inlay. But naming a downloadable casual game so similarly to another downloadable casual game could be considered to be creating confusion in the marketplace.

This has nothing to do with copyright or patents. This is a trademark issue. There is no explicit rule about if it is okay or not. It is open to interpretation and the benchmark is the “confusion on the marketplace” question.

[Sakura Games]

Ok I think I understood, even if I still think there's difference for example if I called it "Big Kahuna Inlay" ... anyway just to avoid any kind of troubles, we're going to change the name to "Mythic Quest".

That sounds better? I know there's Amazon Quest but is a match3 game so should be ok.

[jankoM]

I would rather play it safe and change the name at least a little. is Mythic "Layin" a word btw :o

//edit: I see now you allready said you will change it... Just my small oppinion... there is so many Quests allready.

[Andrey Fomin]

... we're going to change the name to "Mythic Quest". That sounds better? ...

Yes, much better :)

[Sakura Games]

Hello!
yes, we are peaceful people ;) actually I thought even better "Mythic Adventure", since there's another inlay game, Arctic Quest.
Adventure should be ok with anyone!

[Anlino]

Sounds good:)

[JoKa]

Hm...and what about the famous "Hero Quest"? Ok, just kidding :)

You should choose a name including "Atlantis". Considering the amount of Atlantis-games no one will care about that ;)

[Sakura Games]

The only problem was with Puzzlelab I think, as James explained, because we made same kind of game with same "Inlay"...
The various Atlantis games are different kind of games (match3, zuma clone).