Original idea or Following the market

[bennylam]

I am new to Indie game business though I've been working in IT industry for many years (mostly on enterprise solution, customized applications for gov..).

In the past few months, as a part-time interest, I've developed a number puzzle game with my own original idea and I've setup up a Website for it. However, as I learned more about the indie game industry and market, it seemed that I've been taking a wrong approach.

I've got only a few downloads in a month. Don't mention any sales. It was expected before but I've got some comments like "It's a bit interesting but not for a paid game". I think the game may not be fun enough for others. I think my target (anyone like sudoku kind of game) and positioning is also an issue.

I am wondering what should be a right approach then?
1. Improve the game with better graphic (more eye candy)
2. Forget the game with original design and start working on something well accepted (e.g. match 3 type, or 3D type) and appealing to common players with proven approach (e.g cloning the successful games with improvement).

Any suggestion.

[Coyote]

Both.

Do what you can to improve the game, find out what you can do to improve sales.

And take what you learn to game #2.

[RedKnight]

1. Improve the game with better graphic (more eye candy)


Don't forget to Tweak.




are you from HK?
Went I was there I haven't seen any local Indie game studios.
:D

[mustardseed]

Well, I checked out your site, and quite frankly I was not compelled to download the game. The screenshot looked boring and plain, which will turn off many people who are genuinely looking for a mentally engaging title (like myself).

At the same time all the numbers looked a little intimidating for someone just looking for a mindless clickfest like a match-3.

You may try it as a freeware title to get some recognition and traffic for your company and try something a little more polished for your next game.

Also maybe get an artist to help out your site or get a template or something. Generic osCommerce installs with a lame logo = major turn off.

[Teq]

I am new to Indie game business though I've been working in IT industry for many years (mostly on enterprise solution, customized applications for gov..).

In the past few months, as a part-time interest, I've developed a number puzzle game with my own original idea and I've setup up a Website for it. However, as I learned more about the indie game industry and market, it seemed that I've been taking a wrong approach.

I've got only a few downloads in a month. Don't mention any sales. It was expected before but I've got some comments like "It's a bit interesting but not for a paid game". I think the game may not be fun enough for others. I think my target (anyone like sudoku kind of game) and positioning is also an issue.

I am wondering what should be a right approach then?
1. Improve the game with better graphic (more eye candy)
2. Forget the game with original design and start working on something well accepted (e.g. match 3 type, or 3D type) and appealing to common players with proven approach (e.g cloning the successful games with improvement).

Any suggestion.

Keep the idea, perhaps add something to increase interest as you play (a lot of games employ power ups for that, but I'm sure you can be more imaginative) and make the game (and your website) a little more interesting to look at (please don't look at my site as an example, its really just a place holder :p)

[Polycount Productions]

Maybe these could be of some help:
How Do You Get Your Game to Market? (http://gameproducer.net/2006/02/09/how-do-you-sell-your-game-to-customers/)
Basic Marketing Plan For Indie Games (http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060519/jusso_01.shtml)
Dexterity Articles (http://www.dexterity.com/articles/)
How To Get More Traffic to Your Site? (http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/03/26/hot-to-get-more-traffic-to-your-game-site/)
The Three-Phase Business Plan of The Underpants Gnomes (http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/04/22/the-underpants-gnomes-three-phase-business-plan/)

[mahlzeit]

You could make a game that is actually fun to play. Prime numbers can be fun, but your game mechanics seem lacking. Each player just picks a number and that's it. Also, calculating prime factors seems a little too out there for normal people (i.e. non-math geeks). I'm all for original ideas, but maybe next time you can do something more interesting with primes. Also, the GUI of your game isn't very good (typing in the number of players/the level number, for example). And you need to spell check. That's about it. ;)

[Nexic]

Your game has a couple of problems impacting it's sales potential.

1. It looks pretty drab. It's the kind of thing people might pay for in 1995 but not today. You need liven things up, have interesting graphics and sounds, maybe give it a theme with a cute character or something.

2. It's a little too intellectual. Chess and Mahjong are intelligent games, but the way they are presented and played makes them feel less nerdy. The fact that you are using actual numbers just makes it seem like more of a chore than fun. Taking action on my first point would help this.

Personally I feel that although the sales of this game can be vastly improved, it will never really be a big seller. Having said that doing a match-3 requires a ton of polish and nice graphics to sell well, and from the looks of your game that's currently not your strong area. Possibly you could try and come up with an original, but slightly more simple puzzle game? One that involves a bit more energetic gameplay?

[bennylam]

Thanks for all your comments.

It's helpful and I am working on the look and feel now.

[walkal]

I doubt if improving the look and feel is going to make a huge difference to the success of your game.

It looks like it would appeal to a very specific niche market - a much smaller group than those who enjoy Sudoku. It is often pointed out that, although Sudoku uses numbers, there are no calculations or maths of any kind involved. This is probably an important factor in its broad appeal.

So Prime Hunter is going to appeal only to a certain type of person, but this needn't be a cause for despair. If you can get a large percentage of prime number enthusiasts to buy your game, because it's the only game of its kind, this might be just as good as getting a small percentage of a broader audience.

But your potential customers have to know you exist. Doing a Google search on "prime number games" doesn't seem to bring up your site, at least not in the first couple of pages.

So my suggestion, for what it's worth, would be to put some effort into getting links to your site on relevant other sites, such as recreational maths forums. In this way you can start reaching some of your potential audience - both through direct links, and via better search engine placement resulting from these links.

Of course, jazzing up the appearance of your game and website can't hurt. But look and feel may be less important to the maths nerd demographic than it is to the match-3 demographic!

[oNyx]

Thinking can be pretty entertaining, but only as long as its a subtle thing. A good* casual game design requires very little thinking, but gives you some advantage if you think ahead on your own.

[* "good" means that it appeals to a big audience]

Many puzzle or match3 games are like this. Playing the game itself is pretty straightforward and planning is completely optional, but will result in a higher score.

Games are like tests, but they shouldnt feel like that.

But the complete opposite can also work just fine. One popular example would be the Brain Training series for the Nintendo DS.

Right now your game fails in both categories. For a casual game its too plain and as a brain training kind of program it lacks varity, statistics and single player focus. Thats the whole problem. It isnt really about original vs cloning as your initial post suggests.

So, pick on of those two categories (or something completely different) and focus on that. Page, colors, copy, layout, media... everything. Everything should clearly show that its about this kind of thing (whatever that might be).