Are HOG's still bestsellers across the universe?

[gamer247]

I need a wake up call. I've been working on my first ever game (HOG) for nearly 2 years on my own. I myself is an artist with a bit of programming skills.
My goal is to make 30-33 unique levels/scenes, 60% spot the difference 40% hidden object levels with no mini games so far, but I'll try to add some memory games and match3. Almost all hidden object levels have some hidden sub levels 1 or 2 more (like there is a chest on the main scene to which you find a key and explore it for further so you might say + 10 more hidden object levels to the original 30-33 levels.
Currently I'm working on 28th scene and in about 2 months will be wrapping it all up.

So the question is, are HOG's still good to bet on?
And what do you think about my project build ?

I'd like to hear from people who actually published a HOG.
Thank you

[Vdek]

Are you releasing the game for mobile?

To be honest, you'll never know until you release it. Your game could be so well done that it could become an outlier and make you a fortune, or it could be mediocre and lay in the wastelands with all the other HOG games out there.

[PoV]

No genre is ever a "good bet". A genre means others have done it many many times before. When something is mega saturated like that, why would customers buy one that is unpopular?

[gamer247]

It's for PC/Mac
I dont think a HOG would nicely fit on a mobile device and hence be playable, because of the size.

[Indinera]

On BFG they still are.

[gamer247]

No genre is ever a "good bet". A genre means others have done it many many times before. When something is mega saturated like that, why would customers buy one that is unpopular?

Well when I started it was almost like you copy/paste in PS and still it would sell good

[amaranth]

I'd look at this video from Casual Connect. It discusses the pros and cons of HOGs in mobile from BFG founder, Paul Thelen.
http://casualconnect.org/lectures/mo...s-paul-thelen/

I'll second that opinion about HOGs still being very popular... at least on BFG website and iPAD top games list.

[svero]

The main problem I'd say is not the popularity of the genre itself, but rather the level of competition. That there are a *LOT* of HOGs and adventure hybrids coming out, and most of them are fairly high quality titles. In the last month or so there were over 20 releases of top 10 charting HOGs. That's a lot of competition! Many companies seem to have the development of this style of title down to an efficient assembly line. If you play a lot of them one right after another it's hard not to notice that they're all very very similar. It's basically a formula and the games are not code heavy, but rather content heavy, and so it's easy, if you have the resources (and many of these companies do, working out of the ukraine/russia etc... teams of 20+ artists working for comparatively low salaries) to have teams working in parallel developing scenes for a new game under the direction of a lead artist/producer. So what does it all mean? You can still make money, and the market is still there, but you need a game that can hold it's own in a large volume of high quality new titles, and you need to produce it at a reasonable cost.

[SteveZ]

-oops, double post-

[SteveZ]

HOGs make alot of money if done right. Yes, huge competition, but also high consumption rate, so people will play your HOG. Question is do you have the production value to grab their attention.

If you want to increase potential $$$ from your HOG, some suggestions:
1. Don't do spot the difference.
2. Memory game not ideal. Instead do a couple really good progressive interactive puzzles.
3. Do more scenes and item interactions, the adventure element of HOGs are hot nowadays.
4. Focus on the first 15 minutes and put your best stuff in the beginning. Remember, see your golden hour in the game as an advertisement of the product as a whole.

[Jack Norton]

I've been pleased with the increasing "classic adventure" gameplay element in the latest HOGs. I even played some of them until the end of the demo (something that I never did with "old-style" HOGs). Now I only need to find 50k to pay artists to make one!

[luggage]

HOGs make alot of money if done right. Yes, huge competition, but also high consumption rate, so people will play your HOG. Question is do you have the production value to grab their attention.

If you want to increase potential $$$ from your HOG, some suggestions:
1. Don't do spot the difference.
2. Memory game not ideal. Instead do a couple really good progressive interactive puzzles.
3. Do more scenes and item interactions, the adventure element of HOGs are hot nowadays.
4. Focus on the first 15 minutes and put your best stuff in the beginning. Remember, see your golden hour in the game as an advertisement of the product as a whole.

I was going to reply with this exact same bit of advice when I saw you mentioned the Spot the Difference bit, players aren't that keen on it. It's a good idea to read the forums over at Gamezebo and Bigfish to get a feel for the players.

I'd also add, make sure you have some kind of hook to draw the player into the game.

[Pallav Nawani]

I've been pleased with the increasing "classic adventure" gameplay element in the latest HOGs. I even played some of them until the end of the demo (something that I never did with "old-style" HOGs). Now I only need to find 50k to pay artists to make one!

You should play Pahelika: Revelations when it comes out then All adventure - No pixel hunting.

[Jack Norton]

Cool, I will check it out!

[tjc]

HOGs make alot of money if done right. Yes, huge competition, but also high consumption rate, so people will play your HOG. Question is do you have the production value to grab their attention.

If you want to increase potential $$$ from your HOG, some suggestions:
1. Don't do spot the difference.
2. Memory game not ideal. Instead do a couple really good progressive interactive puzzles.
3. Do more scenes and item interactions, the adventure element of HOGs are hot nowadays.
4. Focus on the first 15 minutes and put your best stuff in the beginning. Remember, see your golden hour in the game as an advertisement of the product as a whole.

Listen to this man; some of the best selling HoG/Adventure titles on BFG have come from Steve.