

Challenge: Make a game, sell 1 copy by Oct 31st - allenp
http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/2010/09/22/povs-challenge-make-a-game-sell-1-copy/

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mr_luc
I am ... ( _takes deep breath_ ) ... going to do this.

I'm posting to reserve my place, and to predict that my entry will be the most
stupid-simple of all the HN-ers.

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eogas
Okay, well in that case, I am also ... _(takes comparably deep breath)_ ...
going to do this. And I will attempt to create a game that is even more
stupid-simple than yours.

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mkilling
Great idea. There's a point when creating a game stops being fun and begins to
feel like hard work. It's the ability to push on past that point that
separates the people who ship from the ones who don't.

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chc
I'm curious: What do people making games like this do about graphics? You
couldn't possibly afford to pay someone, and I can't imagine that everyone
with a game idea is also skilled at drawing and/or modeling.

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benologist
I pay my art guys a combination of flat rate + % of licensing (flash games).

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city41
Where did you find them? Finding reliable artists is not easy.

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benologist
I'm a pretty active user / community member at
<http://www.flashgamelicense.com/> which has lots of art, audio and programmer
types.

Even if you're looking at other platforms I'd suggest trying to find an artist
there, there's some great talent.

You can also find art guys at sites like <http://www.newgrounds.com> and
<http://www.deviantart.com> and whatever deal you make can vary, some will do
it for % only, some for ridiculously little amounts of $$$, some will want
ridiculously big amounts of $$$.

I tend to use the same guys (<http://hardcircle.com/>) unless it's a little
project I can do myself. Not cheap but good quality:

<http://inflashstudios.com/survivosaur.jpg>

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og1
This is timely. I just thought of a really simple game that I want to make to
learn iOS development. Definitely doing this.

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city41
Very timely. My plans this weekend are to finally finish my iPad game that's
been over a year in the making :)

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c1sc0
A while ago I gave a colleague a game idea & challenged him to get it in the
AppStore within 1 month just to prove that ideas are worthless. Nothing
happened, so maybe I should do it myself after all?

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Tichy
No, you shouldn't do it. (Edit: just testing your determination)

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ido
You would never succeed with such a ridiculous attitude!

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Tichy
Should I try to prove you wrong? :-)

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fredoliveira
I'm quite curious as to how many people will, after reading the challenge,
actually move on to take it and get a game done. This is one of those simple
ideas that you think quite often but never end up doing. Once it's out there,
however; once someone puts it on the table - then it becomes a challenge. And
challenges are great.

I for one, may just do this.

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benologist
Awesome stuff. I have a new game hopefully luanching next week, and another
one going to auction at FlashGameLicense next week. I love making games.

If you're making HTML5 games check this out too:
<http://www.html5contest.com/>

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fondue
Part of me wants to accept the challenge as I have a simple game sketched-out
but another part of knows that I'll end up with the ability to post an app to
the app store and $25 poorer and no game to show for it.

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allwein
Go ahead and accept the challenge. You don't have to shell out the $25 until
you're actually ready to post to the app store.

So go for it! The only thing you have to lose is a bunch of time and your self
respect if you fail!

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ehnus
I would love to do this, however it is against my employment agreement to
develop and sell games on the side. As cool as this would be, I really would
like to keep my day job. :(

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aberkowitz
Would it be all right if you donated your profits to charity?

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WilliamLP
Wow, making selling a game into a game itself. How brilliant!

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derefr
I've always wanted to write a tool like Game Maker that was built, itself, on
game design principles. Make a level, get XP. Game mechanics that synergize
give you combo points, that you can "spend" on a Mechanical-Turk-like
marketplace to get people to contribute 5-10 minutes of work on your game, or
playtest it. Every time an A/B-tested-metric you've inserted moves positively,
you unlock new premade-resource-packs. Etc.

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TeHCrAzY
It's been done already! Has incredible graphics...

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wtracy
I wonder if freemium games could fit into this contest? Get at least one
person to spend money on your Facebook game by Oct. 31st?

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mr_luc
They say that earning $1 in ad revenue qualifies -- with the implication that
the game would be free. Freemium seems even more legit.

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allenp
I thought this sort of thing would be interesting to HN because of the focus
on the business side and getting out a MVP (MVgame?).

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gierach
Does the MVP model work for games in general? It seems if you're submitting to
Steam, the App Store, Android Market, etc. you'll either end up denied entry
or get buried by the games with a certain level of polish.

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chipsy
I'm pretty sure MVP works for the kind of game that is most likely to become a
viral hit. There is a considerably sharp line between these types of
games(stuff like Farmville, Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress, Fantastic Contraption,
Civilization, Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon) where the mechanics are an aid
towards making the player perform some inherently fun creative and strategic
acts, and big-spend blockbusters driven largely by their built-in
content(Modern Warfare, Final Fantasy, Zelda, World of Warcraft), where nearly
everything is hand-crafted and scripted to give players a controlled
experience.

The latter type of game looks better for marketing purposes and can command a
certain kind of audience that wants couch-potato entertainment - but the first
kind is ultimately more efficient and profitable, because it can exploit the
user's imagination to a far greater extent.

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Psyonic
What evidence do you have that the first kind is ultimately more profitable?
The second group of games you listed are some of the most successful games of
all time... even Civ can't compare to WoW in profits.

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jcl
I'm not sure World of Warcraft is a fair comparison, given that it is a
massively multiplayer subscription game with social ties, where the economics
are totally different.

But if someone has the numbers, I'd love to see how its profit stacks up
against, say, the number one best-selling PC game -- The Sims (and number two:
The Sims 2). On the one hand, WoW benefits from consumer psychology; it's like
buying a new AAA title every three months, and it takes effort to cancel. On
the other hand, WoW must have huge ongoing administrative, overhead, and
content generation costs.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestselling_games>

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dminor
Alright, I'm in. I started an Android game for last year's developer challenge
but didn't finish by the deadline.

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DLWormwood
Technically, I already did this a couple months ago. But the sales I made
didn't cover advertising costs. )-;

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dminor
And the game?

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DLWormwood
Mazespace of the Vor

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durbin
I have a challenge. How about setting your sights a little higher and doing
something that might benefit society. That can be a game but if everyone
designs their own version of 'Angry Birds' then this challenge is idiotic.

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eru
To make it an interesting challenge, you should formulate a more specific
goal.

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iamgabeaudick
In.

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napierzaza
This is dubious depending on where you're selling. If you're selling on the
iTunes App Store then it's impossible to not make one single sale. Mostly
because there are built in promotional mechanisms in the store. It's more
interesting to try and make a unique and economically successful game.

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wccrawford
Actually, that isn't the point.

The point was to get people to actually finish a game and turn them into
'people who have sold a game'. They're a couple of important ego boosts and
carry some lessons.

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9ec4c12949a4f3
Only problem is many people often create clones when they make games.
Obviously your creativity is a qualifier for this.

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eru
Yes. Though clones don't have to be bad. Incremental evolution in gaming is
fine.

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wccrawford
Fun clones of fun games is also fine. They don't necessarily 'need' to evolve,
so long as they are fun.

