Bob's Game – for OUYA and PC
kickstarter.com
kickstarter.com
I really believe in my puzzle game (better than Tetris!) and tried to do a modest and reasonable Kickstarter, especially considering the game is already there. Ouya will double the amount if the campaign is successful, and I think it's a good platform for my game.
Anyway, it's in the last hours of the campaign and I am going to keep trying to push it until the last second, I'm not giving up! All it will take is finding one person, or getting posted on a big blog or something for a couple of hours, since the target is so low.
Either way, I like what they stand for and it really is a good little platform for indie development!
Also your kickstarter is horrible. Most people will decide within seconds whether to take a closer look at a project or not. And the first impression here is "glorified Tetris". That is all most people will see and thus move on.
I am the type of person that needs to sell a "white box of quality" rather than a "flashy box of mediocrity," even if this causes me difficulty in marketing.
Even it isn't the best way to market it, it is the right choice for me.
I was hoping this was "Bob's Game", the RPG, that maybe you'd started a kickstarter to finally finish the thing and publish it for PC instead of DS, but no, you bring us this.
It's my suspicion that if you were a bit ballsier and capitalized on the already substantial publicity from "Bob's Game" you'd make more money faster than with this apparently halfhearted attempt. Why would someone pay for what appears at a moment's glance to be yet another Tetris clone?
The life of an indie dev is hard and pointed towards failure or development hell by default, I wish you luck, but I think you're making mistakes with regards to your use of time and existing publicity.
Maybe you wanted to do a smaller project to make quick money to fix the bigger project, but this isn't really appealing, its just Tetris, even if that's not true, its what everyone thinks.
I thought I might comment rather than leaving you to wonder why you're getting pageviews and not donations.
I can see why people would get that impression though. I unfortunately don't know a better way to get people to realize what it really is.
The game looks interesting in the footage you put on the Kickstarter page (would've been good to edit it down some, though, maybe make an effort to highlight the gameplay variety), but the actual description doesn't give much in the way of real specifics, and the screenshots are kind of undermined by the fact that the framing stage backdrop is there in every one.
Ultimately I wish you had made the effort to get this out there earlier. (Maybe you did and I never saw it?) Given that it's the last hours and you're so far from your goal, that will probably discourage a lot of people from backing who might have otherwise.
The RPG was definitely not a publicity stunt, I genuinely did work on it full time for five years (now 10). The publicity stunt I did sort of backfired in that the internet sort of forgot the legitimate work and focused entirely on the stunt, which damaged the credibility of the project.
Thanks, I didn't really have good enough equipment to edit on so that's a major factor. I actually had to borrow a machine to get that gameplay footage, as my Macbook can't really run and record it at a decent FPS.
I have been trying to make efforts to get it out there, but I just haven't gotten any traction.
I was genuinely talking to the Dingoo (Chinese handheld) manufacturers about making a custom handheld and had them agree to a very good price point, but I failed to get any traction trying to get investment since I had no idea what I was doing, and I was too early for Kickstarter at the time (I am glad, it would have been way too much responsibility!). Since then Android devices have improved so much so quickly I don't think it makes sense anymore to bother developing a Linux based handheld. I would rather see something like an OUYA handheld for $50, as developing for Android is a very pleasant process and there is already a great library.
This puzzle game was playable on bobsgame.com as a Java applet for 6 month in the context of playing it in the stadium by using the nD handheld.
Has the author considered thinking of a new name for his game?
I have never heard of "bob's game". So all this stuff about it being the game from inside the "legendary" "bob's game" just befuddles me. Big Kickstarter tip: assume that most of the people coming to your page will have never heard of you, or a single thing you've done, and make your pitch accordingly.
The video doesn't make this look too much fun; is it actually presented in this tournament view with a dude wandering around trash-talking you, and really annoying crowd audio loops over it? And occasional random green lights drifting around the picture of a monitor on the screen? Because the game looks kind of pretty in an abstract way, but that endless loop of a screeching crowd and three seconds of music makes me want to throw something through my speakers after a few minutes. It could be kinda fun to trance out to this thing if I was just looking at the actual game screen and hearing its noises, but given that all the screenshots match this video I'm going to assume it's got this super obnoxious frame around it all the time.
And what's going on in the video? I dunno. Where's some text telling me about the cool features of this game? I'm watching some blobs get dropped in a well, and there seem to be no consistent rules, or cues that the rules are changing. The shapes change, the effects change, and there's no rhyme or reason. Playing a game whose rules are constantly changing under me with no warning really doesn't sound like fun. The text suggests that this is actually one of the unique selling points of this game - convince me in your pitch that this is actually a cool thing instead of something that will constantly frustrate me.
Who are you? Why do you want to make this game? How passionate about making it are you? This is a crucial component of a good KS video: seeing the face(s) behind the idea, hearing the enthusiasm in their voice at the idea of getting to actually make this thing. Learning something about their credentials - what have you delivered before, why should I be convinced you've got what it takes to actually give me something?
Tiers: $4 for the game. $25 for beta/forum access. These tiers aren't doing much for you. Assume that nobody will ever pledge anything more than the base "gimme the thing" level, how many backers will you need? 1667 backers. That is insane. If the price for actually getting the game was $25, you'd have a much more feasible number of 265 backers.
Really, this feels like the only market for this is total ultra obsessive Tetris fans. I play drop-stuff-in-a-well games every now and then, but I'm honestly not moved by this pitch to even try playing a demo of it (which doesn't seem to exist anywhere?), much less spend any money on it.
Good luck, but I don't think you're going to come anywhere near success with this campaign. Scrap it and start again, after remaking your pitch and workshopping the hell out of it.
I don't have the equipment or resources to really edit a better video. I think it's important to just let the product speak for itself. I really believe in the game and that it is the first puzzle game that is genuinely better than Tetris, which is perhaps the most difficult game development feat.
The tournament setting will not be there in the OUYA version, it is the final scene from the "bob's game" RPG. I haven't had the chance to make a build outside of that context yet.
I want to keep the game very inexpensive so that many OUYA owners will buy it and make it more fun for everyone by having a larger tournament pool, and I can't really offer any greater value than the game itself. I don't feel right selling a poster or a t-shirt for more than the game, since the game itself took so much more effort.
I appreciate your critique and I understand where you are coming from and why your suggestions are successful, but I don't have the resources to do what you're suggesting, which is why I'm doing the Kickstarter in the first place- which is really in the original spirit of Kickstarter itself.
Also if the tournament setting won't be there in the actual product then why on earth is it in the video and images? IMHO it's actively driving people away from your game. Present what you're intending to actually deliver.
Oh, and the easy higher tier to draw larger donors in: Your Name In The Credits. Name A Game Mode. Name A Level. Etc, etc.
I haven't really been able to make a build outside the context of the RPG yet.
Originally I had a "name in the credits" tier but decided to remove it, because I didn't know how to handle it for future versions of the game. Everyone is supposed to be able to make their own level/mode, so that's out.
Then why the hell did you bother in the first place?
From your other comments, though, it's obvious that you don't intend to listen to any criticism. So, believe whatever you want. Perhaps you can make another game based upon bob's game (which is based upon bob's game which is based upon "bob's game"). Maybe call this one 'bob's game'? Or how about A Game of Bobs?
I want to develop for OUYA because I like their stance on development and it is a nice home console I can put my game on with real controls. Whether they are a "flop" or not has nothing to do with that, and I think it is too early to make that call regardless.
* Kickstarter is all about the creator. While a high production value video certainly has huge impact, it's definitely doable on low budget/equipment, especially at the reasonably small scale you're going for. Just show your darned face, and talk to the camera. Or at the very least get someone who gets your game to voice-over the video. Talk after the initial "hook clip" of the game, and then talk again at the very end asking for backer support. You have the huge advantage of being a developer with a game that's popular and well-liked. Sell yourself, the creator of that!
* The biggest reason it makes sense to show your face is because your passion is expected to shine through. All I see now is some dude whipping up a really low budget side project game, doesn't know how to pitch it, and seems too lazy to take the time to learn, and seems really just out for some free cashmonies from OUYA's FreeTheGames fund by raising a small amount of money for his side project. It feels like you don't want to show your face because you are aware how shoddy this pitch is, and don't want to actually be associated with it ever. You just want the money as easily as possible and disappear for now. I understand basically none of these things are true, and that you actually really need the money, and really care about the project and the campaign.
* You say you have a gameplay video. Please put it immediately after the explanation of the gameplay uniqueness, instead of screenshots that look like Tetris with garbled text beside it. Preferably voice over it too.
* Yes, the music/crowd cheer white noise is damn annoying. Just reduce the volume of the crowd cheer if finding a better background track is impossible. Gameplay is fine eyecandy otherwise.
* Please change the copy. This should really take like an hour of your time, and 10 minutes each from 3-4 of your friends to proofread it. Avoid superlatives (greatest game ever made) and overuse of exclamations, and somehow make your Kickstarter title start with an upper case character. Nothing looks like a teenager IM'd it to me like a lower case starting character for a page title. I know it's the official name of the game, but try rephrase the title so it can start in caps.
* I didn't even want to watch the video. I usually start playing the video to listen to the dialogue, and then skim the page contents as I do that. You assume prior knowledge from the get-go. I've lost interest. I don't even want to share this again out of sympathy for you, because it squanders my social capital sharing stuff I can't even respond to. Which makes me feel terrible, because I really want to see low-budget indies still being able to succeed (as I foresee myself being in your position, but probably with less momentum).
* Your reward tiers are pretty boring, and also super-low value. You need to offer something more interesting than forum access. There's a lack of perceived value here too. Sell the game higher, and make reward tiers with easy (and standard KS fare) things like personalized thank you notes, credits on the website, shoutout in the game credits, etc. People love that stuff, and it's pretty much no extra work for you (notes/tshirts have fulfillment companies that just take a cut of your already-profits).
My background: Coming in as a fresh indie dev, who worked heavily on the successful kickstarter for my fulltime startup as well. I am an avid gamer since I was 6. I primarily play PC games, and have mediocre familiarity with console games. I have not heard of "bob's game," but I was curious enough to look it up. That's a lot of credibility you have to ride on, don't squander it on a really shoddy pitch.
Edited for grammer