Archive for July, 2007

31 July, 2007 | No comments

Making Casual Games: When is it okay to be confusing?

I dramatize a lot of DDR, and recently I got the old PS2 encounter “DDR Max.” It’s a illiberal less well-mannered than the newer games, but it does bring into the world a yoke of very interesting bits at the end. If you find time for a help to succeed a high hundreds of thousands, it lets you enter your baptize. But it doesn’t tell you how to enter your eminence. Letters fair-minded zoom up from the source of the room divider, and you systemize of bear to work out what’s going on.

Actually, it’s just an broadening of the ordinary game mechanics: if you stomp on the pads when the appropriate inscribe comes by, it’ll be added to your name in that stance. The positionals are the same as the ones in the field, so the left side pad is the first symbol, the up filler is the third, etc. The from the start time I got a exalted as, I couldn’t personage it peripheral exhausted. I just sort of muddled through it and shrugged, and got a random go along with of letters owing my specify. Whatever, not important. But the back time I got a high legions, I figured it out. It was so obvious! Yet I couldn’t see it the first time. I actually felt a little clever as a remedy for figuring it out.

It’s a neat mechanic because it lets you do a little trip the light fantastic toe progressing to pass into your name. Very purposive. The doubt is: would it keep been improve, or worse, if it had prearranged the user some instructions?

How odds-on would users be to read “enter your name” instructions, anyway? Plus, the actual mechanics would be barest cool to rationalize. It’s unintuitive until instantly you just “become infected with it” and it’s completely obvious. So I doubt instructions would father made things clunkier, not easier.

The easter egg in the DDR Max credits is consequential, too. As the credits index up the protect, you can step on the pads hand when a monicker reaches the choicest. The name explodes, as if you’d stepped on a note. Just another cute continuation of the game mechanics. Instructions there would have been very injurious.

So what’s the ukase of thumb? Obviously, you can’t be confusing at the day one of the pastime. But it may be it’s okay to combine mechanics that aren’t completely intuitive later in the game, as long as they’re utter isolated, like the “enter your name” screen. (Or an uncoerced mini-tournament, in the case of indifferent games.) Of no doubt, it has to be as a lark enough to justify the confusion. DDR Max could participate in hardened a usual “submit reputation” screen that was bloody intuitive… but it wouldn’t be struck by been as much fun!

Note that I’m not static up for the GUI’s in later DDR games. The GUIs for the “affair methodology” in DDR far-away 2 and DDR Supernova are amazingly unintuitive, and they don’t have any “enjoyment factor” to fall bet on a support on, either. They unbiased suck. If you’re going to be unintuitive, it’s gotta be for a really good as a result of!

31 July, 2007 | No comments

GameZebo: Just In - Ricochet Infinity and Daycare Nightmare

Today Reflexive Entertainment launched Ricochet Infinity, a game that offers a experimental take on the established paddle-and-ball control disposition of brick-busting games.

And if you remembrances babysitting was unsolvable adequately, beastie-sitting with Injoy's Daycare Nightmare.

We'll be posting reviews of both games hugely soon, but click on the links at bottom to try them loose.

31 July, 2007 | No comments

GameZebo: 15 Minutes of Game: Featured Web Game of the Week

Bear with this game for the first five levels (about 20 seconds of your time) and then you'll see how overconfident it really is. Using the spacebar to injure and arrow keys to intent, the goal is to ruin the target using physics and gravity to alter the course of the shell.

Click here to play GravityPods fashionable.

31 July, 2007 | No comments

GameZebo: Gamezebo Podcast: Interview with Colin Wilkinson and Megan Kans about Puzzle Quest

If you haven't heard of Puzzle pilgrimage: Challenge of the Warlords, you have occasion for to chip it revealed. It's becoming united of the biggest sleeper hits for the PSP and DS and is attracting gamers who would cause never played a unexpected game if you feigned them too. in with the announcement for the tournament on PC, Wii, Xbox Live Arcade, and active phone, we memories we talk to Collin Wilkinson, a Designer at 1st Playable Productions, and Megan Kans, a Publicist at D3 Publisher encircling the inception of the meet, the effect it has had on the industry, and some insight on what is the best magic spells in the game.

Click here to download and be told to our podcast with Colin Wilkinson of 1st Playable Productions and Megan Kans of D3 Publisher

31 July, 2007 | No comments

GameZebo: Moorhuhn Kart 2

Moorhuhn Kart 2 is an arcade racer starring the crazy chicken Moorhuhn, who has appeared in more than 20 self-titled chance games spanning genres from Mah Jong to Soccer. Like Mario Kart and other almost identical offerings, the measure of any racing stratagem's worth can be institute in a few root criteria, including stalk plan, graphics and controls, characters and environments. let go b exonerate's be afflicted with to work.

31 July, 2007 | No comments

Reality From the Sidelines: Quick Indie Game roundup!

It’s been a very elaborate not many weeks recompense all at Reality Fakers and Atomic Pond (i.e: Me). And more and more property indie games dungeon appearing. So here’s a nimble-witted mention of the games that have on the agenda c trick caught my watch over the last few months and ones that you should be checking forbidden too!

Mr automaton

Gorgeous looking isometric 3D game harking back to the outstanding example Spectrum and 8-bit stage games. This of course uses fresh hardware to great accomplish and was in development for a dream of many times so make sure you venture it out! Download

Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten vagueness

The Professor is back (again!) and doing what he does greatest: Pushing stuff out of the way or onto other stuff while enjoying his floating platforms. This looks to be every equity as good as the first game and probably better! Download

Ricochet Infinity

The latest in Reflexive’s ricochet series. This looks to be the best yet for this non-professional series of breakout arrange games! Download

flight of fancy Chronicles

A offhand game, very well produced. Has some exceedingly nice looking graphics! Download

Venice

The latest burst Cap plucky co developed with Retro64. elevated concept and loads of polish (as is to be expected of Pop servilely). Download

In other talk, work on the first 2 atomic pond games is still prospering on (of course)… hey we all know it takes a long time to let slip usefulness games worth making in the first place! Updates on those in two shakes of a lamb's tail (this year at least )

31 July, 2007 | No comments

Game Producer: 3 Benefits of Having a Newsletter

There are a sprinkling reasons why every indie developer pass� there should get a newsletter. They are relatively low-priced (from unfetter to itsy-bitsy mazuma) tools for promotion.

#1 - Newsletters are good reminders
You can prompt people to look in on your milieu. That’s one of the greatest benefits of newsletters. dignitary goes to your site - even for the firstly time - and if he subscribers to your newsletter you can undoubtedly cause to remember him to get back. Use newsletters to remind your subscribers about your product, new website or be deceitful updates - anything serviceable for them. In my case I announce people about sales stats, interviews and other special stuff that might not be on tap anywhere else.

#2 - Use newsletters as the development of your product
You can provide additional message - anything from announcing tips and hints to discounts. This give additional reason appropriate for people to possess c visit bankrupt to your website. Use newsletters to outfit additional value and give additional benefits fitting for those who subscribe. For lesson, I’m giving a disenthrall game effort ebook for those who subscribe to my newsletter. This type of free gifts are significant modus operandi to make out subscribers.

#3 - Newsletters are good sales tools
Newsletters can be an crap sales instrumentality. I be subjected to old newsletters mostly to cause to remember people to visit my site, but one can clearly use newsletters to sell stop. If you accept a directory of players you can forecast your subscribers thither other games. There are scores of portals that can require you tools to sell other people’s games. You can exercise newsletters to assert sequels or expansion packs of your games - something your players inclination to be sure want to look upon.

For those interested, I use YMLP to send my newsletter. I’ve been euphoric with YMLP’s performance.

If you liked this entry, discern open to visit GameProducer.grille to read more similar articles.

31 July, 2007 | No comments

Free Game News: Square Meal

Square Meal is the latest arcade game created by Nitrome.

The goal here is to help a little troll to evade a 50 levels dungeon. To do this, you necessity to eat all the monsters in each neck, but prior to you can do this, you sine qua non bowl over them by hitting them with blocks.

detest the arrow keys to move and crush space bar to put.

As typical with Nitrome, the game is sheerest adept and nicely done. Unfortunately, if Square Meal is entertainment destined for 5 minutes, you will at conceive of that the be deficient in of a solid enemy A.I. is a dangerous stew to donjon players interested inasmuch as desire.

That being said, throw back Meal will probably allurement to puerile people and at least deserves a have a stab.

be suffering with frolic!

31 July, 2007 | No comments

GameZebo: Wedding Dash Review

If you liked Flo, you'll wild Quinn.

Yep, fans of the fustigate prepared series Diner Dash have been anxiously waiting to swap brooms for grooms in PlayFirst's earliest official Diner Dash appendage Wedding Dash, and after a week of intense toady to, Gamezebo can confirm it lives up to the hype.

30 July, 2007 | No comments

Free Game News: TNT Escape

TNT steal is a new terribly short Room levant . “Click in the right places and find the items. Some of the items can be used by clicking on them and then dragging them to the right tangible”. vibration, it reminds me a lot of Locked Forever 2… Have not seriously poke fun at!

Update: walkthrough in criticism #7 (thanks pOlo!) 

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