The Still of the Night Causes a Storm in the Mind

Back in March Christian Nutt of Gamasutra posed the question “Can The Industry Make a B-game?”

I think I’ve done just that with a little stupid ass title called Kube Killer.  I initially created this game out of frustration.  I was frustrated and angry over my mother’s death (hence this being one of the few violent games I’ve made) and I was also but to a much lesser degree frustrated over the apparent lack of logic within the App Store eco system.

My last post was about making easy games.  I purposely created Kube Killer to be challenge-less and a time waster that would roll as many ads as possible on the business end.  I was analyzing some of the popular games on the iPhone that my younger cousin was playing and they all had something in common, ZERO challenge but plenty of time consumption. When I released Kube Killer I put it out at $0.99 (no ads) at my wife’s request.  In truth though the game was always supposed to be free.  I thought people might play it and actually get caught up challenging each other to see who could in fact kill the most kubes which would be optimal for an ad based title.  It was also created to be somewhat of a satirical poke at the App Store in general, dumb games getting attention they don’t deserve was part of the inspiration for Kube Killer.

At $0.99 the game was mostly ignored.  It sold a few copies but never made any real impact.  Fast forward to this past Friday when I changed the game to free.  Somehow, the game started climbing the charts regardless of the terrible graphics, poor description, and even worse reviews.  Nearly everything about this game signaled people to avoid it at all costs (the icon is even black like the plague) and yet in true App Store fashion the title started climbing the charts extending its figurative middle finger to logic the whole way.

As of right now the game has been downloaded nearly 10,000 times since Friday.  Some of the players have even taken to competing for the most kills via the online leaderboards.  The title is hovering in the Top 30 Adventure games and the Top 20 RPG games and with each iTunes update the rank climbs while the reviews get worse and yet people even started a thread to talk about this waste of time on Touch Arcade!

As I watched this all unfold I was initially ashamed.  If any game was supposed to do well this weekend it was supposed to be my new title Ragduck Hunt which was logically created to appeal to the App Store crowd while actually being a pretty good game with solid production values.  Kube Killer, the red headed step child of my portfolio though is now the most “popular” iPhone game I’ve made.  This game is terrible both purposefully and accidentally (simultaneously) and for some reason people are downloading the crap out of it … stranger still some people are playing the crap out of it.  I think that constitutes a legitimate B-game.

It may sound elementary but making easy games is one way to guarantee yourself a little success when it comes to game development.  I’ve had people compare the gameplay experience some of my games present to earning a master’s degree.  The good thing about that is the good reviews my games receive are well written (thank you educated folks).  The bad thing is that most people cannot enjoy these games.

I started thinking about this topic because a game (Kube Killer) I released and sorta wish I hadn’t has received the same star rating on iTunes as games like Skyline Blade and Disco Pool even though it’s a terrible game.  The game has gotten better reviews than my first title Debris and it’s so much worse.  Debris however has gotten more complaints about being to difficult than any other title I created and also has the lowest star rating.  Literally, this is the worst game I’ve produced for the iPhone in my opinion.  Now, do I enjoy the game at all?  Actually, truth be told I do enjoy playing it.  It’s a very simple shooting game which can be played from a top down, over the shoulder, or first person perspective.  The shooting aspect of the game is kind of addicting.  Everything else about the title is totally lacking save for one thing.  It’s the easiest game to play of all the titles I’ve put out for the iPhone (the enemies don’t fight back and in fact you literally cannot lose). Because it’s easy to play people can get into it without being rejected too quickly.

So like I said, it sounds elementary but truth be told this is something I personally have struggled with.  The games I typically think about playing myself aren’t immediately intuitive for many people.  The bottom line is make an easy game first and then fill the rest in with good graphics and production values and more than likely you’ll find a bit of success.