Make Easy Games …
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.