Category «Marketing»

The Casual Connect / Indie Prize 2015

On February the 3rd I took the train to Amsterdam. I was in the Netherlands before, but Amsterdam is something on its own and a city I'd really like to explore a bit. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see much of it during my time there: the Casual Connect Europe was calling! But not really. The Casual Connect - to be honest - is a convention about making money by utilizing browser and mobile games, free2play, in-game advertizing and so on. Not something where our game TRI would fit in, at first glance.

But here's the thing: the Indie Prize, which according to its Twitter is "a scholarship program for up and coming indie development teams who show promise to be future leaders in the games industry", also is an integral part of the Casual Connect. They probably included it so they would have actual game developers present and not only the publishers and SDK developers. Therefore five large rows of tables were set up and housed around 100 indies and their games. And PC games were allowed!

Play TRI!

So that's why I could show TRI for three full days on our laptop, along with some promo material. My table, or rather my half of the table, consisted of red table cloth to stand out a bit in a subtle way, a laptop with TRI to play, some flyers and my old 7 inch Galaxy tablet showing the release trailer of our game in a loop. I had to download an app so the trailer would actually loop - turned out the normal video player doesn't support that. I didn't find an app that would be able to show more than one video, but I guess that's asked too much already. I really wanted to have our iPad to play the trailer, but somehow it seems to be an impossible task to get the synchronizing of your own stuff (like videos) to work correctly. To be honest, Android is a bliss in this regard...

Anyway, it was really helpful to have the trailer, otherwise it would not be clear what TRI is about if you just looked at the screen for a few seconds. Some kind of eye catcher is always a plus! (Although some people pushed it a bit too hard with posters 2 meters high, just so you'd vote for their game ...) And for the first time our flyers were really nice - as they were not only printed with the correct colors, but also printed in time, so I actually had them with me. Yay!

Flyers

The other half of my table was reserved for Constantin Graf aka RebusMind and his puzzle tile swapper with RPG elements SwapQuest, presented on two tablet computers. I played it for a long time when there was nothing to do, and I must say I really like it. The option to customize your character and the appealing graphics made me dig it a lot, and when Constantin will finally release it (soon) on Android I'm going to buy it for sure. Game Loop Lab's Blockadillo was next to Constantin, another 2D mobile game - this one has nice graphics, which for a change are handdrawn AND not pixel art! I already played it a bit on my own device as it is free2play, so I can only recommend to try it out. Last in the row of 'German games' was Schein, another PC game actually made by the Austria-based Zeppelin Studio. It's a unique, well done and very hard puzzle platformer which I luckily already have on Steam.

German Corner

It became apparent pretty fast that the organizers of the Indie Prize placed developers together according their country of origin, which was cool because this way one could compare games from each country and culture directly. So when I found the time to actually walk around a bit and have a look at the other projects, it was like wandering over a tiny globe. ;) Unfortunately I didn't have that much time or energy to play a lot of games. I remember liking Find the line a lot, and I wonder why it wasn't even nominated at the awards.

Indie Prize Tables

But the award ceremony was pretty well done, in my opinion. It had the right length, everything between the nominees was short and emotional. It was super nice that each finalist had a short moment of fame as a trailer of the game was shown. The judges did the right thing and didn't nominate any game more than twice - this way, more different games were in the final rounds and the award ceremony did not become repetitive. We are very grateful that TRI was nominated in the categories "Best Game Design" and "Best PC Game" - truly a big honour for us! Congratulations at this point to every team which won an award - I won't list them here, as I surely would forget someone. (You can find all the winners here!)

Award Ceremony

My only gripe with the ceremony is the fact that it began at noon on Friday, a bit of a strange time. I missed a warm lunch this way! Of course, that's not really something to complain about, as free lunch packages were handed out by the friendly volunteers and the buffet was free too. Overall this was the least expensive convention I went to, ever - even the accommodations were paid for: the StayOkay hostel was around 15 minutes of bus ride away, but it was comfortable and the breakfast was included. Interesting enough I was the only one in my 6-bed-dorm; I talked to some people about their lodging, and no one knew that there was some kind of Indie Hostel!

Amsterdamn

As I had to take the bus or the tram each day I had the opportunity to have a better look at Amsterdam. It really is a captivating city, with the grachten and the cool architecture. I will definitely revisit it some time, so hopefully I can actually see it by daylight then. ;) At least I had the change to explore some of the party locations, as the Casual Connect hosted a get-together each evening. For example, Constantin and I played a local multiplayer game and danced a bit at the Official Party "NEON" in the Club AIR.

My personal highlight - besides the nominations - was the fact that I had the chance to briefly speak to Peter Molyneux - I just love his game Dungeon Keeper. He was there to give a talk about inspirations and having new ideas. It was kind of interesting, as he gave some insights into Godus, 22cans' team structure and how to engage players. All this not very deeply, of course. I hope the Unity team recorded the talk, as he expressed "I love Unity!" loud and clear on stage. In the end I managed to give Mr. Molyneux a TRI flyer, which I am sure he framed and hung above his bed.

Molyneux At Work

I only found the motivation to visit one additional lecture; it was about workflow and automation for when you have lots of content and a small team. The talk was held by Alexander Birke from Rumpus Animation and was pretty complete, as everything was explained on what you should do in order to keep a general view over your project. There were a lot of other talks and presentations, always four at the same time. Fortunately most of them were about user acquisition and advertising and so on; not really interesting to me - thus I had more time to showcase TRI.

Although that was a bit in vain, as there wasn't much press at the Casual Connect (or it hid really well from me). But meeting other indie developers along with the volunteers (who guarded the tables and helped where necessary), and talking to them was the best part of the whole show anyway.

At the last day I got a bit sick, which is why I left right after the end. Normally I only catch the Fresher's Flu when I get home, so this was a new thing for me. Nonetheless the Casual Connect was nice and a positive surprise to me thanks to the Indie Prize organizers. A big shout-out to them!

And next time I might even be more open to the whole business thing!

Yes.

New Release Trailer + Steam


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Just five days to go and TRI is available on your favorite games platform! Until then, have a look at our new trailer, featuring the monk's voice actor Harvey Cash with music by Ludwig Hanisch.

In September 2013 we put TRI on Steam Greenlight. Nearly one year later we opened our Steam store page. You can add the game to your wishlist now, if you like.

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We have a date!

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Dear readers, players and friends of the TRI!

We have a date! Fox and Monk are prettily dressed and ready to show you the world they lived in for two and a half years now. We from Rat King are extremely psyched that we made it this far after all the problems and highlights we had while making the game.

TRI will be available for Windows, Linux and Mac. You will be able to get the game on Steam, IndieGameStand, Humble Store and itch.io, with hopefully more platforms to be announced soon.

In other news:

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  • Friedrich made a new small game for Ludum Dare  #30 within 48 hours and called it > Continue. It's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure where you can read and continue several stories, or start your own from the starting situation as shown in the picture above. Go here to explore what already happened.
  • Moreover did Friedrich start a little blog on his daily work and updates for the game. He also writes about games he likes or events we are attending. Take a look at THE APE TRIBE.
  • Remember our last news about Desura? If you bought the game there you can get your personal Steam keys now.

Some new screenshots of TRI:

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TRI – MagicalMonk update is out! + Greenlight


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Good morning everybody,

we recently released the brand-new and shiny update for TRI. As the value, i.e the content and quality, were increased significantly we also increased the price.

Those of you who already bought the game: just head to your client (Desura) OR mail-account. We sent those who bought the game via our shop an eMail. Because this shop got a bit messy to update, we switched over to the Humble Store. There you can directly download the game for PC/MAC/Linux, and also get it on Desura via an individual key.

If you want to get TRI now be aware that we have two editions prepared!

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So, TRI can now be purchased via Humble Store (see above), Desura and IndieGameStand.

The update contains:
~ 12 completely playable levels
~ Fox and Monk
~ gameplay and level design improvements
~ nicer textures and decorations

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Reviews:

„It‘s during these moments of precursor and reflection - teased by the level‘s close-knit and smart design - that a strange pleasure rises up in me.“

Chris Priestman, Indie Statik

„The German developers seem to have done a great job crafting levels where our ability to create triangular platforms (and deform them in real time) will be put to the test, especially when we decide to dissect every room facilities until we find all secrets.“
Flavio Soldani, IdealsoftBlog.it

„I initially thought - Great, another wandering around artsy game, meh. But the level design, the art and use of color, and the triangle mechanic = fantastic game.“
mik3k, Desura

„Brain-bending. Tri challenges my spatial awareness with creative level design and versatile tools. When I finish a level, I feel proud of my solution--a quality many puzzle games lack.“
31, Desura

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And if you only buy games on Steam: we finally put TRI on Greenlight - help us getting on Steam by voting for us!

IndieGameStand Sale – Pitman and TRI

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IndieGameStand is a cool platform where every four days another indie game is presented to you, with a drastly reduced price. As a developer you have the total control of the content presented on this sale page. The main game is Pay-What-You-Want, while players get extra content for beating the average prize. And if you spend  $10 you can even get the last, current and next game!

From July, 19th - 22nd you can get Pitman and TRI!

1. PAY WHAT YOU WANT - Pitman

Pitman is a boardgame-style rogue-like. Initially made for the "Seven Day Roguelike Challenge" the game got a complete overhaul. Pitman will let you die a thousand deaths ... and make your survival especially satisfying!

Features:

  • RPG - create the hero you want, like a dwarven sorcerer or a powerful warrior
  • turnbased - for a tactical course of action
  • 3D boardgame style - build the world while playing
  • randombased - no game will be like the one before

Reviews:

"Great! - An overlooked game with great feel and atmosphere. Very replayable too."
- Scarfoo, App Store Slovenia

"Good music, new concept of dungeon generation, good atmosphere. Definitely recommend to any fans of rogue-likes."
- raensi, Desura

"There is enormous potential here. I spent half the night playing Pitman when I should been sleeping."
- funambolist, Touch Arcade

"Get this Game!I know what I'm going to be doing for the next couple weeks..."
- Fools08, App Store US

2. BEAT THE AVERAGE - Pitman Android + TRI + Rat King Soundtrack


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Features of TRI:

  • freeform 3D platformer with an emphasis on atmosphere and exploration
  • build triangles to overcome abysses, reach unknown places, and walk on the walls and the ceiling
  • control light rays and destroy obstacles with dangerous lasers
  • explore the strange worlds of TRI, collect treasures and solve puzzles

Reviews:

"You could just make your own platforms and climb up, and I feared the game would lose the sentiment – that feeling – that the first level really nailed for me. Luckily, it did actually manage to keep hold of it, and by the time I got around to Level 5, Labyrinths I believe it’s called, I was sitting right back in my seat with my brain just baking in the pleasure the intricate level design and mysterious criss-crossing architecture was pumping out at me."
- Chris Priestman, Indiestatik
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Like every indie sale, this one does have the charity aspect as well. In the first place we chose a local historic building we visit quite often in our free time, called the Peißnitzhaus. The people there try to restore it and also have a very family-friendly beer garden running.  Unfortunately they were badly affected by the flood in June, and thus need additional money.
But to have a known and more important NGO, we chose to have Greenpeace instead. We are glad to support an organization like Greenpeace that taught us the importance to fight Monsanto, save whales and dolphins or their current campaign to save the arctic from oil exploitation. We are super-happy and proud to pledge parts of the money that we raise - with your help, of course, to Greenpeace via IndieGameStand.

PS: Buy our games!

PPS: Update! 900 people bought our games and paid $1,939.21 - i.e., $2.15 average! Awesome!