Jamerific!

hey all,

So for those who've followed my recent posts on Facebook it is probably clear already, but for those who have not: I'm focusing my energies on game jams. Why would I want to give away games you ask? My first project ever, Digestion, I am selling on itch.io for the low low price of $3 dollars. Since I posted it on May 25th, 2017, it has received exactly 18 views and 0 downloads. Just yesterday, my newest project, Student Clicker received 18 views. The project before that, Cat Control, has been up for about one week and has received 33 views. The project before that, Plant Conquest, has been up two weeks and has also received 33 views.

The message to me is clear: nobody wants to pay $3 for the first game of a rookie game designer/programmer. And should go without saying that no company wants to hire someone like that. So I'm finally doing what I should have done a long time ago: participate in game jams. I worked my ass off on Digestion, spent money on original music and art, and I've got nothing to show for it except the XP. Well, if the XP is what really matters, than let's skip the year's worth of work, and money shelled out for assets, and just make some fucking games.

I've signed up for two more game jams in July and the beginning of August, so expect two more games in the next two weeks.

In other events, in my free time I've been going through Far Cry Primal and Divinity: Dragon Commander. Far Cry Primal follows many of the same formulas that previous games in the series use: trade-offs between combat and stealth, the resource gathering and crafting mechanics, the capturing of outposts, etc. However, it also introduces tamable animals that confer different abilities and benefits that enrich gameplay. The player is tasked with recruiting villagers and special NPCs to join their cause.

Divinity: Dragon Commander is a wonderful and strange mish-mash of a game that combines elements of RPGs, RTSs, collectible card games, turn-based strategy games, and third-person action games. The main fun for me has come from the political questions your character is asked to take a stand on. For example, you will have to decide if marriage should be defined as being between a man and a woman, or if it should be open to any combination of genders. Or, you might have to decide if a certain herb with potential medicinal effects should be legalized or remain illegal. There are dozens of these about freedom of press, gender equality, trade versus the environment, taxing religions, equality of races, etc. Very interesting stuff.