Lately I have been pondering which type of product I should develop first, and I just reached consensus with myself. Currently I work on a "generic" game engine*, and as the engine evolves I want to make games that I, and people like me, enjoy playing.
Rome was not built in a day. That goes for my engine as well, and therefore I will have to compromise on the first few titles. I had two suggestions on what to do first, lets call them "Toyhicle" and "Mainstream Motor".
The "Toyhicle" idea is to make my first game a father-son game. To be completely clear: this game targets novice computer users that are boys, age one to four**. It would actually be more of a toy (without goals) than a game. This toy is going to be all about driving vehicles: tractors, excavators, UFOs, and the like. Since children don't have any sense of quality, my one-man army might stand a chance against technique and quality of competitors. But even relatively high quality is not everything. This path leads to serious monetary problems, since none of your end-customers have wallets of their own yet.
However, I thought, with a few changes and tweaks I could turn the above "Toyhicle" into a pretty fun "Mainstream Motor" game for "a larger group of people"***. This choice might also open a sales channel through the holy grail of casual gaming. Though, one small thing I note is that "a larger group of people" is no longer a niche, it's that untouchable group of human beings that every marketing guy on this planet hope to address one day. Not a very good idea either.
Toyhicle requires almost nothing, but probably only sells in small amounts for PCs. Mainstream Motor puts me in the trenches with the tough guys. So what to do?
George Costanza, he would say "how about we do a combination?". A game that both is a toy (played without goals) as well a game (played to fulfil goals). Not hard to combine at all! Any father could play it with his son in the evening. The next day at work, he could challenge a Colleague & Son in a vehicle duel that evening, while at the same time showing the basics on his iPhone. Free word of mouth marketing, and the two bad ideas are suddenly a single, working idea. No wonder Costanzas boss always swallows the bait.
What about input controls? Two-year-olds are somewhat troubled in their eye-hand coordination. Even mundane tasks - porridge from plate, into mouth - give everybody around the table a headache. Thus I need two types of controls: very simple for da kidz, and plain, GTA-style inputs for the adults. Technically, a bit more of a challenge, but definitely doable.
So finally I have it: a product that I am able to develop, which has its niche, and a small (but not infinitesimal) potential to reach a bit further. Thanks, George!
* The sense in developing an engine as well as seppuku can, and will, be discussed. But not in this post.
** Complete and utter madness, I know.
*** I might even have had the preposterous thought "there must be billions of people like myself who would enjoy...".
