4 ms·

Koduco (YC S10) Is Bringing Old-School Fun To Multiplayer iPad Games

91 points by px 16y ago

kyro 16y ago
"It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these games are perfect for breaking the ice when you’re meeting someone for the first time, or to flirt with the cute girl who sits next to you in history class." Is this how people break the ice and flirt these days, or am I now entering the stages of being an old-timer (23yrs. old)?
- jkincaid 16y ago
  Depends on the person, I guess. When I mentioned to the Koduco guys that this seemed like it would be a pretty fun game to flirt/play with a date, they agreed.
  - malloreon 16y ago
    What was the likelihood they'd say "no, our game is no fun to flirt with/on dates?"
- px 16y ago
  I imagine that "Hey, want to play PongVaders?" will be quite irresistible.
  - jkincaid 16y ago
    No, more like "Hey, I've got this game that's sorta like Pong, want to play?" The game requires sitting within a foot or two of each other and using teamwork to steer through the 'physical' parts. I really don't think this idea is so far fetched, but I'm not exactly Rico Suave, either.
    - vsprabhakara1 16y ago
      just think back to why you played flipcup in college...
- inmygarage 16y ago
  As a female I would say unequivocally YES. I am dying to have someone ask me if I want to play PongVaders with them...
  - riffer 16y ago
    where is your garage?
- kineticac 16y ago
  never thought about using it as a tool for flirting or breaking the ice. but sounds like a perfect way for geeks to have fun!
- points 16y ago
  Only slight hiccup is no one has an iPad. The chances of meeting a hot girl, who has an iPad, who is in your history class, are 0.
  - edanm 16y ago
    I think the point was, if you're a tech geek (as most TechCrunch readers are), you'll have an IPad and can invite people to play with you.
dongle 16y ago
We had a mixed-gender development team and tested extensively at parties. People like to pass the game around and show it off, and it's not so intense that you can't talk while playing it. And even if you don't use PongVaders as an intro, it provides a shared context which makes meeting new people easier.
zavulon 16y ago
First of all, congratulations to Koduco, this looks great, and I mean absolutely no offense to them or YC by this post. But... this is really getting old. It seems like EVERY SINGLE YC startup is being featured on Techcrunch. How many iPhone/iPad games companies are there? Thousands. Besides bringing some level of innovation in there, I don't see anything special about this one, besides being a YC company. Yes, the games look cool.. but in the end, it's just another company doing games. I'm trying really hard to find another reason this got featured on Techrunch besides being a YC company, and I can't. Would they get featured on TC if they weren't funded by YC? I think that's a resounding "no". It's impossible to take TC seriously anymore.
- monkeyboy 16y ago
  The collaborative, physical style of gameplay seemed unique to me. I think it's an innovation in this space that is definitely worth a writeup on TC, YC-funded or not.
  - megablast 16y ago
    I don't think it is that unique, it seemed like a stretch, almost as if they were trying to prove to themselves that this was worth writing about. It is only used in a tiny portion of the game.
- kineticac 16y ago
  There's often a lot more under the surface of what goes on at a YC company. Sure it's just a few more iPad games, but the unique aspects of them were not accidental.
- rokhayakebe 16y ago
  If you think about it being funded by YC is tech news. Techcrunch is about tech news. Now they cannot just write about the startup being funded and close it. They must tell you about their product. Actually I am a lot happier to read about startups like Koduco (although I did not read the article), than to read about another Facebook/Twitter/Google article.
TheEzEzz 16y ago
I didn't even realize YC funds game companies. I'm in debt developing my first game right now, but I'd love YC just for the name recognition, screw money! I'm developing a game for Xbox, and the hardest hurdle is getting it onto the Arcade marketplace. The difference in revenue between Arcade and the open market is usually a factor of 10-100 (subjectively controlling for quality). The clout of having YC funding would be a huge boon for getting Microsoft to green light a game for Arcade.
- blasdel 16y ago
  It's like YC funding film producers — it's a mercurial content business, not something that can scale wildly like their typical investments. I think they've funded at least a couple companies selling tools & platforms for game developers (analytics, ads, login/matchmaking, etc.), but I thought PG had an explicit distaste for this kind of thing. It doesn't seem like Koduco intends to be something other than a content production company…
  - TheEzEzz 16y ago
    Agreed, content production is an inherently different game, with much less explosive potential. Still, there are some good investments to be made. Even mediocre games are pulling down 7 figures on Xbox Arcade. With the development cost of a good indie title sitting in the $10,000 range, that's a pretty solid opportunity. I doubt I'm alone as an indie developer that would be willing to give up a share of their game for zero investment dollars, just to have the YC name behind them. There's still a cost to YC there though. The integrity of their name is important.
ashbrahma 16y ago
Check out the Pawn concept on this website. http://www.volumique.com/en/. http://www.volumique.com/en/.. Koduco--maybe you could implement something like this for your Checker360 board game?

91 points by px 16y ago

kyro 16y ago

"It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that these games are perfect for breaking the ice when you’re meeting someone for the first time, or to flirt with the cute girl who sits next to you in history class." Is this how people break the ice and flirt these days, or am I now entering the stages of being an old-timer (23yrs. old)?

jkincaid 16y ago
Depends on the person, I guess. When I mentioned to the Koduco guys that this seemed like it would be a pretty fun game to flirt/play with a date, they agreed.
- malloreon 16y ago
  What was the likelihood they'd say "no, our game is no fun to flirt with/on dates?"
px 16y ago
I imagine that "Hey, want to play PongVaders?" will be quite irresistible.
- jkincaid 16y ago
  No, more like "Hey, I've got this game that's sorta like Pong, want to play?" The game requires sitting within a foot or two of each other and using teamwork to steer through the 'physical' parts. I really don't think this idea is so far fetched, but I'm not exactly Rico Suave, either.
  - vsprabhakara1 16y ago
    just think back to why you played flipcup in college...
inmygarage 16y ago
As a female I would say unequivocally YES. I am dying to have someone ask me if I want to play PongVaders with them...
- riffer 16y ago
  where is your garage?
kineticac 16y ago
never thought about using it as a tool for flirting or breaking the ice. but sounds like a perfect way for geeks to have fun!
points 16y ago
Only slight hiccup is no one has an iPad. The chances of meeting a hot girl, who has an iPad, who is in your history class, are 0.
- edanm 16y ago
  I think the point was, if you're a tech geek (as most TechCrunch readers are), you'll have an IPad and can invite people to play with you.

dongle 16y ago

We had a mixed-gender development team and tested extensively at parties. People like to pass the game around and show it off, and it's not so intense that you can't talk while playing it. And even if you don't use PongVaders as an intro, it provides a shared context which makes meeting new people easier.

zavulon 16y ago

First of all, congratulations to Koduco, this looks great, and I mean absolutely no offense to them or YC by this post. But... this is really getting old. It seems like EVERY SINGLE YC startup is being featured on Techcrunch. How many iPhone/iPad games companies are there? Thousands. Besides bringing some level of innovation in there, I don't see anything special about this one, besides being a YC company. Yes, the games look cool.. but in the end, it's just another company doing games. I'm trying really hard to find another reason this got featured on Techrunch besides being a YC company, and I can't. Would they get featured on TC if they weren't funded by YC? I think that's a resounding "no". It's impossible to take TC seriously anymore.

monkeyboy 16y ago
The collaborative, physical style of gameplay seemed unique to me. I think it's an innovation in this space that is definitely worth a writeup on TC, YC-funded or not.
- megablast 16y ago
  I don't think it is that unique, it seemed like a stretch, almost as if they were trying to prove to themselves that this was worth writing about. It is only used in a tiny portion of the game.
kineticac 16y ago
There's often a lot more under the surface of what goes on at a YC company. Sure it's just a few more iPad games, but the unique aspects of them were not accidental.
rokhayakebe 16y ago
If you think about it being funded by YC is tech news. Techcrunch is about tech news. Now they cannot just write about the startup being funded and close it. They must tell you about their product. Actually I am a lot happier to read about startups like Koduco (although I did not read the article), than to read about another Facebook/Twitter/Google article.

TheEzEzz 16y ago

I didn't even realize YC funds game companies. I'm in debt developing my first game right now, but I'd love YC just for the name recognition, screw money! I'm developing a game for Xbox, and the hardest hurdle is getting it onto the Arcade marketplace. The difference in revenue between Arcade and the open market is usually a factor of 10-100 (subjectively controlling for quality). The clout of having YC funding would be a huge boon for getting Microsoft to green light a game for Arcade.

blasdel 16y ago
It's like YC funding film producers — it's a mercurial content business, not something that can scale wildly like their typical investments. I think they've funded at least a couple companies selling tools & platforms for game developers (analytics, ads, login/matchmaking, etc.), but I thought PG had an explicit distaste for this kind of thing. It doesn't seem like Koduco intends to be something other than a content production company…
- TheEzEzz 16y ago
  Agreed, content production is an inherently different game, with much less explosive potential. Still, there are some good investments to be made. Even mediocre games are pulling down 7 figures on Xbox Arcade. With the development cost of a good indie title sitting in the $10,000 range, that's a pretty solid opportunity. I doubt I'm alone as an indie developer that would be willing to give up a share of their game for zero investment dollars, just to have the YC name behind them. There's still a cost to YC there though. The integrity of their name is important.

ashbrahma 16y ago

Check out the Pawn concept on this website. http://www.volumique.com/en/. http://www.volumique.com/en/.. Koduco--maybe you could implement something like this for your Checker360 board game?