3 ms·

Maybe it'll hit the Humble Bundle next time around. I hope so for them, but you realize the HIB is basically the lottery of indie games? A tiny fraction of all

by ido 15y ago

Maybe it'll hit the Humble Bundle next time around. I hope so for them, but you realize the HIB is basically the lottery of indie games? A tiny fraction of all indie games get on it, so the chance of each individual game is minuscule.

stephth 15y ago
How is it the lottery of indie games? All the games sold on HIB - that I've played - are good, original, well polished games. Some, I believe, are some of the best games ever made, indie or non indie. It wasn't luck that put them in the HIB shelf.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  I don't think the GP was implying a purely random process, rather the fact that if there are 20,000 games submitted for the bundle, your chances of getting picked are pretty low (akin to a lottery). As an indie dev, you have some knobs in your control (how good you make the game), but many knobs won't be.
  - ido 15y ago
    Exactly. There are a lot of really good indie games out there, but most people are only aware of the famous ones, or the ones they get exposed to via stuff like the HIB or high-visibility steam sales. If you enjoyed the HIB games I suggest you keep digging as there are many, many games out there at the same level as the average of the game in the 4 bundles.
leon_ 15y ago
Indie games itself are a lottery. Either you get on HIB, Steam, Xbox Arcade, get featured by Apple or you die silently. Gaming is a market where you as an indie have to hit the jackpot or you have to somehow face your competition, which are multi billion corporations like EA and Activison, and beat them at their game. From all the indie gamedevs I only know 2 that really made it (in the sense that they created a sustainable business): Jeff Vogel with his RPGs and the guy from "Gratuitous Space Battles". (I'm not yet sure about the Minecraft guy.) All the other success stories are like a burning sheet of paper. They burn bright but they burn fast. And then there are the other 99.99% of indie gamedevs who will never succeed in any sense with their games. Not because their games are bad - but because the market they compete in is a slaughterhouse.
- stephth 15y ago
  Wow. I think you're painting a way overly negative picture. I'm not sure what your definition of success is (so Minecraft is not good enough for you?) but I know many - just look around - indie developers that are making a good living and growing their business out of selling good games and being reasonably clever about business, they're nothing like a burning sheet of paper. They may not all have made 3 million bucks - a handful obviously have and that's great -, but they're able to live doing what they love. I'm not saying it's easy, it takes a lot of talent, passion and endurance. And I don't think you should try to beat EA at their own game. You should be playing a different game. The simple fact that you're not EA could be one of your best cards.

by ido 15y ago

stephth 15y ago

How is it the lottery of indie games? All the games sold on HIB - that I've played - are good, original, well polished games. Some, I believe, are some of the best games ever made, indie or non indie. It wasn't luck that put them in the HIB shelf.

SoftwareMaven 15y ago
I don't think the GP was implying a purely random process, rather the fact that if there are 20,000 games submitted for the bundle, your chances of getting picked are pretty low (akin to a lottery). As an indie dev, you have some knobs in your control (how good you make the game), but many knobs won't be.
- ido 15y ago
  Exactly. There are a lot of really good indie games out there, but most people are only aware of the famous ones, or the ones they get exposed to via stuff like the HIB or high-visibility steam sales. If you enjoyed the HIB games I suggest you keep digging as there are many, many games out there at the same level as the average of the game in the 4 bundles.

leon_ 15y ago

Indie games itself are a lottery. Either you get on HIB, Steam, Xbox Arcade, get featured by Apple or you die silently. Gaming is a market where you as an indie have to hit the jackpot or you have to somehow face your competition, which are multi billion corporations like EA and Activison, and beat them at their game. From all the indie gamedevs I only know 2 that really made it (in the sense that they created a sustainable business): Jeff Vogel with his RPGs and the guy from "Gratuitous Space Battles". (I'm not yet sure about the Minecraft guy.) All the other success stories are like a burning sheet of paper. They burn bright but they burn fast. And then there are the other 99.99% of indie gamedevs who will never succeed in any sense with their games. Not because their games are bad - but because the market they compete in is a slaughterhouse.

stephth 15y ago
Wow. I think you're painting a way overly negative picture. I'm not sure what your definition of success is (so Minecraft is not good enough for you?) but I know many - just look around - indie developers that are making a good living and growing their business out of selling good games and being reasonably clever about business, they're nothing like a burning sheet of paper. They may not all have made 3 million bucks - a handful obviously have and that's great -, but they're able to live doing what they love. I'm not saying it's easy, it takes a lot of talent, passion and endurance. And I don't think you should try to beat EA at their own game. You should be playing a different game. The simple fact that you're not EA could be one of your best cards.