{"id":402,"date":"2013-10-14T18:15:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T23:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/games-are-not-startups\/"},"modified":"2024-12-02T13:31:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T19:31:41","slug":"games-are-not-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/games-are-not-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"Games Are Not Startups"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m writing this rant because\u00a0this\u00a0Kickstarter<\/a>\u00a0has just come to my attention. \u00a0As a bit of background, I’m working on a learning game called\u00a0Codemancer<\/a>, and consequently I keep a close\u00a0eye on the games for learning space,\u00a0especially games that teach programming principles.<\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

I think we can all agree that a good game is hard to make. \u00a0Even a team of fantastically talented and experienced game developers with infinite money can still make a\u00a0bad<\/a>\u00a0game<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0There are an incredible number of\u00a0books<\/a>,\u00a0courses<\/a>,\u00a0conferences<\/a>\u00a0— hell, this entire website you’re on — all saying “games are really hard to make, but here’s, maybe, a bit of advice that can help you.”<\/p>\n

And yet I see ‘startup people’ (aka technology entrepreneurs) assume that it’s as easy as e-commerce. \u00a0Some guy has an idea and thinks he’s a game designer — well, maybe he\u00a0is, but wouldn’t it be smarter to find out with a small\u00a0project? \u00a0Make something with a $0 budget and see if anyone thinks it’s worth playing. \u00a0Oh, but you just have this one epic game idea, and no others? \u00a0That’s easy, then. \u00a0You are not a game designer — at least, not yet.<\/p>\n

Right now\u00a0I’m in the midst of making a learning game (they used to be called\u00a0edu-games, but most things by that name were insipid, and the term was jettisoned). \u00a0Learning games are MUCH HARDER than entertainment games, because on top of all the difficulty of making something interesting to play, it also has to be teaching you something. \u00a0The thing you’re learning has to be what MAKES it fun, not an add-on bonus stage, or a gate that blocks you from having fun until you have answered this math problem.<\/p>\n

So when I see a group of people attempting to make a learning game without anyone who calls themself a game designer\u00a0on the core team\u00a0(which is\u00a0very<\/a>\u00a0very<\/a>\u00a0common<\/a>, for some reason), it makes me sad. \u00a0There are a few reasons I get sad:<\/p>\n

1. This game is probably either going to be bad, or isn’t going to get done. \u00a0There’s always a slim chance that it will be finished and good, but almost negligible.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0If the game is finished\u00a0but bad, as most turn out to be, it will erode the already poor reputation of games designed for learning –\u00a0just as we’re starting to get a foothold<\/a>!<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0In the worst case, the creators of the game know the horrible\u00a0truth: It doesn’t actually\u00a0need<\/em>\u00a0to be any good to make money. \u00a0All it has to do is play to the anxiety of parents who want their children to succeed (citation<\/a>).<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0There was an easy way to avoid this disaster — get a game designer on your team (me, for instance<\/a>\u00a0— I’m happy to help)!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Truly, I’m sorry to be negative about people joining the games industry. \u00a0I really do want as many people as possible to make their voices heard. \u00a0Please make games. \u00a0Learning games are especially sparse, and I like to encourage people to make them for any and every learning goal. \u00a0Please, make games for learning.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, independently developed games,\u00a0and especially independently developed learning games, have\u00a0very limited public attention and favor, and I’d rather that it not be spent unsustainably.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are an entrepreneur at heart, I recommend that you start a games company! \u00a0This is a very different process from creating a game, and perhaps one that will make better use of your talents. \u00a0Hire a talented game designer or two. \u00a0Due to downsizing at nearly every major studio, there are quite a few on the market right now. \u00a0You could also buy out a respected indie studio in financial distress. \u00a0Sit down with these people and come up with a game together (it’s absolutely OK for you to be part of the creative process).\u00a0 Get an experienced producer who can figure out how much money and time you will need. \u00a0Let me know if I can help.<\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

I’m\u00a0Rob Lockhart<\/a>, the Creative Director of\u00a0Important Little Games<\/a>.\u00a0 If you were to follow me on\u00a0twitter<\/a>, I’d be grateful.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m writing this rant because\u00a0this\u00a0Kickstarter\u00a0has just come to my attention. \u00a0As a bit of background, I’m working on a learning game called\u00a0Codemancer, and consequently I keep a close\u00a0eye on the games for learning space,\u00a0especially games that teach programming principles. ~ I think we can all agree that a good game is hard to make. \u00a0Even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Games Are Not Startups - Bobby Lockhart","description":"I'm writing this rant because\u00a0 this\u00a0Kickstarter \u00a0has just come to my attention. \u00a0As a bit of background, I'm working on a learning game called\u00a0 Codemancer , and"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":485,"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402\/revisions\/485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbylox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}