Is there any sense in making MVPs for video games?
Gamedev Dairy #88
TL;DR
MVPs and video games
Recommendations
Status report
Something for you!
MVPs and video games
If you're like me, you will most probably search for wisdom not only in game dev, but also in some least obvious places, like startups, hustlers, and one-man-armies.
And sometimes their wisdom is not an exact fit. Or it requires some adjustments.
One such wisdom is that you have to create and publish an MVP. An MVP, as in Minimal Viable Product, when understood the startup way, is exactly how it sounds - it doesn't have to be pretty, it has to have the most basic functionality, which is then sold to your customers. The early adopters.
Can you imagine this approach working in game development?
Yeah, me neither. You put some stuff on Steam, and... nightmare fuel ensues.
But I think you can still use this method. You just can't publish it on Steam too early 😉
One of the biggest advantages of the Diablo Dev Team’s process was the fact that they had a playable prototype very early and could test out their basic gameplay. We all know how that ended up 😉
Of course, that means they had a prototype. But these days, you could have a prototype, and easily turn it into an MVP.
How? I've been thinking about it, whether you can use the startup-hustler approach in gaming, and here's what I've thought of:
Make a prototype, without end-result art, and end-result audio. Just placeholders and your gameplay idea.
Consider it your MVP and publish it on... itch.io, or other indie underdog marketplace.
At first, I would charge it for either $0 or $1, just to get traction.
Not sure how I would name it. Who knows maybe close to the end title I have in mind (might help people find it).
Wait for... feedback. Don't think about money, it's not gonna come.
Profit from the fact that someone played and maybe even shared some thoughts.
I don't know if it's going to work.
But I'm willing to try this approach.
Would be funny if some single-A developers validated their ideas this way, and created a phenomenon from it 😂
The biggest challenge?
Thinking about what is your minimum gameplay feature (MGF?) that you want to try out.
That and marketing it.
Recommendations
This week was full of fun content I’d like to share with you. Starting with…
Still, I think people make Unreal Engine a monster that’s too hard for everything, don’t you think? I wonder how challenging would it be to make a 2D game in it. And how much it would challenge computers…
Then, there’s a great interview with the creator of Hyper Light Drifter:
Speaking of startups and such - here’s a documentary about the creator of Convert Kit.
I don’t know how you perceive it, but in my opinion, Jade Empire was the last original-ish and exotic high-budget fantasy RPG game. It’s like they stopped searching after that… Only medieval-ish, based on existing brands, typical Japanese techno-fantasy, and so on. But little creative endeavors, no searching for interesting imaginative settings. Oh, how I crave an Arabian RPG or ancient Rome made in a way modern RPGs are made. With voice-over, cutscenes, big budget, but little to no bugs…
So I always have time to listen to devs talking about such wonderful games like Jade Empire:
And of course Mark Brown with a new analysis. Can’t miss it!
Hope you enjoyed it!
Status Report
Perhaps I was too quick in saying that I’m finishing Godot’s tutorial 🤣 Apparently I had to reach the very end of the 2D tutorial, to encounter a problem to struggle with. Not sure if it’s a weird bug in Godot, a hole in the documentation, or just a hole in my head 😉
What better excuse to finally join a community?
Question to you!
Would you publish a prototype of your game to itch.io (or something similar) to MVP your game?