Back in September, I wrote about how the business plan for Scree Games changed over the course of the first year. I spent the recent holiday reflecting further on my long-term goals, the state of the game industry, and the viability of smaller games in the current market.
The environment for game developers is constantly changing. There are plenty of success stories out there, but there’s many more outright failures. For microstudios, where the difference between selling 1,000 units and selling 10,000 units means survival or annihilation, even minor changes to platform surfacing algorithms can make or break a game. It’d be irresponsible of me if I weren’t constantly reevaluating my business plan based on conditions in the market.
After some soul searching and a brief but grueling battle with the demons of self-doubt, I still have faith in the core ideas that made me want to start Scree Games in the first place. And while I’m not in a rush to officially announce our first game, I am ready to talk about the types of games that inspired it, and some of the thinking behind what I’m building.
Being Where Others Aren’t
Conventional wisdom says that certain themes and game genres are simply not viable. Games with a pirate theme is a classic example – over my long career, I’ve heard several executives confidently assert that “no one is interested in games about pirates.”
A more accurate assertion, of course, is that no one is interested in BAD games about pirates. Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a beloved classic. More recently, Sea of Thieves, despite a somewhat rocky launch, has gone on to build a solid audience for its unique gameplay.
Sometimes entire genres suffer the slings and arrows of conventional wisdom. When Microsoft decided to shutter Ensemble Studios in 2009, many were saying real-time strategy games were dying. The triple-A market was dominated by first-person shooters, and new funding flowed to a slate of MMOs seeking to replicate the success of World of Warcraft.
Yet RTS games would come back, in different forms and with different degrees of success. The MOBA genre would achieve great results built on the foundation of RTS control schemes. Remasted rereleases of Age of Empires and Age of Mythology on Steam have shown surprising strength. New entries into the genre like They Are Billions even ditch long-standing traditional thinking and prove that perfectly-balanced eSports-ready multiplayer isn’t the only path to RTS success.
For indie developers, “being where others aren’t” takes many forms. Jeff Vogel built his long-running microstudio on old-school party-based RPGs with turn-based combat and minimal art. Lucas Pope’s brilliant and wildly successful Papers, Please is a game about checking visas and passports at a border crossing – imagine pitching that to an executive at a big publisher!
Whether it’s a fresh and innovative idea, a topic or theme that no one’s explored before in games, or an old genre that’s been neglected and abandoned by major publishers, being where others aren’t gives an indie developer the best chance of standing out in the crowd.
The Common Thread
Having a core idea that can get traction and visibility on overpopulated digital storefronts is half of the equation. The other half is – at least for me – building something that I’m passionate about. Otherwise, I’d leap back into a full-time job at an existing company and avoid all the headaches of starting my own!
Given my interests, abilities, and skill set, the focus for the foreseeable future will be on building small games in a genre I call narrative strategy. The classic example of an early narrative strategy genre is The Oregon Trail. The player’s decisions about starting resources, how to spend them, and how to travel all helped weave a compelling tale of pioneers travelling west. Whether the player’s family made it across the continent – or died of dysentery – every game session was a unique and unscripted story.
A wide variety of games fit under the loose umbrella of narrative strategy. Executing detailed tactical missions with your six best soldiers in XCom, managing complex bases and personal dynamics in Rimworld, responding to requests of the strange Duck People in King of Dragon Pass, and marrying off second and third sons in the compelling historical sagas generated by Crusader Kings 2 are all the types of decisions that interest me.
The common element in narrative strategy games is that the stories players experience are dynamic, emergent, and driven by their choices rather than by a designer-controlled linear plot. Games with a strong interplay between player decisions and the narrative is what Scree Games will strive to create.
The Challenge Ahead
2020 is a critical year for Scree Games. In order to properly deliver on the vision for the first product and set the company up for long-term success, I’ll be seeking sources of funding to complete the initial game. I’ll continue to split my time between the project and consulting to keep the lights on. Once funding is secured, I’m confident in being able to execute on something extremely close to the original vision from a year ago.
Though I’ll always wish I’d gotten more done in 2019 than I did, I’m happy with the progress to date. I’ve proven out several design ideas in prototype while navigating the nuts and bolts of getting the business up and running. I’ve identified multiple paths to get the necessary funding to deliver the game, with backup plans if the first options don’t pan out.
Finally, I contracted a talented concept artist’s time to clearly define the first game’s art style in preparation for full production. I’m thrilled with where the work landed. The image at the top of the article is a small corner of one of the final pieces – a taste of what’s to come.
Close friends who’ve known me a while have already guessed what I’m building. The rest of you will have to wait a bit longer for the official announcement – but not much longer!
Happy 2020, and my best wishes to you all as you take the next step on your own journeys!
What future do you see for small indie titles in the market? What genres excite you? What idea are YOU passionate about, the one that conventional wisdom says would never work? What are YOU building this year? Give us a shout in the comments – we’d love to engage!