Game developers often fail to hold a critical eye to their own work, and struggle to see why they aren't finding success. Join Andy Moore, Captain of Radial Games, as he explores all the painful ways his previous works failed, and his adventure to correct them all in the production of his multi-award-winning game, SteamBirds - and the mobile editions and sequels that followed.

1. Post-Mortem Keeping Yourself Honest In Game Design

2. From the Program: Game developers often fail to hold a critical eye to their own work, and struggle to see why they aren't finding success. Join Andy Moore, Captain of Radial Games, as he explores all the painful ways his previous works failed, and his adventure to correct them all in the production of his multi-award-winning game, SteamBirds - and the mobile editions and sequels that followed.

3. Who is this guy? 20 Years Hobbyist/Corporate Programming Experience Former Community Design & Management Consultant Former Game Analytics & Design Consultant Began Indie Game Development in 2009: Fantastic Contraption Space Squid Protonaut SteamBirds ATC Blitz Dozens of failures

4. First Game Experience…

5. Fantastic Contraption (by Colin Northway)

6. Fantastic Contraption (by Colin Northway)

7. “I CAN DO THIS!”

8. Space Squid

9. Space Squid

10. But That’s OK!

11. Protonaut

12. Protonaut: ~$5,000 Over-ambitious Didn’t play-test the gameplay early enough Might have succeeded with better marketing, or perhaps better level design Character design didn’t resonate Spent too long on development

13. “But FC got lucky…”

14. “There is no Luck”

15. Failures can be avoided,if you can acknowledge you make mistakes

16. What’s Wrong? Lack of character identification Lack of consistent game direction Weak core mechanics Not releasing early enough Not enough user testing Lack of target market Lack of in-depth metrics Failure to monetize

17. What’s Wrong? Lack of character identification

18. What’s Wrong? Lack of consistent game direction

19. What’s Wrong? Weak core mechanics

20. What’s Wrong? Not releasing early enough User testing is one thing.. But what will the market say? Where are you funding future development?

21. What’s Wrong? Not enough user testing NOT your co-workers NOT your friends NOT people you know NOT people that like you ESPECIALLY NOT YOURSELF

22. What’s Wrong? Lacking a target market Not understanding the SIZE of your market

23. What’s Wrong? Lack of in-depth metrics Other games:60% Mute Rate SteamBirds:5% Mute rate

24. What’s Wrong? Failure to monetize

25. What’s Wrong? (BONUS) Not leveraging your own IP

26. What’s Wrong? Lack of character identification Lack of consistent game direction Weak core mechanics Not releasing early enough Not enough user testing Lack of target market Lack of in-depth metrics Failure to monetize

27. With this in Mind…

28. SteamBirds

29. SteamBirds Ongoing sales and ad revenue a year later … But was only a market test. The “Real deal” was yet to come…

30. But First, Let’s Sidetrack for a Minute

31. State of the Flash Industry Hundreds of new games per day

32. State of the Flash Industry Hundreds of new games per day, but they: Lack character identification Lack consistent game direction Have weak core mechanics Lack polish No user testing Lack a target market Lack in-depth metrics Fail to monetize

33. State of the Flash Industry Hundreds of new games per day, but they: Lack character identification Lack consistent game direction Have weak core mechanics Lack polish No user testing Lack a target market Lack in-depth metrics Fail to monetize The sellers make $1,000 - $3,000 average lifetime revenue

34. State of the Flash Industry Hundreds of new games per day, but they: Lack character identification Lack consistent game direction Have weak core mechanics Lack polish No user testing Lack a target market Lack in-depth metrics Fail to monetize The sellers make $1,000 - $3,000 average lifetime revenue (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

35. State of the Flash Industry Hundreds of new games per day, but they: Lack character identification Lack consistent game direction Have weak core mechanics Lack polish No user testing Lack a target market Lack in-depth metrics Fail to monetize The sellers make $1,000 - $3,000 average lifetime revenue (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) ONLY 2 WEEKS TO MAKE!!!!!!! (??!!!) (ToT )

36. Business Model “Sponsors are willing to pay for (IMO) crappy, ‘unfinished’ games… So why don’t I sell them my prototypes?”

37. A Marketable Prototype will generate a fan-base for sequels will give critical feedback on gameplay will help shape the future of your franchise will fund future development requires minimal effort

38. Common Delusion:Thinking you can do it all yourself.Well.

39. A little help here? Be able to identify where you need help Surround yourself with talent Find partners on a per-project basis

40. How SteamBirds Was Made

41. The Dev Cycle of SteamBirds Day 1: Core technology Day 2: Gameplay Days 3 through 90: Iteration, user testing, and polish Total Dev Hours: 1 month (full time)

42. Polish is Incredibly Important

43. “SexyPlane” “SteamBirds” Polishing the Game

44. Marketing Word of Mouth Only effort put in: Music & Trailer Trailer was designed specifically for sponsors (targeted mareting) Was broken into three distinct segments to tell a story Very fast paced Wasn’t trying to impress players: was trying to impress sponsors

45. Finding a Primary Sponsor Flexibility was a must Generous up-front terms Establishing a rapport and relationship with the sponsor Secondary Licensing and Distribution Ad revenue

46. Feedback “Educational! There’s history and trajectory physics.” – NoThln6n3zZ “Also, it’s awesome how everything stops every few seconds while you figure out what to do next, like in life.” – Egoid “Can’t tell if this follows real history or not.” – Tee3

47. The REAL Feedback ~$40,000

48. The SUPER REAL Feedback ~$40,000 Mentions on: Penny Arcade The Escapist Joystiq Kotaku Gamasutra IndieGames.com Rock, Paper, Shotgun

49. SteamBirds Revenue Breakdown

50. But the Formula still wasn’t perfect… Not enough content Gameplay didn’t vary enough Players demanded access to the planes they were fighting against The high score tables weren’t granular enough No easy way to share with friends No Multi Player

51. But the Formula still wasn’t perfect… Not enough content Gameplay didn’t vary enough Players demanded access to the planes they were fighting against The high score tables weren’t granular enough No easy way to share with friends No Multi Player

52. What do we do now?

53. Reasons to NOT Jump on Multiplayer: We didn’t own our fan base Poor player retention Haven’t tested alternate platforms UI could use some work A ton of data now exists on user experience Lack of Monetization (still!) Solid gameplay, but not perfect gameplay MOAR EXPERIMENTS NEEDED

54. Even in the midst of success,You have to understand how you have failed

55. SteamBirds: Survival Endless, auto-generated semi-random levels Per-plane high scores Two dozen planes to fly MicroTransactions Better integrated plot Updated UI Social Media Marketing

56. SteamBirds: Survival

57. SteamBirds: Survival

58. While this was being made…

59. SteamBirds: iOS Original SteamBirds Title All-new art Separate iPad version Made by SemiSecret Software

61. Re-written in FRB

62. Tons of awesome effects

64. SteamBirds: Survival MicroTransactions Alone: ~$ 8,000 Primary Sponsorship : ~$10,000 Misc. Other : ~$ 5,000

65. SteamBirds: Survival MicroTransactions Alone: ~$ 8,000 Primary Sponsorship : ~$10,000 Misc. Other : ~$ 5,000 Owning your Fan-Base : PRICELESS

66. SteamBirds: Survival MicroTransactions Alone: ~$ 8,000 Primary Sponsorship : ~$10,000 Misc. Other : ~$ 5,000 Owning your Fan-Base : PRICELESS There are some things in life money can’t buy etc etc

67. And Mobile?

68. SteamBirds: Mobile Editions Very well received by the players Earned approx. $125,000 for both platforms (!) Reached #11 in iPad Game Top Charts

69. Awards! IndiePub: Game of the Year (Android) [+$25K!] JayIsGames: Strategy Game of the Year Flash Game License: Game of the Year Flash Game License: Most Original Game The Mochis: Shooter of the Year (CROSSING FINGERS)

70. Franchise Money to Date Just shy of $200,000

71. After all this, we’re finally able to make the game we want to make

72. Why we are ready to advance: Able to ask for help User retention: addressed Micro-Transactions tested Multi-Platform development tested Social Media Marketing in place Refined UI Seed Money Strategic Partners We own the fan base

73. The Future… DanC and Andy, Gazing fondly upon the release of SteamBirds 2

74. Questions?