Thursday Update #2: Meta Info

Hey, all! This week I’ll be discussing some meta information that I’d love some feedback on, but first of all, the name announcement. I’ve been thinking of a name since my first idea (Knight Run) was found out to not work. Well, it could and I still like it, but there are already about 4 “Knight Run” games or similar I saw on the Google play store after a very quick search. So, I think I’ll pass on it just for ease of marketing more than anything. Also to avoid the, “Which one is the right one?” problem. As some of you now know, I’ve switched gears this week and have been working on that and logo designs so the new name is already known to you, but for the rest of you it is:

BLACKWARDEN

I use all caps to emphasize how dramatic it is. I think it worked. For the great burning questions, “Why Blackwarden? What is a Blackwarden?” You’ll have to wait for next week, which will shed some light on the lore of the game. It’s not at all because I didn’t get the logo done in time, I’m building suspense. Stop reading into it.

Onto the meat of this update: Monetization. It’s a big scary word that usually invokes some groans, and rightfully so. I have some very strong opinions on what game marketing has become nowadays, but I’m a little torn on the subject because I already have a few hundred hours into this project and still have several hundred more to go. So let’s start with some bullet points to keep track of the things I’d like to know from all of you:

- The game will be released for free. I’m going to primarily focus on the Google play store, but will try to get it onto the Apple store as well. No promises on that, because from what I’ve read it’s a lot harder to publish to the Apple store due to more stringent rules and having to pay to get and keep it up there. How many of you would prefer it on the Apple store?

- Ads, they can potentially kill a game. My idea is to have an option to watch an ad after every run attempt in exchange for some in game currency. I find when a game does this ad model, I find myself watching them every time. Well, I play them anyway. For a spend-real-money option, you can pay an amount to get rid of ads and automatically collect the reward you would have got. So, my two-part question for this one: How often would you watch these kinds of ads, and would you pay real money to remove ads altogether if you like the game?

- Cash shop. Oh, cash shop,.. what a can of worms you are. First of all, I’d like to say that I’m not doing loot boxes or randomized rewards because I really don’t like that. I’m also not doing a secondary “premium” currency because that’s also scummy. It’s very good at making money for developers, but this is a, “put your money where your mouth is,” situation for me, and I’m willing to take the risk of making much less for the game. Any equipment on the store will be skins (Cosmetic items) with otherwise no mechanical benefit. The game will not have an “Energy” mechanic, but I am thinking of adding some items in the cash shop that will help the player. For example, I’m thinking of having a daily boost that will increase treasure gains for the first X runs you do for the day. Things in the regular shop (using in game currency) will be balanced to NOT use this boost, so it really is just extra. So an item in the cash shop, maybe a potion or something, that resets your daily boost I’m okay with. Some other things would be exchanging real money for in game currency, special effects for the main character, and the aforementioned skins for armor/weapons/shields. There may be more, such as a consumable that gives you an extra heart of health for your next run, but I’m still on the fence about it. If there were something like that, you would be able to find it in game but it’d be rare. What are your opinions on real money cash shops? How much money do you spend on mobile games if you like them?

Alright, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. I know a poll like this isn’t the most fun thing to go through, but it’s important to me and if I can be up front with this stuff I will be. I want to make a fun game, not a gimmicky cash grab. For the inside look this week, we have the first boss. The bosses, in this case The Ogre Chief, will be twice as tall as the main character, so they’re a little more detailed and allow for some good gameplay mechanics. He’s a bit of a joke boss, but he should be a good first test of your skills up until this point in the game. Next week we’ll discuss some lore and setting things.

See you next week!