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Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#71

Post by m00x »

satysin wrote: post #37

I would highly recommend you not quit but perhaps see if there are any more flexible working arrangements you can come to with your current employer. Perhaps you can go part time or take 3 or 6 month (unpaid) leave? I wish you all the best whatever you choose to do. Make sure you post an update when you have something to show. Also maybe go the 'devlog' route and document the process on YouTube and Twitch as those ar…

If he's not too tied to his job, leaving and finding another one in 6 months shouldn't be a big issue. Whenever I start looking, it takes me around a month to get a new gig.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#72

Post by patrick_halina »

I used to work for Zynga. My advice is to think about how you'll gain users. The mobile gaming world is basically user arbitrage. You buy users (via the ads market) for X, and if you make more than X, you print money. It's helpful to find a creative that gets clicks for cheaper than the rest of the market. Eg. if your ads have slots machines, then it costs $25 to acquire a user. If you find some niche, like cool cars in your ads, maybe you can spend a lot less to get users. I'd recommend testing your ads before even starting on coding a game, test out a few different branding concepts. Really successful mobile gaming companies have a tight loop between their ads and game development. It's important to get quick feedback and see how new game features affect user retention and spending habits. Note, all of this costs money! Do you have a marketing budget to acquire users.

What not to do: spend a year coding a game in your basement, then "release" it and hope it grows from word of mouth. Those days are long gone.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#75

Post by Ayesh »

I'm sure there's a lot of excitement on moving in to a new potential venture, and there are many good stories of those who pull it off!

Unfortunately luck plays a big role in the mobile games market. Some simpler games (like flappy bird) make a ton of money, but most indie games often get only short bursts of cash flow.

Because you did not indicate that you have worked on a game before, I'd strongly urge you to not burn the bridges with your current job. Perhaps go for a 50:50 for work:game.

It's great that you have a long runway. Most games only take 4-5 months to develop. Try to get the product out as early as possible.

You might need to invest a significant amount of money on advertising. They are relatively cheap in CPC, but it will be a significant cost early on nonetheless.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#76

Post by [deleted] »

nicpottier wrote: post #24

I built games full time for about five years, straddling the transition into smartphones. Building a mobile game that is profitable is a bit like the lottery. You need to build something great to have a chance of winning, but building something great is not a guarantee that you will win. I realize that goes for most business ventures, but I think it is more true for mobile games than most. What captures the imaginati…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#77

Post by megameter »

The most important thing from both the production and audience experience standpoint is for the game to feel coherent: it does not leave open contradictions in its premises and execution. If you ignore this the scope of the project easily blows up ten or a hundredfold because the contradictions turn into an unsatisfying experience that is very difficult to solve without resorting to brute force effort.

If you have that, though, you have avoided the biggest source of failure.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#79

Post by beningrad »

Don't make the mistake of dismissing game design. Spend way more time than you think is proper on non-digital paper prototypes and greybox digital prototypes. Get your half-baked games in front of people and watch where and how they struggle, get bored, have fun, lose interest, etc.

All the best engineering, art, audio, marketing, and polish in the world won't make a game more fun. Stickiness comes from game design and game design comes from iteration.

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