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A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

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Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#161

Post by anigbrowl »

jng wrote: post #148
anigbrowl wrote: post #135

Then. A Dark Room went viral. I suspect the author's lack of subsequent success with his other games stems from his apparent lack of curiosity about exactly how his first and only lucky break took place.

It's not about lack of understanding. The viral success of a "one-off" type of game like ADR is nearly impossible to reproduce. Sometimes people take a liking to something because you hit exactly the right notes without even knowing what notes they are (not that they do themselves even!), and it is impossible to hit them again. ADR looks like that kind of success. Repeating the success of GTA Vice City is very hard,…

Sure, but I'd have expected at least some analysis of what happened - where it got reviewed, or what the growth pattern leading up to the sudden spike was like, or anything really.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#162

Post by user5994461 »

gargarplex wrote: post #124
JamesBarney wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you mind going into a little more detail about the hole that you plugged and how you plugged it?

For me it was learning all about sales. I actually got a job selling industrial equipment specifically for this purpose. I learned that a good sales person is an agent who advances the best interests of the buyer as well as the seller. I also had the epiphany that my ads and website are - essentially - salespeople, selling to exactly one visitor at a time. So if I can't sell without the website, I can't sell with the…

+1

Sales and marketing is as important as the software. They can't exist without each other.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#163

Post by egypturnash »

misnome wrote: post #56
loteck wrote: post #27

This guy made a lot of really questionable decisions. Put his future and family at risk. His only hit was porting someone else's hit game to iOS. He himself admits he is working again now only so he can build a stash and gamble it all again. I hope he finds success some day, but given his track record, I'm very skeptical of his conclusions.

Whilst perhaps a little harsh in its tone, this comment appears to be the only one commenting on the fact that it sounds like he only ported the existing game from web, didn’t create it. So, depending on how much split with the original coder/creator that 800k might not have gone very far, and seems pretty good for “A port”. I wonder if/why not forming a small studio with the original creator would have worked.

From the article:

> I redesigned so much of the original game. So much of me went into it.

I haven't played the iOS version of A Dark Room so I can't speak to exactly how much change there is between the original web version and this one, but it sounds like it's not just a straight port.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#164

Post by user5994461 »

bufferoverflow wrote: post #159
GuiA wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4% withdrawal rate is a conservative figure often used to live “forever” from a portfolio (use 3% if you want to be more conservative, 5-6% for more risk friendly). To get $30k a year, that’s a starting portfolio of $750k. [0] If you’re making $140k a year and living frugally, you can amass $750k in less than 10 years, perhaps even 5-7 if you are really frugal + lucky with the market. It’s within reach of most softwa…

In the US your health insurance and rent alone will likely be over $30K. I have no idea how one can live on $15K, unless it's some really unpleasant place or an RV. And if you have any health issues, you're done.

The unspoken secret is own your home. Life is a lot easier when there is no rent.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#165

Post by scott_karana »

amirrajan wrote: post #76
downandout wrote: post #69

I have never been directly employed at a large Silicon Valley tech company. Is it really that difficult to work on side projects on your nights/weekends while working at these places? To be sure, it would take longer to get your projects finished, but you would also be doing so with the benefit of a steady paycheck and health insurance. If you happen to hit the lottery with your finished project, great - quit your jo…

+1. This guy took a huge risk and is an idiot. He got stupid lucky.

In case anyone missed it, 'amirrajan is the author of the submission :)

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#167

Post by xstartup »

mkagenius wrote: post #10
rubicon33 wrote: post #2

> I liquidated my 401k savings (took all the tax penalties up front), and said "alright, gonna live off of this for as long as I can until I figure something out". This is the hard part in all of these stories. Props to him for having the courage (stupidity?). I think this forum is full of people who would not just love to quit their job and work on their own project, but would THRIVE in doing so. The problem is the…

> The problem is the paycheck. Do I want to risk it all, throw away my savings, all for a chance at success Reading this, it feels better in India. Here I can work for 2 years in a good company, save enough to quit job and do something of my own for 3 years before needing money. (Lots of other stuffs are shitty in India, but this aspect is good)

If moving away from a job is that easy in your country, it would definitely be more difficult to build stable business like the one you can build in states. People are here because you can achieve more here then elsewhere, they pay for this opportunity.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#168

Post by amirrajan »

dankohn1 wrote: post #150

I spent every morning for several weeks playing A Dark Room while commuting by subway with my 7yo, so I this story really engaged me. My biggest takeaway is to think about this advice from Sam Altman: http://playbook.samaltman.com “A word of warning about choosing to start a startup: It sucks! One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we get from YC founders is it’s harder than they could have ever imagined, beca…

I'm really really happy that ADR gave you some (hopefully) great moments during your commute. Seeing thing comment means the world to me (it really, truly does).

If you get a chance, download A Noble Circle and play it with your child. You may find that you can connect over it's ridiculous story and crazy gameplay. I'd love any feedback you may have about it.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#169

Post by rak00n »

beambot wrote: post #154
FireBeyond wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with your assumption is you're "living frugally" not for the ten years to make your portfolio withdrawal rate, you're doing it _for the rest of your life_. You live on $30K / year (in the Bay Area/NY, where you're most likely to find a starting / junior / midrange position that offers $140K - remembering that needs to be liquid)... and after your ten years of "living frugally" (and let's be clear, it's go…

You can always still work (job, contract, consulting, etc) even if you're "soft retired." It's just that you have a lot more freedom in the selection, and you can pursue things that carry more personal fulfillment than MegaCorp job with lots of responsibilities. As for living frugally: Don't live _in_ SF. For a short BART or Caltrain ride, you can live in a $1500/mo. apartment that is beautiful.

Where? Apartment in Oakland or Berkeley aren't that cheap. You'll have to spend at least $2500 for a decent studio/1BR.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#170

Post by amirrajan »

Apocryphon wrote: post #127
myth_drannon wrote: post #29

Similar recent interview with him on indie hackers : https://www.indiehackers.com/businesses/a-dark-room

If he's talking to the press, here's hoping he might restore some of the content he removed in his data purge. There's got to be interesting, useful knowledge in there for other game dev and future generations.

>there's got to be interesting, useful knowledge in there for other game dev and future generations.

There is, but "the few ruined it for the many". Some who got access to that information tried to "growth hack" their way to a successful app. They started name dropping me to Apple as if they knew me. This isn't a very nice thing to do.

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