HN Office Hours with Kevin and Sam

Thanks Kevin for getting in touch. Yes I am. I've bought 2D graphics on the web which I think are enough good to get say 200K players. I also have a friend I've worked with recently at a game company which has started to help on the design (units, skills). I've talk to numerous players on reddit, that help for the design too. Here is what it looks like (please note this is an old video, a lot have changed since, even the name of the game): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNIFd6jxQbY

edit: oh also, you should look at the following FAQ that may answer some questions.

FAQ:

Q: Why don't you make a mobile game instead?

A: Ordinary game developers think there is some kind of a "game industry" which embodies the promess that if they make some cool content, copy some cool features and drop some names, they can make a profitable product.

Smarter people knows that a tiny fraction of softwares makes all the revenue. There is no exception to that rule, not even for games. Here is the proof: https://thinkgaming.com/app-sales-data/

If you look carefully, you'll notice that the 10th grossing game on iOS make 10% of the revenue of the first one. The 100th does 1%. And so on.

But smarter people think that games are like cat pictures: you can't predict which one gonna make it up to the top. Some top rated HN users think that, I have the names :)

I believe this is true about games on mobile platforms. Success on mobile is, well, just luck in my opinion. The proof is that it simply doesn't exist a single company right now which has made multiple hits which gross at startup-level (unless it's clones of the first product or others products, even then, the ratios are not the same). Another way of telling this is: I love flappy bird, it's an amazing game really, I've played it a lot, but no one ever would have predicted it would be a success. Same for angry birds.

It is false on the PC platform however. The proof is that some companies succeed to make multiple, if not only, hits which gross at startup-level (ie. blizzard, valve etc.). It is important to add that their games have high skillcaps (more on that later) and they never die: players keep playing them. This is true games like chess and poker and these companies achieve to conceive many of them. That proves you can think rationally about games and make some predictions.

Q: Why don't you make a facebook game then?

A: Beside poker, I've never seen a game on facebook, do you? I'm sure there is some but what I've seen the most are what we call in french attractions. That is roller coasters. So here is how it works. You put some cool banner on facebook. People click on it of course. Then, you put the people in wagons with a cool theme and you run the roller coaster in loop. At some point, you tell them it can go faster if they invite some friends. So do they. Since the friends of a random person on facebook is likely to click on a banner too, it works pretty well. Fine, I've no problem with this. But this is a very special kind of game if that is games at all. Real games have high skillcaps. It means that you can be better than your friend - subtancially better. Great games have even very high skillcaps, which means that you can dramatically beat your friend, also find someone who dramatically beats you and another one who dramatically beats the one who beats you and so on.

So here is the thing: Facebook offers a real nice feature which is the social graph. But it doesn't mean a game has to use it to be an interesting project to invest on.

Q: All right, but what I want to say is, your game is too big to be done by a couple of guys isn't?

A: I beleive this is false. The traditionnal way of shipping a game is to build all of it and then launch it to the world once and for all. I beleive it can be done another way. I beleive I can get 100 players playing it, then 1000, then 10000, etc, I just gonna make iterations. Minecraft did it that way. My game is in 2D for example. It's not top notch for a RTS, but I can get many players with a great 2D RTS. Once I have a great 2D game, I can replace the 2D graphics by 3D ones - it's particularly easy for a RTS technically. If the game is great, it will generate enough revenue to make subtancial iterations/opus, the same way a startup grow.

Q: Have you launched a kickstarter campaign?

A: No. I'm not entirely sure I like kickstarter for early-stage games. It tends to actually bring back the old shipping method: a launch once and for all. I might be wrong. What I was thinking however, and I'm not sure it has be done already, is to launch a kickstarter campaign when the game is quite in a pretty advanced stage. I think that would maximize the success of the campaign. Just thoughts to be polished.

Q: Have you launched your game on steam greenlight?

A: Not yet. Unlike kickstarter for early-stage games, I beleive steam greenlight is an amazing tool. I'm looking forward launching on it very early.

Q: Wait, but have you already made games?

A: Yes professionnally and as a hobby. Most companies in that field totally sux however, imho, so I've never shipped a game you could tell your friends. However this game I've designed from A to Z (I've even made the 3D characters under ZBrush) has been reviewed by Total Biscuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQLiANnRPBU

I think yoga and meditation in a local, relaxed setting (not in a traditional gym or studio) may be truly beneficial to those who work long, stressful hours, particularly in industries that are sensitive to oil prices and environmental conditions.

This may avoid disintermediation as the price should be more than fair for the rider that they wouldn't want to have to deal with forking over cash (from what I've read about South Africa, I suspect there's a risk of getting robbed which this prevents). And what happens if a rider is sick or has a day off and they need to pair up with another driver? Additionally, look at what AirBNB has done: offer supplemental insurance to cover unfortunate circumstances. Investigate what it would cost to provide some additional insurance to riders and/or drivers such that if they try to go outside the system, they're not covered. I'm not sure what kind of insurance coverage is mandatory for drivers, but if there's something many drivers routinely avoid (eg: they have collision only, but no liability) there's an opportunity to step in and provide something extra. And/or what some auto clubs have: drivers are covered for so many flat tire repairs, jump starts for dead batteries, etc. Leaving the system cuts both drivers and riders off from this coverage.

Also, look for ways to partner and offer additional benefits. There's probably some underdog gas/petrol chain which would love to be the exclusive provider and could kick back a small percentage of purchases. Ideally it's kicked back to your company via a reward card and is part of your payment to drivers. Rate drivers on vehicle cleanliness and reliability and now there's an incentive to have a clean, well-maintained vehicle... and you can partner with a chain of mechanics and auto detailers and give your members a 25% discount or whatever you can negotiate.

As you're dealing with many low income people, not sure what level of tech you're facing, but you could also provide mobile app notifications or SMS a few minutes before the driver arrives.

Finally, if the local government wants to make ride sharing a priority why not partner with them to subsidize the program on a per-rider basis? This may let you offer a cash incentive to riders for signup and/or get 100% of your fees through this subsidization, allowing you to pass through all of the monthly fees to the driver. With whatever other benefits you offer, there's really NO reason for them to leave the program.