When McClanahan asked the developer why he had made the final level so long, he said that the game would have been too short if he hadn't. The final level in particular, which was extremely repetitive, drove people crazy. The Several Journeys of Reemus series, for example, was a successful game on Kongregate, but most of the negative comments focused on its unnecessary length.
#KONGREGATE BURN THE ROPE FREE#
It doesn't matter how long you spent on the game, it's the final product that matters."Ī lot of developers feel like they need to have a long game, which makes sense if they're trying to sell your game for $60 on a console, but not so much for a free Flash game, according to Kongregate. It's something they did on their own, and reverse logic doesn't really work when you try to break it down by the hour. "The thing is, no one really asked them to make this game. The Kongregate duo added: "Developers are shocked when they produce a game that they've been working on for four months and they only get a $1,000 or $2,000 sponsorship offer on it." If people complain about their game not being fun, they say, 'well, it's art, and it doesn't have to be.' You don't have to look very far to see games that are artful and also very fun." "I love games that are artful, and I definitely believe that games can be art and often are, but a lot of developers use this as a free ticket to their game not having to be fun. Don't go the other way around and start top down with the structure of the same and hope to make it fun later."Īrt doesn't have to conflict with fun either, McClanahan stressed. "Make a fun little mechanic that works and build on that.
My biggest advice to developers is to start with fun first. The thing about games is that they also have to be fun too.
The duo explained: "For a lot of jobs, if you produce something of high quality, then it will do well. The execs behind the popular free-to-play Flash game portal gave an overview of some of the top tips they've learnt on what to do - and what not to do - in Flash game design.Īlong the way, they offered the following advice to new developers: Kongregate's CEO Jim Greer and Developer Relations Manager Greg McClanahan used their Casual Connect panel in Seattle to talk about some of the design decisions that just don't work for Flash games.