Game Dev

Digging a Hole makes MILLIONS!

Try coming up with a "dumb" game idea, like what about a game where you watch paint dry, or one where you dig a hole.

Well, someone made that second one a reality and it's actually a HUGE HIT!

It's literally called "A Game About Digging A Hole" and in just 3 weeks it already has 8500 reviews at 90% Very Positive which means it likely sold around 350,000 copies for about $1.7 MILLION in Gross Revenue!

I have to say, even though its sounds silly, I definitely "get" what the game is about after watching the trailer for 3 seconds. For me (and many other people), mining, crafting and making money are inherently satisfying actions and that's exactly what this game does.

Start off with a simple shovel, make a hole, and just keep digging. Dig a bigger hole, go deeper, get more dirt and resources. Then jetpack up to the surface and sell your goods. It really is the kind of core gameplay loop that feels so satisfying. More on gameplay loops in the next story.

There is a discussion on Reddit with some interesting comments on just how simple the game is and why it found so much success. Perhaps the most important comment of all is one talking about the experience of this 2 man team. Despite looking simple, this is NOT their first game, but it is a smaller project that they made in between a larger project, and that is a strategy that I think is worth thinking about.

Affiliate

Synty Ends SOON! MegaBundles 95% OFF

Unity currently has 3 MEGA BUNDLES at 95% OFF!

There’s one with a Realistic theme, one for Sci-Fi and one Fantasy.

It’s such a deep discount that the bundles are worth if just one asset looks interesting, so check them all out, there’s lots of interesting Assets and Tools. The Realistic one has a great Global Illumination tool.

Check out all the bundles HERE!

The Publisher of the Week this time is FreshCan3D, publisher with various realistic asset packs: Modern Medieval and Sci-Fi.

Get the FREE Abandoned Post Apocalyptic City Pack which is a very realistic post apocalyptic pack with tons of meshes.

Get it HERE and use coupon FRESHCAN3D at checkout to get it for FREE!

Do you want AWESOME Low Poly assets? There’s a sale on the Synty Store!

There’s some packs at 70% OFF like the Mech pack (perfect for a MechWarrior or Titanfall game) or the Shops pack (perfect for a shop/mall tycoon game) or the Military pack (perfect for any first or third person shooter game)

Check out the entire sale HERE! (It’s ending VERY SOON!)

Game Dev

Master the Core Game Loop

One of the most important concepts in Game Design is the Core Gameplay Loop, meaning the actions you do over and over again in a game. Designing a good core gameplay loop is a pretty tricky challenge. It needs to be satisfying yet repeatable.

Here is an excellent post talking about it in great detail.

If you want to get better at game design I highly recommend you spend some time actively studying gameplay loops. As you're playing a game, don't just play it, analyze it, learn WHY the loop works, learn WHY the game is satisfying to play. Every game has a gameplay loop, some are only a handful of seconds long while others can last minutes, but they all have one.

In general you've got 7 stages to a gameplay loop:

1. Define the Goal

2. Gather Information

3. Formulate a Plan

4. Execute the Plan

5. Receive Feedback

6. Analyze the Outcome

7. Repeat

A simple gameplay loop would be on something like Call of Duty. You start the level, see some enemies, defeat those enemies, get some reward (like some credits or a weapon or just level progression) and do it all over again. Simple but always satisfying.

The post also talks about layering secondary and tertiary mechanics on top of the core loop, it talks about short term vs long term goals, and more. It's a great read.

Gaming

Awesome FREE Demos!

Steam's Next Fest is currently ongoing, this is the festival where you can play tons of awesome FREE demos of upcoming games.

There are 2421 game demos available! So much stuff! There's something for everyone regardless of your favorite genre.

Unity themselves actually played some games on a Livestream and picked some highlights, lots of awesome stuff!

It's honestly amazing how demos did a complete 180 in the last few years. 10 years ago Demos were highly highly discouraged because they had more cons than pros. But since Steam started the excellent Next Fests which gives a lot of visibility, there are now more pros than cons. I always think back to myself when I was a kid and had no money at all, it would have been awesome is these Next Fests existed back then! So many awesome free games!

Fun

1 year in 1 minute!

Everyone starts from nothing, here is a dev that posted a quick video showcasing the progress in their game in 1 year. It starts off extremely basic, barely any visuals, mostly just cubes, no animations, just a basic character controller.

And through the months it starts taking shape, adding more and more features and elements until the current state which looks super polished!

I'm guessing the dev also did marketing throughout this year, it's called Teeto and currently has about 5000 wishlists. Very nice result for a 3D Platformer.