married indies: how to ship a successful game without killing your spouse
TRANSCRIPT
Jake Birkett (@greyalien) Helen Carmichael (@bchezza)
Married indies: How to ship a successful game
without killing your spouse
A game about decorating a ballroom?
FundingCan you really get free money?
A good pitch• Researched the market• Researched sales data• Sensible budget• Unique but familiar idea• Working demo• Risks and contingencies
MOAR Money:• Bank loans/overdraft• Other indie businesses• Personal savings• Tax credits• Crowdfunding
MOAR Money:• Bank loans/overdraft• Other indie businesses• Personal savings• Tax credits• Crowdfunding
MOAR Money:• Bank loans/overdraft• Other indie businesses• Personal savings• Tax credits• Crowdfunding
Jake• Producer• Designer• Coder• Project
Manager• Sound FX• Art Director• PR• Biz Dev
Helen• Researcher• Writer• Designer• Tester• Grant Admin• PR
Contractors• Art• Music
Risks• Time wasted mentoring Helen• Jeopardising science writing career• Putting all our eggs in one basket• Not being a good team
Our Experience• Employees = admin/legal/financial• Separate office spaces• Design by committee• Sharing PR duties• Visiting nice places
A learning curve• Mentorship vs reality of shipping• Using photoshop• Making a story fit the game• Project management• Different daily routines
Having kids = indie hard mode
The Big Picture
Photo credit:Jason Alan Dewey
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Questions?•@GreyAlien•@BCHezza• [email protected]•www.ShadowhandGame.com