First order of business: find a good programmer. Shouldn't be too hard to find someone with the right skill-set - but with enough time? That's much more difficult. I plan to put out the word to people I know first, see if they are interested (and available) and then open it up to the world at large if no one bites.
Then together we'll produce a Flash version - a finished proof-of-concept that's free to play on online. Could be ad-supported, but that won't amount to much. Could sell it to a games aggregator if it's worth it, too. But if it plays as well as I hope, I want to explore different avenues - the new PSP App store, the DSi store, iPhone. There's plenty of walled garden to plant this thing in. And indeed, if it starts to sprout, time to add a biz dev person...
Thursday, 16 July 2009
The Next Steps
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Introducing Trainer Drop
Trainer Drop is a puzzle game. Like Tetris and those that followed it, different items (in this case, shoes) drop from above and need to be matched before they disappear. Trainer Drop is unique in that it has an extra step - shoes must be matched in pairs before they turn into a shoebox, then three boxes must be lined up to disappear. It's a pretty neat twist. It requires planning ahead and leads to some nice chain reactions.
The other great thing about it is the collecting aspect - reaching a certain level (or points) triggers a "COLLECT" special move, in which the player clears the screen of one type of trainer. The idea is that this goes into your 'collection' forever. There's really no limit to how many sneakers could be included, so this becomes something of a long-term gameplay goal, and ties into real-world trainer collecting. Think of a Pokédex, but for sneakers.
As a concept, the game has existed for a few years now. It's time to dust it off and get it finished. The design doc, artwork and a rough beta version all exist. The real puzzle is figuring out the next steps.
