Greedy Bankers: Bailout! Launches

The free-to-play edition of Greedy Bankers, titled Greedy Bankers: Bailout! is now available in the App Store.

Please do tell your friends, and pass on the link - the more players the merrier!

http://itun.es/iP66K7

The new version is FREE, and introduces two new game modes - Mystery and Bailout - alongside brand new music and sound design from musician Tom Parfitt.

Greedy Bankers: Bailout! is free to play, with additional game modes priced at $0.99/£0.69/€0.79 each.

Thanks very much, and happy banking to all!

Indie Exposure: This Time it's Personal

So we've had a look at where the challenges of indie exposure lie, and the power of the USP in your promotion, and how to make the most of it. It seems natural to follow on with a discussion of one particular USP available to all of us indie developers. It's something few AAA studios have quite the same access to...

It is ourselves.

Our ability as indie developers to be individuals, with distinctive personalities and motivations is incredibly valuable. Here's why:

Your Marketing Story

Your marketing story is one of the most important promotional tools at your disposal. Tadhg Kelly wrote a smart article on what makes for a good marketing story, which is a must-read.

Stories are emotive. Stories are memorable. Stories have a human face. We as indies have unique and fascinating stories to tell. Because of our scale, we can be individual personalities, and readers of our stories can put themselves in our shoes. You may not think you have an interesting story, but you do. Micro studios taking on entire game projects must inevitably take a unique and usual path to get there. The tale of an indie who struggled to get break through but persisted through thick and thin is inspiring.

Indie Exposure Addendum: Virality

Thanks to game developer Bateleur (FastRam Design) for recommending this video - it's well worth a watch. The video is a talk about how viral videos get popular, and I think there's strong parallels with the indie and iPhone games markets.



When I posted links to these articles on the TIGSource forums, a few points were raised. I'd casually mentioned a "mass gatekeeper" created by the consumer audience in my first article. This is to reference the point that the consumer network has replaced the gatekeeper that used to be publishers and platform holders. Developer Paul Eres suggested that the mass gatekeeper was less potent than the tastemakers: games press and gaming voices that inform large swathes of followers.

I think that both of these are true. Fortunately, I think that both of these gatekeepers are very similar to what they see as remarkable.

Preparing to Launch... Greedy Bankers: Bailout!

The previously announced Greedy Bankers:Bailout! has just gone out for its final round of testing! Should the beta tests prove successful, I'll probably launch the game towards the end of the week. Greedy Bankers: Bailout! adds in two brand new game modes, Bailout and Mystery, and offers the Arcade mode from the original Greedy Bankers entirely free of charge. The extra game modes will be unlockable by in-app purchase.



The new version also includes a brand new soundtrack and sound design by musician Tom Parfitt, making it considerably brighter and buzzier than its predecessor. The music's been stuck in my head for weeks, which is always a good sign!

I'll be sure to keep you posted as and when Greedy Bankers: Bailout! is submitted... watch this space!