I talk about:
- the challenges facing small indie developers
- the benefits of the minimum viable product approach
- redesigning Greedy Bankers for the iPad market
- the advantages of the micro-studio in today's games industry
Alistair Aitcheson is a recent graduate, who has so far released two games: ‘Greedy Bankers‘ and ‘Greedy Bankers vs the World‘. His first game was a colour-matching puzzler. It was a minimum viable product, developed and released quickly to create awareness and some revenue, and to test the market’s eagerness for this kind of game.
His second iteration – ‘Greedy Bankers vs The World‘ brought in simultaneous multiplayer and – in line with the kleptocratic theme of the franchise – allowed players to steal gems from their opponent’s side of the iPad screen. This creates an experience somewhere between Bejewelled and ice hockey.
Aitcheson not only codes his games, but also produces the art and every other asset he can, keeping costs to an absolute minimum. That burn management makes it possible to learn on the job, without the high stakes of major game development. I asked Aitcheson about life as a microstudio.
Read the full interview on on Forbes.com
