Posted December 24, 2022 by Monarch Games Net
#simulation #marketing #indie #prototype
Hey everyone! It's our second week of sharing progress and we are about to reach the next major milestone: naming this metal detector treasure game!! it's a bit nerve wracking to come up with a title and with so many options avaiable I figure it's time to enlist your help.
Here are the top contenders (drumroll please):
Naming your game is probably one of the most important decisions in the life of its development. It should be unique enough to make front page of a Google search, itch.io, or any other major database for that matter. It should roll off the tongue, be memorable, and capture what it's about in a few words. The cooler and more memorable, the better. If you feel awesome saying it to someone and they feel stoked hearing it, you've got a killer name. Since word of mouth is still king and queen, the greatest marketing of all time, you can't afford not to put a good amount of thoughtfulness to your name.
Conversely, naming a child is a pretty big deal. It's probably one of the hardest things for parents to think about and it could take weeks or even months before one is settled on. Think about it, that kid is going to carry it for the rest of thier lives! It's probably not fair to pressure our project to get it's name finalized in a week, to be fair, but I do believe in the power of voting and as long as it's not "Boaty McBoatface" it should be ok, hopefully!?
This project is for everyone who loves discovering hidden treasure, taking chances without hurry or worry, and perhaps making a fortune in the process. Hopefully anyone who likes a moderate to leisurely pace will enjoy this one. We're aiming for a general audience.
After several prototypes and two years on Star Kingdom I decided to take a break and test out a theory on fun. This project was the result. At the very least it's a game I'd love to play even if it didn't sell. But it would be nice to make a pretty penny, profit along the way, and do more with it!
It would be a dream to publish on Nintendo Switch, it has that vibe, and I think folks would love it on the platform. We'll see what happens. Baby steps, right?
Originally “Treasure Hunt” was codenamed for what this prototype was about but obviously we can't keep it. Once you Google it, like any other random name idea, the results become clear everything is taken almost. It's a tricky matter.
Also, temporary names have a way of becoming permanent. It's easy to fall in love and get married too soon only to find out you've been with the wrong one the whole time, it's taken! Later you end up reworking your whole project's identity and confuse people for a while until they, and you, get used to the new one. It's a shame. That's why it's not good to wait until the last minute.
To avoid that mess I came up with a ton of suggestions, asked friends and family for ideas, looked them up to make sure they weren't taken, and narrowed it down to the top 13. I honestly wish we could've narrowed down to 5 but it's VERY hard. I'm not even sure you can call any of these a priority. I like them all and feel conflicted. Your help will make a difference in choosing a name!
We'll update the game's UI, start menu, website, and just about everything else once all the votes are tabulated. The good news is whatever remains might still work out for the name of a park or an achievement. No matter what, if anyone comes up with a neat name idea, there's room in this project to make use of it and we'll add your name to the credits (under "Contributors", "Collaborators" or something like that).
Hard to say, the but sooner, the better. A week seems like such a small amount of time to decide yet we need to move forward. Nothing is set in stone but in all likelihood whatever does get decided will probably remain. Yet life happens, things change, and toward Release it's possible for some legal or other reason we might still need to do it again. In such a case, YOUR vote will help determine the runner up.
More to say but it's time to crack the whip and get back to labor. It's a hard but fun game to make and look forward to all of your suggestions. Feel free to leave comments below.
Until then, to be continued...
Progress - Task Tracker Pro: Treasure Hunt Task Tracker List