My next experimental adventure game about controlling the news, swaying public opinion and impacting your family, had its first public showing.
On May 6th, 2017, I packed my modest laptop and headed towards the Seattle Armory for iFest 2017. It was a fairly small event sporting only few dozen tables, mostly attracting local passerbyers, students and few geeks. I opted for a simple setup sporting my advanced Char-Stacking-Skills™ plus a poster, with the goal of getting feedback and gauging the appeal of the game.
And the feedback has been really good, with most gamers getting really sucked in! I actually had to stop several folks from playing around the point where my current story revamp reached. The highlight was having a gamer named Bryan stop over. Upon noticing a Postmortem picture in the background, quickly recognized it and said he was a fan of my first game! Little things like that just make your day :)
Kudos to Alex for the great header photo and shoutout to my awesome table buddy Rachel, who was exhibiting iD Tech‘s numerous technical summer camps and workshops for kids. Check it out if you got some smart and geeky offsprings!
Current State of the Game
For a bit of a recap, HEADLINER is an experimental, story-driven adventure game where you must approve or deny news articles in a near-future, genetically modified society. Aside from Papers Please-esque office section, you also get to walk back home, run some errands, and chat with your family over dinner. Thus, you can see how the media influences your personal career, the society around, and your family. Click Here for official webpage with more screenies and videos.
I have put more time into Headliner than I initially expected, and after about half a year of on and off production, it is now on a fairly solid Beta stage. I just finished a complete art overhaul, and halfway through story re-writes as well. Progress is going well, and the iFest reception has left me confident it has potential.
OH and if you missed it, check out the little free spinoff web game Mr. Molotov Man which… is exactly what it sounds like.
Next Steps
Right now, I am focusing on the next milestone of finishing the story re-writes. Once I reach that point, I will start the next round of testing and go public with the game, likely putting it on Steam Greenlight, IndieDB and approaching press to some extent. I am also considering mobile release.
The game isn’t too long (30-45mins) but offers some replay value, so the price would likely be pretty cheap. Depending on the reception, I am wondering about releasing extra episodes after – while it’s a well set up plot arch, it leaves room for continuation incorporating some of the major choices you make. We shall see…
