Blog – Glowing Eye Games

Feb

Credit Where Credit’s Due

Orient Express Dominoes Credits

Okay, okay, you may scroll past the credits in games and films (fair enough, they take forever!), but we all know they’re important and we’d miss them if they weren’t there. It’s truly amazing and humbling to see how many hands go into making something so enjoyable to play or watch, so it’s only right their name is there!

In the games industry, credits to the creators and support staff sadly seem to be a thorny issue. Some companies, such as Rockstar Games, have what I consider to be an unfair draconian policy. For example, if a creator leaves the company before the game they have been working on is shipped, they won’t be mentioned at all. That’s pretty severe and it happens even if they’ve been working for years on it! I wonder how many developers on Red Dead Redemption 2 suffered that fate?

Other companies are even more lax and let their staff fall through the net without a blink of an eye. Back in the day, I worked at Glu Games on mobile games, long before the smart phones and iPhones came out. The policy was quite haphazard, so much so we often weren’t credited at all. There were always excuses, including lack of memory on those very old phones and fear of co-workers being poached by other developers. I’m understanding to a certain point, but, like the title of this piece, I always believe credit is owed where it is due, no matter how small the contribution. I gave a cursory glance over at Glu Games recently, downloaded one of their games and was disappointed to find none of the developers were credited. If there’s something good to be taken from my experience, it helped me make the decision to never act in such a way to demoralise our team.

Here at Glowing Eye Games, we have a different problem and that’s only come over time. Our games have stayed popular and are regularly updated to this day. This means they’ve had loads of different contributors over the years. Some of the team are no longer here and people have moved on. While some are still prominently displayed in the credits, others have been removed after a very long time has passed. There’s no solid policy at the moment on this, but I’m keen to create one that’s fair. Fair for me is noting that someone contributed in the past, and that current team members who are working on those games are prominently displayed. So, in the future, we’ll be adding a new credit title: – Previous Contributors. Right now, I don’t think we’ll list what their job was, but I want to make it known to them that their efforts were valued and remembered. Sometimes, it’s just the little things that can make someone’s day.

Dec

Another Little Festive Feature!

Hello Glowing Eye Gamers!

We have had another little feature on App of the Day! Click the link below to have a good ol’ read and find out what makes our favourite festive game Christmas Solitaire Tri-Peaks so great!

Christmas Solitaire Tri-Peaks

Nov

And Now for Something Completely Different

Back at the start of the year, Glowing Eye Games took a bit of a tangent. I mean, we love games, no doubt about that, but what else is there to do to pass the time? Read, of course! We’ve loved science fiction, horror and fantasy for quite some time. It’s a mainstay for many popular videogames, young and old (perhaps as far back even as Space Invaders!), but a lot of those ideas stem from books themselves.

After a lot of back and forth, thinking, writing, re-writing and re-writing some more, Glowing Eye Games produced No Bodies Buried by A. N. Warwick, a nail-biting science fiction horror novella. Short but definitely not sweet, this book was the springboard for us to take on another challenge.

Read No Bodies Buried!

Book writing and publishing is a totally different format to game development and publishing, but there are cross-over themes. You have the same back-and-forth between writer and editor, you have deadlines to meet, discussions about world-building, target market and an artist involved to help bind the book in a beautiful cover – even though it’s completely digital!

For our next adventure, we started out pursuing a LitRPG book, or Literary Role-Playing Game book. It’s a great market to get stuck into, with many books having great fantastical elements that really whisk the reader away without having to convince them too much. From research, we found the market was predominantly male, with a large amount being anywhere from teenager to late forties. That gave great scope to get stuck into, but it also meant that we needed to produce something that would cater for a range of interests and tastes.

But it’s not that simple.

We found a writer by advertising on Upwork [link]. Within a few days, that job had been shared on a number of sites throughout the globe, most of which we didn’t even know. Prepare to check your email regularly, especially the junk folder. You never know what could slip through the net!

Always base your decisions on written examples. As a rule, we did not even consider those who emailed without an example of their work, even if they were asking for clarification on what we wanted. It was all there in the job description, and any aspiring writer should know it is a competitive market out there. You’ve got to prove yourself from the off. It’s a very attractive and reassuring quality when you get someone who’s unafraid to jump into the deep end by giving us a story to read.

We got roughly thirty applications for the job, five of which were short-listed and two were chosen. Both had totally different ideas and we felt we had the ability to support both writers. One writer, however, dropped out shortly after hiring due to creative differences.

At the moment, the work is still ongoing, but what I can say is prepare to have many pots on the boil. We have an artist working on the cover, researcher looking into promotion and publishing and even a cartographer to give our fantasy book a very classic fantasy map.

The hottest boil is the one with your writer. We have weekly meetings to discuss the latest submitted chapters, but you may find your own writer might work differently. Make sure both of you are comfortable before you proceed or after a very short trial period.

Communication is key. Don’t be afraid to say if you’re unsure where the book is going or if you see problems occurring. A confident writer should be able to deal with creative criticism, as much as any of your work colleagues. Make sure you maintain patience, level-headedness but above all be open-minded. Whilst we agreed it to be a Lit-RPG novel, it’s turned out to be more like fantasy genre. This is an interesting diversion, but not an unwelcome one, as it’s allowed our writer to feel creatively passionate about her project, as well as keeping it close to the genre we were originally looking for, meaning our research and decision only has to undergo minor tweaks rather than an overhaul.

One last note to bear in mind is that prepare for deadlines to be overrun. Many freelance writers work other jobs on top of the one they’re working on for you; add a bit of writer’s block and some edits on our side, and you’ll be behind. Try to tune in to how comfortable you feel with a slower pace and how much you value quality or the wellbeing of your employee. It’s a fine balance and hard to tread if it’s getting down to crunch time. Be honest, understanding but firm, if you need to be. Sometimes having a bit of pressure is necessary to get the wheels turning again.

We’ll let you know how it goes in the future! The next blog will be about the trials of publishing, finalising artwork and promotion after publication.

Nov

Just a Little Feature

App of the Day featured our game Magic Towers Solitaire Tri-Peaks! Head over to their site via the link to read their interview with one of our developers.

Magic Towers Solitaire – Tri Peaks

Sep

Not a One Trick Pony – Keeping the Customer Entertained

Glowing Eye Games has been going for eleven years now and we’ve learned some tricks of the trade along the way. In this blog, we’ll take a long at the pros of having a diverse range of games to suit all kinds of players.

Games have the miraculous ability to whisk you away into untold worlds: Ancient Egypt, a fairy-tale kingdom, a haunted house, but one man’s paradise is another man’s hell. Each world speaks to the individual. It has to be a place they’re willing to dwell in for hours on end. That’s why we have a huge selection of games to choose from, with diverse landscapes and characters, and even a few which – simply put – do exactly what it says on the tin, with no frills or distractions. Our games are derived from classics, such as solitaire and many of its popular variants, and Mexican train dominoes, so they’re not only beautiful, but beloved by every generation. We think that our themed games have meant that those generations can enjoy their favourite games with renewed joy.

Golf Solitaire Club

Despite our small company, there are many ways in which to contact us. Communication, as someone once said, is key, and it’s certainly a part of our key to happy customers. The dialogue between us and our gamers is constant. Whether its comments on our social media, feedback or just general queries, we listen to what you have to say – and what you say feeds into our games. We put a game out into the world expecting it to grow and reshape as time goes on to ever home in on the exacting standards of our consumers.

Variety comes in because no single customer or gamer is the same. We have some people who use Pyramid Solitaire to teach their grandchildren basic maths, whilst others use it as a form of brain training. Whilst others relax, some would rather play competitively against themselves, friends or AI. Whatever they like, consistency is key when they decide to branch out. Every game has our own stamp through its style and gameplay, so the gamer is being treated to something new without going into unknown territory.

Magic Towers Solitaire

Our games also have their own individual customisability from the backgrounds to the settings. Whilst some games only allow you to make aesthetic changes, most of our games allow you to set how many cards you want to use (The Golf Card Game), how many rounds you want to play (Mexican Train Dominoes Gold) and if you want to play competitively or not (Pyramid Solitaire: Royal Gold). Mexican Train Dominoes is our most adaptable game, allowing you to play with your friends in a group by passing the device around and also to move the tiles around as the tactics come to you. This customisability and adaptability stemmed from the original games which are stilled played out on tables and desks. Most players have grown up learning the rules and playing the game with physical cards or tiles. It’s only polite to allow them to carry on playing their own way and give them the choice to do so on a tablet or phone.

Mexican Train Dominoes Gold

We’ve been working on a word game currently, taking inspiration from hangman and Scrabble, but giving it a more refined appearance. It’ll have its own world, its own players and a few devotees of Glowing Eye Games, I’m sure. So, watch this space!

Classic card and boardgames needn’t be a dull thing of the past. We gave them a good update and a new modern face and they fell into the palm of our customer’s hand! If you’re developing your first game or perhaps you’ve already got a few under your belt, remember, you don’t need to pigeonhole yourself. Experiment, have fun, and as long as you take your audience along with you for the ride, you should have a loyal set of fans.

Aug

More to Mexican Train Dominoes

All aboard!

Our game, Mexican Train Dominoes Gold, has been chugging along with a myriad of happy passengers for years now, becoming a firm favourite at your fingertips. Over that time, veterans and newcomers to the game alike have contacted us about the rules, origins and tactics, so much so we went ahead and made our very own website dedicated to the grand game of Mexican Train Dominoes.

Click here to visit the site!

To keep our game clear of extensive and wordy rules, you can peruse the site at your own leisure, taking in the basics to intermediate game place. There are variations to discover, hints and tips to learn, and even a printable scoresheet you can use when playing with real dominoes. And to top it all off, the step-by-step guide has some beautiful and clear illustrated instructions, so you know you’re playing exactly as you should be.

And just to whet your appetite, here’s a little something you might not know:

Mexican Train Dominoes’ origin is shrouded in history. Some people say it was developed in Cuba, others in China, but what we do know is that Roy and Katie Parsons from Newport Coast, California, developed the game we know today. The couple copyrighted the rules for the game Train in 1994, which only lead to its renown and distribution, especially when the Puremco Company got a hold of the rights. Its popularity only grew; the rest is history.

Throughout the ensuing decades, Mexican Train Dominoes has been altered to suit each player. Some people knock on the table when they have their last tile, whereas others do not. Sometimes you can even include a whistle to blow when a player starts their train. A penny or a nickel can be used to show a train is blocked. We’ve even heard that when a double is played, the two tiles are hit together to sound like a passing train!

Whether you play Double-6, Double-9 or Double-12, Mexican Train Dominoes is a game that brings you together in fun-filled competition. The website is our gift from us to you.

Happy playing!

Jul

Crunch Time and How Glowing Eye Games Has Never Done It

Think of all the most famous of teams. The A Team. The Thunderbirds. The Avengers. What do they all have in common? They’re great team players! (Unless we count Civil War, but let’s just brush over that for now). Although each member has their own individual strengths and talents, as a team they are at their best. Here at Glowing Eye Games, we cherish our teamworking skills and hold them paramount in all our business dealings. We know a happier team does better work and that’s one of the reasons why we avoid crunch time.

If you’re in the game development business, then you’ll understand deadlines can come up pretty fast. That’s why we very rarely release games on a Friday. No one wants their weekend disturbed by emergency fixes and we totally respect that. It’s very set a deadline that doesn’t end on a Friday!

Speaking of deadlines, we make sure these often aren’t fixed when the scope of a project has changed. There’s nothing more stressful than pulling your hair out, trying to meet a date when so many changes have been made and there is so much more work to be done. We always value a job done well over a botched one. Sometimes, a little flexibility goes a long way. If a deadline is crucial, we make sure to structure our time more efficiently, with stronger planning and more miniature deadlines, so the project doesn’t seem overwhelming. We make the scope of our projects realistic, too, otherwise it’s just unfair. Sometimes business can strip the humanity out of a company, and we remain conscious at every level to instil empathy and encouragement. After all, we’re all in it together.

Whether updates are big or small, we make sure both get equal focus. Obviously, bigger updates need more time and their scope is more comprehensive, whereas small updates can be completed in-between or during quieter periods. It’s just the simple tactic of scheduling time in the most efficient way possible.

As a company, we have employees around the UK, America and Japan, so that’s a lot of coordinating to do, but flexitime takes a lot of the strain off. With different time zones to cater for, meetings are kept to a minimum and planned in periods of overlap. Some employees even have other ongoing projects, and as long as they don’t interfere with the productivity of their work with Glowing Eye Games, we’re happy for them to continue with them. This allows a great work life balance for our team, ensuring transparency and happiness.

So, there you have it. At Glowing Eye Games, there’re a lot of humans working behind those screens, coding your game, designing its background, writing its information and all the big and little stuff in between. We’re glad we’ve managed to do this without burning anyone out.

May

Did You Know? : A History of the World’s Favorite Game

Our love of solitaire knows no bounds. From tri-peaks to forty thieves, we’ve made a hefty chunk out of the solitaire catalogue and we are still going. But our obsession is not exclusive. It turns out, solitaire is a global fixation and one that has been capturing hearts and heads for centuries.

The humble game goes by many names, from Kabal or Cabale by Eastern European and Scandinavian countries, Patience to the British and Reussite by the French. And that’s just for classic solitaire! The game of Tri-peaks also goes by Triple Peaks or Tri Towers, and Forty Thieves can be found under Napoleon or Roosevelt because of its famous devotees. Crescent, Pyramid and Spider solitaire all take their names from their very obvious visual tableau.

Call it what you will, solitaire is a firm favorite the world over. On our journey creating card games, we’ve come across some pretty interesting trivia!

Solitaire itself is rumored to have originated from a multiplayer card game. It became private after players who loved the game so much would go home and practice alone. Thus, its favor began to spread throughout the globe as a solitary pursuit and one to pass the time pleasantly. It even went as far as the mountainous Yukon, where Klondike the card game came to fruition amongst bored prospectors trying to make a living from the gold rush.

Other popular variations were mostly born in America. In the late 1890s, Richard A. Canfield was a clever man, a gambler, and the creator of Canfield solitaire. Looking to get himself some quick cash, he’d set up the cards and get the player to put in $50. For every card laid in its foundations, $5 was earned. If the game was completed, the lucky player could win $500! Pity the success rate of winning Canfield is less than 30%.

Over fifty years later and FreeCell is conceived by medical student Paul Alfille in the late 1960s. Originally played with physical cards, it was adapted for computer in 1995. Most recently, our familiar friend Tri-Peaks was actually only invented in 1989 by Robert Hogue of Winter Haven, Florida.

Computers really kept the heart of solitaire beating, from the earliest desktops to the present-day smartphone. It’s popularity and recognizability is partially thanks to graphic designer, Susan Kare, who illustrated the playing cards and clickable icons for Microsoft’s original solitaire. From there, hours of fun could be found, but that’s not the end of the story!

Solitaire is still being developed, even by the likes of us. We took the classic game of Pyramid solitaire, often used by parents to teach children simple maths, and enhanced its original format. The game was quite tough, so we created a temporary card slot to make the game a little easier. We also changed it to just one deal to ensure the enjoyment of the game was sustained and to aid in more consecutive wins! What more is there to love?

Whether you use it as a guilty pleasure, refreshing break from a hard day’s work or to practice your tactical skills, solitaire is the game for everyone. From the casinos to kitchen tables, Napoleon de Bonaparte and Prince Albert to the ordinary folk of today, there’s no stopping the allure of solitaire.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog, find our handy guide to solitaire on the Apple bookstore. Learn how to play Canfield, Spider and more using physical cards. It’s totally free!

https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/learn-how-to-play-solitaire-card-games/id1442286946?mt=11

Apr

A Decade of Magic Towers Solitaire: Lessons Learned

Ten years is a long time in the games business. Back then, online games made with Flash sustained thousands of small indie game developers. Games on Facebook were massive and helped build companies like Zynga and PlayFish. Slowly, old and clunky feature phones were replaced with iPhones and Android phones. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 fought in the console space, whilst the Nintendo Wii delighted people of every age and gender.

This was the time in which Magic Towers Solitaire was born. It was actually the third game we had ever created and was designed to help tick us over whilst we worked on our mega downloadable PC games. The first two games before Magic Towers Solitaire are now defunct and the PC games turned out to be a venture never to take off, but Magic Towers Solitaire is a survivor, and not for any old reason.

Magic Towers Solitaire has a devoted fanbase, history behind it and is one of the founding stones on which we expanded our company. There are so many stories to tell from Glowing Eye Games but here are some lessons for all you indie developers to help you along the way to creating and sustaining your game and business. Class, take your seats!

Lesson 1:

Take responsibility.

Full of beans about our new game, we hired a small contractor in the Crimea to make it. All was well at first, until the graphics came back to us. In retrospect, our art brief was poor, so at first it looked like a childish game, which was not what we wanted. This mistake was on us and one which we had to pay for – not a great sum, but the mistake was memorable. We went back to the developer and asked for changes. Although at first the air was a little tense, we managed to collaborate and discuss terms to make something better. Always remember, if you’re paying for a service, don’t let emotion or mistakes stop you from starting something again. There’s no shame in admitting you were wrong. Even the best of us want to blame others for our mistakes, especially when working with outside sources. Take responsibility and you’ll get the results you want quicker. Likewise, if your contractor doesn’t take responsibility for their side, reconsider them.

Lesson 2:

Check your Trademarks!

When we first released Magic Towers, it was called Tri Towers Solitaire. OMG this was a massive mistake! Little did we know, it was already a registered trademark, so, out of the blue, we received some pretty threatening letters from the owner’s lawyers. What followed was a lotof paperwork, a lotof money and a lotof time getting our renamed game updated on the thousands of small websites on which it was hosted. This was a bad burn, especially considering we could barely afford to pay wages at the time. So, don’t go in blind, do your US trademark research! This is much easier than been hounded by lawyers. (Honestly, they’re good at sending the dogs after you!).

Lesson 3:

Friendly competitors are worth having. Treat them well and if they’re decent they’ll do the same.

Despite the frightening lawsuit, we weren’t completely down on our luck. Our previous sponsor, Jochen of Smiley Games, told us about Mindjolt, an exceptionally popular games service on Facebook at the time. Without Jochen’s tip-off, our company may not have survived the year. Magic Towers Solitaire became one of Mindjolt’s most popular games and even led to the creation of Pyramid Solitaire: Ancient Egypt, which is still one of our greatest successes. Jochen is now doing brilliant mobile Match 3 games and we have a good connection to this day.

Lesson 4: Maximize your distribution and platform coverage.

Back in the day, online indie games were mostly supported by other gaming websites. We’d noticed and been a part of clustering around the benefits of Facebook games, but there was still room for growth. We set up Solitaire Paradise, a website for all kinds of card games, which hosted our own and others’ games. This helped bring in revenue and promote our products. Additionally, there were websites that wanted games with their branding. We made nine deals here on Magic Towers alone, mostly easy jobs that brought in more revenue. Nowadays, you can advertise and implant your game on so many app and console stores, so never pen yourself in to one sector. There are so many more options, so take your time to investigate!

Lesson 5:

Cross Promote Everywhere.

Remember Jochen from lesson 3? Well, during our time as friendly competitors, we helped each other out with some cross promotion. Cross promotion is always worth doing between your own games, especially if you have a house style. Cross promotion with friendly developers is rarer, but if there is an overlap, you know players will move on sometime. So why not to someone who can send some new players back to you?

This way, you can expand your audience, rather than having to source new customers every time you release another game. Done well, you could have a long queue of them ready for you on the release date. We also promoted across platforms. Starting off with online PC games, we branched into the iPhone with a little help from a good university friend and royalty deal we could all trust and work with. We were always bug fixing, enhancing and updating. After some time, we had some small triumphs. Our game got featured by Apple in their category lists and was the number 1 card game in Uzbekistan. I still like saying that, it did well elsewhere too, but Uzbekistan is just a great sounding name for a country!

Lesson 6:

Thank you for your custom. Please come again!

As mentioned in the above paragraph, there are lots of thing to mull over and improve. Most of the time, you’re not doing it to be fancy, it’s just things that makes it better for the customer. Make fonts more readable, port to Android or iPhone, clarify graphics and simplify instructions; these are all often well-received and keep players satisfied. So, no need to rest on your laurels once you’ve completed the game, you’ve got to tend that garden and get rid of the weeds!

Lesson 7:

Change is scary, but an old game can learn new tricks.

Whilst Magic Towers Solitaire was ticking over, we decided to update Pyramid Solitaire: Ancient Egypt with new technology. We changed the timing of how the game was played and changed the graphics significantly, so that we were deluged with angry customer emails. We always take customer feedback to our heart, so we quickly went about doing a lot of fixes and alterations. Some of our changes were for the best and went unchanged, but the end result was that we lost a few customers. So, with Magic Towers Solitaire, we learnt our lesson and were far more cautious. Changes were gradual and What’s New updates helped keep the customer informed and prepared. Happily, the players kept playing! The transition was as smooth as a scoop of the finest, organic ice-cream (vegan option available).

Lesson 8: Always keep improving!

For complete disclosure it’s worth saying Magic Towers could do with some sprucing, so let’s take lesson 7 and make it a practical one!

Which of these updates should we do?

– additional themes

– new levels

– statistics tracking

– enhanced graphics with particle effects (oooh fancy!)

– updated characters

– improved menus

– a simple tutorial

– a veritable boat-load of little tune-ups.

We’ll pick one or two of these with each update, just to keep the old fanbase satisfied while making it better for new players.

You see how this business works? Always maintain, update, keep it brand-spanking, sparkly new and it will seem that way to the customer, and maybe Magic Towers Solitaire will continue to bring joy and relaxation to players for another ten years!

Apr

It’s the Little Things: Updating Sound for Pyramid Solitaire: Ancient Egypt

Ah, the sultry sounds of Pyramid Solitaire: Ancient Egypt. Fun-loving, with a heady mixture of somewhere exotic, somewhere you’d probably rather be. Visuals do so much for our games, but they’re often completed with the right balance of ambience. To create a soothing atmosphere, we delved into the world of audio to revamp Pyramid Solitaire: Ancient Egypt and give our players something to swoon over. Soon, we found the right sound for the overall game, but we’re sticklers for detail.

What about the sound when you remove a card from the tableau? After all, that’s the aim of the game and it’s gotta make you feel good!

So, the old sound was fine. It fitted the theme nicely and gave a twinkly wink of success initially. But after a few quick moves, the sound repeating multiple times in quick succession became kinda annoying. Actually, very annoying. So, we started out to find a replacement.

Finding the right sound has its own challenges, especially when the change is tiny. You don’t have symphony-sized room to make someone feel happy, you’ve got half a second. We trawled through our in-house library for some inspiration but found nothing that was both less irritating and just as emboldening, if not more. We ventured out of our own realm and into outside sources, mostly consisting of royalty free, creative commons sites, such as freesound.org, soundbible.com, and audiojungle.net. Yet, try as we might, we came out from our search empty handed and so very sad and disappointed.

Finally, we gathered our thoughts and decided to go for a one-time payment, licensed sound pack, chock full of different sound effects which would make an audio engineer weep with joy. It was audiojungle where we found this delightful pack, so the preliminary search was not a wasted journey after all. As a side note, we’d recommend any budding developer to make sure the licensing on audio suits your project, especially if players are going to be streaming the game. Make sure these sound effects can be used by any third party!

The pack was like a gift from the Gods and once opened this veritable Pandora’s box, we were totally entranced by the sheer range. Whilst we had set out to find only one upgraded sound effect, we were tempted by the many versatile sound effects on offer that could be used multiple times. With some crafty slicing and pitch altering, we came out with tons of new sound effects, which we implemented with wild abandon. Now, a countdown could be used at the beginning of the round, to enhance that feeling of achievement when the round was complete, and score totals had some extra added sparkle. These new effects all culminated into a warm fuzzy feeling, kind of like a reward on the ears.

Audacity handled the sound editing, a free wave editor, and then exported to Wwise. We use Wwise for all our projects, like many developers, including AAA developers.

Now we have a game which not only makes you feel great, but sounds great too, down to the smallest detail. We know only 20% of casual mobile players play with sound, but it’s important to get it right for those tuning in.