May 19, 2020
On The Importance of Brand Consistency

Don’t judge a book by its cover – or, perhaps, you should.

 

You can tell a lot from a business from its consistency of branding. It’s more than quality pictures, games and text, it’s about style and how that carries on through the company from the game itself to the artwork.

For us at Glowing Eye Games, we love attention to detail and we love the little things. They are those subtle little morsels you might not even notice – and that’s the best part. Most of the time, you’re not meant to notice each that playing card is tailored to the theme of the game or how the load screen images have their own take on our logo. It’s just part of the overall experience and allows the game to be seamlessly immersive. You’d definitely notice if the background wasn’t quite right or if the sounds were discordant to the images.

These delightful details are handmade at the point of the game’s origin. Halloween Tripeaks has Dracula as the King, the Witch as the Queen and Frankenstein’s Monster as the Jack, whereas Magic Towers has a regal King, majestic Queen and princely Jack. Our most popular card game, Pyramid Solitaire: Ancient Egypt is entirely Egyptian themed with appropriate cards, font and background. It’s all about building the scene and creating an atmosphere our customers want to spend time in. This level of detail reflects the consistency to our brand and within our company, as each game is completed to the highest level of quality.

But it’s not just about logos and artwork, it’s about our players and respecting their own individuality. You may have noticed by now some of our games are the same game, just in different coats. Let’s take Tri-Peaks solitaire for example. Halloween, Magic Towers, Christmas and classic are all versions of Tri-Peaks with the same principles and same gameplay, however the key difference is that they target different types of people. We want everyone to enjoy the game and we don’t want anyone to feel they have to conform, bear flashy themes they don’t want or experience the game in any other way than how they would want to play it. We respect those who love the simplicity of our classic version of Tri-Peaks solitaire, just as much as our customers who love Christmas and jump on the chance to have a festive theme. It’s lovely that people still play it during the summer months! Similarly the same goes for Halloween, with ghoulish backgrounds and spooky sounds, and Magic Towers, which is the most calming of the four with an animated sky of passing clouds and twittering birds. Whichever game our customers prefer, they can guarantee they’ll be getting the same attention to detail and consistency of brand, as they would with any of our other games.

The point here is this: customers love to be immersed and they can tell immediately if something is made with care. If you’re a game developer or even a marketer, remember to pay attention to the little things, because, after all, they make up the whole. If you look after those details, they can help make your game an overall success.

November 18, 2019
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.

May 7, 2019
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

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