Creating a Multiplayer Game

I am currently collaborating in development of a multiplayer game - yes, that means you can play anyone who has access to the internet. What is this game you may ask? For now I will only reveal it's genre; a board game. Its not just any board game though, it will be extremely strategical, involve logic, and be highly competitive at the same time. As development continues I will post pictures/videos/demos of the game so check back often!

My experience with Heyzap.

Heyzap is a cool and simple new way to sell items in your flash games for real money. Everything is relatively straight forward, the API, payment system, and other neat features.

The company is fresh out of the Y-Combinator, so they are still adding featuring and fixing bugs. I had the opportunity to talk with the Co-Founder,  Jude Gomila, and the Technician James Smith. They are both really nice people and want you to have a successful product which will make you as much money from their API as possible.

I recently released a game Mobster Defense using their system, mainly to test the usability and market for Micro transactions. Although players from Kongregate, Newgrounds, etc. really aren't into paying for games, their are still people willing to give you a dollar or two.

Although my game had a small bug upon release and got down voted for it along with the micro transactions i still have a respectable eCPM.

Compared to the average eCPM of mochiads which is usually between 10-25 cents this is quite good, especially for a brand new market. Im sure a game like Gemcraft or Sonny would get an eCPM of $1.00 or more with micro transactions.

So what do I think about Heyzap and the micro transactions market?

Heyzap is a micro-transactions system among a few, including Gamersafe, Mochicoins, and Nonoba's. It looks professional and has simple features. What it doesn't have are the bells and whistles. I would really like to see Heyzap add achievements, highscores, community forums, and tournaments. You might be wondering why this should be paired with an MT API, but they really go hand in hand. Why would someone buy an awesome item or level pack if they cant show it off to other gamers or friends? Adding these features would give players a reason to buy the item.

So now lets talk about the market. Its brand new, so these are all hypotheses. Lets say average developers put MT's in their bad games that go on Kong and NG. People are going to ignore the buttons and/or game. If the API's are limited to quality game, players can trust that when they buy an item they will be able to use it in a complete fun game. Basically the developers have control of the MT market in my opinion. If they make good games and place MT's in them well, the market will flourish. If a bunch of little low quality games get the MT's, gamers will never bother looking at them.

So, I suggest that all you developers make an awesome game, and add 1-3 items or features that you can buy. Use a MT API and see what happens. You might help the micro transaction market grow!

Iconfinder.net and flCoder.com

Here is another great place to get things for your flash game/wesbite:

Iconfinder.net

Another cool place which can help with AS2/AS3:

FlCodr

Fizzy.com

Fizzy is a website created by 3rdsense (3rdsense.com) and aims to create 'free games",  "enhanced games", and "subscription games" for member. You can see the sites alexa rating here:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/fizzy.com

Free games are games that all developers make. Games which are 100 percent free to play. Enhanced games are games which add their API for highscores, account creation and tracking, and even microtransactions. This allows you to make newer versions/updates to your game which would cost people a small amount of money. Subscription games are games which cost "x" amount of money every "y" times a year. The great part of this site is that the API is quite simple (Only takes an hour or two to add), and you can have your own ads in the game. This allows for highly competitive rates, and your game doesnt even have to be exlusive! They also offer revenue share and various ways to earn extra money.

If you would like to sign up as a developer, here is the link:

http://www.fizzy.com/developers

Adding a game to their site takes only minutes. The noly things you will need that may require extra work are 3 screenshots of the game and 1 100x100 thumbnail.

I am quite impressed with the overall layout, design, and simplicity of the site. These sites allow developers to earn maximum money per game, and are great for publicity +more.

Check out Fizzy!

Here is Fizzies development program in a simple image:

Your  game   +  The Fizzy Network  =  Ads  +  Sales    &     Revenue  share.