So this is good news for the Xbox Indie service overall. This also means I can now offer the Mind’s Eye of Jupiter game episodes at 80 Microsoft Points each instead of the 240 Microsoft Points each. I hope you enjoy the new price point.

I originally envisioned the game as an adventure game. But as I thought about the story, I figured it would make a better strategy game. In the game you are the president of a Moon colony defending the historic Apollo 11 site from a corporate mining company. Enjoy the trailer.

What Worked:

When I started Tourist Trap I wanted to create a standalone 80 point 3D adventure game. I felt this format would be a better fit for XBLIG than my previous games. Looking at my current numbers I think I was proven right. As of writing this post, I have 10548 trials downloads and 1797 purchases. Not bad at all. Thanks to all those who bought the game.

What Didn’t Work:

I restricted the trial experience too much. Tourist Trap is a fairly short game, so I wanted to make sure players had enough play time after the trial experience. In the trial game you can’t pick up and use exhibit items. Based on some of the feedback, it sounds like these restrictions may have turned off some people from buying the game.

What I’ve Learned:

One of the unforeseen benefits of Tourist Trap was all the different back stories I had to come up for each of the exhibit artifacts. There were some items that I thought would make interesting games in of themselves.

So my next game will be a spin-off of Tourist Trap based on the Union of Armstrong exhibits. Union of Armstrong is about the first Moon colony to secede from Earth. The game will have a similar format to Tourist Trap, but have more of strategy/tower defense element to it.

Let me know what you think.

 Welcome to the Tower of Mystery, the home of the most amazing curiosities in the world. Our museum of oddities and curiosities includes a genuine shrunken head, dragon venom, the first wheel, Excalibur and other mysterious items. But beware of the Jackalope! Discover the mystery in this 3D adventure game.

What Worked:

When I first started developing Mind’s Eye of Jupiter I wanted to create an adventure game with strong 3D environments, a complex plot and light puzzle solving. I wanted a game where the story is revealed as the player wanders and explores the game’s world. This type of game is rare on Xbox Indie Games. Overall, I think I accomplished my goals.

What Didn’t Work:

The core problem with the game was the plot was too large for an XBLIG game. The larger story forced me to break the game into episodes. The game required a lot of different scenes and environments. Because of time and file size limits, I had to build scenes that were emptier than I would have liked. The size of the game also affected the price. One of the more common negative pieces of feedback I’ve gotten, is the episodes are too short for the 240 price point. Microsoft has a limit of 50 MB for 80 point games and 240 is the lowest price for games above 50 MB. All Mind’s Eye of Jupiter episodes were well above 50 MB. There is no way to sell the game for 80 points.

What I’ve Learned:

I plan on making more adventure games. I will avoid episodic games, for now. A standalone 80 point 3D adventure game would be perfect for XBLIG. I don’t think there is a game like that currently on the service. The plot should be more of a short story. Most full games try to have an epic movie style plot. Space Marines battling invading space mutant zombie aliens. I should create games closer to the length and style of the old Twilight Zone episodes. Short stories set in a single location that blends sci-fi, fantasy and horror. This kind of format would fit well with the inexpensive mini games that people seem to expect from XBLIG.

Let me know what you think.