Dragon Hatchery Released!
October 18, 2009
Dragon Hatchery has been released today, October 18th 2009, by GameHouse.com.
Mac version coming soon and Big Fish Games version coming soon as well.
In the meantime you can download, play, and buy the final version of the game at GameHouse!
RTG Postmortem: Porting Marble Blast from XBLA to iPhone
July 21, 2009
Six months ago Red Thumb Games was subcontracted as an independent studio by Luma Arcade to design Marble Blast Mobile, an iPhone version of the XBLA hit game Marble Blast Ultra. Click the link below to read our post-mortem posted on GamaSutra Expert Blogs:
Back from Africa & GDC 2009
April 2, 2009
Well I am back in the USA from my 6 month contract work doing design and production work for Luma Arcade in South Africa. You can read about my experiences developing games in South Africa here:
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoshuaDallman/20090321/953/Game_Design_in_South_Africa.php
Back to back with returning was GDC 2009, and it was a great conference this year. The Flash Game Summit had its first appearance and was full of interesting conversation on Flash industry trends. I also attended the Casual Game Summit which had familiar faces and newcomers alike, with lots of talk about Social Gaming and emerging platforms. Lots of new opportunities to follow up on after GDC, still getting all caught up from it.
New version of Dragon Hatchery coming soon!
Dragon Hatchery Mac Version
March 4, 2009
We have submitted Dragon Hatchery v1.0 PC to multiple casual game publishers with several of them interested in publishing and distribution.
That being the case, we have decided to immediately port to Mac so that we can release the Mac and PC versions simultaneously.
Also included in the update we are working on is the addition of the following key features:
- an interactive tutorial to replace the static help screens, so that players can walk through the game and learn to play it step by step
- an achievement system with a half dozen trophies for outstanding accomplishments of various types
- a new main menu with a hand-painted art background
- a second pass on sound effects, to be revised by a professional audio studio
These changes are being committed to the game as a direct result of the publishers who gave us feedback. To those publishers, thanks. The new Dragon Hatchery v1.1 for PC and Mac is coming soon and I can’t wait to submit it.
New Casual Game Available to Publishers
February 12, 2009
Red Thumb Games has completed its latest casual PC download game, DRAGON HATCHERY.
I am now seeking:
- publishers
- distributors
- exclusives
- localizing to other languages and territories
- funding for ports to Mac / iPhone / Flash
- funding for a sequel or exclusive enhanced version
Please email me to discuss any areas of opportunity with your company and for a private download link to the full version of the game.
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Dragon Hatchery invites players to open their very own mystical hatchery! Drop colored eggs in the hatchery to match and hatch baby dragons, then feed and care for your dragons in the nursery to raise them into adulthood. Can you save dragonkind from becoming extinct?
Dragon Hatchery is a new casual gaming experience, combining a unique puzzle color-matching game with an arcade management game. We are actively looking for publishers and distributors for this brand new title and IP.
Dragon Hatchery features:
- Match colored eggs to hatch baby dragons
- Feed and care for them in your own personal hatchery
- Use power-ups and gold coins to help your quest
- Unique puzzle and arcade management game in one
- Will you be able to save dragonkind?
The game’s website is at http://www.redthumbgames.com/dragonhatchery/
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This game was written in code that can be near-instantly ported to Mac and iPhone, and by reusing the graphics and game logic a Flash version is possible as well. The code also features unicode support for easy localizing.
A sequel or enhanced version could feature multiple hatcheries to explore, custom hatchery upgrades, and unique dragon tribes such as Fire Dragons and Forest Dragons to collect and raise, including many rare ones to motivate the player to keep playing until all are discovered and collected in their own personal hatchery.
This game is NOT a match-3 clone, nor is it a time management clone. Both game modes within the title are uniquely designed from the ground up. If you are a publisher or distributor, I look forward to discussing business opportunities with you.
Email: 
Screenshots:
Business and Production for Games, a new book for game developers put together by the folks at GameDev.net, is now out!
It includes a great collection of essential business and production related articles including a chapter I wrote on “Pitch your Game: Pitching Tips from a Game Industry Catcher.”
I’m very excited to see our book out and published. Congrats to Drew at GameDev and all the other authors!
Here is the publisher description:
“Welcome to Business and Production for Games: A GameDev.net Collection, the first in a series of books published in collaboration with GameDev.net, the online community where game developers worldwide can network and freely exchange information and ideas. Assembled in print for the first time, and comprised of the best game business and production articles that have appeared on GameDev.net over the past decade, this volume features invaluable information and ideas for anyone running or considering running their own game company. You’ll learn how to approach your new business venture as a professional, discover how to make the most of limited resources, benefit from expert marketing advice, explore how to develop efficient production processes, and consider the importance of intellectual property, sales, and team leadership. All articles have been updated to comply with the latest technology, and as a bonus, this volume also features exclusive, new content that cannot be found anywhere else. Continuing in their tradition of excellence, Business and Production for Games: A GameDev.net Collection captures the best of GameDev.net and is an invaluable resource in your pursuit of game development success.”
The Amazon info page is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Production-GameDev-net-Drew-Sikora/dp/1598638092/
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (January 9, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1598638092
ISBN-13: 978-1598638097
Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
Shelled Online Free & Published
January 15, 2009
I’m pleased to announce that Shelled! Online now has a free version for all to download and enjoy!
With the free version you can:
- play in any online game or host your own
- choose any of the 6 multiplayer game modes
- play any of the 20 single player skirmish levels
- play the first 5 mission levels including interactive tutorial
- play for an unlimited time
You can play the free version forever. However upgrading to the premium version gives you access to:
- 19 special weapons to blow away the competition
- over 30 tank parts to customize your appearance
- an additional 15 custom-scripted missions to test your skills
The premium version upgrade is $9.95 US and can be purchased through Red Thumb Games directly.
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In other news, Shelled! Online has now been published by Cherry Credits! This is the first publishing deal for this game so we are very excited to see some distribution.
Here’s Shelled featured on the Cherry Credits front page:
Here’s the Shelled product page on Cherry Credits:
Cherry Credits is based out of Singapore with a unique publishing model that sells physical scratch-off cards in 7-11 stores and other internet cafe related points of sale around Southeast Asia.
The advantage is having a bricks-and-mortar entry point to an otherwise online-based e-commerce system, as well as being able to tap into the tween/teen market who often has cash but not credit cards to buy games online. Look for the actual scratch-off card design soon!
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Dragon Hatchery is nearly complete, and we’ll be submitting to casual game publishers this week. Look for announcement news when the game is released.
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Elsewhere, I am continuing to do contract consulting work for Luma Arcade and am very busy with that, with some half-dozen projects I am doing design work for. Luma has been an awesome experience and I can’t wait to write a full blog about my time developing games here in South Africa.
Shelled Online did not make it into the finalists for the 11th Annual IGF, though it has been my career-long goal just to submit a worthy entry, and that I did. Congrats to the finalists, and see you at GDC in March.
I’ve picked up a co-development project with another studio to do an indie sports title which I’ve just begun work on and which should see completion this summer. No details to leak yet but I am excited to have some contract work to sustain me for when I make the transition back to the United States, and it’ll be another great title to add to the RTG portfolio.
Lastly, I wanted to say congrats to fellow indies Pavel Tovarys for Archibald’s Adventures and Larva Mortus and Keith Nemitz for Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble whose games won awards in the 2008 GameTunnel Awards. Great work guys and lots to be proud of, congrats!
Lastly, welcome to the Red Thumb Games blog, it was long overdue!
That’s all from here, be sure to check out Shelled Online if you haven’t done so already — now that’s it’s free there’s no reason not to!
Happy 2009 Everyone,
Josh
