Updating artwork...

With interest in Hidden in Plain Sight picking up some steam, I have some interest in polishing it up a little.

The weakest part of the game, in my opinion, are the instructions screens for each game mode.  I think they are really bad.  It was a challenge for me to try to describe the rules for each game mode concisely, but also in a visually appealing way.  I'd love to see those redone by someone with some graphic design experience.  (I'm not sure I can pay much, if anything, but if anyone has any recommendations, let me know!)

Next on my list are the game summary screens that show up after each round.  It would be nice for those to be laid out a little better.

I really like the eclectic look of Eryn's title screen (which I hacked together in a few minutes to create box art), but I'm not sure that it's the best advertisement for the game.  Some people say box art is CRITICAL to a games success.  I'm more of a "screw it, just do the best you can" kind of guy.  But for a game with some staying power, maybe it's worth taking another look at that.  I've heard at least one person say they passed on the game simply because of the box art.  That's not good.

I mentioned this to Eryn, and he threw together a couple of images for my consideration.  What do you think?  I also included the existing box art for comparison.

The French Connection...

A month or so ago, I got a Facebook message from a guy with a French-sounding name.  He said he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Official Xbox Magazine in France, and that he loved Hidden in Plain Sight, and wanted to know more about "the geniuses behind the game."

I told him that I was just an average guy with a wife and kid and cubicle job, and that making indie games was a hobby.  I thanked him for his kind words, and never got a response back.  No big deal.

Then, I got a message on this blog saying that my game was going to be on French TV!  There is a show called "Chez Marcus", where this dude reviews and plays video games.  The guy sent me the link to the show, as well as a translation. ***UPDATE***  I just got an email from Marcus.  They made this full episode free online, specifically so I could show it around to everyone.  I'm overwhelmed.

I wrote back to the Xbox Magazine editor guy on Facebook and asked him if he knew anything about it.  The guy responded back (apologizing for not getting back to me before).  He said that he'd talked to his friend Marcus (the tv guy), and told him about the game, and that Marcus decided to use it on his show!  He also said he was having a game night soon with friends from Ubisoft, THQ, and Sony and would make them play it.  (This has since happened, and the only comment I got was "They loved the game.")

I found someone on reddit who loaned me their username and password to the NoLife TV website (the channel which airs Chez Marcus), and was able to watch (and capture via FRAPS) the entire episode.  There were some good production value, and they guys were laughing the whole time, and really seemed to enjoy it.  I couldn't have asked for a better showcase for the game.

Before the show aired, I'd sold about 2000 copies of the game total, with about 60 in France.
In the past five days alone, since the show aired, the game has sold over 400 copies in France.

Crazy.

When the game first came out, I was talking with friends about marketing.  I remember Iwan made some comment about how word-of-mouth works, and how some people just kind of act as evangelists for a thing they like.  It appears this Facebook guy is acting that role, and I've seen others do it on message boards as well.  So that really seems like it's turning out to be true.

I've said this before, but on the one hand, I know this really sounds like I'm bragging.  I'm conscious of that, and it kind of makes me feel uncomfortable.  But on the other hand, I also don't really feel like I have that much ownership or stake in the game and it's success or failures, if that makes any sense.  It's something that I kind of threw together in a few weeks and set free, and how it lives or dies really is kind of out of my hands.  I feel much more like an observer to the whole process than directly involved.  It's all kind of surreal.

Hidden in Plain Sight sales, with some notable bumps pointed out. 

 The Joystiq.com Indie Pitch article
The reddit.com user review
The rllmukform.com discussion thread

Period Statistics -- 11/18/2011 - 6/6/2012

• Trials: 4982
• Purchases: 1883
• Purchase/Trial Ratio: 37.80 %

Forum post...

I noticed that I was getting sales in the UK without corresponding trials.  In the past, that's indicated a good positive review or comment somewhere.

I did some searching, and found some forum posts here.

Some quotes:

Additional also, the Xbox live Indie game "Hidden in plain sight" is AMAZING. I want this to be played at Heggfest as much as all the fighting games. I played it with a few friends this evening and ended up spending four solid hours on it. Probably premature to say it, but it feels like it would become a local multiplayer staple on a par with Saturn Bomberman, Mario Kart, Smash Bros. and Deathtank.

Someone else responded:

Hidden in Plain Sight looks amazing. Just watched a video on youtube of the man who made it talking about it. Looks tremendous fun; I've always loved that concept of decieving other players like in The Ship and that other one witht he sniper party thing. Never played them though. They've always reminded me a bit of Spy vs Spy as well, which I've played literally once, and loved, on the Master System, when I was about nine.

I also love how the lovely developer man keeps talking about everyone having a lot of fun and laughing and yelling and having a good time. He's a good man.

The first guy wrote back:

Yeah, Mr. Spragg seems like a gent. He's also responded to in the commnents of numerous online reviews of the game, not to argue with the reviewers but to explain anything they found questionable and just chatting about the game.

The game has been criticised for being local multiplayer only, but I agree with his assessment that it just wouldn't have the same charm played any other way. It's like with Bomberman, where you can play it online and mechanically it functions the same, but for me personally it isn't even half as fun as six people getting drunk and tripping over Saturn controller cables.

Aside from the hilarity and the (whisper it) social aspect of playing it locally, with HIPS I think it would affect the gameplay as well. Reading people's faces and reactions is a part of the game, as are simple tricks you'd use in any bluffing game like thinking out loud and whatever other misdirection you can think of. I understand that people don't necessarily have the luxury of always having three like-minded people on hand to play the game, but even that reasoning (which might make, say, a full Rock Band kit more difficult to justify) is offset quite well by the fact that HIPS costs a mere 80 Microsoft points. I feel like it paid for itself in the one session I've had with it so far.

Get it and force people to play it with you and have many laughs. 

So there it is...  I'm a gent!  :)

Random message board post...

 This makes me happy.

"Just spent an amazing couple of hours with the kids playing Hidden In Plain Sight.... Tears running down our faces and sides aching."

Hidden in Plain Sight getting some love...

I search for news about Hidden in Plain Sight quite often, and found this video and loved it!  It was really fun to watch them play, and especially to listen to them figure out how the game works.

One of the big challenges of HIPS was to explain a relatively complicated game in a concise way.  I really didn't want to create big instruction screen, and I obviously can't include a manual or readme.txt file.  So getting any feedback on players first walkthroughs is huge.



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Also, IndieGamerChick posted a review.  From her website, I understand that IndieGamerChick is autistic.  I know very little about autism, but I understand that personal and social interactions can be affected.  I also know that HIPS is a very social game, revolving around personal interaction.  So while she might not be the exact demographic I was going for, she still gave it a pretty decent review.
 

Hidden in PRAIN SIGHT -- Ninja Party!

How cool is this?!